Rough Day.....

So today has been a really hard day for us. It started out this morning with the news that my Grandpa had passed away. He was 92 years old and had been getting weaker by the day. We knew it was coming but that doesnt erase the sadness that we feel knowing that we wont see him again in this life. He was a compassionate, funny man and I feel fortunate that his blood is flowing through me. I will miss seeing him at church each week and really wish that I had gone over to visit more often.

Not 15 minutes after receiving this news, we got the news that Denver's Dad actually does have cancer in his lung and his liver. We had thought the lungs were clear but the test he had wasnt conclusive and the new tests brought bad news. I am so happy that we were just there visiting and hope that his prognosis will be good. We are awaiting word on how advanced it is which will probably take a week or 2. He is in the hospital now resting....which he really needs to be doing and it is the best place for him to be right now.

An hour later, I had to call 911 for Evan. As you know, Ian is allergic to peanuts and so we have to carry an EpiPen which is an injection of adrenaline in case he ever eats any and goes into anaphalatic shock. Evan found the expired one that Ian's school nurse had given me the other day and decided to push the top down with his thumb like a pen.....this engaged the needle and it shot into his thumb. He was hysterical and because I had no idea what adrenaline would do to him, I just called 911 to be safe. Luckily, because he was holding it upside down, he didnt completely depress the button and none of the medicine was injected however, the needle did go in so far that it hit his bone and actually bent the needle. As a result Im going to have to take him into his doctor tomorrow for a tetnus shot and an xray to make sure the bone didnt chip. If it did, infection could set into the bone....yuck.

I have to go to work in about an hour and Im dreading it because I just dont have the energy at this point to go. But, no choice..... I am very greatful though for my family and that I am able to be with them not only in this life but the life after. That we are close and love each other means we can get through anything life throws at us even though sometimes it feels so hopeless in the beginning.

Near death experiences.....

Well, it has been one eventful week as far as accidents and injury go. First, I thought we had lost Addison the other night. She woke up around 4am coughing horribly so I gave her a little cough medicine and Denver said he would take her downstairs and watch TV a bit....maybe she would go back to sleep. The next thing I hear is Denver falling down the stairs.....then came the scream no mother wants to hear. You know the one that gives you chills because you know your child has been seriously injured? So, I jump out of bed nearly slipping and falling myself to see what is going on. Luckily the way Denver fell he didnt land on top of her which truly might have killed her.....a 25 pound baby is no match for a 250 pound man. No, instead he fell up and flat on his back which cause her to smack her forehead into the staircase....or wall....or railing, not sure which one really. I have never seen a goose egg so HUGE in my life. I was so scared she was seriously injured but, she seems fine and I was told unless she was acting strange or falling asleep a lot then it is most likely not an internal injury. 3 days later, the goose egg is getting smaller, the bruises are turning a hideous green/yellow color and today she started developing 2 shiners. Yes, black eyes. That tells you how hard she actually hit. Thank heavens the stair case was carpeted! It could have been much worse. I have vowed to find some type of plastic runner for the staircase to prevent this from happening again. This picture does NOT do her injury justice. You cant tell how incredibly mis-shapen her forhead is....and she hasnt developed her black eyes yet. You can't tell but her entire forehead from the left eye over to the right temple is completely bulging out.....ugh.

So, yesterday I get a call from my brother Jeff. He is stranded in Filmore because he and his girlfriend have gotten in a car accident and totalled his jeep. I drove down there to get them and when I saw his jeep, I realized that a higher power was definitely watching over them. I actually felt sick to my stomache to realize how closely they came to being seriously injured or killed. What happened was..... they hit a patch of slush on the highway from the morning snow/sleet storm and the jeep spun in circles off the highway and hit a highway sign head on. Not one of those little whimpy signs but the big huge ones with the thick metal posts. Both of their airbags deployed and amazingly only Jeff was injured with a large bruise/abrasion on his forearm and a cut on the side of his neck. Nicola doesnt have a scratch on her and Wiley (their doggy) was fine if not a bit traumatized. I was so thankful last night that it turned out the way it did. You just never know when things like this are going to happen. If they had spun the other direction and crossed traffic......or hit the sign on either side of the jeep.....well, I dont want to think about that. I am happy that they are home safe.....car-less, but safe.

So, the yucky week doesnt end here. I received a call tonight from Liz, a girl in my Chandler, Az ward. For those of you reading that know a little about my life there, she was the one whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack (age 35). It was so horrible and sad. Anyway, she was calling me tonight on behalf of Julie.....a really good friend of mine from that same ward whose parents live here in Murray. We get together any time she comes here to visit her parents. In fact it was just about a month ago that we met Julie and her hubby Steve at Lone Star Steakhouse for lunch and had a nice visit. Anyway, Liz called with the bad news that Steve....Julies husband had passed away last night. It is so heartbreaking..... I wish that I was there to hug her. I started thinking about how short life really is and how the people you love can be taken at any moment. It is just a heavy reality that I have been protected from in this life so far. So, I vow to take the time to keep in touch with friends and family and try to let the people close to me know how much I love them whenever I can. I am so greatful for the blessings that I have in my life and I dont ever want to take them for granted. When I am feeling low and sorry for myself I am going to do my best to remember that I have it really good despite any struggles that I am experiencing.....there are always worse struggles to be had. A good friend of mine recently said in an email that "the grass always looks greener on the other side...... so we should just stay put and plant taller trees and prettier flowers". I will be using that as my quote of the week. I dont know if Cathi got the quote from someone else or not but since I have never heard it before, then I am going to use her name as the author.

Well, for better news, my aunt Chrissy and Uncle Pete were in town from Arizona for General Conference and I took the kids down to their hotel for a little visit today. It was so nice to see them again and I wish we could have visited a little longer. I am so mad because I brought the camera to take pictures and then totally forgot. It was such a nice day today (unlike yesterday...) and I was going to take pictures of the kids downtown as well. I guess I was a bit scatterbrained today. Oh well. Anyway, Chrissy, when you read this blog then you can know how happy I was to see you today and I sure love you guys.

Here's hoping for a safe, injury free week! Sorry for the pictureless blog, I will do better next week.