As 2009 comes to a close,

We get good news on Brandon - he's awake and breathing on his own and finally out of ICU (after 16 days).  Todd and I are planning to go to Fort Worth to see them this weekend.

And reflecting on the past year, the first part of the year seems to be a blur, then I quit my job in August, late Aug/early Sept I took a 10 day trip to visit family - stayed w/ my parents in Milford, saw my sister in Seward, brother in Lincoln, then went to Falls City to see Todd's mom and dad, then a couple days to Pleasant Hill, IL to see Todd's grandma, and on the way back to Texas I stopped in St. Louis to see my older brother.  Got back home and started looking for a job.  Was offered a job so accepted it, then Todd's mom went into the hospital.  The job required 30 days training that was 100% attendance mandatory.  So Todd and I decided I probably shouldn't do that since his mom was not very good, so I explained to them the situation and that I couldn't commit to not missing any training, so declined the offer.   On September 29, Todd and I decided we should head to Nebraska to see his mom.  We left early in the morning of the 30th and drove all day, arrived at the hospital at 4:50 pm and she passed away at 5:05 pm with her husband, sons, granddaughter and great-granddaughter at her bedside.  Todd and I went to IL to get his grandmother (his dad's mom) for the memorial service.  Todd's nephew was getting married a few days after that, so we stayed to attend the wedding in Kansas City the next weekend.  Said goodbye to the family and headed home on Oct 11.  We were home less than 48 hours before we received a call that Todd's grandmother passed away (on Oct 13), so that was another trip - this time to IL.  It was a quick trip - stopped in Ft. Worth to get Kate, drive all night, stay one night and start home again. During this trip, our oldest, Tabitha, was married so we had to miss it.  This time when we left, we told the family we hoped we wouldn't have to see them for a while!  Started a new job working at home, but not having a whole lot of hours, but it's better than nothing.  Dec 12 we went to Stephenville to attend Kate's college graduation (Summa Cum Laude, btw)  - we are all VERY proud of her!  Bad news again on Mon, Dec 14.  Kate's husband, Brandon, fell 30 feet while working on an arena and was life-flighted to a hospital in Fort Worth.  He was in ICU until today, and things seem to be looking up.  (I've been PRAYING for a Christmas miracle - we didn't quite get it on Christmas, but we're not complaining.)  For Christmas, Todd and I headed to Nebraska - we knew we needed to be in Falls City for most of the time for his dad, but were planning to see my family on Saturday.  We left Wed. night and drove most of the night, then the midwest was hit with a bad snowstorm and we couldn't make it to see my family :(   We even had to stay an extra day and both of us missed work on Monday.

So the last five months have been a roller-coaster of emotions.  I'm glad that 2009 will be over and hoping 2010 will be less emotional.   My parents are planning to sell the farm they moved to when I was 6 months old and will be purchasing a house in town, so that will be odd next time we head there.  But with the last snowstorm, they are ready to be off the farm.  They were without power for 5 hours and snowed in for a couple days.

I'm still debating on looking for another job.  I love working at home, but the pay is not much and I really don't feel that I'm where I'm supposed to be.  Todd really wants me to find something else, so I'll look and will pray something promising comes up.

Happy New Year, everyone!!!! 

Friday update on Brandon 12/18/09

 Kate posted on FB ab out 4:45pm today: he's back on the breathing tube, but his lung is slowly getting better! Things are looking up and maybe in four or five days we'll be out of ICU. Then, we'll be transferred somewhere else to tackle the next obstacle.


I chatted with her a little - she said his oxygen level is at 100. heart rate down to 86 instead of 124. and respitory rate down to 18 instead of 40!  MUCH better than yesterday.

She said she has plenty of company this weekend, so we'll stay home so I can get ready for our Christmas Celebration with Tab & Sam on Sunday.  Not sure if we'll be able to stop on our way to or from Nebraska, but at least she's only a couple hours away, we can make it there and home in one day.

We appreciate all the prayers!!!

December 17.2009 A Plea for Prayers

A Plea for Prayers

On Saturday we were in Stephenville celebrating Kate's college graduation.  On Monday, her husband, Brandon, took a really bad fall while working. He was life-flighted to a hospital in Fort Worth around noon or one.

I'm going to copy what Kate has posted on Facebook:

12/14/09, Monday, 11:19 pm:  Here's what's going on: B fell 30 ft from a top beam on an arena today and landed on the ground. Two broken ribs, bruised lungs, and a minor contusion on his brain. He's aware of his surroundings and can respond with his hands and feet when he feels like it, opened his eyes a few times, but not quite awake yet.  The main goal is for the contusion not to spread.  He's at Harris in Fort Worth.

 12/15/09, Tuesday, 9:10 am:  Here's the sitch:  Another scan at 2am (looked good), he is now opening his eyes completely when the nurse wakes him and nodding his head, but he goes straight to sleep when they're done.  He's going to continue to sleep for a while because his concussion is pretty severe.  Just taking baby steps.

12/15/09, Tuesday, 3:16 pm:  Did an MRI this morn.  waiting on results.  Had his eyes open earlier when i went in!  And he nodded his head when I was asking him things, so that was good.  How he's doped up on morphine and he is out.  That's about it, no other changes.

12/15/09, Tuesday, 7:31 pm:  well, he has a serious condition (DAI -Diffuse Axial Injury - basically shaken baby syndrome for adults) means most of the nerves and stuff in his head are bruised all over.  It's not good, but he could be OK.  He'll be out for at least six months, (no idea whether that's hospital or home care) just depends on how he does.  each case is different.  Was VERY upset about an hour, made some calls and the nurse called me and said he just sat straight up and pulled out his tube and he's trying to talk and he's nodding his head (I'm pretty sure this is the big thing we've been waiting for) :) So happy it's unreal.  We're not out of the woods, but this just blindsided all of us, even his nurse.

12/17/09, Thursday, 6:45 pm:  well, not doing so good.  But it can be fixed, it will just take a while.  The odd thing is, it's not his brain that's the problem yet.  His body isn't getting enough oxygen.  They're prolly gonna put the breathing tube back in, so everybody pray that his right lung heals.

That's all Kate's posted so far.  Todd said yesterday Brandon was doing pretty good, but then today not so good.  Please keep both Brandon and Kate in your prayers.  Kate was so excited to bet on with the next step of their lives after graduation, so this is upsetting to say the least.  I'll post more as soon as I find out anything.

This the only picture I have of them - it was at their wedding March 2008.

Christmas Stroll 2009

I went to Georgetown's Christmas Stroll today with Sam, Jason and Tyler.  Tab, Alyssa and Angel showed up a little later - the kids had visitation with their father until 12, which is when the parade started, so they missed most of it. The weather was cold, but we enjoyed it!

 Jason and Tyler waiting for the parade to start.


Sam waiting for the parade to start - isn't she impressive!! LOL


Tyler always loves seeing the fire truck


There were lots of cub scouts with the cars they made.  I thought this one was cute.


 The cast of "Annie" - I'm assuming it's playing somewhere in town.  We liked the clydesdale.


My husband was there (in spirit - he's a self-proclaimed Grinch)


And the end of the parade always has Santa.


 This afternoon, I made Hot Chocolate Mix and Chex Mix - the kids and grandkids are coming over tomorrow afternoon to decorate the Christmas tree, and we're going to watch the Polar Express and have hot chocolate.

I finished MQ #4 this week, and have started on #5.  You can check my sewing/craft blog to see pictures.  I'll update it soon.

Saturday Dec 12, 2009

On Saturday we had a monumental day in our family.  Kate graduated from COLLEGE!!!  (She's the youngest.)  We are both extremely proud of her.  She graduated summa cum laude - which means "with highest honors".  That is so great considering she worked all through college and also was married in that time.

We left to go to Stephenville on Saturday morning, and after driving for more than an hour, I realized I forgot my camera.  So the only camera I had was my blackberry and the quality is not great.  (Not that the quality is great on my other camera, but it's better.)

Anyway, here are some pictures I snapped and I apologize for the poor quality.




After the ceremony we went back to Kate and Brandon's house.  They have a pit bull named Punkin - she really liked McKenna!

After that, we went to an Italian restaurant for supper.  I got to sit by McKenna so I snapped a couple pictures of her, too.




She's getting so big and she's SOOO CUTE!!

Unfortunately Kate and Brandon aren't going to be able to make it to Nebraska for Christmas, but we will see Megan, David and McKenna there for a little bit.  Todd and I are going to celebrate Christmas with Tab and Sam and their families this coming weekend.  Then Todd and I will leave either the evening of the 23rd or early the 24th for the drive to Falls City. It will be good to see Todd's family for a GOOD reason, but it will be sad to not have Nel and Rena there.   Saturday, the 26th we'll celebrate Christmas with Todd family in the morning, then we'll drive to Milford for supper to celebrate it with my family.  Then we'll head back to FC that evening and get up early the 27th to drive back home.  Both of us have to work on Monday the 28th.  It will be a quick trip, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Christmas Tree Decorating 12/9/09

We had Tab and Sam come over on Sunday so the kids could decorate the Christmas Tree.  I had also made some snacks (chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels, seasoned crackers) and homemade hot chocolate.

The kids did a really good job!  Brian helped them put some of the ornaments high, but all the rest are pretty low on the tree.  And I haven't taken time to move them, so they may just stay there this year.

For some reason, Tyler liked to put them really low.


After it was done, I tried to get them to hold still for a couple pictures.

November in Texas 11/30/09

For the last couple of weeks, I've been meaning to take a walk to get pictures of the trees changing colors.  Yesterday (Sunday, Nov 29) I finally went.   We have a hiking trail that goes very close to our house, so Todd and I headed down that early yesterday afternoon.  I was disappointed when we got to the trees (as I thought I might be) because most of the leaves have already fallen off.  But here are a few of the pictures I took:








Earlier this year we were in a severe drought, but mid-September we started getting a lot of rain.  Upriver from the trail is Lake Georgetown, and they have been letting a lot of water out.  Because of this, we couldn't go very far on our walk.  Here is the reason:






For those not familiar with Texas, this is the cactus you see everywhere:


 We can also go the other way on the hiking trail, that would take us to the Georgetown Country Club.  There is a sidewalk there, too, that was covered with water, so couldn't go far that way, either.  We could have taken our shoes off and walked through the water, but it was kind of chilly and I had new Nike tennis shoes on and my hands full with camera so we decided not to.  Next year I need to go as soon as I think about it instead of waiting so long.  

Anyway, I'm only scheduled for 16 hours of work this week, so I'll be able to sew a lot.  I got the third memory quilt done this last weekend and have started on #4, hoping I can get them all done before Christmas.  You can check out my other blog to read about them and see pictures.

Have a wonderful week!!!!  And thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Thanksgiving in Texas 2009 11/27/09

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  We had Tab and Sam and their families over for lunch.  I made the traditional Turkey and stuffing, along with sweet potato casserole, jello salad and green bean salad.  The girls brought pies for dessert and dinner rolls.  It was a great meal and we enjoyed the time together.  It was also the beginning of this year's holidays without Todd's mom and grandmother.  This year will be different and difficult for everyone, I'm sure.  Todd and I are planning to head to his dad's for Christmas this year so we stayed home for Thanksgiving.

After lunch, Sam, Tab and I sat down to look at some old pictures, and Todd went outside with the kids.  He and Alyssa were playing catch, so I ran out to snap some pictures. (The weather was so nice!)


Alyssa is getting so big!  She'll be 7 next February!


Angel and Tyler were outside goofing around, too.
They are getting big, too!  Angel has a birthday in a couple weeks!

Halloween 2009 11/1/09

Halloween was fun this year! Tab and Sam brought their families over to go Trick-0r-Treating in our neighborhood. We live on a HUGE block, so we just went around it and went home. But I snapped a few pictures before we went out.

Tyler was an Army Guy


Angel was GI Joe


Alyssa was Sharpay from High School Musical


These are the pumpkins that Todd and I carved last weekend.


On Friday, Tab and I went to help out at Alyssa's Halloween Party at school. There were lots of parents there, so I took a few minutes to snap a few pictures.
This is Alyssa and her friend, Riley.


They played a game that they had to roll a pumpkin with a spoon to the basket.


Then we went back into the classroom - Alyssa was distracted by me taking a picture.


First they decorated pumpkins to take home.


Then bobbed for apples (with no water), then dipped them in caramel and chocolate chips or coconut.






Then they had a snack.

Someone took some of the vegetables and arranged them like a skeleton - it was really neat!

And this is where she sits all day at school.


We didn't have many trick-or-treaters, so I guess Todd and I will have to eat the Snickers that I bought.... lol

Pumpkins and Dom's Birthday! 10/27/09

We decided to have the kids over to carve pumpkins for Halloween, and to celebrate our new step-grandson's birthday that was on the 21st. Not much went on, so I'll post pictures for your enjoyment!

First step was to clean out the pumpkins. The kids had lots of fun with that!






Next, the kids picked what they wanted carved and the adults did the carving.


I didn't get too many pictures of that, but here are the finished projects!




We decided to have pizza delivered for supper.


Then we had cake and ice cream and watched Dom open his presents.








We all had a good time.

This week I'm starting to look for a job, again. There's not much out there! I did get a call from Alpine Access tonight. They have another opening, but the hours would be 10am to 6:30 pm, Monday through Saturday with either Tuesday or Thursday off. Training wouldn't start until Nov 21, we'd have off Thanksgiving and the day after, but wouldn't know about Christmas off until about a week before. Todd's not excited about it since I'd work most of the day on Saturday (he only works every other Saturday during the winter). And I think we'll need to go to see his Dad for Christmas this year - it will be a tough one since Nel and Grandma Rena are both gone now. I told them I'd get back to them in the next day or so, but will probably tell them I've decided not to take it.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm meeting a friend for lunch, so that will be nice to catch up with her and to catch her up on all that's gone on with us in the last month.