Posterity

Here are a few pictures from the funeral. Madison was so sweet to take care of Grandpa, and Jace was the cutest pallbearer ever!

Hanging at the Hospital

A few pictures of our 30-hour vigil at Sacred Heart in Spokane, WA. The hospital was kind enough to let our family use this private room for two days. We managed to make the best of it!

Passing of a Wonderful Woman

December 12, 2008 at 1:28 pm, Bonnie Call Anderson, my sweet mother-in-law, passed away at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA. Words cannot express our sorrow and the emptiness we feel cannot be filled. We were blessed to be able to gather around her bedside as she left this life and joined her loved-ones on the other side. It has been a great pleasure and an extreme honor to know, love, and care for her. My memories of her are treasures which I hold dear to my heart. I love you!

Update

As most of you know, my sweet mother-in-law had undergone open-heart surgery today. The goal was mitral valve repair. There was a major complication that became apparent within the first 30 minutes of surgery. Her aortic artery had dissected (secondary to retrograde flow). The surgeon had to repair the dissection and then move on the the valve repair. I know Lori.... little words. I'll explain later. Just know it's bad. People usually die from dissections before the ever get to the O.R. Anyway, her 3 hour surgery wound up being over 6 hours. We are now maintaining an vigil at her bedside. (Everyone except me. I am at Mike and Koni's where my kids are sleeping. Jace has croup again, buy the way.) Tonight has been really rough. Talk about a emotional roller coaster. We were able to see her for a little bit just after they got her to her room in Cardiac ICU. Then I came home to put kids to bed. Since then she has coded (died and been resuscitated) twice. It has been real touch-and-go. We are not ready to give her up yet! However, things may be making a turn for the better. Joe just called me from the hospital to tell me that she was opening her eyes a little and she was squeezing his had a bit. If you are reading this.... say a little prayer for our family. We could never express how grateful we all for all your friendship and love! We love you!


UPDATE: Dec 12th. She had an angio this morning to try to figure out why her blood pressure is dropping so severely. It basically showed that nearly every major vessel coming off her heart has dissected. Meaning that no blood is getting to her bowel. All her blood flow is though false lumens. Basically we had two options, let her suffer or let her go. We chose the latter. We all gathered in her room and said our good-byes. Once the nurse shut the vent off, it was only a few peaceful minutes until she was gone. Madison sat by her side and held her hand for quite awhile afterwards. How will we face tomorrow!?

Beso's Brush with Death

This past week, some jerk hit Beso. I took him into the vet where we found out that both of his hind feet were broken. On foot had to be pinned and the other had to be cast. So, for now, his is our gimpy dog. Beso is our only dog ever to be hit by a car and live to tell about it.

Surgery #2

November 22, poor Jace Jace had to have his spitz nevus re-excised. We had to be at the hospital by 5:30 am (we were a little late.... over slept....... got there by 5:45). He was a bit nervous, but was very brave. No needles this time! The IV was started in the OR. That made things much better for him. Recovery was much harder this time. Every time he was taken off of the oxygen, his oxygen sats dropped to 77. His croup came back in full force. He had to have a breathing treatment before he could leave PACU. He was VERY whiny this time and cried alot post-op. Poor baby. His bandage was really impressive this time also.

Yesterday we removed the bandages so the dermatologist could check the insion site. I almostinto tears! My baby's face has a huge frankinstein-ish scar. I am a very sad mamma.Joe keeps reminding me that the scar is much better than cancer. He's right of course. I'm sorry Jace, Jace!

Mission Call....

Brian has received his mission call. He will be serving in the Tempe, AZ mission. He leaves on January 21, 2009. Congratulations Brian! We are proud of you!

This Just In!

I just found out some very exciting news!! Last night Joe and I found out that we are going to become Grandparents again! This little bundle will be number 6 for us! We are so excited! Congratulations Mindy and Roudy!

Halloween Spooks

Jace wanted to join the Star Wars craze and spend Halloween day as none other than Darth Vader. Not that you can tell it's him under there... but it is!

Halloween Spooks

Now the eldest. Miss Madison was a "Coffin Bride" for Halloween this year. Someone told her that she looked pretty (at the ward trunk-or-treat) and she was SO disappointed! She wanted to be scary. I guess that means I have lost my princess!

Jace's Surgery

On November 1st, Jace has to have some minor surgery at the hospital. It was a big deal for a small thing. He went to the OR, they gave him general anesthetic and everything! He had to have a freckle removed from the palmer surface on a finger. It was right over the joint. He also has a spitz nevus removed from his face. (Spitz nevus looks like a red mole, but they have a tendency to turn malignant). He was so brave! The nurses had a hard time getting the I.V. started, they dug and dug around in the back of his poor little hand. He was tough. After two attempts, Daddy finally told the nurse to start it in the OR. Since it was a Saturday (and because Daddy is on staff at the hospital) we got to wait in recovery with him. He woke up to an impressively large finger bandage and a "cast" on his other hand (to stabilize the IV). We just found out that he has to have this face re excised due to the fact that a high percentage grow back. He has assured us that he will be fine!

The New Babysitter........

This last Tuesday was my last night to go to Young Women's. (Our ward split the previous Sunday). We had YW in Excellence. So, I go and Joe stayed home with the kids. I asked him to be sure to get the kids to bed as they had school tomorrow. She say he definitely would, I could count on him. This is what I found when I got home! Laughed my head off! I guess you get what you pay for!

Lokk Mom! No tooth!

Madison lost her first front tooth today! She came home from school today looking like an old toothless lady! Love you funny face!

Completion!!

We are finally finished! We moved into the shopartment a month ago. We got moved in.... just not moved out. What a nightmare! With the help of some wonderful friends (Lori, Vern & Jean and Jill) I was able to get my part of the project finished and Joe got a good start on his duties! (I packed, cleaned and moved the house, he packs, cleans and moves the garage and shop). We are finding our new digs to be none too big, yet surprisingly comfy. We are loving it. Merlin and Bonnie got moved in two weeks ago. Now our family compound is complete! The kids love having Grandma and Grandpa just downstairs. We are hoping that they will stay home this winter instead of heading to St. George. We may have even found someone to rent the St. George house. That should help Merlin to feel better about not going.

Shop Update

Well, we have been running like crazy, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think! Today we began working on tile in the bonus room. The wood floor has been started and will be finished once the tile is in. Joe seems to think that I will make a horrible mess with the water and the wet saw. The electricians have almost finished trimming out the place, the plumber will begin trimming out on Monday (I hope). The garage doors are finally on. IT IS COMING!

Ouch!

Poor Zinna. We just brought her home from the vet's office where she had undergone surgery to correct a dislocated patellar tendon. It is going to prove to be quite an ordeal for us all, as she is not to bear weight on any of her legs for 10 days. We are holding her a lot right now! Poor baby is very sore, but she is doing better already!

The stork lands again!

Beso (pronounced Bay-so), which is spanish for kiss, joined our family on August 2. He is tiny now, but that won't last long! The kids are having a blast playing with the dogs over at the shop. I appreciate the dogs for keeping the kids distracted and out of our way so we can work! It works out well, the kids have fun and we get work done!

Dog days of summer........

Well, we have done it again. After having lost two of our three dogs in May, we have begun our collection once more. Three days ago our little family made a quick stop at the local animal shelter, just "too see". What we found was a pleasant surprise! The pound had recently acquired an adorable 2 month old red healer pup, who now belongs to us! We named her Penny, due to her coppery red color on her face and the copper colored spot on her back. So far she is the sweetest little thing. She is very quiet and well behaved. Her favorite thing in the world is to have her belly rubbed! That occupies about 85% of Jace's time right now. It's good for him!

Shop Progress

Well, here it is the middle of July already. I feel like this summer is disappearing so quickly. every spare moment we get we are pouring into the completion of our shop. Thankfully, we are getting close.

Today, the carpenters finished the trim work and the man who is installing the hand rails is there working tonight. The painter has been chomping at the bit for a week now to get in and get it painted. Hopefully he will be there and in the thick of it shortly. I don't think it will take him too long to get his part done. He has all the walls primed already, so he will need a few days to stain and seal the doors and trim (alder doors and stain grade trim) and then a couple of days to paint the walls/ceilings. Next up.... cabinets!

Howard, our cabinet guy, has been ready to install our stuff for nearly a month and a half! He will be so glad to get our cabinets out of his shop! I am so excited to see them. The minute they are in I am going to begin filling them up. Our appliances are all ordered. I am in desperate need of new appliances. Most of the appliances in my existing kitchen have something wrong with them. Time to move!

Love Madison

Miss Madie thought we definately needed to post our family on the web. So here we are!! We promise to try to keep it current (emphasis on TRY), and we hope you will visit often. We love and miss you all!