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.