4th of July plans postponed : (

Our Plans for our Fourth of July were quickly put to an end this year...

Our neighborhood does a firework party every year that we love to attend. We all put our fireworks together and enjoy a huge show. Randy was over at the park with some friends hitting grounders for baseball. I took the kids over to the party without Randy to save us a good seat. I set down my cookie plate and had just set up my lawn chair when our neighbor Jon ran up to me frantically telling me that Randy needed to go to the hospital. Randy had been hit by a grounder that made a bad bounce, grazed his mitt and smashed into his forehead. I literally dropped my kids with Trisha, Matt, and Tori...(thank goodness they were there) and ran back to our house as fast as I could. They drove Randy from the park and to our driveway. As soon as I saw Randy my gut, heart and everything inside me sank. He had a 5 inch wide depression in his forehead. It was obviously a depressed head fracture. Everything inside me wanted to panic but my nurse instincts kicked in so I could stay calm. I ran into the house to grab my keys while neighbors gave him a quick blessing. 

Matt and Tori agreed to stay with the kids at the party and then stayed with them overnight for us. 

I called the hospital on the way to let them know we were coming so that I could get help fast. Randy was writhing in pain and I felt so bad for him. He is tough and never complains so I knew he was hurting. As soon as we pulled in they took Randy back to the trauma bay. The doctor immediately called Salt Lake to start coordinating a transfer to a bigger hospital. Life Flight was on standby.  The nurse quickly gave him pain and anti anxiety meds to calm him down. We were both pretty scared. After we had been there a few minutes his head started to swell so you couldn't tell it was depressed. Within minutes Randy had a CT scan to see how severe the fracture was. The Doctor came back into the room after the radiologist had given him results. He said Randy had an unusually big sinus cavity over his eye it crushed the front of his sinus but didn't penetrate into his brain. They couldn't believe it hadn't gone though. I was so relieved. I felt like I could breathe again. We were able to stay in Logan and have his surgery.  

(Waiting in the ER for a bed...Randy was so miserable)

A few minutes after we got back from the CT scanner Randy was having trouble with his heart rate. He was having bradycardia and would drop into the 30's. He was not responding to questions and got really agitated. The nurses had to sternal rub his chest to keep him responsive and stimulate his heart to beat faster. He was in and out quite a bit. The doctor told me he thought it was due to all the medication, shock and a severe concussion. They wanted to admit him to the ICU but their beds were full. They ended up keeping him in the ER for a few hours then decided to admit him to the floor but with telemetry so that the ICU nurses could monitor his heart. After about five hours his heart rate returned to normal. It was the worst night of my life. 

The trauma doctor came and saw us in the morning and said we could go home to await surgery. They wanted to wait a few days until the swelling went down. We were discharged from the hospital and went straight to Dr. Blotter's office (our ENT). He was impressed by how big the fracture was. He just kept shaking his head. We were scheduled to come back to the hospital in 2 days for outpatient surgery. 

We were supposed to go to Bear Lake for the 4th of July weekend. We were pretty bummed. Randy's family generously offered to take Brad and Claire to the cabin so I could take care of Randy. I was hesitant to let them because I felt like 5 days was a long time for family to have them.My kids can be crazy loud and exhausting and I didn't want to impose on someone else's vacation.Kamie called and insisted.I am so glad I had them go. There is no way we could have had them at the house. Every noise bothered Randy and he was so nauseated. I set up the guest room downstairs where it was dark, cool and quiet. I kept him medicated, fed, and watered. He was a good patient. 

On Thursday we went back to the hospital for surgery. We dropped Harrison off with Aunt Tori for the day.  Randy was so nervous.  He was cracking jokes left and right. The nurses got a kick out of him. Dr. Blotter came in and said the surgery would take him a long time. He also said that he wanted to clean out all of Randy's sinuses while he was in surgery. He noticed on the CT scan that his sinuses looked terrible. After he went back to surgery I got a call from his OR nurse who said they were having trouble with his heart rate again. Once they were able to get his rate under control they started surgery. After 5 1/2 LONG hours, 2 of the largest bone plates they had, and who knows how many screws (Dr blotter said he lost track) Randy was finally done. After surgery he had a hard time recovering. The nurses were worried about his heart rate being too low again and they couldn't wean him off the oxygen. They wanted him to spend the night. 

Tori agreed to keep Harrison overnight and my friend Trish brought me some much needed food clothes and toothbrush. She also brought Randy a Jamba Juice that Randy sucked down in a matter of minutes. It hit the spot. 

In the morning Randy was off the oxygen and we got the green light to go home and recover. The next day we saw Dr. Blotter who removed the packing and said he looked great. 

It made me laugh that the better Randy felt the worse his injury looked. It didn't take long for him to feel stir crazy. He wanted to get back to normal.

Throughout the week we were sent pictures of the kids having a riot. Aunt Kamie and Kendra had all kinds of things for the kids to do. Click HERE to see their whole trip. Aunt Kendra made a darling video and put it on her blog. 

Claire's 4th of July hairdo. We did her hair festive for the day she left for the cabin. I used regular hair spray color that I use all the time on her hair. It stained her hair red and we can't get it out. Oops. She now had red streaks in her hair for the summer. The Miller's took the kids to the Lewiston 4th of July parade the morning before they went to the cabin then took them out for pizza to help us out. They had a great time.

Thank you so much to all our family and friends for the support, prayers, help with the kids, meals, cards, and treats. We have a fabulous family and great friends. We are so blessed that Randy is okay. It could have been so much worse. We are so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and his hand in our life. We were truly watched over.

All good things come to an end

The rest of the weekend we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Moose. Saturday night we had a BBQ party with all the cousins and of course I didn't get the camera out like a dummy. Aunt Kari did get a little video of Harrison LOVING on Zoey. It was so funny. 

The best part is Mom...she is oblivious that no one is paying attention to her. We are all distracted by the baby. 

When I was a little girl I LOVED sitting on my dad's lap to reload bullets. I got a kick out of walking into my dad's gun room to find this....

Bullet Reloading 101

What fun memories.

We hated to see the weekend end but we were happy to come home and see daddy.

Wheeler Farm

Our next stop on the Salt Lake visit was Wheeler Farm. 

We went will all our cousins and our really good friends the Mays from West Valley. 

 Playing in the outhouse

Olivia May

Brad and Claire in the playhouse

Jakey

Harrison

Reagan

Elle (she is such a cute little spitfire)

Claire and Elle checking out the horses...

 ...and the pigs.

Kristin chatting with Claire

Taking turns on the tractor

Visiting Nanny and Papa

While we were in Salt Lake we spent time with Nanny and Papa. When we first got there we went to a Park in Sandy and had Pizza. There were a couple of motorcycle cops there that set up a speed trap. The kids didn't even want to play on the playground. They sat on Papa's lap and watched the cops pull car after car over. They sat there for almost an hour. It was hilarious. 

 Brad mastering the skill of the self portrait

Attacking Nanny

As soon as we arrived the kids noticed that Nanny's bird feeder was empty. The reminded her relentlessly until she dragged out the bird seeds.

I think the birds in the yard finished up the whole thing by the time we left. Nanny always has a lot of birds in her yard.

The kids spent some good time in the sandbox. They were so proud of their mud pies.

Dad's MANcation

While the kids and I were playing in Salt Lake with cousins...dad was off to St. George for a much needed MANCATION. He went with some of the guys he graduated with. 

Of course they had to hit every golf course on the way. I think he played golf at 4 different courses over the weekend. 

Then they went to Zion National Park and hiked Angel's Landing. I am glad he got to do it. That is a hike we can't take the kids on until they get a lot older.

Then just ONE more golf course on the way home.

We missed him while he was gone. But we were glad he got to go.

The start of a GREAT summer

The first weekend of summer we packed up and went to Salt Lake to spend some time with family. Our first stop was the zoo. The Zoo was packed. I don't recommend going to the zoo the first weekend of the summer. 

Reagan and Harrison enjoying the zoo from the stroller.

The kids loved seeing their cousins. It had been a while.

The new Rocky Shores exhibit was amazing. I could have sat there and watched all day. Even Harrison loved it. The animals were so active and it was so fun to watch them underwater. 

Paint- A - Thon

Zion's Bank does an annual Paint-A-Thon. Our family helped paint a lady's house in Logan. It was hot and hard work but again another great teaching experience for our kids. The kids loved the cooler of free drinks. Such simple things make my kids happy.

Bike with Brent 2012

Randy serves on the board for Cache Employment Training Center in Logan. Our family got to participate in the 2nd annual Bike with Brent. We got to ride our bikes as a family around the fairgrounds to raise awareness and fund raise for people with disabilities. 

Brent is a local celebrity in Logan. He is always riding his bike around town waving and honking his horn. He was so fun. He just giggled as people asked for his signature and taking pictures. He was in heaven.

The kids got their T-Shirts signed by Brent.

Over 500 people participated this year. I am sure next year will be even bigger.

I got really emotional as we rode next to wheelchairs, tandem bikes, and hand cyclists. I met some of the neatest people. It was a great teaching experience for our kids. I can't wait until next year.