Halloween

I'm so excited about my new blocks. I went to wood creations yesterday before dropping Gabbi off at school. I wanted her help in choosing what blocks we would do. She loved that. She even helped me pick out the paper. 

After feeding the kids breakfast this morning I got started with my project. Needless to say, it didn't take me very long to put them together despite having to drop everything twice in order to drop off and pick up Gabbi. 

I'm very happy at how they turned out. I know the pictures aren't the best, but once I put them out with the rest of our Halloween decorations, I'll get better pictures.

Funny side note. The plastic spider on "eek" Gabbi and Owen fought over in the car. They both wanted to hold it. I knew Owen wouldn't hold on to it for very long, so I told Gabbi to give it to him. I was right. He held it for no more then 2 minutes before he had a frightened look on his face and said he didn't want it. He threw it at Gabbi to give it to her.

Another funny side note. I was about to glue the spider onto the block letter and Gabbi came over very angry with me. She, with her stern face, asked me why I was gluing the spider onto the letter. I told her that I had bought it to put on the letter, that was its purpose. She did not like that one bit. She told me I couldn't glue it on, that the spider wouldn't like it. I just laughed, glued it on and said "too late." She walked away not very pleased with what I had done with the spider.

Journaling

Well this whole situation brings new meaning to the talk I heard at the broadcast. Faith through your trials and tribulations.

Ben assured me last night that as long as we are faithful and continue to do the best we can in following the commandments, we would be okay. I agree with him, but at the same time its hard to swallow. Its hard to see the rainbow through the rain so to speak or to see the silver lining. It just really sucks.

We have obligations we need to keep and I'm one who has a hard time when I can't meet an obligation. This is going to very hard for me. Its going to be very hard to stay positive and to have a good attitude around my kids, family, and friends when things are falling apart. I don't like change and this is a big change, one that I can't control.

Ugh!!!!

Pizza Man

We were invited to go to the preschool's Pizza Man field trip yesterday. It's the same field trip that Gabbi had when she was in the preschool group.

Even though we went last year, the kids had so much fun with it, I decided to take them again. They were pro's, they knew exactly what was going to happen and they both had a blast again. They made their own bread sticks and personal pizza's. When we got home, they got to eat them for lunch.

 Showing off the chef hat

 Making their own bread sticks and pizza

 Enjoying the bread sticks they made

Grandpa turns 85

My Grandpa Hall turns 85 in October. Since they won't be home during his birthday, they celebrated with an Open House on Sunday.

After we got out of church we headed over to their place to wish Grandpa a Happy Birthday. A lot of my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins were all there. It was fun to be able to wish Grandpa a Happy Birthday while also catching up with my cousins.

One of the cutest things was when Uncle Dave came over to talk to Gabbi. They were buddies at my cousins wedding this summer, and Dave wanted to come over and see how Gabbi was doing. At first Gabbi was being all shy while he was trying to talk to her. After a few minutes she finally warmed up to him and they spent the remainder of our time there together. He talked to her about school and what she was doing there and they even colored some pages together. She made him a couple of pictures to take home. It was so cute.

While at the party we also took some pictures with Grandpa. Each family with Grandpa and then generation pictures. I wish I would have brought my camera with me, but I'm hoping that Grandma will e-mail/send me a copy.

It was a lot of fun and when we left there, we headed to Jeff and Tiffany's for more fun at Family dinner.

Church

While at church on Sunday we had a combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting. Our Bishopric put together a great meeting. 

They decided to talk about 5 pillars that help us in our everyday lives to live a more Christlike spiritual life. The 5 pillars they talked about were

1. Family Home Evening

2. Service

3. Prayer

4. Scripture Study

5. Temple Attendance 

Heavenly Father knows what his children need and this was something that we needed to hear. These of course are things that we have heard many times before, but apparently for me at least, I needed to hear them again. I needed this to really evaluate my life, our life, and the spirituality that resides in our home and our family. 

This meeting, like the broadcast, gave me a lot to think about and things that need to be changed or worked on. I only hope that I can hold strong to these changes and really implement them in my life. 

Relief Society Broadcast

That night was also the Relief Society Broadcast. I didn't have any plans on going because I didn't want to go by myself. While at the birthday party, Karen asked if I wanted to go with her, Tiffany, and Melissa. It has been a long time since I hung out with them, so I decided to take her up on her offer. The girls would go to the dinner and broadcast and the guys would hang.

We had a great night. We went to Karen's stake where they had catered Olive Garden for Dinner. It was yummy and of course after dinner we went into the Chapel to watch the broadcast.

The broadcast was great. The General Relief Society Presidency spoke along with President Monson. The talks seemed to be perfect for the chaos that is our life. One of the talks that touched me the most was from the 2nd Counselor. She quoted a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants.

D&C 58:2-4 

For Verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. 

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. 

When I first heard her talk I first thought of Jenny and the trials and tribulation that her and her family are going through. I look to her often as my big sister and to see her example and how they are working through much at this present time with the knowledge that if they continue to be faithful, they will be blessed in their trials.

The other talk that touched me was President Monson's. He talked about how we are never alone. Even though we may feel like we have been abandoned and left to figure out things on our own, we are truly never alone. Heavenly Father is always there with us through it all. He promised that and as long as we are faithful and rely on that promise, we will never be alone. 

The broadcast gave me a lot to think about. I am grateful that Karen asked me to go with them or I wouldn't have gone at all.  

Mickey Mouse Party

Tayton's birthday party was on Saturday. He turned 3 this year. He's two weeks older then Owen. They are cute buddies.

He had a really cute Mickey Mouse Club House party. All the kids who attended got a set of Mickey Mouse ears and as the party went on they ran into problem solving situations. If you have ever seen Mickey Mouse Club House you would understand what I'm talking about. During the party they asked "Tootles" for "mouseketools" to solve different problems (i.e. garbage sack to put the wrapping paper in, match to light the candles on the cake, fork to eat the cake, and ketchup for the hot dogs.) They even got to watch a Mickey Mouse Club House movie while they waited for the hot dogs to be cooked. It was so cute and all the kids had so much fun.

 Even Uncle Jeff's had some fun with the Mickey Mouse ears.

Cameron Update

Cameron is doing very well. 

He is acting more like himself these days. He's not confined to the recliner anymore either. He has even been able to have friends over to play. He still has to be aware of not playing to hard or playing things that could hurt him. He also has to be aware of when its time to take a "brain break." He is doing very well with this. 

He's not back to school yet, but he will be in a week for a few hours each day. 

He also got his stitches out a couple of days ago and looks really good. His hair is growing back and its coming back fast. The bump on the back of his head has gone down significantly as well.

Its good to see him acting more himself. 

Picture Day

Gabbi had picture day at school on Friday. I surely wasn't going to buy the school pictures because I take my own, but I thought I would at least take a picture of her at home so we could remember how cute she was on picture day.

Shaved heads

Last night we went over to Jenny and Brian's to get a few pictures with Cameron. Jenny wanted to document all the shaved heads for Cameron with some photos. So after dinner we headed their way.

When we got there Cameron was in a very excited mood. He was asked to shave the heads of a few of the young men in their ward. All these boys wanted to show support and love to Cameron and his family. They, on their own decided that they wanted to shave their heads. But as a fun extra, they asked Cameron to do it. The second we walked in the door he told us that he was shaving some more heads tonight. I was surprised when he said more. I asked him who he shaved already, he happily replied, "My dad and Kayden."

Jenny had just left to drop Miranda off at tumbling, but wouldn't be long so we waited for her to get back to take the photos. When she got home, Owen came in running to show off his head. He of course showed it off by rubbing it. We then took a few quick photo's before the rest of the boys got there. 

When they did get there we decided to stay and visit and watch Cameron have a true blast. He buzzed four of the young men and two of his friends. He was on cloud nine. Jenny had mentioned to him that he could make a good barber, he laughed and said, "What's a barber?" It was funny. Surprisingly enough, he did a pretty good job. He would go as far as he could and then Jenny did the fine tuning. All the boys had a blast letting Cameron buzz there heads and He surely had fun doing it.

On an upside note: Cameron is doing great. The swelling in his face is completely gone, he's able to move around by himself without getting disoriented, and he seems like he's back to his normal self. His hair is even starting to grow back. He has a few more days till he can get his stitches out and then he'll look back to normal as well. Besides the scar that will be on his head of course. He still has a bump on the back of his head where there is a little residual blood build up, but they were told by his Dr. that it would eventually go back to normal. He was and has been in really good spirits.  

Units

Ben started in his new Unit today. He switched Units to fill a position that had more room for advancement. It also meant the change for better opportunities as well. To keep his job he has to stay in the reserves, if he's going to stay in the reserves for that long, he might at well make the best of it and go as far as he can with it.

He's still looking into becoming a Warrant Officer. The position has a lot of pro's and very little con's, so this is probably the track that he will pursue.

I text him at lunch time today to see how things were going with his new Unit. He said there will be a lot to get use to, but he's optimistic.

It will be even better when they are drilling at the beginning of the month again instead of half way through. It has been tough with money this month since we haven't seen his drill pay yet.

Primary Program

Sunday was Gabbi's Primary Program. It was sad not to be able to have Ben there. For some random reason when ever she is in the Sacrament meeting for one thing or another, he never seems to be there. But Nana came to see her, so that made up for it.

She was very excited to be able to sit on the stand. We always stop her from going up there, but now she had a reason to go.

She did such a great job on her lines. She had 2.

          Line 1: Heavenly Father knows my name is Gabbi. I know He loves me.

          Line 2: I am a Child of God.

She had the 2nd line completely memorized, but struggled with the 1st line. The 2 lines were given at different parts of the program. She did a great job on her first line with a little help from her teacher and I waited and waited for her to give her second line. The meeting time was coming to an end when some of the congregation got up and began saying "I am a Child of God." I assumed that meant her line was coming soon. I figured many of the children would get up and say the same line after all the adults were done. Nope it was just Gabbi. It melted my heart. She did such a great job. She had such confidence and bravery in her face when she stood up by herself and said her last line. The last line of the program.

The program was very touching. They all did such a wonderful job. The songs those chose were perfect and to see the bright shinning faces of all the children as they sang them, moved me to tears. I could blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I would be wrong. It was the spirit of those children singing and saying the sweet simple truths of the Gospel.

Buzz Cut

When Ben got home from Drill it was Owen's turn to get his haircut. Ben was finishing up some homework, so I started the haircut. That was a first for me. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

We started his buzz at a size 5 and worked our way down to the length we wanted. None of the sizes seemed to do the job till we got down to size 1. By this time Ben had come out to help and when he did the first pass at Owen's hair with the size 1, I was surprised. It was a huge difference between size 2 and size 1. I almost wanted to yell stop, but it was too late. I told myself that this buzz was for a good reason. I wanted Cameron to know that we love him and that we are here for him. Hair is insignificant and can grow back. Family supports each other and that is priceless.

Ben looked at me, I could tell that he noticed in my face that I was, so to speak, shocked. He verbally said what I was thinking that there is such a big difference from the 2 to the 1. He asked me if he was to continue. I shook my head and he kept going.

It was sad to see all of his hair slowly come off. But Owen was having a blast with it. He kept rubbing his head and saying "haircut." After a while he wanted to be done. The scraps of hair were all over and all over him itching him like crazy, I would imagine. He asked a few time to be done. He was a trooper though.

When he was finally done, he smiled and rubbed Ben's head and then his own. He again said "haircut," with a big smile on his face. We took him inside to give him a bath. It was a big difference in the tub for him when the water hit his head. You could tell that is startled him. But once we were done and in jammies, he walked around the house the rest of the night rubbing his head and smiling.

Army visit

Cameron loves all the military stuff. For his birthday this year he had a birthday party with his friends where Ben came and did Army relay races with all the boys. In essence a mini boot camp. He absolutely loved it.

Ben thought that it would be fun for Cameron to see a real military truck and real military guys. Something to get him out of his chair during his recovery.

A little after lunch Ben and a few guys from his unit went to visit Cameron today. I was happy to see that even though Ben is in a new Unit, there were guys willing to help make the day a young boy. Jenny posted the picture on groupme, so here it is.

Jenny said that it made Cameron's day and that he was amazed by the Army truck.

3 year old pictures

We took Owen out for his birthday pictures on Friday.

We really wanted to take his pictures on or around motorcycles this year. We had planned on going to a few motorcycle shops to take his pictures. They didn't turn out as good as we wanted, so we decided to do some scenery pictures as well. With the 60 some pictures taken, we found a few that we like.

Baby update

Friday morning I had an OB appointment. I am down to a visit every two weeks now. Its getting closer and closer. I'm grateful for that. I am already to be done. Like I said before, I don't enjoy being pregnant.

My OB said things are looking great. My water levels are good, my protein test came back normal, and he's growing like he should. He has gained another pound and is now weighing in at 4 lbs 8 oz. She said that is a little small, but that's normal for my kids. We're right on track.

Cameron recap pictures

Jenny put these together and e-mailed them to the family.

Visit with Cameron

(Thursday)

After we were done with dinner and Ben was done with his class, we headed of to Jenny and Brian's to visit with Cameron and to give them some welcome home goodies. The kids made Cameron Welcome Home cards and they were very excited to give them to him along with the movie Epic.

Before we got out of the car we again reiterated to Gabbi the importance of watching what she says. We reminded her about the comment she told Ben about his haircut and told her not to say that or anything like it to Cameron. She did very well, it surprised me. She sat by him the entire time we were there. She talked to him and tried her very best to make him feel loved and missed.

While visiting with Cameron we also visited with Jenny. She was holding herself together very well despite her own physical ailments running through her body. As we were talking she was describing what it would be like for them for the next few months.

Cam has to be home from school for the next 2 weeks. When those 2 weeks are over he can only go back for a few hours at a time. While in school, they have to let him be in the front of lines, his seat needs to be in the front of the class; all to avoid getting bumped of shoved. He also can't let his feet leave the floor for the next 3 months. Many adjustments will need to be made.

While he was doing his speech therapy they discovered that memory wise he is fine. However he has lost his ability to problem solve. The example she gave us to better help us understand was during one of his sessions. He dropped his pencil and he just looked at it and started to cry. After a few minutes he would get angry and Jenny went to go pick it up. The Therapist told her not to and then asked Cam what was wrong. He said that he had dropped his pencil and the Therapist just said that that was too bad. Cameron then began trying to pick it up, but having to be strapped in his chair he couldn't reach it. So he got angry and started to cry again. The Therapist asked him again what was wrong. They did this for about 10 minutes or so and he gave the same answer, I dropped my pencil. She again asked him what he could do about it and finally he looked at Jenny and then to the Therapist and asked if one of them could grab it for him.

This situation made them wonder what it would be like at school for Cameron. She told them that he would have to have smaller amounts of homework. If the class was assigned 20 problems, then he could only be expected to complete 5 to 10. For a tests she gave the example of a spelling test. Cam could either spell the words he could remember and only be tested on what he could remember or he could be pulled aside separately and given as much time as he needed for the test. That poor kids has been through so much and to continue to have more piled on...

Their biggest concern about school is with just that, special attention. This type of special attention can make others think badly of Cameron and Jenny doesn't want that at all. I don't blame her. Kids who have to be by the teacher all the time and need special attention are generally those who get into a lot of trouble. Cameron is not one of those kids and she doesn't want other to see him as such.

The rest of our visit went really well. The kids were great to Cameron. You could tell that he was going crazy having to be watched like a hawk. He would get on his knees in the recliner, kind of bounce back and forth and every time he did, someone told him to stop. Poor buddy. He is a very active kid and the next few months are going to be quite the challenge for him.

When we left the kids gave him very big "soft" hugs and best wishes.

Haircut

(Thursday)

When Ben got home from work he had borrowed dad's clippers to cut his hair. He too wanted to honor Cameron for being so Brave and fearless in this whole situation. So into the bathroom he went.

When he was done it was quite a surprise. I have never seen him with a buzzed head before. He said the only bad thing about it is he could see how bad he is balding in some areas of his head. =) Owen watched Ben with bright eyes, playing with all the attachments, trying to give them to Ben. He even pretended to cut his own hair. We asked him if he wanted to cut his hair to and he said Yes. He too will be getting his hair cut, once we take his birthday pictures.

By the time he was done, Owen and I left to take Dad back his food processor and his own fresh bread. We also stopped to get some pizza for dinner. When we got home Ben told me about Gabbi's reaction to his new hair cut. She apparently told him that he looked funny and asked him why he cut his hair. He again reminded her of what happened to Cameron and even showed her some of the pictures of him and his new haircut. She just shook her head.

Pictures to follow soon.

Going home

(Thursday)

Just got the message that they are going home this afternoon. They are all very excited and we are very excited for them as well. Waiting to hear when they will be home.

They came home around 3ish. When they got home they came down the street to trees tied with balloons. Two of Jenny's closest friends and the Primary President were there waiting for them. When they pulled into the garage they saw a huge sign of "Welcome Home Cam." All of his friends and neighbors each signed it and some even drew him some pictures. He also got a lot of homemade greeting cards wishing him a quick recovery.

Jenny was in tears with the sweet homecoming. She said the best part was the kids. They neighborhood kids had just gotten out of school and as the kids were coming down the street they all came to visit Cameron. Some of his friends had even shaved their heads to honor Cameron and to make him feel better.

At one point Jenny said that Cameron was overwhelmed by the whole thing, but was very grateful for all of it. When he was feeling more up to it, he came back out and sat on the grass and all of his friends came over to talk to him. They were all so happy that he was home and that he was doing better. They were all very curious. Each of them made him feel missed and glad that he was home.

Race cars for Cameron

(Thursday)

After hearing that they were coming home, I decided to make them a home made goodie. I got some zucchini from dad and made some chocolate chip zucchini bread for them. I also made some for dad since he gave me all the veggies to make it and homemade salsa.

While I was making the bread Owen was playing with his cars on the kitchen floor. As you know Owen loves his cars. He plays with them every day. He lines them up in so many different ways and if you mess with them he gets very angry.

When he was done lining them up I asked him what he was doing. He told me, "Race track." I smiled and then he said "Cameron." So I asked him if he made the race track for Cameron and he said "yes." I thought it was so cute and that it might cheer Cameron up waiting to be released, I had to take the picture to send it to them.

Day 6

(Thursday)

Poor kid has been in the hospital for 6 days now and going crazy. He wants to go home so badly.

His night wasn't the best. They were up every hour because of the pain.

Lucky for him, he was able to keep a few meals of toast down the night before and this morning, so they are optimistic that they will be able to go home today.

Cameron

(Wednesday)

Day 5 brought on some sad news for Cameron.

First of all: he got a hair cut. Jenny said he wasn't very happy about it, but it turned out looking pretty good on him.

He's trying his hardest to do the things that he needs to do in order to go home, but it just wasn't happening. In order for him to be released he needed to be able to eat keeping it down, dress, walk, brush his teeth, etc with little help. Due to him not being able to do some of these things he wasn't going home. He was sad and frustrated. I don't blame him at all.

Jenny said they are on a roller coaster, it changes every hour. His pain varies from hour to hour depending on how much stimulus he engages in.

His swelling is still there, but it has moved around so he can now open his eye again.

This was Cameron's first attempt at eating something. Looks yummy to me. Poor kid couldn't keep it down long enough to even keep his meds down. Better luck next time bud.  

Cameron Update

Tuesday morning brought more swelling. So much that his right eye is swollen shut. Again the Doctor's said that is to be expected. It will be a couple of days before the swelling starts to go down.

His most recent scan looked good, but he is not allowed to go home until he can eat, dress himself, brush his teeth and walk with very little assistance. They are all bummed with this news. I don't blame them. I hate hospitals and I wouldn't want to be there either.

Jenny said that due to this news Cameron is very frustrated, angry, and aggressive this morning. Poor guy :(

Latest News

Latest update on Cameron

He had his first physical therapy and speech therapy sessions just a few hours ago. Jenny said they went surprisingly well. She said that he is in good spirits and hopes that he stays that way. Fingers crossed is how she put it.

Good job Cameron, keep up the good work.