Josie's Kindergarten Graduation

On Thursday Josie had her kindergarten graduation. They sang songs and read poems and then they each received their awards. Josie received an award for being a great rhino, Rylander Rhino's, citizen. Her teacher said that she was always the first to welcome new students and help someone when they were having a bad day. After her graduation we had a picnic outside with all the kindergartners. I can't believe my little girl is done with kindergarten and moving up to fist grade next year. She is so growing up so fast and getting smarter by the day. For part of their graduation they had to say what they want to be when they grow up. Josie said that she wanted to be a rock star. Stay tuned, she may very possibly become one. She is so head strong that once she gets an idea in her head it is very hard to convince her of anything else. She is so funny.

Buddy's baptism

Buddy was baptized on Saturday, May 16, 2009 in Katy, Texas. He was baptized the same day as his friend Hayden Pope. We had a lot of family and friends come to support him. Among those that came were Grandad & Grandma JoAnn, Nona, Aunt Zoie, Hyrum, and Emilee, Aunt Serena and Kevin, Christensen's, Elliotts, Jill Sampson, Hannah Clarke, Mrs. Bellinghausen (Buddy's 2nd grade teacher), Bauers, and many more. We are so thankful for those that were able to make it and know that there were many more who wanted to be there. We appreciate all of your love and support.

That day was very busy. Not only did Buddy get baptized but he had two baseball games and it was his birthday. Needless to say we were on the go all day long. Buddy, however, played a great baseball game that day in the rain.

We are very proud of Buddy and the choices that he has made thus far in his life. He is a huge blessing in our lives. His smile can brighten even the cloudiest of days. He is so sweet and caring to all those around and his brothers and sister love to be around him. He is truly one of the greatest joys in my life. I consider it a huge honor to be his mom and to watch him grow and learn each day.

Mother's Day/Garrett's broken leg

Mother's Day was a very eventful day in our house. Wes and the kids bought me a prenatal massage at the day spa. I was so excited! That sounds so relaxing to me. I also got some beautiful flowers and kitchen accessories. Wes and the kids even put together a mother's day presentation for Zoie and I. It was so cute. They all sang us mother's day songs and told us what they loved about us being their mom. I have such a great family.

That afternoon when I laid down to take a nap I heard Garrett start screaming outside on the trampoline. Wes brought him upstairs to me and he was holding his leg and screaming at the top of his lungs. I figured he probably sprained his ankle or something so I called his orthopedic surgeon and he told me to ice it and keep it up and bring him in the next morning. Wes stayed up all night with him as he moaned and cried. I slept great upstairs in my bed. Wes is such a great dad to stay up with him all night. The next morning I took him in to see the Dr. Devino and it turns out that he broke his leg, about 3 inches above his ankle, in two places. Poor kid! It took him two weeks before he would walk on it but he is up and going strong now. I thought those two weeks were going to kill my back since we had to carry him everywhere. All in all he has been a great sport about it all. We go in on June 8th to see if he can take his cast off or if he needs to have it on for another 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, his leg will be okay and he can take his cast off but if not we will survive.

We're having another boy

Today we found out that we will be having another boy join our family. We were able to take all of the kids but Buddy to see the ultrasound. He is in the 2nd grade musical and they had a performance for the school this morning. I think all the boys thought it would be a girl and had just given into the idea. When they announced that it was going to be a boy Jackson was so excited. I went to school to have lunch with Buddy to tell him what we were having and when I told him he nearly jumped out of his seat. He ran over and told his entire class. Josie on the other hand wasn't so excited. She sat there and tears started pouring down her face. My heart broke for her. I know that one day it won't be so bad today she is having a pretty hard time with it. We are excited to have a new baby join our family at the end of August and I know that he will be a sweet little angel.

Rain in Katy, TX

We had a massive rainfall here in Katy. There was more rain than I have ever seen in the five years we have lived here. I was at the grocery store and recieved several calls from people who knew that I was out warning me to be careful on the way home. I didn't think too much of it because the roads were pretty clear when I went to the store even though it was raining. Luckly, Wes took photos so that we could remember it. We have a great drainage system here and so the water didn't stay standing for long but while it lasted it was bad. On my way home there were stalled cars all over the roads. I was in Wes' truck and so I didn't have any problem getting through. There was so much standing water that it was over the curbs and into the grassy areas. It was crazy. I have honestly never seen anything like it before.

Briana Update 4/17/2009

Teri arrived safely at the Burbank airport this morning and had a happy reunion with Eric and Leyna. They went to the hospital and spent the balance of the day with Bri (noon-7:00 p.m.).

Bri’s was doing better today but was still draining lots of fluid. The dr. said the fluid is being generated by the liver as it recovers from the trauma of Monday’s surgery and heals. Teri reports that Bri’s stomach, legs and feet are swollen. But that’s to be expected as long as the liver isn’t working at full function, after all, the liver is the body’s master filter. With 40% of it being removed and the trauma that’s been imposed on the portion that remains, yes, the filter’s experienced a tremendous shock that will affect its function. Over time, drainage should cease and the edema (swelling) throughout Bri’s body will subside.

Bri was able to wash her hair for the first time this week. She wasn’t thrilled with the two-in-one shampoo/conditioner provided by the hospital. When Teri offered the shampoo and conditioner she brought from AZ, Bri was quick to take her up on the offer.

One of Bri’s former high school and volleyball club teammates, Ale (Coquelet) Ray, lives in our ward. She’s the Beehive advisor. Ale coordinated a service project in which, over the past few weeks, she told her Beehive girls stories about Bri – as an athlete, a friend and a mother. She showed the girls pictures of Bri and her family. Ale helped her girls make a Care Package – the girls donated books for Bri and her children; wrote personal letters to Bri; included candy for whomever might like it; and other things that I don’t recall right now. Ale was so excited to have Teri take the package to Bri! Although Teri hasn’t told me about the details, I imagine eyes filled with tears of joy and appreciation as Bri saw the gift of love from a long-time friend who took time out of her busy life to say, “I Love You.”

I spoke with Bri for a couple of minutes early this afternoon. She sounded stronger than I thought she might. She was glad to be out of ICU. Today, although she was still weak and fatigued, she walked 3 laps around the hospital ward. Yup, she’s still an overachiever. J Reminder, Teri will let us all know when Bri feels strong enough to take phone calls.

Eric is exhausted. Teri says Cedars-Sinai hospital is 1½ -2 hours each way from Bri’s home. With all he’s been through this week, Eric invited Teri to go to the hospital to spend the day with Bri, tomorrow. He’ll stay home with Kami and Leyna and get some much needed rest and relaxation.

Thus far I’m not aware of any date the dr. might have in mind for Bri’s release from the hospital.

The Lord’s blessings are being evidenced each day as Bri’s strength and attitude continue to return to normal. We recognize the role of ministering angels in her recovery. We’re so grateful for righteous grandparents, cousins, other family members and friends on the other side of the veil who continue to petition the blessings of heaven, and provide service to, her.

We appreciate your love, prayers, supportive thoughts and testimony.

Rick

4/14/09 Update on Briana

I just spoke with Briana at 8:45 this morning. Rick is so much better at passing along information than I am, but he’s teaching this morning and I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible what is going on with Briana. We didn’t speak long as the doctor came in to check her so we had to hang up.

I asked her how she felt and she said “Lousy!” She had a bad night and she told me this is the worse pain she’s ever experienced – much worse than her last surgery. She does feel like she’s a lot better this morning because they are giving her lots of medicine and keeping her pretty much sedated. She says she feels like she’s been sleeping for 24 hours but definitely needs more!

She said they are keeping her in ICU for at least another day. Her platelet count is really low and she is draining blood. They apparently have had to give her numerous transfusions.

She expounded on what Eric told us yesterday regarding why the surgery took so long. She said there was so much scar tissue that they had to cut through to get to the liver that it took them a long time. The doctor said that because there is so much oozing going on still, if he had it to do over again, he would not have allowed any type of chemo for several weeks before the surgery as it’s definitely having an adverse affect on her.

The doctor found quite a few adhesions and little tumors on her liver that didn’t show up in the scans and, as mentioned yesterday, ending up taking about 40% of her liver. He performed ablations (?) – I believe that’s burning out some of the tumors. He did tell her once she’s home, he wants her to have a “chemo holiday” for a while to build her up before they do any more testing. He wants her platelets to regenerate first.

While he was in Florida recently at a cancer convention, many surgeons thought that you should only take out “X amount” of the cancer and then go back about 6 weeks later to take out more. He told Eric and Bri that he disagreed with this theory and thought he should remove any and all cancer he could find at the time – which is what he did. He doesn’t want to go back in later and he says he removed every bit of cancer he could see. Bri says she’s very grateful for his way of thinking!

Again, she is doing a lot of sleeping and they don’t want any phone calls or visitors at this time while she’s in ICU – which will be at least another day. When they release her to another room, and she’s feeling up to it, Eric will take her cell phone up for her so she’ll be able to receive calls on her cell phone at that time.

If you have any specific questions, please let me know and I’ll find out from Eric.

We thank you for all your love, prayers and concern in Bri’s behalf. Eric told me he and a Bishop in the area gave her a blessing last night because she was in so much pain. We know she’ll be fine, especially because of all your love and support!

Love you lots!

Teri