When all is said and done…

Everything happens so quickly. Life seems to drag, but then goes by so fast. One minute your with your friends and family and everything is hunky dory the next your alone and people you knew and loved are gone. Whether gone back home a 45 minute drive away or gone home to be with those who have gone before us.

On Saturday July 11th a mudslide buried a house on Canyon Road in Logan Utah. As the bluff came down and took the house it took the lives of the 3 people inside of it as well. I’ve read reports that they didn’t suffer. The force that killed that mother and her 2 children was like that of an airplane crash. It happened so fast they didn’t know what hit them. I pray those reports are correct.

This tragedy hit me close to home. Although I didn’t know the 3 whose lives were taken or their families or friends, I know the neighborhood. The community is a wonderful one to live in. Jason & I lived there the first 2 years we were married. When I say “there” I mean right across the street from the house that was demolished. Our apartment more or less would have been destroyed.

How blessed I am. I know the Lord looks out for and watches over every step I make. Sometimes I wonder how it’s decided whose turn it is to go. Why am I still here and some others not? Why do I still have my mother when others don’t?

A few days later on Monday July 13th I had a dermatologist’s appointment to check out some moles, I had one removed and biopsied for cancer. Leaving the appointment wondering what would happen in the following days if that little piece of skin came back with cancerous cells. I had no idea that at that same moment my younger sister was doing everything she could to get my mom who could barely walk to a doctor. It had only been the day before and my mom had sat at the table with us eating a yummy dinner, talking about the mudslide and having a birthday party for her dad.

Later that day my sister called me and let me know Mom had a blood clot from the middle of her calf all the way up to her pelvis as well as a clot in each lung. The doctor made sure to emphasize several times that she is lucky to be alive. How those clots moved into her lungs and that close to her heart and didn’t move any further is a mystery. She should be dead. But she isn’t. She spent the week in the hospital in vast amounts of pain. Procedures were being done and more were coming to try to figure out what had caused this to happen.

Mom is back home now. It will be awhile before she is living life the same way that she was. She is glad when she can get from her bed to the bathroom a few feet away on her own with a walker. The doctor said it would be at least six weeks before she would be able to handle being on her leg for longer than 5 minutes at a time without being in extreme amounts of pain. Right now, it hurts her just to stand up and let that leg hang down and not be elevated, let alone have ANY pressure on it. We do have hope. We have our mom, who in the past we’ve managed to take great advantage of, and she is all right. She is healing faster than the doctor thought possible and so far there are no signs of cancer. They did find a genetic blood disease. Something about a factor K and and S protein? I am not certain on the details but it is something that tells us more of why this happened and something I can be tested for so that I know what to expect in my future.

As for me you ask? I am doing fine. Really. The biopsy came back clean on the mole. Although, I did manage to pick up a bug while I was worried about Mom in the hospital, so my system didn’t fight it like it normally would have. It’s terrible to get sick when you’re stressed. It seems this cough will never go away. My throat burns something terrible and my head just plain hurts. Not to mention I am still getting sick on some mornings, thank you baby girl.

That’s right we have much to celebrate. On Friday July 10th we found out Bracken is going to be a big brother to a little sister! We are all so excited. It was pretty amusing when we would ask Bracken if he wanted a brother or a sister and his favorite answer was, “HORSE!” Um.. okay how about a sister? “Sisser” he says, and points to Mom’s tummy. We’re getting there. One day at a time.

The Birthday Boy

all in a day

Now pictures of the "After Party" at Willow Park.. Courtesy Jake with Dad's camera :)

I am so glad he got a picture of the little man's run.
It is the funniest thing to watch, as he only swings his right arm!

This is my all time favorite animal at this park.
He is the funniest little creature {an albino porcupine}
he climbs his tree like a little bear cub. I love it.
This day he was just sleepin.

Bracken's "ohmygosh" stance.
Much funnier in person, but you get the idea!

I believe it was the tortoise we were all so enthralled with.
He was on the move!

Now for the "After-After Party" :) A few pics outside of Pounders...

My Dad thought he would be funny and aim the camera at me.

Bracken found a hole, a pretty deep one.
It was full of water so he wanted to throw rocks,
although we were a little worried about him getting to close.
{You gotta love that face! Check it out up close...}

Did anyone else notice how many times I used the word fun,
funniest or funnier in here?! We must have had some fun!

...and now he is 2

The Invite...

The Cake...

(yep, I did it :)

The Gifts...

(yes he is a bit spoiled!)

this truck has already made MANY rounds!

I love his cheese it!

The Guests...






...and those who managed to evade the cameras: Grandpa Gordon, Uncles Jake AND Nick, Aunt Amber, Meghan & Brady, Grandpa Eli & Buqe, as well as Mom & Dad :)