Another ER visit!

 Just 7 days later......into the ER we go. 1:30 am Victoria is vomiting and in horrible abdominal pain. Her drain hurts immensely and she can't keep any of the pain meds down let alone keep the anti nausea pills in her stomach.  New diagnosis.......Small Bowel Obstruction. The ER doctor was trying to assign her new doctors, one of which we know would be pushing for surgery so I immediately started texting her GI surgeon and her GI doctor in Ogden. We convinced that the best thing to do was to let Victoria go home so she could make it to her scheduled GI appointment in Ogden. The third ER doctor that came in finally thought that it was a good idea and let her go home. So after 7 hours in the ER, getting her 10th IV since the first of the year, labs, drugs, you name it, she saw her GI doctor. No surgery for now. She has so many people praying for her. 

We are starting a new week and we are demanding 

NO ER THIS WEEK!! 

Is he Alive??

Sam will be 16 years old in May!

He is going deaf and sometimes doesn't seem to know what is going on.

And he sleeps like a rock!

It freaks me out when he sleeps super soundly.

 

Totally Random

Kaleb lost his hat and found it the next morning frozen in the ice under his truck.

I had to wait for it to warm up a little and stomped on the ice to pull the hat out. 

Victoria finding Doug's sweet spot!

Kaleb and I went out walking at 11 pm. Look how bright it is? 

Kaleb is always up for adventures no matter what time of day or night. 

 

More Snow!

MORE SNOW!!

 

Ambulance to ER

Okay Victoria, YOU WIN!! 

If you are trying to win some contest or something, you win!

Doug jumped the fence to chase deer. The snow level being so high, makes the fence very low. So it's easy for Doug to jump. But Victoria didn't think he was coming back soooooo she jumped the fence to chase him but started having bad chest pain. She has had chest pain for the past couple months but this time it was really bad. She managed to get Doug back but could barely make it home. Kirk and I were on our way to lunch with Kathy and Troy and got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident on Main st. When Daphne called telling us what happened and in talking with Victoria who couldn't breath or talk, we called 911 to see who could make it home to her first.

It was a good thing I was driving. We beat the ambulance by just a couple minutes. They gave her three rounds of albuterol for severe wheezing and transported her to the ER.

It took three hours for her heart rate to drop. Now for a new diagnosis....she has C-Diff from being on antibiotics for so long. SO now shes on a new antibiotic.

It's pretty bad when the CT Scan people and the ER nurses recognize you.

Jared told Victoria she needs a Frequent Flyer Card for the ER.

 

Tons of Snow in February

If I hear anyone crying that we are in a drought....I will slap them silly!

Have a Seat

Merk spent about 30 minutes digging in the snow playing with snowballs and ice.

4-H Rugrats

Kirk usually comes with us to Dog 4-H every week to help. It's about the only time he gets out to be social with the other parents after working all day in the basement for work. There is one family with 5 kids that we absolutely love. They are horse kids which mean they don't care if they get dirty. The oldest, Wyatt is 9 and then he has two little sisters that are in the program too. 

As you can see they are helping Kirk carry the crates!

These kids don't do this to anyone else but Kirk. It is so funny!

We came home to the destroyed puzzle that Thunder messed up. Darn Cat! It was almost DONE!!

 

Snowshoeing with Doug

Doug is a pretty good companion to go snowshoeing with until he catches a whiff of a deer or something and could easily drag me up the side of the hill! BUT....I had a hunk of turkey in my pocket so I could always grab his attention with the thought of getting a little piece of that turkey!

On the way in on the trail, he sniffed everything....literally....stepped off the trail and sunk up to his belly where he proceeded to drag his belly along the cold snow. The St. Bernard in him loves the snow.

 

Capital Day on the Hill and 4-H Prom

4 Days after getting out of the hospital, we drove Victoria down to Salt Lake City to the State Capital building for Capital Day on the Hill. The 4-H State Ambassadors got to meet Senators and listen in on some of the meetings.

For kids who are always goofing around and having fun, they look so serious that they look silly!

They call this photo their Album Cover.

This is a really good group of kids. They are from all over the State. They meet weekly over Zoom and plan State events for 4H. They have learned so many leadership skills. It is amazing to see them all grow in such a short amount of time. I'm so glad that Victoria was able to make it to this. She is still in a great amount of pain but you wouldn't know it because she does a good job of hiding it.

The next day was 4-H Prom in Spanish Fork.

Kirk and Victoria painted the backdrop for photos. It was a 007 theme.

Victoria and Myanna accepting their Mission!

4 DAYS

Well, Victoria rang in the month of February with a hospital stay for 4 days. 

She needed IV antibiotics to get her body back under control. Another IV, more blood draws, another CT Scan. She's smiling because the antibiotics and steroids are working. 

Complications to Crohns Disease sucks.

She tried eating lasagne from the cafeteria but it came literally burnt. It was pretty bad. So we brought food in for her to eat. With a very little appetite, she wasn't eating much anyway. I stayed over night with her so she didn't have to be alone. Plus, we didn't want to miss the doctor when he came in. It took three days for them to decide NOT to do surgery. What a relief!

Olivia kept Victoria happy and entertained!

The rest of the family came after church to keep her company.

 

Sunday Skiing

I love it when the sun is going down. My favorite time of day.

Kaleb and I cross county skied and Victoria and Kirk snow shoed. 

At one point Kaleb went on up ahead of me. I was enjoying the peace and quiet. I started thinking about the Bible passage of wolves hiding in sheeps clothing and I thought I heard something behind me!

I instinctively turned around to look behind me and literally fell over.

I ahd to laugh at myself and my ridiculous feelings.

The funny part was when we were headed back down the hill and Kaleb heard me come up behind him. He turned around and fell over, just like I did. Made me laugh.

Victoria hates the car that she is supposed to be driving. She barely drives right now anyway because physically, she's not up to it with the way her body is acting. And when she does drive, she conveniently takes the truck because she claims that she would have to dig the car out. I don't know why we still have this thing. Nobody likes to drive it and it has been buried in the snow all winter!
 

1 Year Anniversary

Cache Cowboy Church celebrated it's first year January 29th, 2023

Our little church plant is pushing forward even with constant enemy attacks.

We know for sure that we are on the right track with the number of attacks we endure on a daily basis. But we are resilient. And no one ever said it was going to be easy serving Jesus.

Our tech guys working hard. You can tell when it gets a little intense because Kaleb giggles more and Jared chews his gum harder!

We've had a good group meeting every week and have a potluck lunch afterwards.

 

Black Light Agility

This has to be one of our favorite events for the Cache County 4-H Dog Program.

We set up Black Lights and stick neon tape to the Agility equipment.

We had 34 kids and dogs come!

Kaleb and Victoria even ordered light up sunglasses to wear. I have no idea how 

they could see in the dark but they wore them.

This all started at the Fair. Late on Saturday night we would turn out the Arena lights and put glow sticks on the dogs and around the equipment and let the kids run agility with glow sticks. Then we got moved and there is a light post right over our arena space that we can't turn out, so we save it for January when the kids and dogs need something fun to do. We turn out the lights in the arena and have a great time with treats, music and just messing around waiting for your turn to run agility with your dog. It's fun and a favorite for the kids. 
 

4-H Winter Retreat

I wasn't supposed to go.

I didn't want to go.

But, Victoria got another abdominal drain because the fistula from Crohn's Disease is still draining......so......I'm going to 4H Winter Retreat.

Which means, that I am helping with Winter Retreat.

The Ambassador Leaders were happy I was going because then they didn't  have to worry about Victoria. She was in quite a bit of pain and it actually worked out better that I was there so I could see how much she was doing to help her manage her pain.

She pretty much had her own person nurse.

The Retreat was in Provo Canyon just up from Sundance. It was beautiful. I think God knew I needed a break. In between chaparoning, I managed to sneak time alone. I even got my own room. It was pretty awesome!

I helped the Ambassadors get ready for check in. Within the first 30 minutes, they got a balloon stuck in the light fixture and used a hoola hoop to get it down. At least they are resourseful.

Victoria and Olivia taught their workshop on Conflict Resolution. I was really impressed with all of the workshops but I think this one was the most fun. The kids learned quite a bit in a fun way. And Victoria did sit most of the time. I don't think she would have made it through 4 times with 32 kids each time if she was standing. Can't tell she has an abdominal drain huh? No one knew, except for the Ambassadors and Olivia. Victoria is a pretty tough kid.

The camp was closed just the week before due to the snow level. Good thing it opened up for the week for 4H. That would have been pretty sad if they had to cancel it.

This was proof that I managed to get away and do some snow shoeing......by myself. Life at home has been a little stressful dealing with Crohn's Disease.

The Ambassadors and Design Team

This is what happens when you leave kids alone for 10 minutes.

They get creative and stack chairs.

No one knows about it....if you know what I mean.....

This didn't happen......

Early Morning Visitors

Every morning when Kirk gets up for work,

I get my early morning visitors in bed.

Douglas hops onto the bed and pretty much takes up ALL the room. Then Merk jumps up to get his share. I have no idea how we got all these black and white dogs.