Pictures of Scott and I... Part 1

Last year we had pictures done, of Scott and I. It was the most frustrating experience, ever! We went to Walmart... and I should have known better when the girl mentioned she was kind of new, and was left by herself there that day.... To make matter worse..... The equipment for the back drops was broken. 

Now everything inside of me screamed.... "Run!!!! Forget it today!!!! It won;t work!!!!" But I was stubborn and wanted to get some pictures of us to send to Scott's mom.... So.... we stayed. I was disgusted with the results... needless to say... 


I found that a friend of ours had started taking photos, and from the work I had seen of hers... I was greatly impressed! Especially since she was beginning... Her photos she had taken of my niece and other people were absolutely amazing... so I called Amy to do pictures for Scott and I.


Late April we met Amy at her house, and she and her sister Annette helped style my hair a bit, and Amy put makeup on me... I looked pretty good, I think.... compared to how I usually look, hair pulled up and back out of my face, maybe a little bit of mascara....


We followed Amy to a park in Pleasant Grove. It was pretty there... it had a little park area, and a little stream and the trees were blossoming.  Quite a pretty scene.  We had a couple pictures taken sitting on a large rock near the stream then went to see if we could cross the stream and Amy take pictures of us on the other side. We went across the bridge but it didn't cross the stream! It went parallel to it.  I tried to step on a large rock to cross the stream first, then help Scott over, however, the first step I took.... down I went,.... banging my knee on the large rock and then falling into the stream. Scott came tumbling down on top of me... 


Well, with my pant left totally soaking, I was laughing pretty hard, though my leg hurt a bit. That adding to the cool water,  and laughing so hard, I had to find an open bathroom...... After a quick trip to the rest room, we took a few more pictures, making sure to "hide" the wet leg as much as I could.


After a few minutes we left to go to another little park area that had a large duck pond..... This time we did not fall into the water! 


Unfortunately as it was pretty early in the day, and the sun was so bright, some of the pictures did not turn out. The ones that did turn out, are pretty good.... Here is what we have.......



This one I was telling Scott if he didnt act nice I was going to bite him, but it looks a little seductive... lol











This one turned out pretty cute... this is the first picture... before I fell into the stream.

This was taken by the duck pond..... It turned out cute too.

Pictures of Jon and Bri's family

I like to play with my camera lately and try to improve my picture taking skills. I decided to try to take pictures of my grand-kids.  So far I have gotten Jon's family, and still need to get the others..... Soon..... Here are the results of the ones I did with Jon and Bri and the kids.....

This is Addy... or Adelyn Grayce. She  is just over a year old.

I decided to get Addy first since she was ready, and to get her quickly while she seemed happy. 







Addy did pretty well, the pictures turned out pretty cute, too!

Uh oh, gotta do this quick... lol






















I was quite pleased with how these turned out!

 Now to get all the girls at once......  This turned out pretty cute.....  Kaitlyn, Addy and Kaisa. They are wearing the Easter outfits I got them. They look so cute!

LOL  I love Addy's grin!

Kaitlyn is quite photogenic.....






















Last one of all the girls together......

Kaisa....... Kaisa is 4 now.

This is a real cute picture of Kaisa. 

That is an impish grin if I have ever seen one! lol  What a cutie!

A snuggly bunny!

Now pictures of Kaitlyn.... Kaitlyn is 7 now. She is getting so big!

What a pretty girl!

Kaitlyn and Kaisa.......

Now... my little, big man.... Kaleb. Kaleb is such a sweetie! I wish we could see him more often... He is now 7!

Kaleb has his dad's mild disposition

Another cutie!

And.... Gage. Gage just turned 3 a little bit ago.

Gage was a little harder to get to sit still, lol....

Poor kid... he is in that clumsy state as you can tell by the bruise on his forehead... lol

And.... FINALLY.... a cute one of Gage! 

Now the challenge.... All the kids at once! well.... not too bad, but let's try again, shall we?

Now this one is cute.... let's try another one.....

Okay, I think the other one was better.... I think we are done.... That's a wrap!

Mid-March Snow fall

Just when it starts to warm a little, Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! This snow was pretty wet and heavy..... Oh.... Where are you Spring?

This is actually taken from Tiffany's hospital room, a block from our house.

Another view of the snow covered mountains

Kaydance sure loves to play in the snow.

She loves to build her snowmen, too

poor little bird house.... no one home

The heavy snow on the pine tree branches, just over my car.....

We got about 6 inches... looks pretty heavy.... and Cold!!

That's better.... knocking the snow off the branches so they don't break from the weight of the heavy snow.

Abby and Ariel love to play in the snow

Heidi thinks she is as tough as the bigger dogs.... she gets half way buried in the snow!~

Poor Heidi is ready to go back in... the snow was up to her tummy or more, so she had little snow balls stuck in her fur.

Tiffany's surgery

Tiffany has been having quite the time of it with her stomach. She had her gall bladder taken out in Dec. 2009, and then in March, they found she had an adhesion that had attached to her appendectomy scar on one end, and then wrapped itself around her small intestine, causing a partial blockage, and attaching to the intestine.

She had gone in to the ER and they decided to keep her overnight as they suspected she would need surgery. I was with her in the ER for a good part of the night, and left around 3 am, after they had put a nasal-gastric tube down through her nasal into her stomach. She was not happy with that at all as they are pretty painful to put in and are uncomfortable. '

Dr. Pugh, the surgeon on call, came in to see Tiffany the next morning. He seemed like an arrogant jerk at first and gave Tiffany a hard time. He accused her of "Dr shopping" though he had not taken the time to hear her history with her pain and the bowels, not to mention the D & C she had to have when she miscarried back in October.

When I came back into see her and see what was going on, he acted a little nicer. I was concerned as Tiffany was in tears and pretty upset. The Dr said he was going to check with the surgeon that had taken her gall bladder out in Dec. and see if that Dr noticed anything curious. When he left the room, Tiffany told me how he had talked to her and the way he had acted. I was furious. The Nurse with Tiffany said he was pretty rude. 

When he came back, I told him he had no right treating her the way he did, especially when he doesn't have all the facts and know her history. I told him it was an arrogant Dr like him back in 2000, that nearly cost Tiffany her life because of an obstruction that was not seen on the x-rays or CT scans. He changed his tune a bit, and was now acting nice. They took Tiffany down for surgery a couple of hours later.

When the operation was completed, Dr Pugh came out and told me that he had found an adhesion band that had attached and wrapped itself around the intestine causing a partial blockage. He also stated that the area where she had the previous obstruction was a little inflamed and starting to constrict. And if the pain didn't go away with the removal of the adhesion band, she needed to come back within the month and have that area resectioned.

Tiffany came home the next day, and seemed a little better for a couple days, but then the pain was back... and it is still a continuous problem getting someone to agree to go in and fix what Dr Pugh should have fixed while he was in there!

This

 This is Tiffany after her surgery, feeling pretty good with the pain meds they gave her. She was pretty funny.... out of the blue she gives me this look and says... "Tatonto"  It is from Dancing with Wolves, and means Buffalo.... I have no idea where it came from, but it was pretty funny.

LOL,.... she is going to kill me for posting these!

"You are getting sleeeeeepy!"










"When I count to 3, you will be asleep.... One,.... Two..... Three!" 

She kept grabbing her cell phone and talking to people that were not there as well.... quite entertaining!

Scott's long walk home

Some time mid Feb, 2010, Scott had been acting a little off. I watched him for a bit in the morning, and then went to a meeting for work. I was only gone an hour. When I got back, Tiffany said that "dad" kept asking where Kaydee was. When Tiff told him she was at school, he replied, "She is just a baby, she can't go to school yet!" This conversation apparently had been repeated quite a few times within a short period of time.  He seemed a little confused and off balance as well.

I got home and Tiffany had told me what had happened, so I decided to take Scott to Utah Valley to get checked. It seems that he may have had some mini strokes. He was having a hard time standing up without losing his balance, and his left side of his face seemed to be a little droopy.

We were at Utah Valley for about 4 hours when Scott lost his patience and was tired of waiting for the results. He was irritated as he could see a couple orderlies sitting at the nurse's station, just talking and he was hungry, and wanted to go home. He threatened that he was going to just walk out.

I went out to find a nurse, and told her that Scott was getting antsy, and since his strokes previously, he was hard to reason with. I asked if they could give him Adivan or something to help calm him down. I never saw the nurse again.... 

About 15 minutes later, Scott gets up and walks out of the room. I went out and found another nurse and explained what had occurred. By then they had the results of his MRI. It appeared there was no new signs that showed up at that time, however, I did notice and learn that there are silver bodies in the dura matter of his brain, and is indicative of Pick's Disease. I had never heard of that before. It is a degenerative disease like Alzheimer's, with no known cure... Life expectency is between 4 - 10 years. It is a form of Dimentia.

Well, I left the ER area, and expected to see Scott sitting in the waiting area for me, but nope, he wasn't there. I was getting frustrated... 

Oh by the way, I was on crutches because I had bruised my knee bone a few days before and was supposed to stay off my leg! Yeah, right!

So I hobbled out to the parking lot, and of course it had been full, so we were parked in pergatory, near the road. When I got to the car, no Scott! I tossed the crutches into the back seat of the car and shut the door, and hobbled back to the ER. I had them check to make sure he hadn't just walked out of the room, and was circling the ER area. Of course, he wasn't there. Someone said they had seen him out by the helipad. That sounded like Scott!

I was panicking now.  I had no idea where to start looking for him! I went out to the car, and drove past the parking area with the helipad, then down around the parking areas of the hospital. 

I called my daughter next. I was so panicked! I told her, "I need you now!" Poor Tiffany got upset and said, "What happened? Did Dad die?"  "No!" I said.... "If he had, at least I would know where he is!" I then told her what had happened. She called my sons, and then got in her car to come down and help look for him.


I know he still has his sense of direction, and knows where he is, but I was afraid he might get hit by a car from not paying attention, or get mugged. It is hard to rationalize and think logically when we are dealing with Scott!

We called the Provo Police, and they came to the hospital and did a report. This way they could keep a look out for him, and if he did anything stupid, they would know he is not right in the mind.


Tiffany, Jon and Bri with kids, and Spence and Renee with kids appeared and we each took an area to search. Tiff had also called my parents, who also joined in the man hunt. After two long hours of not finding anything, we decided to go home to wait and see if he would show up. There was nothing more we could do!

Mom and Dad came over a few minutes after I got home. I had looked up "Pick's Disease" and sure enough, a lot of the symptoms sounds exactly like Scott. Hoo Boy, it is going to get even more crazy! 


We were sitting in the Living Room when the door opens, and in walks Scott..... No coat on, mid Feb. and still a bit chilly, and with the IV needle still in his arm! He had walked all the way home from Provo to Orem, which is about a 10 mile walk! He stopped along the way at Shopko so he could warm up a little bit. But he had walked the back way, and I don't know why, and it had occurred to me to check that way, but I didn't.

His first words out of his mouth when he walked in were "Well, ya got any plans for dinner?" I couldn't believe it! I told him, "Well, ya moron.... You could have eaten a few hours ago, if everyone wasn't out looking for your sorry butt!" I was glad to see him safe, but oh .... so mad at him!

Mom looked at me and had noticed what I noticed when Scott spoke... I don't know why it didn't show, but Scott's mouth still drooped a little on the left side.

I got him fed, after we took the IV needle out of his arm, and then he decided he was pretty worn out from his adventures.... and he slept all night and most of the next day. He complained the next day when he got up that his hips hurt from all that walking.... 

After a few days, he seemed to be a bit better and not as confused.  I think it was a mini stroke... but unfortunately they don't always show up till a couple days after the fact.

I tell ya, he is going to be the death of me yet!

Christmas 2009.

"Twas the Night before Christmas and all through our house, 
The dogs did not stir, nor did my spouse!" He he.....


Our Christmas tradition when our kids were growing up was to wake them up shortly after Midnight to open their gifts. This way we didn't have to keep yelling at them to get back into bed, like my parents did with us, and they could play until they got tired and went to bed. We would watch the kids open their gifts and play for a bit, then went back to bed and let them play. It was nice to be able to sleep in. It also made the day more relaxed and we could then spend the day visiting with family or spend time with each other. It separated the "Santa" part of Christmas from the true purpose as well.

Some of my kids keep this tradition with their own kids. We got pictures of Kaydance after waking her up to open her gifts. It took her a while to get to sleep as she was so excited. As Tiffany and Kaydance were living with us, it was easier to get pictures of her opening her presents.

Santa brought Kaydance a Large wooden doll house that she absolutely loved! Her daddy helped put it together for her.

Later that day we went over to see Jon and Bri and the kids. This is Gage. We gave him a hobby horse that when you pushed a button the horse neighed. He thought it was pretty cool. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn was with her dad and we did not get to see her open her gifts, and Kaleb was down for Thanksgiving. We sent his Christmas gifts with him when he came down for Thanksgiving.

Adelyn Grayce, opening her gift from us. 










 Kaisa looking at the Princess little tent we got for her.

We also got Gage a Basketball shoot game he could play with his daddy. 











 Bri helping Addy open her other gift from us. Ha ha, I can't remember what it was!
 










Kaisa opening her other gift from us. It was a cute little doll that sings "I'm a little teapot."  

After we were done at Jon and Bri's, we went to see Renee and Spencer and their kids. This is Pyper. I got all the older girls a Snow White DVD. I have started getting them the Disney Classics each year a new movie comes out to build their Collection. This is Pyper with her Snow White. She was pretty thrilled with this. 

 Pyper is also into computer games and Wii games. She does pretty well with them too. She has good coordination with a lot of these games. I found a game that hooked up to the t.v. and had 50 different games in the cartridge. 

 For our big Thanksgiving dinner we had met at a Church. The kids got some toys they were playing with in the gym where we set up to have our dinner. One of the things they got out was a shopping cart. Jordan had a blast with it, so I got him one for Christmas. He was just tickled with it.

Pyp

Pyper and Kaydance were just as excited about Jordan's gift and were trying to help him get it out of the box.

 We also got Hordan a tonka set that had a helicopter and police car and firetruck. And of course, like any good grandparent does, we made sure it made noise! 

 My little buddy, Ashton.  I think this is a soft stuffed dog....

We also got him nesting cups, the stacking rings, and a shape ball for eye-hand coordination.

Ashton playing with the stacking cups.

 Jordan playing with his fire truck.

After a long day, back at home, trying to relax. Kaydee played with Abby for a bit, poor Abby!