Deep Thoughts...

Today I needed a few things so I went to the store and got them. I maybe had 10 things in my cart. I walked along the row of cashiers looking to see where the shortest line was. There really wasn't one. So I stopped at one and began to wait. A man (I will use that term loosely here) came up behind me with a more full cart than I. While we waited he kept pushing his cart closer and closer to me (one of my many pet peeves. It won't make the line move faster!) So I just stood my ground. Then a clerk walked up to me, looked at me and said "Ma'm I'll help you right over here at this register." So I began to walk over and the guy behind me whips his cart around in front of me, starts to unload it onto the  belt. I, meanwhile, was holding my tongue...what I wanted to say was "Ma'm, I'm sorry about your facial hair problem" (he had a beard) I also wanted to give him a lesson in politeness, consideration, common courtesy...but it would have come out in a yell so...you get the idea. He ticked me off! But ultimately it saddened me because this is a small example of how selfish the world has become. 

But on my way home I saw this...

A farmer along Hwy. 77 has these set up in his field. They made me laugh and smile all the way home. 

More of our life...

Lately we have been fairly quiet and at home. Bryan is now back at work and very glad to be there. Hard to believe that the 8 weeks are almost done and yet it seemed like so long when they began. He is doing great. Still on the meds to control pressure, clotting and rhythm but that hopefully will only be through Spring. I am back with the kids 3 days a week but in February will transition to 2 days a week. Looking forward to having Mondays off with Bryan. 

I am sure that Bryan will be glad when he doesn't have to spend so much time in this Dr. office getting his blood checked 3 days a week. But he has maintained a great attitude through this whole thing. I have had my moments but he has been awesome. 

Speaking of Bryan, it is his birthday today and I am so grateful for the 33 years that we have had celebrating birthdays together. 

Since the kids had Monday off this week they came out on Sunday and spent the night. I had run into Amani and her mom at Trader Joe's on Sunday afternoon so we threw her into the mix for Amiah to have a sleepover with. What fun to surprise Amiah.

The weather was amazing. 66 and sunny. Then Monday was sunny and not quite as warm but still warn enough for the kids to put on skates and head to the pond to do some skating. They had never done it and both girls did amazing!! Hudson just wanted to wear his cowboy boots. 

Amani headed right out.

It took Amiah a few minutes to get her "sea legs" but once she got them she took off and they spent 2 hours out on the pond.

We did pause to have hot chocolate down by the pond by the fire. It was wonderful. S'mores made their way into the mix also.

Then it was back on the ice for more skating.

After we were all throughly worn out we headed back in and WHAT? it was only 11:00 a.m. So much day yet to go. 

Boden did have to give Bryan some lessons in Super Heros and who they are and what they do. Ironman and Batman.

Over the weekend Bobbi and Travis got another dog. This tiny little boxer is Josie. Jax looks HUGE next to her. They are both sweet dogs. 

Ashley and Jayme went skeet/trap shooting on Sunday in that perfect weather. They had a great time.

Bobbi colored Jayme's hair. I love it!! Ashley's friend, Nikki, took this picture of her when they were out shooting.

So that catches us up a bit and I am just so grateful on this day of Bryan's birth that he is healthy and getting stronger every day.

A couple heart videos

Dr. Miller did the echo and cardioversion of Bryan's heart and I asked if I could take a video. 

And sometimes you get surprised

Yesterday Bryan had his follow up with his cardiologist. That was at 10:45. By 11:30 he was checked into the hospital because his heart was out of rhythm and beating too fast. So they put him on meds and then today he had to have a transesophageal echocardiogram to check his new valve and make sure there were no clots. None and the valve looked great. Then they did a cardioversion (shock) to get his heart in rhythm.

 That worked and now we are waiting to go home on this snowy day.

The Heart - An Unexpected Journey {Part 6} and Beyond

On Tuesday, December 17 Jon and Alicia came out and visited. It was such a fun time with Navy and Satchel. 

On Wednesday, December 18, Bryan had and appointment with Dr. Oakes {yes I have misspelled that in the past posts. My apologies to him.} Once again I was reminded of what a sweet and caring man he is. He gave Bryan a clean "2 weeks out" review. He said that in about 4 more weeks Bryan can "climb Mt. Everest if he wants to." He also said "when I operate on someone of your strength and muscle mass I use double wires to secure their sternum." There by giving Superman yet another confirmation of his strength.
I made some cookies to give to the Dr. and staff there. A small thanks for peace of mind.

The 19th I celebrated turning 55. I did make my own cookies, but as I told Bryan, I had the pleasure of getting to make them and getting to eat one.

The girls all came out for supper and we had such a good time just being together and talking. I am so grateful for such wonderful girls. They are a treasure.
It had been a very quiet 2 weeks at home just helping Bryan get some strength back. On Monday, December 23 I was back to taking care of the kids and I was looking forward to seeing them. We had a little Christmas of our own.

We ate cookies, drank hot chocolate and played with Legos most of the day.

Thursday, December 24 Bobbi was on Worship for the Christmas Eve Services. Ashley, Jayme and I went to the 2 o'clock service then came home to hang out with Bryan and cook some food.

We also watched the 4 o'clock service online. It was a service worth seeing twice! That has been so great for Bryan to be able to "attend" even though he has to be home. lf you are interested in watching a service they run Saturday nights at 7 p.m. central time and Sundays 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. central time. The link is on our website. lincolnberean.org (I realize a lot of you know this but some don't) Jayme tried to relax by the fire but Mae wanted to cuddle.

Bobbi and Travis came out after she was done and we had a lot of food and just had fun sitting around talking and watching Jax (their dog) 

The girls spent the night and we woke up Christmas Day and opened our stockings.

Mae and Oliver weren't too interested in theirs.

I took Bobbi in to go spend some time with Travis and his family, picked up Ferne to come out to spend time with us. While we waited Ashley and I did the chores.

Bryan drank tea out of his new Superman mug.

Then about noon Bobbi and Travis came back out and we had such a wonderful time together. Ferne and Travis opened their stockings.

We ate a late lunch and opened presents. Such a fun day together.

They all entertained themselves with a dart gun set that I had gotten Bryan to play with while he healed.

The dogs all thought they needed to be on the loveseat with me.

Thursday, December 26 I was back with the kids and Bryan was home. 

Friday, December 27 our friends, Tom and Carmen Christie came out to visit. They have moved to Iowa and it was so good to see them. Tom brought Bryan one of his miniature duck carvings. It is absolutely amazing. Tom is a 5 time World Champion Duck Carver. 

The ducks are maybe 2 & 1/2 inches by 1 & 1/2 inches. The entire sculpture is 7 by 4 and 1/2 inches. So detailed and engineered so that the ducks appear to actually be flying.  He balanced them all on one wing of one duck on the base. The shadows are painted. The whole thing is just so amazing. Easy to see why he is a world champion.

Saturday, December 28 Bryan wanted to just get out of the house so we ran a few errands in town. Then I was possessed with a fit of cleaning setting the house to normal so I took the tree down and put things back where they belong.

Sunday, December 29 Ashley turned 29. 

Those 29 years have gone so fast. 

Her Golden Birthday. She had a little party at her house and Bryan and I went for a bit. I made food for the party and a gaudy golden cookie bouquet for her.

Monday, December 30 I was back with the kids in town and Bryan was home.

I was taking care of some super little heros!!

 Which brings us to today, the final day of this very interesting and at times painful year. We are so grateful for our family and friends. For all the prayers offered up on our behalf. Grateful that we have three wonderful, loving and caring daughters. 

As I look to 2014 I find myself looking forward and being grateful that I don't face the future with fear but with hope and faith and trust that God has my best interest at heart.

Happy New Year to all of you.

The Heart - An Unexpected Journey {Part 5}

Our time at home is very peaceful. Bryan is getting stonger by the day. Sometimes it is hard to look at him and think that he needs to rest and take it easy. He looks so good.

Bobbi came out Saturday afternoon and hung out with him so I could run some errands.

I got Bryan a Superman T-shirt so he posed for the girls.

On Sunday we spent a wonderful day watching the service, enjoying Christmas music, watching the snow fall, watching football and knowing that we didn't need to go anywhere. 

I went out and took care of the animals and just enjoyed how beautiful everything looked. That white hen just loves being outside. She didn't seem to mind the -7 wind chill. Probably because she is the size of a small turkey...

I wrapped a few presents, sat by the fire and worked on a project, stepped outside and thought it looked like Narnia and then inbetween football games we watched "A Charlie Brown's Christmas". Always a treat. 

I'm so thankful for the thoughts and prayers of everyone and so thankful for the progress that Bryan has made and is making. 

The Heart - An Unexpected Journey {Part 4}

Today is Wednesday, December 4. Yesterday I got to the hospital at about 8:45 a.m. and Bryan greeted me with "I guess I'm going home today." Whoa! All of his Doctors and nurses were just in awe of the fact that an open heart redo was ready to go home just 3 and 1/2 days after his surgery. So at 2:30 p.m. we loaded him into my car and I began the drive home. I never realized how bumpy roads are until I was trying not to jostle him...they are bumpy!! But we got home and got him settled into his recliner in front of the fireplace.

He told me this morning that he slept much better here at home than he had at the hospital. 

I have to just tell this story from the hospital. One of his cardiologists was in talking to him and said that his surgeon had said, "For awhile there during surgery I thought I was operating on Superman I had so much trouble getting through his chest bone." This was extremely funny to all of us in our family because the day before surgery Bryan had jokingly said to the girls "The hardest part of the whole thing will be trying to cut through my chest. They may have to call for extra blades." True story! So the next day I brought him his own talking Superman toy. The Drs loved it.

On the subject of all of his doctors....I tear up thinking about what they did for us and how they cared for Bryan. They were amazing. This may sound confusing to anyone not from Lincoln because the hospital is called Bryan Memorial Hospital and the Heart Team is called Bryan Heart. Appropriate! 

His surgeon, Dr. Oaks, had his 40th birthday the day after the surgery. He was extremely caring and stopped in to check on Bryan several times a day. Not to mention the amazing things he did with Bryan's heart. His cardiologist, Dr. Meckle was in and out all the time he was in there, checking and adjusting meds and making sure that every need was seen to. So much care. I never once wondered what was going on because they always had someone or they themselves came and explained stuff to us. On Monday Dr. Oaks came in and said "You COULD go home tomorrow but that would be world record healing from an open heart redo and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with how fast the turn around is. I've just never seen this!" It is amazing considering they had told us that he would be moved to a room from ICU on Monday...But then when Dr. Oaks came in yesterday he said, "I have run out of reasons to keep you and unless you want to stay, you are certainly ready to go home." I can't thank all of them enough. Every nurse, tech, aide etc. treated us with such kindness and care. 

We have to be very careful of colds and flu right now and also because of what was done we have to control salt intake for at least 2-3 weeks so that his heart doesn't have to work so hard to get his fluids out of his body. Also he can only drink 48 ounces of liquid a day for the next 2 -3 weeks. 

So we are home, by the fire, watching birds at the feeder, listening to Christmas music and being so grateful.