Five is our lucky number

We can't believe it's been about a month since our last post. It just goes to demonstrate how busy our lives have been. We had a last minute shunt replacement in the middle of Oct, and I mean last minute and we were in and out of there so fast it's hard to imagine.

It started on a Tue when we had been in for a follow up Neurosurgeon visit. Everything looked great, his scan was good, his head looked clear. We noticed that a few of his stitches from his surgery in August were working themselves out from the inside out -- like they do. Not a big deal normally ... but the next day, Grandma Jacquie noticed Cole's head was a little wet on top. Not a lot, but not easily identifiable to what was causing it. Shawn found the same thing around his recent shunt site. So back to the hospital the next day. As soon as his NS nurse saw it, she called in Cole's NS, who cleared his schedule in the morning to move Cole's shunt. The issue ... to many procedures in such a short time had created an area that wasn't scarring up as quickly as it should / might. But the little guy has had 3 surgeries this summer, so not too surprising. His doctor's concern was that the hole created by the stitch would be open too long and could create a tunnel to allow an infection to travel down directly to the shunt. So the option was to address this quickly and cross our fingers. So this time, they moved it to the back of his head. And now were watching him and watching for any signs that we weren't quick enough. We were admitted on Thu morning and out by Fri ... that's right the next day. It's amazing and still remarkable to consider overnight brain surgery. And of course the other goal was to get out before any of us caught a flu bug. Which we've also been lucky enough to avoid.

So now we're just hanging out, keeping low and staying healthy and hoping our only visits to the hospital revolve around check ups.

Who's Bernice...?

We hope you'll forgive this small trip back to Bear Lake for a funny little story and new addition to our home....

When we arrived at the condo and we're running around checking it out and getting set up and noticed this sign on the wall. Shawn repeating the wording back to me asked 'who's bernice'.

Coming into the room, I asked him he was talking about. He pointed at the sign and repeated the message back ... do you see it? Neither did I, because the sign reads "Be Nice" not Bernice!! We laughed and didn't think much of it until Jennifer showed up with the kids and one of them repeated the question asking who was this Bernice character. Then when Brendan showed up and repeated the question - that sealed it and it was one of the running jokes of the trip.

So once we got back home we began settling in to the 'daily grind' of work, doctor appointments, etc. Then early in the week Shawn sent me a note letting me know that the Humane Society had for some reason been overrun in cats of all sizes and colors. So much so they were selling any cat (over a year in age) for $10.00 which included shots and neutering.

I know what you're thinking -- how many animals are they going to have, aren't they nearly a zoo now? But while we were getting ready to leave for Bear Lake we noticed Jacob was acting odd -- bad odd, not good odd. He wasn't eating much and drinking only a little bit more and sleeping more than normal. The day before we left we could tell he was disoriented and so we suspected what was coming. That morning as we were packing up, we noticed he was getting worse. Not wanting to leave him home to struggle more or worse yet leave him with our dear friends who had agreed to stop in, we decided to do the most humane thing and put him to sleep.

It was very hard - Jacob (and his brother Jasper) have been in our homes and lives for 19 years.

That's old even for cats. Jacob (and all of the animals in our home) live a pretty good and cushy life. But we love them very dearly. And when we were so desperately trying to have children and add to our family, they provided a lot of comfort. But it was the absolute right decision. And while we had both decided we wouldn't add another cat to our lives for a while (we've got another 19 year old cat still at home) we melted with the news from the Humane Society. I went online and picked out a few candidates and then headed down to the Humane Society to check them out human to cat. Most were pretty aloof (typical cat behavior). But I was greeted by this little cat who not only walked up to her, she stretched her self up to head butt me on the chin -- she totally knows how to work this system!!

I called Shawn at home (with the sounds in the background giving away my location) and told him to check out "our" new cat online. As I drove home I began to think of possible names (she came with the name "Boots", but that wasn't sticking. Thinking about Jacob and our trip, the name jumped into my brain ---- Bernice! Shawn loved the name too and she (Bernice) began responding too it the next day. Clearly, she was not fond of 'Boots' either.

She's a spunky cat (~2 years old) who'd playful and not too afraid of the dogs or Jasper. Why should she be, she still has her claws. Ellie, who wants to be friends with everyone is trying to be patient before he gives her a big lick on the face :-). Jasper's trying to keep his distance.
And she's fitting in nicely. She's great with kids and most patient with Cole - even when he's petting her extra hard. We think she might even be 'channeling' Jacob as we find her in sunning herself at the sign of any sun streaming in from windows or doors. But we're glad she found her way into our homes. Hopefully she's be just as much fun as Jacob been, she's certainly making great strides in that direction already.

We Love Vacations and Think Everyone Should Take One

We had spent weeks planning for a trip to Bear Lake in August with my sister and her family. We had planned all of the activities including swimming, sailing, hiking, bike riding, checking out the cave, meals - we were giddy with excitement.

Then little Cole got a shunt infection just over a week before our trip. As we waited in the emergency room we calculated how long we would be in the hospital if it was an infection (we'd been down this road before) - once they addressed the infection, we estimated we would be in the hospital at least 10 days after that. So of course we had two options 1] kiss Cole goodbye and head off for vacation (he's little, would he really know if we were there...) or 2] resign ourselves to a change in plans and make the best of it. We were pretty worried though because the cabin/condo we reserved & paid for included a clause in the contract which said NO refunds. But after we got admitted to the hospital we contacted the bear lake facility and explained what happened. Then once we established that we DIDN'T want a refund just to reschedule -- we really needed a vacation -- they were very accommodating and we were very thankful. And with the reschedule, we moved into the fall season (lower rate) and thus we're able to extend the trip by one day. Woo Hoo!!

We headed up Tuesday. We had plans to get everything ready and leave early in the day- the rental facility indicated we could get in early because the place would be pretty empty this time of year. But early on Tue ended up being mid-afternoon, of course. Luckily the storm that was blowing in ended up coming in later that evening so hauling the sail boat wasn't quite as treacherous. We got in and started getting settled and Shawn realized he forgot his cPap (for his sleep apnea) so back to SLC he drove (2 hour drive) while we waited for Aunt Jeni and Uncle Brenden.

The place was pretty nice and BIG - which was great for all 8 of us. We put all of the big kids in their own room (with their own TV & video player)

and then Shawn, Cole, and I had our room with yet another TV and DVD) and Jeni & Brenden in yes, you guessed it, their own room (with TV and DVD) and then two extra TVs in the family rooms - up and down.

Somebody was thinking when they designed this place! All of that entertainment along with the games, puzzles, and video games came in very handy given it was rainy the first two days and we managed to arrive about 2 weeks after the town pretty much shuts down. But all of that rain / storm ended up being good to help us all unwind. We found the indoor pool was open and empty. So by the end of the week when the weather was nicer, we were ready to do a little sailing.

Uncle Brenden was so good to help us get the boat set up, even with Shawn barking out orders (he likes to think he's the captain, but that's clearly me)

We've always found sailing very, very restful (in fact the ride home is the hardest, we're struggling to stay awake). Cole agrees - he fell asleep in Aunt Jeni's arms before we even got underway

The other kids found ways to distract themselves with the Carp swimming near the store / cafe. Jordan CLAIMS he had one of the slimy guys in his arms but we never caught it on film (although he was wet enough to suggest it may have just happened)

Here's Aunt Jeni inspecting the work - Is it ok, make sure you tell us BEFORE we get too far from the marina.

The kids were really good to stay below as we were getting out of the marina. See we gave them tootsie pop suckers to occupy and reward them

Everyone took a ride on top (one of my personal favorite spots). Matthew looks more worried than he was ... someone below was getting a treat that he wanted

It was a little cooler (highs were in the 60's) which is lovely unless you're sailing and looking for wind (which we found) but they didn't seem to mind as you can tell ... where are all of these suckers coming from ...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jordan - really having a good time .... and yet another sucker.

Cole hung out below in the warm of the cabin. We have two of these life vests for him - one for the pool and the other for the sailboat. He doesn't mind wearing it in the pool, but apparently it's not his favorite on the boat. I gave him a little break for a minute ... and the kids looked on.

We ended the week going out to dinner and playing some video games -- some of us clearly play more than others. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until the next time.

Don't let Brenden's expression fool you, he's a monster on the video games. Without even breaking a sweat he's keeping up with Jordan who's a video pro.

This is such a beautiful lake - that water color has not been digitally enhanced - it's one of my favorites.

The end of a really fun trip. as we're packing up and Jordan watching the storm rolls back in for a ride home (we had snow in the canyon on the way through Logan Canyon and rain in Sardine canyon) but the colors in the canyons were so bright and nearly electric.