And we're back!

Whew! That was a whirlwind of a trip to Salt Lake if we ever had one! In one day there was an echo cardiogram, then a break for a few hours at which point we headed over to Temple Square for a while




then a heart cath lab, (surgery)
a CT scan, and an angiogram! Afterwards was 6 hours of recovery, a quick chat with the doctor, and we were on our way! Our heads are STILL spinning! In a good way-- you can't beat being at your own HOME. I, for sure, was not expecting to really be home today. I mean, we can hope, but it almost never happens that way!
Dr. Cowley said that things are looking pretty good right now for Nick. As I mentioned previously, this trip was mainly for information gathering and to see if we need to pursue another open heart surgery/ tumor resection in the near future. It appears that Nick's amazing little heart is working miracles and somehow compensating for this "larger than a golf ball, 5 cm tumor" inside of it. We (and they) don't know how, but it is. And as far as I'm concerned, "ours is not to question why".
The Dr. is going to review things some more, but for now the plan is to not rock the boat, as long as we're not experiencing troubles with the ICD or other things, and as long as Nick remains stable (of sorts).
YAY!!!YAY!!YAY!! I'm just SO THRILLED that it isn't BAD news. And so THANKFUL to Heavenly Father for his mercy and blessings!!

Nick did awesome for his surgery and his recovery was one of the best I have seen. He slept for quite a while and I think it really helped. He was much more pleasant coming out of it than usual.

Funny:
Someone gave Nick this stuffed dinosaur-- which we later named Dave. And we put a pair of Nicks spiderman underwear on Dave the Dinosaur. Nick then proceeded to sing a little chant from the recently released movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks" where the chipmunks sing "Dave likes to wear-- DIRTY UNDERWEAR!!" He got the giggles over that. It was pretty cute. And funny. Therefore a picture and a story so I will remember it. :D

PCMC

We're back at Primary Children's Medical Center again today. Nick had his echocardiogram at 9 this morning and is currently in surgery having his heart cath done. I can't even tell you how WELL he did going into the operating room. No tears. No worries. No holding back or clinging to Josh or me. He ROCKED! The team was dumbfounded. Nick was hamming it up for them too. He does this thing sometimes where he pounds his chest twice with his right fist and then throws the peace sign (I think)and says "Word." He did that several times for them. LOL. And gave knuckles, and even the I love you sign. He was happy that he got to choose what flavor gas to smell to go to sleep-- it changed a few times, but I think we landed on Watermelon.

It's so weird sometimes being here. Today they are just kind of trying to gather more information and see how things are looking, and we really haven't much of a problem since the the last time we were here in March, so today even though this is considered a major surgery and they are using general anesthesia and all, Josh and I are SOOOOOO much more mellow than usual. I'm really kind of surprised by the (comparitively) non stress we seem to be feeling right now. I think that maybe it's because we know that Dr. Cowley is the one operating (this is his specialty) and we know how dedicated he is to taking good care of Nick, and maybe also because compared to other surgeries we've gone through with Nick this IS NOT as major. It's no tonsilectomy, but it's not OPEN HEART either.

Nick was fun on the way down here yesterday. He "missed Paul" about 20 minutes after we got on the interstate, and at the same time was so excited because he was going to get to have a sleepover at "the Ronald McDonald" (house). We stopped once on the drive to stretch our legs
and he gathered a whole handful of rocks and one "special" one for Dr. Cowley (of course, And he made sure Dr. Cowley had it in his hands before the surgery!)
The other rocks are for everyone else he ever met. Seriously. I made him put a TON back. :) He bounced all over the place last night and didn't go to sleep until after midnight. (Lucky for him 'cause he had to eat his last food at midnight too!-- only clears until 11 this morning and then nothing until after surgery). He's been crazy happy about riding elevators this time and ALWAYS wants to push the button. While we miss Paul and Drew, it's always interesting and kind of fun to see one of the kids all on their own. They act so... differently!

If all goes well, we may get to come home tomorrow! Otherwise, we'll keep this journal updated! Much Love!!

8 YEARS!

Yesterday, June 15, Josh and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! (And Fathers Day!) It's amazing how the time can fly by! On the one hand it feels like we've been together FOREVER, and on the other hand I can hardly believe it's already been 8 years!! I know that I am very blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. He's so good to me and our children! When I was about 17 I wrote a list of all the qualities that I would want in a husband. (Go ahead... think of all the qualities that you would want in a husband) from dimples to sense of humor, child rearing capabilities and a testimony of the Gospel, strength and character, romantic, funny, a love of traveling, musical talent....! The list I made was MUCH LONGER and believe it or not, years later when I stumbled upon the list it made my breath catch and my heart stop to realize that he truly is everything that I ever wanted! He has EVERY quality that I had dreamed of and even the ones that I had noted would be nice but not a necessity! EVERY ONE.
One of my favorite things about our marriage is that we have so much fun. NO ONE makes me laugh or understands my sense of humor like he does. I love you Josh!! I can't wait to spend eternity with you-- in fact it may not be long enough!

Grandma's Birthday

Tuesday was my Grandma Elva's, Birthday. She passed away from cancer when I was 2 months old. Even though I never knew her, this day always stands out to me. It's a special day. After all, it was on this day that the woman was born who would give me one of my greatest gifts-- my own wonderful mom. The boys and I took the opportunity to go visit Mom. I would imagine it's a special day to her too.

While we visited Mom, she did all those wonderful things that mom's do. She made some food, she talked with me, she read a story to the 2 little ones, and she even participated in the "doctor" game that Andrew and Nick chose to play.

I watched as Nick informed her of the procedures he was performing on her:

*An EKG where her heart would "draw a picture if she sat real still-- and don't worry 'cause the stickers won't hurt you"
*Taking her blood pressure and listening to her heart with a stethoscope
*Putting a mask on her and asking her what flavor she wanted to smell to go to sleep [for anesthesia] She chose bubble gum for anyone who might want to know :D and telling her to count to 10. (I had forgotten about that one because Josh & I are usually out of the room at that point.)


Andrew is picking up on the tricks of the trade too. He examined her ears, listened to her heart and enjoyed taking her blood pressure. He also reassured her repeatedly that HE was the doctor. LOL

She is such a great sport! She even took her turn as the doctor and did an echocardiogram on Nick!

We love you Mom. SO much. And we love Grandma too, for giving you to us!

Catchin' up.

I decided I should do some updating since it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything. Here are some of the things that have taken place in the last few weeks:

*There was a father/son overnighter at Dawnatta Hot Springs that Josh took the boys to, and then decided to finish the trip off by visiting with Stan and Aubrey and their kids (and make a pit stop at the Pepperidge Farms factory for some Mint Milano's-- since it IS on the way!) The boys had a fun time camping and have been after me ever since to go camping again! Nick made fast friends with the ward clerk and apparently wouldn't leave his side, but come the next few Sunday's he acts like he doesn't even know the poor man. He's such a tease. Here's some pics of me sending them off.





*Paul finished up Kindergarten and is now going to be a FIRST GRADER!! That means a FULL day, two recesses, and LUNCH at a new school! He's very excited about it. This is him and his bus stop buddies coming home on the last day of school. As you can see by the winter coats, it wasn't a very warm day!






*I had a movie night with the rascals while Josh was playing in the band one night. We made "homemade" air popped popcorn and rented Snowbuddies from the Redbox. I thought they'd fall asleep early cause we'd had a big day, but they surprised me by staying VERY awake! We had a fun time.






*We had the usual mischeiveousness -- such as this:


I think I'm still finding KIX cereal in and under the couches! LOL

*And we just got Nick and Andrew signed up and registered for Pre-school for this next year. They got to go and meet the teacher yesterday and are very excited. Nick will go 3 days a week and Andrew will go the other 2.

*OH! We woke up to SNOW today. Seriously. It was more than a heavy frost and it did melt fairly quickly, but SNOW in MID-JUNE. So, I feel justified in turning the thermostat up a couple of degrees, even if it is "Summer". Craziness!