Thanks

Thank you to everyone who fasted and prayed with us today. We so much appreciate your support.

One Week Away

Wow, its almost here. Ashtons surgery is a week from today. We are havingg a fast for him on Sunday for anyone who would like to join with us.

From I think its 7 to 8 we have to go out of ICU for shift change so that is usually a good time to visit. The best way to communicate will be through the blog or email. There's not great cell service in the hospital. We will still check messages and texts when we can though.

We want to thank everyone for all your support. We really appreciate it.

He's 2!!

Wow, we can't believe it, Jaxon is now 2 years old (Feb. 11th). K, I know I say this all the time, but seriously, where does the time go?

We didn't get to party with him, yet. Trust me, as soon as we go up we will be partying with the boy big time. Even though he loves gpa more than me I still love the little stink to death. He says everything now, is very adventurous, just like his dad, but loves to cuddle at times. Adventerous, yes. He fell out his bedroom window one day. Thank heavens they are in an apt. that is ground level. He wanted the window open, then he and Savannah were just playing feeling the cold air. He had been rubbing has face on the screen and pushed too hard and it fell out, and so did he, right into the snow. Nate said after they found him to be ok they had to laugh because his face was all black from the screen. He looked like a little chimney sweeper.

We look forward to going up to celebrate with the whole family. In the mean time buddy, quit growing so fast. We love you tons!!

We Have a Date!

We finally have a date for Ashton's surgery.....March 10th. It's kind of hard because it makes it more realistic but its also nice because now we can finally begin our planning. Even though we are scared to death about this, deep down we know it's the right thing to do. Ashton has received some blessings during this process of deciding what to do and deep down we feel a peace.

So everyone keeps asking, what are they doing? I'll try to explain kind of what they are doing. It's called a right PA conduit with a valve. Ashton does not have a pulmonary artery. A normal heart has an aorta, which takes the blood to the body after it has gone to the lungs to get oxygen, and a pulmonary artery, which takes the blood to the lungs after it comes back to the heart after having gone through the body. He has had some other surgeries to help get blood to the lungs to get oxygen, but one of those clogged off a few years ago and so he hasn't had enough blood going to the lungs. It goes to the body, comes back to the heart, and then back out to the body without having gone to the lungs to get oxygen. After a while this starts to cause problems with the blood. Basically his blood is thick, which puts him at a high risk for stroke. Getting more blood to the lungs will help this, and also more oxygen in his blood will help him to have more energy and feel better. So this conduit will be hooked up to the right side of his heart and then go the artery that takes the blood to the lungs. I know, thats confusing. Its kind of like there are two arteries that get the blood to the lungs. He is missing the main pulmonary artery but then he has the artery that takes the blood to both lungs. He also has what is called hypo-plastic right heart which means the right side of his hearat is very small. They had to see if there was a spot on the right side to put the conduit in. That is why he had the cath done 2 weeks ago. And what a relief, they found a spot to put it. He has two holes in his heart also. Usually this is not a good thing. In Ashton's case it has been good. They will be closing one of the holes in the surgery. And we have not yet been told what kind of valve they will put it.

This conduit is something that will have to be replaced. He will outgrow it. They hope they won't have to replace it until he is done growing, between 19 and 21 years. And as with anything, there is the risk of something going wrong with it before then. But after much fasting and prayer we feel this is the best direction to go at this time. Ashton is very nervous about it, but looks forward to the outcome. He looks forward to being able to play ball with his friends, going on campouts and not getting tired so fast, things like that.

We appreciate all the prayers that have already been offered on our behalf. We know they really do help. Thank you to everyone.

Finally!! (This one's for you mom :) )

(I messed up the pictures. This should be down with the others Just continue on down and you will understand what I'm saying.)

I know, I haven't blogged in forever. It was hard to find the time during the holidays, and to tell the truth I haven't been in the mood to blog lately. Not sure why cause so much has happened over the past few months.

Hmm, let's see, I'll try to capture briefly some of the highlights. This might become a little boring, just to warn you. In the fall we had an opportunity to go up north and we did a little photo shoot with Nate's family. This is a just a little sample of what cute kids they have. We had so much fun walking along the train tracks and then there was an old train car and the kids played on it. The leaves were beautiful and I'm glad we got to enjoy them because after we came home is when there was the first real hard freeze, when it was so bitter cold, and it froze everything here so we didn't really have a fall. And usually fall is so nice here. Especially after the hot summer.

Then came Thanksgiving. It was our turn to spend Thanksgiving with Ray's family this year. But I couldn't imagine not spending some time with mom. So on Wednesday after everyone was off work we headed to mom's. We got up the next morning and had a Thanksgiving breakfast with her. This is when it was so cold and I had left some food for breakfast in the trunk. Needless to say, it was frozen solid. Sherri, Gary, Jen and Brayden were also there. It was nice to visit with everyone. Then off we went to have dinner at Michelle's (Rays sister). She is always so nice to host the dinner at her house. We enjoyed a lot of yummy food, but then back home we were headed. Ambrea, Keanna and I all had to work Black Friday, so we needed to get home. (Can't remember if I mentioned that Keanna now works at Michaels also. One big happy family there :) ).

December at work was crazy. Very busy, which is good. We had a fun Christmas party with our family and Brett, my cousin, who works for Ray. Ray Ashton and I took some time and went back up north so Ray and I could go to a Christmas party with the company he works for (so much yummy food this time of year). We spent a lot of time with Nate and family, it was a lot of fun. We even got to treat them to lunch for Nate's b-day. Can you believe it, he is now 24. Wow, where does the time go??

Christmas Eve was a quiet night spent with just our little family. Then Nate and family came the next day and we had a fun dinner with them and Randy's family the next night. We spent New Year's Eve with Brett and his family. I'm telling you, there was way too much good food and egg nog in November and December. Time to run all those extra pounds off now.

In November Ashton had a cardiology appt. They did an ultrasound and we determined we should have a cath to know better if we can do the surgery he needs to help him have better oxygen. We just had the cath on Jan. 28th. Everything went well and it looks like we can proceed forward to have the surgery. It is a very big, complicated surgery, but it needs to be done. He will feel so much better afterwards. We appreciate everyone who fasted with us so we could decide which surgery would be best for him. We are now just waiting to get a date.

I ran a race a couple weekends ago. My first since the marathon. I haven't been running as much as I would like, but hopefully the weather will start to warm up and I can hit the pavement more often. The race was the St. George half marathon. I ran it last year also. I missed my goal by 6 minutes, but it's ok. I'm not as trained as I was a few months ago. It will quickly come back.

January 19th was kind of a hard day. It was 6 months ago dad passed away. We miss him so much. I think of him every single day. A couple weekends ago both Ray and I had reminders of him. Ray was working on the 4-wheeler trailer and it reminded him of a time we were camping together and the gate fell on dad's head and cut it open. He didn't want to tell mom until he got the bleeding under control so he waded up a bunch of tp and stuck his hat on. When mom was with him in the hospital and his hair had fallen out from the chemo she could see the scar from that accident. Then the next day I was making peanut butter cookies. They were dad's favorite. He loved to dunk them in a cup of milk. I would take some to him on his b-day every year. Mom would let him splurge and have some on special occasions (he was diabetic). We love you dad and you will live forever in our hearts.

Moms b-day was on Jan. 31st. So on our way home from Ashtons cath we stopped by and spent a few hours with her and Rick. Even though it was a short visit it's better than nothing. I have the best mom in the world. Hope your b-day was great. Love you tons mom!!

And lastly, let me tell you how wonderful it is to have Ray home. He still has to travel some, but heck, having him gone a day here and there is nothing to what we dealt with for almost a year. I have a list a mile long of things I've wanted to do around the house, and he has been doing them. One of the major things was refinishing our kitchen table and chairs. And a sofa table. They were white and the light wood. They are now black and stained dark. They are beautiful. We are still working on projects and I can always find another one for him. He's so awesome. I probably don't tell him enough though.

So, in a nut shell I have kind of got things caught up a little. I really will try to do a little better.

I Should Have Listened....

Why, oh why, didn't I listen to my mom when I was younger??? She always preached to me to wear sunscreen. But I didn't listen. Well, I'm now paying for it. Not quite a year ago I had a little spot on my forehead. At first I thought it was a zit (gross). But it didn't go away. I knew then what it was. But I ignored it. The kids had things they needed done first. And Ray was working so far away and was hardly home. Well, about 2-3 months ago when Hazel was coloring my hair her nail caught it and it started to bleed. And by the way, by now it was bigger than when I first noticed it. After her nail got it, it never healed up. That's when I decided to get into the Dr. They took a biopsy, and yep, sure enough, it was cancer. Basil cell carcinoma. Well after that Ray was able to come home, for good. Thank heavens because to remove this cancer they do surgery and I'm such a baby and hate to go alone. Not like a sedation surgery. They just numbed it, but it's still considered surgery. I had it done on the 27th. It went really well and the dr.'s were all very nice. But as we were leaving I got sick. But I have one of the weakest stomachs ever (thanks dad). I tried to take it easy that day. Not easy for me. I like to always be on the go. Then the next morning I had to get up and shower and get ready for work. Uh, showering with stitches in your forehead is no easy task. Have you ever realized how many facial expressions you use when you talk and it moves your forehead? Or when you have long hair and you get it wet how heavy it is and it pulls your scalp and your forehead? Anyway, showering was not easy and I got sick again. (Dang stomach anyway.) But I was able to get to work and put in my 8 hours. Anyway, each day gets better, but I'm really paying for not listening to mom. And I should have gone in when I first noticed it. Now I'm going to have a 1" plus beautiful scar. There are 15 stitches in that incision. That is not how big it was before they cut into me. But the cancer is gone and hopefully I've learned something.

Who's Car??? :)

This is Keanna. Remember, Keanna is now 16.This is Keanna's official new driver's license. (Dang, sorry about the closed eyes. I should have checked the picture.) This is Keanna with the key to DAD's car, that Keanna gets to drive. (lol) Remember, DAD's car, that Keanna gets to drive.This is Keanna with DAD's car, that she gets to drive. Isn't she a lucky girl.?!! She is such a good girl and as long as she continues to keep up the good work she gets the privilege to drive DAD's car. We just can't keep up with her busy schedule anymore. Ray had to keep leaving work to pick her up and take her here and there. And she now works at Michael's with Ambrea and I. This should help out a lot.

...Eating...

I'm eating, again,.....my words that is. I woke up Sunday, the day after the marathon and said "I want to do it again". I know, I'm nuts. But I want to prove to myself that my body can do a little better and not let me down again (I felt like it let me down because I was sick and the leg cramps made me walk so much at the end).

"16"

Happy Birthday Keanna (yesterday). Wow, can't believe you're 16. You're growing into such a beautiful young woman. You were our hardest baby, until you crawled. But you are such a good girl now. You are always so full of life and love to have fun. You light up a room when you walk in. We love you girl and are so glad you're a part of our family.

Toe Nails Are So Over-rated...........We ran our first marathon.

Today Ray and I ran our first marathon, the St. George marathon. There were a lot of people we know who also ran it. It was great seeing people you know on the course. Especially because there were almost 7,000 people who ran it. It was also great seeing people you know at the end of the course cheering you on, as you are wondering how the heck you are going to run just one more mile. And thanks Ambrea, Keanna, Josh and Holly for being at the finish line. It means a lot.

As you know I'm addicted to running. I've been running seriously again for about 1 1/2 years now. I've done I think 5 half marathons, the Lake to Lake relay race and the Ragnar relay race. I've been training for this marathon since the spring. Now Ray on the other hand has had a hard time getting any training in. As some of you know he has been working 850 miles away. Where he has been is very rainy. At one point it rained 40 days in a row. Well, all the rain has made it very hard for him to get any training in.

So I felt I was fairly ready for this. I had set a goal, which I now realize was kind of high this being my first marathon. Well, I did really good for the first 15 miles (a marathon is 26.2 miles for anyone who didn't know this), but then at mile 15 I start to get cramps in my hips and thighs. And this time at about mile 8 I got a gut ache. One of a runners worst nightmares. So up until mile 15 I was doing fairly well, but the cramps hit and it just makes it hard to run. So I would walk a bit, then run. Back and forth trying to still keep ok time. Needless to say I didn't make my goal, but I still didn't do horrible. I'm just frustrated and discouraged. I had hoped to do better and I want to figure out the gut and cramp problem. I took all the advice that 2 experienced runners had given me and applied it in my training and today, so I just question where it went wrong. I did it in 4 hours 27 minutes. Ray was able to do it in 5 hours 18 minutes which I think is great considering the farthest he has ran in the past 3 month is 10 miles. (Since he is back home I put him in some serious marathon training for 2 weeks :) ).

Right now we are saying we will never do a marathon again. I will probably eat my words though. I had said I would never do a marathon period. Boy, I ate my words on that one. But seriously the half marathons are a lot of fun. Just long enough for a challenge (13.1 miles) but not so long that you kill yourself. But maybe if I get figured out what I'm doing wrong I won't kill myself on marathons.

It another check mark on out bucket list though. Something new and different we experienced. We are always looking for some kind of adventure. It keeps life exciting.