Called to Serve

Matt, Greg's not-so-baby brother, received his mission call today to MALAGA, SPAIN! As you can tell by this picture, he was thrilled with the call and was beaming all night. He leaves December 1 and will spend a few weeks in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo before heading to the MTC in Spain for 6 more. Malaga is on the southern coast of Spain--right off the Mediterranean Sea--can we say gorgeous??? Lucky kid. I'm already making big plans to pick him up in 2 years.

Garrett is so excited and kept saying, "Matt is going to be a missionary." As we were driving home, he said, "Uncle Matt is going to be a missionary. I want to be a missionary, too." So sweet. (We have a friend who has been taking the missionary discussions at our house, so Garrett actually knows (kind of) what a missionary is. He LOVES the missionaries and always gets so excited when they come to visit, so having Uncle Matt as a missionary will be a fun experience for our family.)


In addition to the excitement of Matt's call, today was also great because it was the best Greg has been in months (and I mean it)! He's totally exhausted tonight, but he really rallied for the occasion and we had such a good day. Brian (another of Greg's 4 brothers) fixed up this awesome go-kart he had as a kid and we spent the evening driving it around the neighborhood. Garrett LOVED "Brian's racecar" and insisted on riding it with everybody who took the beauty out for a spin.

He came around the corner with Greg and I could hear his giggle even over the roar of the noisy engine. The past few months of having a sick daddy have been rough on little Garrett. He told the nursery leader at Church on Sunday, "My daddy's sick. He can't wrestle with me yet, but he's getting better."

It was such a sweet moment for me to see Greg back to his old self for a bit and to see Garrett having so much fun with his daddy. I was reminded again of how precious life and good health are and how truly blessed our little family is.

Even yours truly got in on the action. It was actually really fun and I think I'll ask Santa for a go-kart for Christmas this year. Speaking of Christmas, it's crazy to think of how fast it's coming and that Matt will be gone by then. YIKES!

That's all for tonight. Sleep tight!!!

Blue Ribbon Boy, Momma's Girl, and Other Fun

Our awesome neighbors let Garrett show one of their calves at the county fair last weekend. Garrett took the experience very seriously and smiles/good pictures were hard to come by.

Each of the kids won a blue ribbon (the judge said it was like trying to choose his favorite grandkid) and $2. They encouraged the kids to support the fair and spend their earnings there. We carefully examined every booth and all of the rides and Garrett finally decided to "drive the tracto." It was a toss-up between the tractors and the train, but he seemed to be happy with his choice in the end.

We were disappointed that Greg wasn't up to joining us that morning, but Garrett did great and couldn't wait to get home and tell his daddy all about his big day.

My cousin, Tara, was in town for a few days so we dropped by for a quick visit to see her and her cute kids. I love Abby's face in this picture. Hopefully Abby and Mirabelle will be great friends! We only had a few minutes and I didn't get any other good pictures, but oh well.

We also celebrated Uncle Brian's birthday at our house on Sunday. Garrett LOVES Brian and Sher and talks about them all of the time. You can't tell from this picture, but he was delighted to wake up from his Sunday nap to B and Sher and a house full of fun!

Oh Miss Abigail! She is the world's best baby. She never fusses or cries and is always happy...as long as I am holding her. ARGH! This isn't really much of a problem. Unless of course, I need to eat, drink, sleep, drive, cook, clean, sleep, play with Garrett or do anything other than look at her or hold her. She is a little stinker, but boy does she love her mama!

She is over six months old now and has a few tricks.

Thanks to "sitting lessons" from Grandma, she is finally getting it down and figuring out how to sit. (Of course this only lasts for about 20 seconds before she needs me to hold her again.) :)

She is rolling all over the place and pulling herself up on her arms. This is getting way too close to crawling for my liking. I'm slightly nervous about having two mobile children!

Here she is in action--getting ready to roll. This picture also shows her hair--she has a fair amount of it and it's a pretty brown color. Lots of people tell us they think it has a hint of red in it, but it's nothing like her big brother's.

She had her 6 month check-up yesterday and is doing great! She is a big girl--96th percentile in her height and 75th in her weight. She is so much fun and has the cutest little giggle. She has really discovered her voice and spends a good share of her day squealing and shreiking. She loves big girl food and doesn't have much use for rice cereal or baby oatmeal, but throws a fit if she doesn't get a taste of whatever we're eating. Garrett loves his "siso" and she saves some of her best smiles for him, so I think she loves him, too! Watching the two of them together is the joy of my life. I hope they will always be good friends!

Other updates: Greg is doing well and getting stronger every day. He is still weak and says he's feeling like about 40% of his old self, so we're making progress. He runs out of energy fast and is only good to be up for a few hours before he's exhausted, but he's trying to push himself and is hoping to be putting in full days soon. He's major bummed to be missing the opening of the archery hunt this weekend, but oh well. Thank goodness there's only about a billion other things he can hunt later in the year when he's feeling up to it! You can tell it's almost autumn: Our freezer is a bit bare these days and is just waiting for hunting season so it can be filled with all sorts of wild game. :)

My leg is feeling great and I hope it is continuing to heal nicely. It doesn't bug me much at all and I am so very grateful to be out of the beastly boot!

Life is still good, and we are still thankful for it.

So Very Grateful...

It is good to be home. I've found myself a bit teary today as I've reflected on everything that has happened in the past few weeks. It's been a day of roller-coaster emotions, but there is one particular feeling that always seems to separate from all of the others and floats to the top of my list: GRATITUDE.


--I am so grateful to my aunt (who is a nurse at the ER) and our friend who both called Greg Thursday night (perhaps they were inspired?) and told him he needed to go back to the ER. The doctor had told us Tuesday in the ER that he had the c-diff infection and was going to be "really sick and miserable" for a few days until the antibiotics finally kicked in. He was "really sick and miserable" all day Thursday and he kept telling me he was. I finally told him he was going to have to "toughen up" (I'm awesome, I know) and he would feel better in a few days. At the urging of my aunt and our friend, I took him back to the hospital Thursday night.

--I am most thankful they took blood cultures Thursday night in the ER. Ultimately, those cultures saved his life. If they had discovered the blood infection even one day later, our outcome may have been much different.

--Greg is young, strong, and otherwise healthy. Even when he was in the most critical condition, his vitals were good which gave us hope and made it easier for them to operate. The doctor and nurses kept telling me, "His vitals are good and he's young and strong. He can pull through this."

--I am so thankful for the priesthood blessings Greg received and our faith that helped me to feel peace and maintain my composure, even when I was really scared.

--We had so many wonderful doctors and nurses who not only took exceptional care of Greg, but showed genuine concern for our whole family as well. Thank heavens for modern medicine and antibiotics!!!

--We have the most wonderful family and friends who sacrificed greatly to take care of me and our kids. My wonderful family would bring Abby to the hospital so I could still nurse her and stay close to Greg. Garrett was greatly spoiled during this time. He's happy to be home, but I think he's recognizing his normal life is quite boring in comparison to all the fun he had while his daddy was in the hospital. While he was eating breakfast this morning he told me, "I want to go to a party today."

--I had a follow-up appointment for my broken leg last Wednesday. The doctor took an x-ray and was amazed at how well it was healing and I was doing. He said it was "remarkable" and told me that most injuries like mine would require a person to be in a walking boot for 6-8 weeks. After only 2.5 weeks, he moved me out of the boot and into a brace. I can't even describe how thrilled I was about this and how much easier it has made it to care for Greg and the kids. I think we may have experienced a little miracle. :)

--I haven't had to cook a meal since we returned home from the hospital. A friend, neighbor, or family member has shown up with something delicious for us every night at dinner time. We've even had lunches and treats delivered as well. They have been unexpected and so greatly appreciated! A friend called me from our Church and told me she had arranged to have meals brought into our house for another week. I really could cook our own meals, but it so nice to not have to worry about it and we are so grateful.

--My brother and his wife volunteered to stay with us for a few days and help with the kids while we are getting back on our feet. Not only are they great with Garrett and Abby, but they also clean, take out the garbages and do anything else they can think of to make life easier for us.

--Our neighbor showed up late Saturday night to bale our hay that had been swathed and was sitting in the field. We heard noises outside our window early this morning and looked out to see a group of young men from our neighborhood working in the field and hauling the hay. Greg and I were teary as we watched these boys work quickly and cheerfully. Surely these teenage boys had better things to do on a hot summer morning, but instead they were here and we were almost overcome with gratitude.

--Another neighbor (who is still recovering from a serious farming accident) showed up this morning to check on Greg and wanted to know if he could take Garrett for a ride on his tractor and to work on his farm for awhile. Garrett was THRILLED and was running around the house like a CRAZY man trying to find his socks, shoes, and hat. The kid LOVES tractors and couldn't get out the door fast enough.


While it has been a difficult couple of months with Greg being so sick and the last few weeks were especially rough, I am grateful for this experience. It has humbled us and helped us to remember what truly matters in life. It seems as though our words are kinder, our touches are more tender, our prayers are more sincere, and we recognize the good things more and the bad things less. I smile every time I hear Garrett's little footsteps wrecking havoc in our house and I can't get enough of Abby's squeals. Every time Greg smiles at me, I feel like I'm going to melt with pure joy. I wake up multiple times a night to "make the rounds" and make sure everybody is healthy and okay. I snuggle in close to Greg (as close as I can without hurting him) and always fall back asleep with a prayer of gratitude that he is there, close to me and full of life.

Life is sweet, and we are so thankful for it.

There's No Place Like Home!

What does this lovely gal...


have in common with this handsome man???

They would both agree that there is absolutely, positively, no place in all of the world like HOME!!!

I feel like I have lived an entire life since my last post and probably look like it, too. When I posted last Friday, we had returned from the ER and were trying to keep Greg hydrated and his meds down until we met with the gastro doctor on Tuesday. We actually had a really good day on Friday. Greg felt reasonably well, took his meds, drank Gatorade like an all-star, and even ate dinner. Our well pump got fixed and we came home. We were getting ready for bed on Friday night when we got a phone call from the ER. The nurse asked me how Greg was doing and then told me that they were getting results back from his blood cultures in the lab and we needed to come back to the hospital immediately. The tests were showing that Greg had an infection in his blood that needed to be treated. We both thought it didn't sound too great, but neither of us had any idea just how serious the condition was.

To make a long story short, they admitted him to the hospital and started him on IV antibiotics while they tried to determine what exactly was in his blood and what else was going on with him. His stomach had never felt great, but throughout Friday night and into the day on Saturday, the pain was intensifying and he was not doing well. About midday on Saturday, the doctor told us that more results were coming in from the lab and Greg had clostridium difficile (c-diff) in his intestines and salmonella in his intestines and blood. SALMONELLA! We both thought this was a bit crazy, (who in the world gets salmonella?), but Greg's condition was deteriorating so much we didn't have much time to think about it. Doctors and nurses were coming in and out of his room poking and prodding and Greg was absolutely miserable. At this point, Greg and I were starting to recognize that this was serious business and we were getting a bit scared. We prayed together (which we finally gave up doing because a doctor or nurse would come in the room every time we started) and my dad and uncle gave Greg a wonderful priesthood blessing. We felt calmer and more peaceful after that, but it was still scary. They took him in for a CT scan and then an ultrasound and determined his gallbladder was also infected.

The next few hours after that were some of the most horrifying of my life and something I hope to never experience again. My cousin posted about it on her blog, so I'm just going to cut and paste her version of the experience rather than type it out myself.

Greg, and by extension everyone who loves him, did not have a great weekend. The CT scan and ultrasound they did Saturday afternoon showed that his gall bladder was very infected. The doctors did not want to do surgery because of the infection he had in his body. They decided to put a drain in hoping that would buy some time to get the infection under control. They took him into radiology to put the drain in. He was not put out because they needed him to be able to move. Whatever it was they gave him for the pain did not work and he felt them cut him and sticking the drain in and them trying to push it into the gall bladder. It was not a good experience for Greg and it ended up not working. So there was now a hole in the gall bladder and bile was leaking into Greg's abdomen. They brought Greg back to his room to prep him for emergency surgery. I wasn't there, but the accounts of the experience from those who were are awful. Greg was in excruciating pain. As they brought him off the elevetor they could hear the yelling/bellowing/moaning sound he was making clear down the hall in his room. Every nurse on the floor was in preping him for the surgery. They were throwing paperwork at Natalie to sign. She asked if it was possible to send him to another hospital and they told her he wouldn't make it if they did.

Kyle and I were in Bear Lake and I happened to call my mother about this time. She was crying and told me things were really bad. We got in the car and headed for the hospital in Logan. When we got there everyone was waiting for him to come out of surgery. When the doctor came in he said it had gone well and it was probably for the best that they took it out. It was very infected and diseased. The doctors theory is that Greg got salmonella back around the first of June when this whole thing started. It has been ravaging his body and got into the blood stream causing the infection there. He said he figures that the salmonella is what attacked the gall bladder and infected it. The first antibiotic they gave him in June killed too much good bacteria in the stomach and has caused a different infection there so getting the right mix of stuff to treat this is going to be tricky.

When I saw Greg yesterday he was still in quite a bit of pain, but said it was a different pain and not as bad. He was very doped up but was able to carry on a conversation with me for a little bit. He will be in the hospital at least until tomorrow and maybe longer. The doctor said after all the messing around with his general doctor and the 3 trips to the ER he isn't letting him go home until he knows they have a handle on this and that Greg is getting better.

Greg's surgery was Saturday night and they finally released him to come home this afternoon. He was one sick kid and was somewhat of a celebrity in the hospital. Every doctor who came in acted like it was such an honor to treat "the guy with c-diff and salmonella in his blood" and the nurses kept telling us what an interesting case he was. (Don't worry, I explained to them that he's always been kinda weird.) He is still very weak after nearly 2 months of being sick, but he is on the road to recovery. He will be on heavy duty antibiotics for 30 days and then we will re-evaluate to make sure all infections are gone and he is healthy again. They told us multiple times how lucky we are that he is young, strong, and a fighter. These kind of infections are nasty! He is loving being home and said he was most excited for "good food and his own bed."

We are so grateful for all of the love and support from family and friends over the past week. We have been told that many people fasted for Greg and our family on Sunday. It's difficult to explain, but we have definitely felt the strength that comes from your prayers and we have needed it. We have been overwhelmed with the many kindnesses shown to us and the sacrifices our families have made to help us and our kids. I can't list names because there have been too many and I know people have helped us in ways we don't even know about, but you know who you are and we love you.

The Sick and Afflicted/Why I'm Not Such a Big Fan of REAL Salt Lake Today!

The fun continues:

Greg took a turn for the worst yesterday and ended up spending a lovely evening in the hospital. After much testing, they determined it is still just the same intestinal infection, but it's nasty and making him very sick. He wanted to come home, so they let him come early this morning with the understanding that he must stay hydrated and has to keep his medication down. If he can't do those two things, then we'll be back and he'll be admitted to the hospital. He is going to have a very rough couple of days as the antibiotics work to fight the infection. We're praying this round of antibiotics work, because the only other medication option would cost us somewhere between $1000-2000 (out of pocket). YIKES!!!

THE GOOD NEWS:
--He was able to get a bit of rest last night and is feeling slightly better this morning.
--I've been trying to get him into a specialist for a few weeks now and the earliest appointment I could get was for August 11. The doctor from the hospital pulled a few strings and I called this morning and they will now be able to see him on Tuesday. Amazing how that appointment just happened to open right up, huh? :)
--We are still waiting for our new well pump and still have no water. This hasn't been such a bad thing, because we've been forced to stay with my parents. Considering the fact that my leg is still broken and I'm hobbling along, a little extra help with the rugrats has been very much appreciated.

WHY I'M TICKED OFF:
Greg and I have a good buddy who works at our neighbor's dairy farm. He is from Peru and has been away from his family and living in the USA for about 2.5 years. Everything the kid owns fits into a few garbage sacks, but he is the happiest and nicest guy you'll ever meet. He has one love in the world: SOCCER (or futbol) depending on which language you speak. His birthday was last week, and Greg and I told him we had a big surprise for him on Saturday, July 31. We bought tickets and were planning on taking him to SLC to show him the sites and attend a REAL Salt Lake soccer game. Considering Greg's current condition and the doctor's instructions, we're going to have to reschedule. It was going to be a stretch for me to go with my broken leg, but we thought we could do it, but there's no way Greg can go now. I called the REAL ticket office this morning and explained the situation and asked if we could just switch our tickets to a later game. I really didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal, but the guy told me no. I even asked to speak to a manager and said we had a doctor's note, but they wouldn't help me and more or less just said "there's nothing they could do" and "better luck next time." FOR THE LOVE! I would completely understand if it was a concert or a one-time event, but I'm still not understanding why it is so IMPOSSIBLE for them to switch our tickets to a later game. ARGH!

So, if anybody wants 3 tickets to the REAL game tomorrow night, let me know. They're about $20 each, or I'll probably just give them to you at whatever price you want to pay. It's better than nothing, right? Every penny counts, especially when we might be paying $2000 for an antibiotic next week!!!

I'm done venting now and feel much better. Have a good day!

Off to a Good Start...

Today has all the makings of a fantastic day.

To start things out, our well pump quit working sometime last night. Translation = No water. On a normal day, this would be an inconvenience. On a day when Greg is barfing his guts out, it's a disaster.

Oh, and the ONLY thing Garrett has wanted to do this morning is have a bath.

Good times.

What a Week!

We don't do anything small around here. Because having Greg, Garrett and Abby sick all of last week wasn't enough fun, I decided to take a tumble down the stairs last Sunday morning (while holding Garrett) and break my leg/ankle. Awesome, I know. Luckily, Garrett wasn't injured and I have been able to wear a boot instead of a cast and can walk on it as long as I can tolerate the pain. I'm feeling very blessed that I'm able to get around enough to at least take care of my family. I should make a full recovery in 6-8 weeks and am grateful to already have one week and 2 days over with!

Much thanks to our wonderful family and friends who have been so great to help us--especially my mom who has pretty much put her life on hold to cater to my every need.

Sleeping in Garrett's big boy bed is going just splendid. Here's how we found him one night after he had been "in bed" and "asleep" for an hour or so. I know this is a battle worth fighting, but some nights I wonder...

We enjoyed a wonderful Pioneer Day weekend! Greg's family spent the weekend with us and they were able to experience the town celebration in all of its splendor. I don't think any of them will ever be the same again.

Mal Pal and I started our Saturday bright and early by participating in the Dam Run. (By "participating" I mean that Mal ran the race with my friend Karlie while I cheered them on at the finish line.)


Next, we headed "downtown" for the annual "parade." Garrett has his game face on and is ready to roll. Bring on the candy!

The town's most eligible bachelor, Deese, has been the official flagbearer of the parade (via horseback) for as long as I can remember.

Garrett was much more interested in the sirens and horses than the treats. Lucky for him, Uncle Eric was there to teach him the fine art of gathering parade candy. He ended up with a nice loot.

Miss Abby enjoyed the parade with Aunt Chelsea.

Somehow my Aunt Claudia ended up on this "float" honoring the town firefighters who had worked for Thiokol. My grandpa, Claude Petersen, was listed on the first car. Go Butch!

We were fortunate to have our good friends, the Standing family, join us for the day. Matt, Parker, Aaron, and Mal partied it up big time.

The foursome pictured above joined a volleyball team with our friends, Karlie and Braden and their cousin Andy, and competed in the annual "beach" volleyball tournament. They were awesome and totally smoked their first match, but were unfortunate enough to meet the infamous Benson Family a few rounds later. (The Bensons are kind of like the Lakers. They have a dynasty of sorts going and win the tournament every year. It's kind of just a formality to let everybody play and think they actually have a chance of winning.)

Garrett loved just playing on the swings with his number one man.

And of course, he was able to coerce Pops into a "sip." After all, it was a hot day!

Shake, shake, shake--shake it Mal Pal!!!

Unfortunately, Garrett's little hips didn't swing quite like Aunt Mal's, but he sure tried.

"The kids" (meaning anybody under the age of 25) headed down to the river bridge for a little jumping to cool off. The youngest jumper of all was cute little Meg, who is only 9 or 10. What a brave gal! Due to my crippled status, I was forced to watch from the sidelines as photographer/motherly influence. Bummer. Don't worry, I'll be jumping next year! (Although we'll have to raise the age limit a bit.)

Check out Matt's form!

Go Aaron!

We finished the day with horse rides and a delightful dutch oven dinner and homemade ice cream, compliments of Bishop Standing and Wild Willy. Cute Meg said it best while we were eating, "I'm going to remember this day for as long as I live--in a good way!"

Greg and I topped off the weekend by speaking in Church on Sunday. Of course, I totally overdid it with my leg over the weekend and could barely move yesterday, but such is life. At least we were having fun, right?

For your viewing pleasure...

Cute Karlie and Mal Pal dashing for the finish!

Oh yeah, and while I'm at it I might as well add that Greg and I spent the day at the hospital getting tests run to figure out why he keeps getting sick. (He has been sick since the beginning of June and it's getting old.) We've been in and out of our family doctor's office about a billion times in the past few weeks. After his fever spiked at 105 degrees last night, they sent us to the hospital today to get some tests run in an effort to figure out what is going on and get him functioning again. Approximately 17 hours and 3.5 million dollars later, they determined he has an infection in his intestines called clostridium difficile. He is on medication that should fix the problem, but the doctor told us he will probably be good and sick for a few more days. Fabulous.

It's kind of like the blind leading the blind around here--a broken-legged wife and a sick husband trying to care for a wild two year old and his very cute, but sometimes whiny, little sister.

It could be worse. I could be like the lady (who couldn't have been much older than 45) who checked her husband in after us at the hospital today and said, "We've got to figure out what's wrong with him. I've already buried two husbands and don't want to lose another one." YIKES!

Life is good.

And I'm going to bed.

Adios!

Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!

...That's what we were doing last weekend at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. This was our 8th year participating in the Relay and it just keeps getting better every year. Our awesome team earned $7070 to donate to the fight against cancer and the local newspaper even published a feature story about our family and team. (You can read the story and see the pictures at https://secure.filesanywhere.com/fs/v.aspx?v=8972648e586070b96e97.)

(I stole the link for the newspaper story and some of these pictures from my Kami's blog. The rest came from Chelsea.)

Abby-Cakes and Grandpa Sparky

Garrett spent a good share of the day Saturday playing with this roping dummy.

Our bucket drawing tables--we found some amazing and very generous sponsors and made almost $1000 just from our auction. YEEHAW!!!



Garrett and Kami
Kyle and Abby

Yours truly, Jan (cousin), Suz (mi madre), Karen (friend)--Jan and Karen are both cancer survivors!

And so it begins...24 hours of fun!

The World's Greatest Relay Team--that would be us!

The Luminaries--we decorate them for those who have lost the battle with cancer and they light the track at night.

A pretty good-lookin' bunch if I can say so myself! I have to think that Grandpa Claude and Grandma Vone are proud of us for choosing to make something good come from losing both of them to cancer.

Oh what could have been...a perfect picture, if only Garrett would have looked at the blasted camera! Oh well.

Now there's a good one!

Uncle Brett and the little troopers!

Aunt Claudia and Uncle Bruce (They are my dad's sister and brother and Bruce is a cancer survivor.)

Garrett pulled his little wagon all over the place and picked up a few treasures along the way. I heard a few comments about the "cute little redhead pulling the wagon." That's my boy!

Speaking of cute little redheads...

And that should just about do it for tonight. MUCHO THANKS to everybody who donated to our Relay team--love ya!!!

P.S. Start saving your money--I'll definitely be hitting you up again next year for a donation. :)