The first meeting.....

Thanks you for all of the sweet comments on Erin's situation. I will ask the kids the name of the insurance company and get back to you on that. I feel bad having this picture up of Erin, her doctor won't let her shower until tonight. When she got her blessing the oil was in a big container and she got a ton of it put on her head!:-) She hasn't showered in over 2 days, but is so tired she wouldn't have the energy to do it if she could. They are telling us that her recovery is going to be longer because she was so sick when she delivered. So when you are looking at her in this picture just know she has been through to much. And she is getting better and has a sweet baby to show for it, I think she looks beautiful! Also this is a picture of the first time Issy met "Elle." Then when we tried to get Issy to sit by baby "Elle" she was afraid of her.

But a few minutes later she was willing to get up with Grandpa while he was holding her.

Uncle Chris got to meet her too. He couldn't get over how tiny she was.

I unwrapped little Elle and I ask Issy where her toes where. She touched her tiny toes and smiled.

Grandpa gives Issy big kisses and says "whmaaa" he was so happy when she got old enough to say it back. So this is little Elle's first "whmaaa" kiss.

And then me and my little Elle. We look nicer today after some rest, than we did yesterday. We are going to have a nice long family recovery month!

2 Princesses.....

So while Erin was in the hospital Issy was playing with us. Her dad taught her sign language "I love you." But she mostly just does "love you." She hugs herself and then points at who ever.

This time it was Grandpa!
Then she loves to dance so she was dancing to American Idol.

Then we found out the next day that Erin had spent another night in the hospital. I started to get worried after this. She hadn't seen Issy for a while and wanted a blessing. We headed up to the hospital. Monica one of Erin's closest friend was there visiting her. which made Mike and I feel good that Erin had somebody else who loved her there.

Erin was very sick the pneumonia was in a bad place. They had to do a CT scan of her lungs and told her there were complications with it. they also said she had pleurisy, I have just heard about that in old movies. but she couldn't breath and was in horrible pain just trying to breath.

Issy was having funny, she played with a sunbeam on the floor for a while. But Mike noticed that she was getting sad with Erin being so messed up. So we left.

We took her to lunch and Mike and I were pretty messed up. Erin was in scary shape. When she coughed it broke your heart. She didn't look good, and she hadn't slept in 3 days, she was exhausted.

After lunch we went to Target to buy Issy some diapers and another outfit. I didn't pack her up when I grabbed her. So when we were shopping Erin called and said she was having an emergency C-section. The pulminoligist (sp?) had seen her scans and said the baby had to come out NOW!

Issy got her grandpa to buy her a hat. They were funny and hid it from Grandma. But we rushed home from the store and I rushed back to the hospital. the insurance thing was that they were out of network. But Erin was so bad they didn't want to move her. Jon got things worked out and `they didn't have to move her so they started the C-section. I was very surprised that they let me go in too.

They had a hard time getting Erin ready. She was swollen all over including her back. and she has a little scoliosis. So it took an hour, to finally give her a spinal block. they said it would have been way to dangerous to put her to sleep. The c-section went perfect and little Elizabeth came out 2 weeks and 4 days early. But she weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces, and 17 1/2 inches long.

Erin was doing better soon after. she could actually breath, which will help her lungs heal.

And I now have another sweet little princess to love!

Her dad was very excited she has a cleft chin just like her daddy.

She was enjoying stretching out. And is sooooo precious! We are happy and feel like Erin is going to get better a lot quicker now.

A long long nap....

So last night I was in bed reading after 11:00. Erin called and ask me to drive to her town and get the Princess because she was going to the hospital. I rushed out of the house and got to her. Their friend was with her reading her stories, his wife is pregnant too. I got her and brought her home. We got to bed at 1:00AM. Then she woke up at 7:00AM at home she sleeps till 9 or 10 for her mom! I hadn't grabbed her any clothes it was late and I was tired. So this morning we ran to Target and bought her a new outfit. Then ran to the church to finish up visiting teaching routes. I told her to let me take a picture of her new outfit and she posed so cute. She liked it, even down to the pink socks.

Then her Grandpa and Chris came and picked her up. I had to run to a hair appointment after and by the time I got home she had crashed with Chris.

I put her in a more comfortable position and they continued to sleep.

And they slept.......

And slept.......... for 2 hours.

Then she got up and had some lunch. Her mom is sad and feels like her body is giving up on her. But she found out she pulled a muscle in her back, and she has pneumonia. The doctor put her on bed rest for a bit. Bless her heart life is tuff for her right now. Keep her in your prayers she needs a little extra love.

A long trip home... or never fly on Friday the 13th!

So we drove out to the side of town that I grew up in. I decided to go take pictures of my old houses. They are right next door to each other, my parents wanted to build a house and sell it, build another house and sell it, until they had their house paid off. But they got as far as 2 houses and got distracted. So this was the first house, we built in Gilmer.

And this is the second. So many memories! Wow, I had some good times in these houses. This is the house I lived in when I met Mike.And I put this picture on for Erin. This is a banana fudge bomb, from Blue Bell. We always got these when we traveled through Texas. I couldn't find them so Gina went out got me some.

We ran to Wal Mart the last night and I ran into my Friend Kay. She started working there in High school and has been there for a while (OK Mike is giving me guff on this one she's been there around 28 years, that is a "while"). She has done well and worked her way up managerial ladder. She was a manager a long time ago when dad had his open heart surgery, she helped me out when I went in with my dads checks:-) Then it was fun to go in over the years and see a friend. She has trained and opened a lot of stores. She said her next step is to get her own store. I hope she will get it soon, she's great. We chatted for a long time, mom and dad found a bench to sit on while we caught up with each other. And she isn't aging a single bit, not one grey hair or wrinkle to be seen, she is gorgeous.

Thursday I packed up, we grabbed Aunt Renee, another Swanner burger and head over to Dallas. The burger was great as always, but it made a mess on me while I was driving. I smelled like onion for the rest of the day.

We went to Aunt Beth's and spent the night. I love being with her. We all went out to eat another fine TexMex meal, at an old favorite El Chico's. Then we went back to her place for dessert and watched a movie. We slept in late and got up threw the bags in the car, picked up my cousin, and drove to the airport. Two things were just a bit stressful I should have had my cousin Lana drive, I drove through Dallas traffic, it has been a long time since I have done that, my knuckles got a little white! Then Lana mentioned that there was a plane crash that morning and all of the people died. I thought wow this is a fun subject to talk about on our way to the airport, for me to fly in a plane! But I laughed to myself. Because if I would have said anything out loud my parents and aunts would have worried about me being nervous. And I wasn't nervous. Then Gina called and said, "don't watch the news!"

I sat at the airport for 3 and a half hours. One guy on my flight said, "I will never fly on Friday the 13th again!" Our flight was late and I was going to miss my connecting flight. The princess and her mom came over to greet me when I got home. Actually Mike had fun surprises waiting for me, but they had to be postponed for a day.


The good news was. I was going to have an all night lay over in Phoenix. So I called up Ana and she picked me up and we headed out for a girls night. We rarely get those nights since I moved out of town! We headed over and picked up Cathy and enjoyed ourselves. We laughed and I TALKED, after we dropped Cathy off I told Ana it was all about me. I did all of the talking. Cathy does that to me, she ask all these questions and I don't reciprocate and ask her any. So it was all about me. Next time it can be about Cathy and Ana:-)

The TexMex was great but nothing beats the Southwest Mexican food. These tacos were soooooo good! I miss this kind of Mexican food.


I finally got home today, On Valentines day, so I had fun Valentine surprises! This was the first, I almost cried. I just kept kissing that face and telling him he was beautiful. He will grow the beard back right away but it was amazing to see his sweet little face again!

Then the kids cleaned out my pantry. I wish I had a picture of it before it was a huge disorganized mess. Again I was almost brought to tears, because I could actually walk in the pantry and not have to step carefully.

And then the final gift. My closet, we had issues when we moved into our house, and the closets didn't get done. Mike bought a rod to go across one wall of the closet and then we had boxes stacked in there, because we didn't have enough room to hang all of our clothes. Plus closets aren't my thing anyway. So Mike went and bought more closet units and finished out our closet. It was awesome I now have a real closet! So my trip ends on a happy note.

Wow time flyes!

My time is almost up I go home soon. This is the Courthouse in Gilmer. When I was about 14 the very top level was the jail house. The windows are covered now but used to have black bars over them. One day there was some woman out in the front lawn yelling up to her man "I love you!" It just struck me funny. And every time I'm back and look see that top story boarded up, I remember it. Texans love their state!

This is a shot of down town. Just like a lot of other small towns the down town area is dieing out. But I love the brick roads. there are still a few brick roads in town.

Monday, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jimmy came and visited me. I love them and their company. We had a great time visiting and laughing about old times!

This would be my Western Burger. It's been over 25 years since I had one!

Anybody who knows my dad knows he loves the weather channel. His entire life he has made his living outside, in construction, and the weather had everything to do with his work. Well he is watching somebodies TV for a while, and set it up to see if it would have the same cable problem.

But then he figured out that he could have the weather channel on muted while he watched his other TV shows. This is the life!

Monday night Chris and Gina took me out to eat. And I went back to their house and visited a little. I tried to show Gina the little bit I knew about blogging. Mike is blogging now too, and he has figured out way more things than I have.

Then yesterday we went and had a Swanner burger. They are just good old fashioned hamburgers. They are soooooo good. I could have eaten another one today!

Home again......

(My sis-in-law just reminded me, I am happy to tell you that Erin doesn't have pre-eclampsia and is scheduled to have my new princess on Feb. 27th)

First off I want to thank you for your kindness. I got some very sweet encouraging e-mails after my last post about my, what I am light heartedly calling my, "nervous breakdown." It has been really nice to be back home. You start to forget how comforting it is to see the people, and places you grew up with. I have had floods of memories come back to me. Especially at Church yesterday the Bishop is a guy that was a senior when I was a freshman, and the Stake President was also a senior when I was a freshmen. His parents were my seminary teachers. It was Ward Conference yesterday so there were extra people there. It was funny we sat around family aunts, Uncle, and cousins. But in front of us was one of my dads old girlfriends. And behind us was the guy who thought he gave me my first kiss. I had just had my hair cut like Farrah Faucet, and went to mutual in my long dress, we wore long dresses everywhere back then. Anyway I was 13 and he was probably 18. I was the first of my friends to get the Farrah Faucet hair cut, and I had had it cut that day. And the lady styled it for me, so I looked cute. I walked into the gym and he was in it alone playing basketball. He grabbed me around my waist pulled me in and kissed me. I was shocked! I was also worried about his girlfriend. He told her he was just trying to give me a thrill. You see what I mean about a flood of memories. Anyway he was the bishop after my dad, and now is the young men's president. So he was helping the boys pass the sacrament and he was old and grey. But I digress.


My trip was good, I got a little airsick. It was probably all of the extra room I had up in first class. Mike took me into the airport and talked to his friends and got me out to Dallas on first class. To bad he doesn't have friends in Dallas, I'll have to fly home in coach. We stopped on the way home and got TexMex. I got some spinach enchiladas yum, I have only seen them in Texas.

Then on to more food. I had been craving chicken fried steak for forever. So we went and got some. This lady, who I think must have worked in school the cafeteria, has opened a place for lunch. It's like the cafeteria she makes 2 things a day and you get to choose what you want. They even give you a little dessert. This day it was banana pudding. It was very good and the gravy was amazing!

Mom and dad fixin' to eat.

This is the little restaurant. The building used to be a TV shop and dad built it like 30 years ago. She had him come out and add the little drive through window and a few other things. She does a great drive through business. Gina called me and told me she opened it up and makes one of our childhood favorites. Only on Mondays, so we are going back to get "Western Burgers" today. It was my favorite thing to eat in the cafeteria. I hope it's as good as I remember! Oh, the lady who owns it seems to know Gina and I, but we can't remember her. She is at least 4 years older than us. So we just smile and are friendly too her. Gina and I were a force to be reckoned with as girls. We were inseparable, and people knew who we were. We were fun, happy, cute, flirty girls in a small town. We had no idea just what an impression we were making on people. That makes it hard to come back and look like this. We laugh because now we are both very big girls. At least we got fat together. Now we would be a whole different type of force in this town!:-)

This is the view from the window I am looking out of on the computer. I love seeing the trees.

This is my Uncle Jimmy on his super cool 4 wheeler. My parents have 8 acres and he lives next door. So he and my dad think up things to do to drive their 4 wheelers all over the property. they are too cute.

This is dad and Uncle Jimmy and their trusty dogs.

This is mom and dads house. Out in the country and very peaceful. They have sweet gum trees, dogwoods, oak, and pine trees all around them.

This is out in back. when the wind blows through these trees it's such a relaxing sound.

So I think I'm unraveling.......

There were signs I didn't pick up on. Mike took me to an action movie, very intense called "Taken" on Friday night. I sat there in the movie tensed up and leaning forward on the edge of my seat. I actually "gasp out loud at a few spots." By the time the movie was over I was so knotted up I was cramping. I had to try to wiggle it all out on the way back to the car, I looked a bit crazy. But I did like the crazy movie. Then Saturday morning I finished up all of my flyer's and went and copied them all. Relief Society Bulletin, and a super great hand out for my lesson. I came home and the kids had decided that they were going to head home. But Erin wasn't doing well and I felt bad that she was going home. So Sunday comes and I get up to give my lesson which I have been preparing for 3 weeks to give. And I make the biggest mess of things. My brain shut down, I couldn't talk right, or read right, or remember anything that I had crammed in my brain. the women were so kind and sweet to me, they knew I was frazzled, I shared some stuff with them. But the part that I just can't get past, is that I blew it. I had a perfect opportunity to give them a message from Heavenly Father, something that would help them feel his love and comfort. And I made a big mess of it. That is what is bothering me the day after. Hopefully they will read their hand out and get a little something out of it. But I'm just so sorry, for the mess. This is how I felt, but I didn't look that good!!!!!! You see Erin is having a very bad pregnancy. Her little family is having a hard time copping with all of their hardships. So for most of the month we have been at their house or they have been at ours. When Erin got her kidney stone they came to our house and stayed. Then the next week she got some bad fever and started early labor. she was having contractions and was dilated to one. They sent her home and told her not to do anything but rest. Then she and Jon came down with a very ugly virus. they were feverish and had chills, coughing their lungs up, with body aches and totally miserable. So the boys, myself, and Mike were trying to walk around with hand sanitizer, lysol, Emergenc-C, and prayer. Hoping not to get sick. We didn't want the princess to get sick either-so far so good.

Chris has been very pleasant to have around. He is good company and very helpful. In his effort as a recovering addict he has to go to a clinic for meds. The first clinic I took him to said that he had to come every morning for 3 months to gain status with them. We called another clinic, they said 1 week and he would have weekly status. That means instead of driving him to Salt Lake every morning, I would only have to take him once a week. But he got a cautious councilor and he has kept him on daily for 3 weeks now. So we have been taking him every morning for the whole time he has been here, we hope this week he will make it.

Steven has been faced with some reality, his company was going under and he finally is out of a job. But he worked for months getting one paycheck a month, hoping that things would pick up. Now that he doesn't have a job he is coming up to some major cross roads in his life. But as of now he is going crazy, life on your own can be hard. Mike and I have been worried because he has been under very heavy stress for some time. We are worried about his health and happiness. Right now he is running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I hope he finds peace soon.

Then Nathan is stressed about all of his friends going to the new high school being built. Next year most of his friends are going to a new high school. We are on the edge of the boundaries. While a few of his best and closest friends are going to the old school. He won't know most of the people at the old school. So this is a hard time for him.


As for myself. I thought I was alright. Chris has been a big help to me around the house, also with Erin and the Princess. But I'm used to alone, quiet, down time. I haven't had that. Plus with 4 extra people around the house I just couldn't keep it clean. The dishes got dirty as fast as I did them. The family room was covered in the Princesses toys, and I was worried about my new little princess trying to get here for me to love.



Oh and the dog is in heat and having to be locked up for the next 10 days, so she doesn't bleed on everything. She will be spayed before this happens again!

A few weeks ago Mike decided to send me home for a few days. I suppose Heavenly Father prodded him to get me out for a while. This was before I started to come undone. It will be so nice to visit with my peeps in Gilmer Town! I haven't been there in way to long. I have been craving chicken fried steak for about 2 months. I will get my southern food craving cured while I'm there.

Wow I wrote a book on this one. Now I'm worried because today Erin went to the doctor and they are testing her today and tomorrow for preeclampsia, that would not be good. So as I said before a few prayers our way could really help!:-)