EMU, sickness and crazy chickens!

Last weekend we headed to Virginia so Erica could spend some time at Eastern Mennonite University. On the way down, I ended up getting sick with a horrid head cold and a cough that just wouldn't quit. We got word on the way down that my sister in law was also sick with the flu! So the weekend was off to a great start! The tour of the college was great and Erica is strongly considering this as the place to spend the next 4 years! Uncle Mitch and Aunt Gina took her to a basketball game on Friday night and then on Saturday, Erica and Uncle Mitch caught another game. She really likes it there and I think the closeness of Uncle Mitch and Aunt Gina is a great plus. She is looking at studying church and youth ministry.

The ride down was filled with me coughing, Chris wanting to stop for food, and both kids putting the back windows down and yelling, "bass note" as my vehicle "buffers" very loudly when only 1 window is down. This forced me to be mean and lock the windows!

When we returned home, we found this lovely chicken gracing our porch! We never worry about robbers when we go away, just the pranksters!

Pranked!!!!!!

Look what showed up in my flower bed!!!!!

I finally went to a Ladie's Game Night at our church and when I returned and pulled in our drive, I almost jumped out of my seat!!! I'd been pranked! I love this guy and laugh every time I pull in my drive! So many compliments too! The neighbor kids love him and have gotten a few ideas of their own......so watch out....you might be next!

IT'S WORKING!!!!!

Scott had his intrathecal pump surgically implanted last Friday! As of today....I'm happy to say, it is WORKING!!!! He is walking without a WALKER for the first time in almost 10 months! We are so thankful, we don't even know how to act. After his appt., we stopped at a couple stores, then ate an early Sweetest Day supper at the Macaroni Grill! Delicious. We are so thankful for all your prayers. He is still healing from surgery and may have some ups and downs, but for right now....LIFE IS GOOD!

Elephants, cats and rain in the living room.....

Those are just a few of the hallucinations we have had to deal with since Mom's surgery! While Mom was in the hospital, I felt she was a little confused, due to some odd texts she had sent....but figured that was normal for hospital life and didn't worry about it too much! Maybe I should have.....since things got totally out of control after she was home! She cannot remember coming home from the hospital, but after she was home a couple days, she decided she was a burden to Dad and ended up falling as she she was getting things out of the fridge to make supper. I took her to the ER, as her surgeon was in surgery the next 3 days and her family Dr. was off on that particular day. Nothing broken or messed up from the fall, thank goodness! That's when things started getting even crazier! She started seeing "spots" on all the walls and furniture, elephants with cats on chairs in the living room, and every night around 8pm, it started to rain in the living room! She was so mad that no one would take her to a motel, and since she had her surgery she had not slept a total of 24 hours! This added to the hallucinations. Long story short, no matter what we did, she still saw these things and consoling her was very hard. After talking to the family Dr. we decided to take her off her pain meds and muscle relaxants and see if that would help. It didn't happen overnight, but eventually, MOM returned! Really scary times! Wasn't sure how we would get thru this, but by the grace of God, we did!
She is now loving life, remembers all the hallucinations, and we are able to laugh about them! She loves company, (if they don't stay too long) and loves mail! So send her a card, give her a call, or stop in and visit for a bit!

FUN IN VIRGINIA

We decided to make a quick trip to Virginia to see my brother and his wife and cool dogs! Wasn't sure how great Scott would travel, but thought if we would stop every hour for him to walk, he would possibly be tolerable enough to make it. Just wanted to get away a bit before he goes in the hospital and before Mom's surgery. Check out the pics and see the cool skate park we visited in the small town of Stanley! This is close to Mitch and Gina's cabin and we knew it was there, but figured it would be really small since the town is so small. Imagine our surprise when we walked back there and found an awesome bowl for Chris to skate in!

Tree Trouble!

Our favorite tree that provided lots of shade or A/C split during a storm and gently laid to rest on our deck! That created a huge problem for relief from the hot sun during the heat of the day.

New Covered Deck

Since the tree split, we felt we needed to do something to help shade the house and give Scott a nice place to hang out in the heat of the summer! We are lovin' it! We put a red metal roof on it and the sound when it rains is amazing!