Queen Mary Visit!!

Today I picked up Charles from school and picked up our friends, Michele and Raylee, and we all went to the Queen Mary! Glenn went on an overnight skiing trip with the guys, so I wanted to do something special with the kids. January was free admission for Southern California residents. We had a blast! The ship was so beautiful, even though it is a little run down in areas. Michele and I loved all the history and old decor. The kids loved playing on whatever was available.

We started on the self-guided tour. We could have spent more time reading every detail, but the kids weren't that patient. Everything was so interesting and I felt a little as if I was being transported back in time. We soon found ourselves on our own tour as we couldn't resist going down strange hallways and opening doors. If it didn't have a sign telling us not to enter, we entered!

As we traveled through the hallways, I couldn't suppress the desire to see one of the rooms. The information desk lady told us that we could ask the check-in counter to show us a room, but I noticed how busy they were checking in guests, so I didn't ask. But, an opportunity arose! I saw a man walking down the hallway towards us with his suitcase. I looked at Michele and smiled. The man stopped right next to us to go into his room. I had to ask him if we could see his room! He was so gracious. He was an older man from England and was so excited to be back on the ship. He said that he had sailed on the ship when he was a child. I was so happy that we got to see the room!

When we were at the information desk, Michele noticed a flyer for a para-normal investigation they were doing tonight at midnight. Seeing as how we are both lovers of ghost stories and hauntings, we were quite disappointed we couldn't participate. It would have been too expensive anyway- $75 a person.

When the kids had had enough of our tour, we decided to eat at one of the restaurants for dinner. It was so beautiful looking out at the water and the shoreline at sunset. It was the perfect ending to our wonderful, wonderful day!

I had to get a picture of Michele's awesome salad! It was so beautiful! Charles ate the flower, if you can believe that!

Glenn's Dad and our Trip to Idaho!

Warning- this will be a long post!

This past week, Glenn and I packed up the kids on a half-day's notice and drove to Idaho. The Sunday after Christmas, Glenn's father fell on the ice while walking into the prison to do his Bishopric calling. He slipped and broke his hip and right arm in multiple places. He was alone and laid in the snow for quite a while screaming for help until a guard finally heard him. They rushed him to the hospital and did surgery the next day. The surgery was a success even with the diabetes and we were all grateful.

A few days later, he went into respiratory failure, then kidney failure. Our whole world changed that day. He made it through but was still not thriving and seemed to be dwindling away. Because his organs weren't functioning properly, they couldn't process all of the IV fluids. His whole body started breaking out in hundreds of huge, weeping blisters. Then he stopped eating. We had to go visit him immediately!

We pulled Charles out of school for a week and drove to my sister's house. On the way there, Glenn got another call from the family and we almost put him on a plane from Salt Lake that night because it sounded like he might not make it through the night. Glenn's sister, Joanne called us back and reassured us that he would be fine through the night and we stayed at my sister's place that night.

The next morning, we met Glenn's brother, Gordon, at the freeway, to pick up his dad's truck. Glenn got to drive it back to Idaho for him. I think it helped him feel a little closer to him. Glenn drove directly to the hospital and I took the kids to Joanne's house to have a break before we went to the hospital.

When we finally got to the hospital, it was really hard. Glenn's dad was really bad. He was the worst that he'd been since the accident. Joanne was with him when the nurse came to wake him. No one could wake him. He didn't respond to yelling, shaking or squeezing his hands. I started to cry and Glenn had to leave the room. It took him about a half an hour to wake up. He was confused and disoriented. He didn't know we were there. Glenn stayed the night a the hospital for the next two nights. He was hoping to be able to have some sort of conversation with his dad, but he never had any clear moments.

The worst part of the trip was realizing that the hospital staff had given up on him. They stopped giving him blood, or any fluids. They didn't care if he wore his breathing mask or if he ate. They only gave him Tylenol and insulin. Glenn's sister, Pam, was in the room one morning when his doctor came in to do her rounds, and this was her greeting:
"Hi Charles. Remember me? Of course you don't! You don't remember anything, do you?"
At the same time, the insurance company threatened to stop coverage for him because they said he was "chronic" and the hospital was kicking him out to a convalescent home. Glenn's mom was beside herself. To continue basic care, it was going to be $9,000 per month.

At this moment in time, when all seemed lost, a huge blessing happened! Glenn's uncle Paul is a doctor in San Diego and came to visit while he was on a skiing trip. He immediately started talking to everyone at that hospital! He even got a nurse to write a recommendation to the insurance company requesting them to cover a skilled nursing facility and change his status to "acute" which meant he was covered!!! The next day, he was approved for the best care facility we could hope for- $60,000 per month 100% covered by insurance!

Little-by-little we watched him improve. he started recognizing us and said our names. He also started eating a little bit. The new facility is beautiful and so caring. They are taking such good care of him and his wounds. His mind is back in full. If he can regain some energy and avoid infection, I know he'll recover.

This has been the most frightening experience for us. The thought of losing Glenn's dad, is almost unbearable. We love him so much and we will keep praying for his recovery. Tomorrow I'll post the picture I took of him and the kids. I could only get him to open his eyes for a second to take the picture and he didn't know what I was doing. I thought it was the last picture I'd have of him, but now, I hope to take pictures of him at Charles' baptism in April!

Movie Reviews!

This afternoon I took the kids to the movies because it was Family Night at the Four Star Cinemas. They've been wanting to see "Marley and Me". I had a friend tell me how awesome it was, so I was excited. Within the 1st 30 minutes, they had said 3 swear words, said how good sex was, talked about cutting the dogs "balls" off, showed the dog humping a lady, talked about making babies and showed them making out on the bed to make a baby. I had to walk out! While the movie was PG, it was not for little kids! I exchanged our tickets for "Bedtime Stories" and the kids LOVED it! It was so wonderful and entertaining. The kids loved the guinea pig, of course, and it really was mild and geared towards kids and adults. I hope that this helps some of you avoid an uncomfortable situation with your kids like what happened to me tonight!

Refrigerator Madness!!

I have to post about my refrigerator because I'm on the verge of certifiable madness right now! I noticed that the fridge wasn't cooling right on Thursday night but I really wasn't sure. By Friday morning, I noticed that the milk wasn't super cold like usual so I knew we had a problem. I called Sears because we had purchased the service plan when we got the fridge. I called 3 times but was put on hold for more than 20 minutes each time and gave up. I decided to try to book an appointment online and filled out all the info and clicked on the first available appointment- Monday! On Sunday I got an email back telling me that they couldn't complete my request at this time and to reschedule!! Madness set in! I rescheduled for today. But, I never got a confirmation email so I called today and stayed on hold for almost 30 minutes before I got someone on the phone. They said that they had never received any online requests from me and I was NOT scheduled for any repair service!! Needless to say, I was on the verge of real tears when I was on the phone and then anger. They set me up for tomorrow from 8-noon. I won't even be back from the preschool drop-off until after 8:30am. So, with my luck, They will show up first thing tomorrow and I won't be there, so they'll leave and I'll have to reschedule again. It's been 5 days now, but who's counting?

Stephanie's Visit!

Last week Glenn's cousin, Stephanie, and her family came down here on vacation from Idaho and we got to visit with them and the kids got to spend time with their cousins that they usually only see once every 2 years. We spent a day at the beach with them and then came home to eat pizza and play the Wii. It was really fun!

Joanne's Visit!

Glenn's sister, Joanne, and her family came to SoCal to visit their family over the break. We got to see them and spend time with them at church and Chuck E. Cheese's. The kids were so cute and it was so good to see them!

Mindy's Visit!!

Mindy, Emily and Joseph came to visit the day after Christmas. We were so excited to have them!! Charles and Maryn couldn't get enough of them and the whole visit was so much fun! We went to the park to visit with Ronda and the kids, went to Chuck E. Cheese's to visit with Della and family, went out to dinner and a movie with Leasa and Celeste, had a game night with Stephanie, and made a trip down to Sea World to use our passes before they expired. So much to fit into 4 days!

(I've tried for 1 hour to upload photos but it won't work!! I'll catch up later.)

Christmas Morning!!

Christmas morning was such a wonderful time for us! We woke up around 6:30am and had a talk with the kids about the true meaning of Christmas before we let them loose. Charles was the most excited about all the Bakugan stuff he got and Maryn LOVED her mini American Girl doll, Emily! Glenn got a Wii and I got my NordicTrack treadmill, so we were both excited this year! Santa even brought treats for the guinea pigs, so they joined us, too.