Family Christmas Open House

Nana decided she wanted to have a get together with everyone and have a nice dinner and spend time together. She said,

"No presents, just your presence!!"

We ordered a deli sandwich from Dick's and had salads and a wonderful Costco cake!

Look who was able to make it!!

Yup, Good Old Jesse James came over straight from the airport!!

Nana asked for a kiss, right on the lips!!




Happy Momma!!

CC girl!

Nattie Girl!

Some of us went downstairs and played on the Wii!

I'm told they had lots of fun!!

This was hilarious.

I asked Jen to scoot closer to Nana to get a picture together.

Nana grabbed the dog and pulled her close inbetween them.

Lady took full advantage of the plate sitting right in front of her!!

Sitting around the table eating and visiting!

For those of you who couldn't be here...We missed you!!

And for those of you who came,

Thank You, It was great seeing you!!

Merry Christmas, Nana!!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you a very merry Christmas!! I love you so much and it is so wonderful to share another joyous Christmas season with you!!

Lots of hugs and many more kisses!!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

PS- The kids really love watching you "shake it!" :)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bad Week

Poor Nana has had a really bad week. I really can't explain what is going on but all of a sudden she is feeling an incredible amount of pain, almost all the time. It started last wednesday. She's back on some hard pain killers. So she's pretty loopy all the time!! She can't keep the days straight and then gets upset when she gets it wrong.

I just hope it lets up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Here is Nana enjoying her Thanksgiving Dinner.

She enjoyed talking with all that called to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving. Dee came and ate dinner with us, too. What a fun day, for eating and visiting.

Nana Just Can't Wait!!

Nana is one of those people who can't stand to wait for Thanksgiving to come and go before she has to have her tree up! She bugged me for a week and a half before I finally pulled it out of the basement and put it up for her! That was a week and a half ago!! :)

Yesterday I went shopping and I couldn't resist bringing her home one of these poinsettia plants. I knew she would love it. She said don't forget to take a picture! So here it is...

It is huge!! And she loves it, of course! So it's beginning to look a little like Christmas! At least in Nana's room!!

Mom & Dad, I Love You

Here are some things I found in a box while cleaning the garage....

This is "Cupid's Cotillion", held Feb 28, 1959

Aren't they beautiful!!???

It's no wonder they had such beautiful kids!

This is an anniersary card mom gave to dad.

This one is from our Nana and Tata to our parents. Love to mom and dad.

Nana, "Yum!"

Bethanie sure loves to take pictures...

We were having a birthday party for Tiffany last night and I gave Nana a taste of the pumkin spice cake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting, YUM!

Beth caught her reaction on the camera...

She took this one of herself and Nana, I had to post it!

Sacrament Meeting!

I really wish I would have taken some pictures, but I guess I had too much going on to think about it at the time.

Anyway, Nana actually made it to Sacrament Meeting on Sunday!! She heard that the Primary was doing their Sacrament Meeting Program and she wanted to go. She's been talking about trying for several weeks, but every Sunday morning she would decide not this week. When she heard the Primary was doing their program a couple of weeks ago, she decided that would be the week. It took her two weeks to gear up!! Then during the week, she started to get a cold, stuffy nose, sore throat. I thought for sure she wouldn't make it. (Believe it or not, Nana has a little bit fo a stubborn streak.) She made up her mind she was going, and nothing was going to stop her!!!

I laid out her stuff before I left for Relief Society and told her to be ready when I came back for her. She was ready and we walked out to the car. We got a spot right in front of the doors and she walked in very slowly. She had several people very surprised and very pleased to see her. She enjoyed the program and then came home. It took a lot out of her, who would have thought just walking in and sitting for an hour and a half, then walking back to the car would wear someone out, but it did! She walked in the door and immediately put her jammies back on and climbed right back into bed!!

What a day!!

If things keep going the way they are, she just might make it once a month, maybe? It could happen!!

Feeling Pretty Good!!

Just an update to let you know that things have really improved since those teeth came out!!

It has truly been amazing to realize how much trouble a couple of teeth can cause. From the first day they came out, things started getting better. It only took a couple of days for her to feel like trying to eat. It's taking a little getting used to, with only two bicuspids on the bottom jaw, but as usual, she is making out pretty good.

She is still sleeping quite a bit, but when she's awake she's doing and feeling pretty good!! Except for the cold. With the turn in the weather, we've had to turn on the heater and break out some more blankets!!

Dentist Update...Part 2

The rest of her week seemed to go pretty good. The Amoxicillin was doing it's job and controlling the infection. She was fairly comfortable, for the most part, as long as she didn't try to eat on that one side. This morning we went back to see which teeth were giving her trouble. And wouldn't you know it...It was both of them.

So out they came. She sure was a trooper!! She was so nervous, but knew there was no way around it, and the only way to get all the way better was to get rid of the troubled teeth. Dr. Menlove did a great job and was kind and gentle. After they were out, he had to scrape out more of the infection. He said there was still a lot of infection in there. He got out what he could, and the rest would be up to her body to take care of. Since her kidneys weren't working all that well it could take some time. I have to flush the holes for at least a good two weeks to keep the infection from flaring up again.

She is resting now, back on the big pain killers, but that's to be expected with two teeth extractions.

Hair Cut!

Saturday, on top of everything else, we finally got a hair cut!!

Do you think it was about time???

I was so nervous, because I had to take off so much more than I was leaving on her head.

It was quite a bit of work, but I think we finally got it right. She does like it quite short.

No more Troll looking Mohawks!!

Improving!

Just a quick note, we are definitely improving!!

The Amoxicillin is doing it's job, the swelling is mostly gone. We are off the hallucinogen drugs. She's achy, but that won't clear up until the dead tooth/teeth are out and her mouth is healed.

Things are looking up!! At least until Monday!!

Dentist Update

We had a horrible weekend! By the time Monday morning rolled around, Her pain was managable with the Oxycodone Hydrochloride but her whole left side was puffy, swollen and red. She could feel the swelling all the way to her ear and up to her eye. She kept asking me to check to see if there was something in her eye.

Yesterday morning, I called the dentist back and said you need to fit her in and figure this out. It is just too coincidental, it has got to be related to what we came in for on the 17th.

We got there at about 10am. We had to see the new dentist, Dr. Benjamin Menlove, because Dr. Elmer only works on Wednesdays now. Mom seems to like him so we're sticking with Dr. Ben. Anyway, They tried to do another xray but couldn't, she was too swollen and sore. Dr. Ben said it wouldn't be any different from a week ago anyway. They couldn't see anything in the xray so he had no way to know which tooth it was. It can be one or both of two. The tooth (or teeth) have died and are rotting in the jaw and causing infection.

Anyway, he really couldn't do anything any way until we got the infection under control. Even more so since she has the stint. I guess bacteria can collect around the stint and cause problems. So we really are in a catch 22. We have to treat the infection which will weaken the kidneys even more, but we can't not treat the infection because of pain and risk to her heart in essence. So she is taking amoxicillin for the infection and then we go back to the dentist to pull one or two teeth on monday. We're hoping we can better tell which one when the infection is more localized and not spreading.

She was already acting better last night, painwise, anyway. We could manage the pain with out giving her the pain meds every hour. It was lasting longer and doing a better job. The redness in the swelling was more crimson instead of bright red. I expect her to feel even better this morning. (She's not up yet)

She is starting to experience hallucinations, but we were told to expect that when we started to give this med to her. I just hope we can start to ween her off as the infection subsides.

That's the scoop for now, I'll post more as I know more.

Not Doing Well, This Weekend!! :(

We are not having a good weekend. Poor thing is having a temendous amount of pain in her jaw and gums. I'm afraid she just might lose the rest of her bottom teeth at this rate. :(

I've tried all sorts of things.

We've resorted to drugs to keep her as comfortable as possible just to get her through the weekend until we can go back to the dentist on Monday. She's on some pretty potent, powerful stuff. We have to be careful that the hallucinations don't come back, but what else can we do???

More details and info when I know more on Monday.

Love to you all!!

Nana Sure Loves Lady!!

There's only one way to know if you really love your dog....


























Yup, Nana really loves her Lady!!!

Beautiful!?????

Nana says what are you all talking about??? Beautiful????

She usually wakes up with a pretty wicked mohawk! She said to take her picture to show you how it's sticking up all over the place, but it's not too bad today. It's been lots worse!!

She can hardly wait for the next hair cutting session. She was kind of out of it the last time I did hair cuts, and says she won't miss the next one for nothing. It's going to be pretty scarey for me, because if I cut it as short as she likes it, I'll be cutting off two to three times more than I'll be leaving!!

She also said to tell you that she does appreciate all your loving comments! :)

Look Who's Out and About!!!

It really is amazing the, seemingly, complete turn around Nana has made in the last several weeks. Things were actually getting pretty bad. It was getting increasingly difficult to just get to the bathroom without falling down. The pain in her arms and hands were getting pretty bad as well. She really was losing the use of her hands. She was sleeping most of the day.

One day we were talking to our hospice nurse, Micki, about her hands and if that was the diabetes taking her limbs. She said she didn't think so, because of the way her fingers would draw up when they hurt. We later found out that it wasn't the tendons pulling her fingers up, but Nana tucking and cradling her fingers and hands, because they hurt. In talking with Nana, I found out that she was having trouble falling asleep at night. Of course, she was sleeping most of the day, but if that was due to the toxins, then she should be able to sleep at night as well. We talked about few things. I told her maybe we were going about this all wrong. Maybe she needed to stop laying around waiting to die. Maybe we should make the best of what we got to work with and make life as good as we can. She said she would try.

Anyway, I talked her into just trying to stay awake a little bit during the day, and to start moving around more. She started with hand and arm lifts and leg lifts. Just a little bit each day. Little by little she had a little more strength and a little more strength. She still sleeps a lot during the day, but less and less. She is moving around the house better, less falls, she actually leaves her room other than just to go to the bathroom. The more she's moving around the more her circulation has improved and her hands and arms don't hurt as much. She is participating more in her showers and bathroom visits because they don't hurt as much. She can actually make a fist again! We talked again and I found out she is only doing it to make me happy, not because she wants to. But as more and more time passes and she can do more and more, I think she is happy with the results.

About a week ago, she was sitting at the table (feat in itself) eating her lunch, when she bit down on her tooth and cried out in pain. She kept trying to eat and really couldn't because every time she chewed on that side it would hurt. We waited couple of days and it didn't get better. She stopped chewing all together on that side, I called the dentist and got an appointment. She got up yesterday morning and got into the shower and off we went to the dentist. (It used to be a shower would really wear her out, that was all we could accomplish in one day.) Keep in mind this is the first time she has been outside of my house (besides the porch) since January. She got into the car and we drove her to the dentist. We got in there and They did an x-ray, and Dr. Elmer examined her teeth. And you know what?? He couldn't find anything wrong with any of her teeth! He explained that maybe since they are all lose on the bottom, it's possible that as she bit down on her food she tweaked the ligament in her tooth, which would make it sore for a couple of days. Since she hasn't been chewing on it for a few days now it's had the chance to heal. She came home and ate lunch and sure enough it doesn't hurt anymore!

Well, we were so happy she didn't have to have a tooth pulled, she was all dressed up and no where to go. As we were walking out of the dentist she said, let's go to Dick's! The supermarket across the street. So we went over there grabbed a motorized cart and she drove all over that place looking at everything for an hour!!! She was so happy. They had their case lot sale just start that day, so I had fun too! I took a couple of pictures, wish I would have taken more, but I guess hind site it 20/20.

We got her home, she didn't waste anytime getting right back in her jammies, ate her lunch and went to sleep! Last night we talked about her excursion, she said maybe we should try that once a week. Maybe we can get her going back to the temple?? We'll see.

Don't get the wrong impression, she just recently re qualified for hospice again. Her health is steadily declining. She can still all of a sudden crash and leave us in a few different ways. But we figure this is a much better way to wait for it to happen!

Where Did All This Creativity Come From??

As I was trying to figure out how to set up a studio in my garage to help me organize and work on the many projects and ideas and crafts I want to do, the thought came to me.
WHY?? Why do feel such a need to create??
I remember mom, years ago, bringing home the huge cones of jute and doing the beautiful art of macrame. She made curtains, plant pot holders, room dividers...you name it!
And she taught any one of us who wanted to learn. I still search for jute, but alas, macrame seems to be a dying art.
That sparked a memory even older of watching mom make wonderful plaques with decoupage. She wouldn't just slap a picture on a piece of wood and call it good. Oh, no. I remember she would buy 3 cards, all the same card. One was the backround. The other two were cut up to give the card dimension. The effect was amazing!
I remember her moving her passion to create spoons! Yes, spoons. She would create 'scenes' on spoons! I don't rememeber all the details but I know she would fill the spoon with a kind of clay and use miniture figures to create different scenes.
Of course, there was her sewing. She could be found on her sewing machine making just about whatever she wanted.
Momma could dance!! She had a very creative side for entertaining.
We would paint statuary.
Mom could create the most unique gardens using all kinds of thrift store finds. Who will ever forget her bedpan gardens? She would even paint pretty flowers on the bedpans!
I could go on but the point is, she shared her creativity with her children. We would sit with her and she would teach us as we made our own creations.
Where did all this creativity come from?? I think I got it from my mom.
Thanks mom, tho I'm not sure if it is a blessing or a curse! I got a lot of creative projects in my head, all over my house, and builiding up in our garage!

The Disaster Weekend...

Okay, here it goes...

We were all stressed out for different reasons. We thought it would be nice to get away for a weekend. Nana's friend Shirley had a cabin in Big Bear and she said we could use it. It was a hot summer day and we all packed into the "tuna boat" station wagon. We all were...Nana, Sandy, Deanna, Me, Donna, Denise, Janet, and her brother (I'm sorry, I don't remember his name, Evan?). Anyway, we were so happy and singing along the way. Halfway up the mountain the car decided to break down. Everyone got hot and irritable. Sandy was gorgeous and decided to hitch hike to the nearest phone to call a tow truck. Sure enough, the next person to come by just happened to be a young guy on a motorcycle. He took her to a phone, then brought her back to us. When the tow truck finally arrived, he hooked the car up to the truck backwards. Sandy, and I don't remember who, maybe Denise, got to ride in the truck and the rest of us stayed in the car. It was kinda fun riding backwards. We waved to everyone along the way.

We finally got to the cabin. Sandy and Nana went for a walk down the road to a phone booth to try to call Danny to pick us up. Meanwhile, Deanna and I made dinner. We were all tired and the younger kids were driving us crazy (no offense, but you were). We thought "At least we'll have a good dinner". We made spaghetti sauce with penne noodles instead of spaghetti noodles. It was awful!! We didn't allow for the altitude and the noodles were so sticky and gummy it was nearly impossible to swallow. So much for a good meal. Sandy and Nana were unable to reach Danny, so we decided to relax and macrame to keep our minds off of everything so far. Notice I said "so far".

Deanna and I went to the phone to call. No answer. Nana and Sandy went to call. No answer. We did see some wild donkeys running around. That was pretty exciting. Dee and I called. No answer. Nana and Sandy called. Again, no answer. By this time it was about 12am. Dee and I called. Yippee! Finally Danny answered. He and Don were on their way with the Tully Steak meat van they used for work. All we had to do now was wait for them to get there.

We watched some TV. I remember watching "The Legend of Lizzie Bordon". I don't know why it stands out in my mind, but it does. Every time I here anything having to do with Lizzie Bordon, I think of this weekend.

Just after 1am they arrived. The large freezer in the van had stopped working for some reason, so they had to plug it into the cabin for about half an hour to recharge it so the steaks wouldn't thaw.

Finally, we woke up the kids, packed everyone in around the freezer and were on our way. About fifteen minutes into the drive Janet gets car sick and throws up in the carpet bagget purse. We switch her up to the front with Danny and Don, clean things up a little, try to ignore the horrible smell and we're back on the road. "Yes, we'll soon be home sleeping in a comfortable bed" we thought. Not so.

Halfway down the mountain..."Uh, Oh" said Danny "We're out of gas". We came to a stop not too far from a house that happened to be part of a gas station. At 2am it was closed, of course. So what do we do? What else? We send Sandy to knock on the door of the house to plead for gas. And of course, they see her and open up. "Okay, we have enough gas to get home, now we'll be there and in bed soon". Not so.

We get to the freeway and "BOOM!!". You guessed it...a flat tire. Now it's about 2:30am and we are stuck on the freeway with a flat tire. Danny and Don get out the spare. A huh, it's flat too. They take the tire off and roll it down the off ramp hoping to find an open gas station that will fix the flat. Amazingly enough, there was one not too far down the road. They get the tire fixed, roll it back up the ramp and put it back on the van. We got back in the van. This time Danny, me, Janet, Dee and Don were in the front. (At that time there were no seat belt laws). Guess what happens next?

Yippee, Yahoo!!!!!!!!! We dropped Sandy and her kids off and finally at about 4:30am we pulled into the driveway. We didn't even take the stuff out of the van. We went straight up to bed. I think we slept until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. What an adventure! The whole time we were saying to ourselves, "Some day, we'll all look back at this and laugh". I don't know if anyone is laughing. I think we are all in disbelief that it all really happened. It sounds like a crazy story someone made up. But, I promise...it happened!

(I tried to write everything I could remember. If anyone remembers anything else, please feel free to add to it).

The Meat Truck!

Heather's memory reminded me of the Meat Truck incident. Forgive me, I know I don't remember all the details I was young but this is what I do remember...

We went up to or tired to get to some cabin, I think in Big Bear, and literally got snowed in. Then when we were trying to get home Nana's car wouldn't start, or maybe it just got stuck in the snow. Danny ended up coming to get us, but the only vehicle he had was his work truck. He delivered frozen meat somewhere. So there was a big freezer in the back. We all piled in the front and the back. I don't even remember just how many of us there were, but there were a few of us. We really didn't fit, but we had to make the best of it. The back had no windows, now that I'm thinking about it, it probably was a cargo van, not a truck.

Anyway, I just remember it was a very long, bumpy ride and Janet said she was going to throw up, with not much warning. Nana was emptying her bag, Sandy was trying to contain it in her hands. As she was throwing up in the bag, the rest of us were yelling at Danny to stop and let us out. The smell was absolutely horrible, as you probably well know.

I remember Nana having to get back into her bag because there was a small zipper pocket she didn't empty before she let Janet do her thing in it. She definitely didn't want to keep it after that!! So if this is the same bag, Heather, No it didn't survive this incident!! Thanks for the memory, it's funny now, but sure wasn't at the time!!

Let's Take a Blast from the Past!

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Nana's purse...

Okay, it's been too many days without a new memory or something, so...

I was remembering this purse that Nana had when they lived in the house on Apache. It was made out of tapestry fabric. One day I looked at it and said, "That purse reminds me of 'Gone With the Wind' and the bags the carpet baggers would carry around." Nana looked at it and said, "It does. I guess this is now my carpet bagget purse." I said, "Don't you mean carpet bagger?" She said, "No, carpet bagget." Then we just laughed. From then on we always called it that. I don't know if she had it much longer. During our "Disaster Weekend" (which is a whole other story I'll write about later when I have more time. Unless someone wants to write about it) her carpet bagget purse became Janet's throw up bag in the back of a meat van. I'm not sure if it survived that. Love to all!!!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun get together for Independence Day! Gina and Jenn and their families decided to come spend it with us! Charlotte came too. Nana was doing pretty good, as far as Nana goes. These days she can't seem to wake up very good before 6pm. She was able to sit up and visit with who ever came in and out of her room. We even got her out on the porch for a group picture! I'm not sure why it turned out blurry, but here it is anyway.

She was able to watch the fireworks from her window.

For more details on the day, you can visit my blog, there's more pics over there too!!

Sleeping Like A Baby...

I posted this on my blog and thought I'd share it with you!

Sunday was a nice day. I started out taking the girls Nana-sitting with me. Katie actually was really excited to come. Little did I know that she actually wanted to go to church. After she picked out a pretty dress and wanted me to do her hair I figured it out. So she actually didn't Nana-sit, she went to church so it was just CC and me.

Ciara and I were sitting in the living room playing when suddenly Nana came stumbling out of the bathroom with a frantic look on her face! I was shocked to see her! I didn't hear her at all! I felt so bad!! She said that she had been calling me and I didn't even hear her! I am so sorry Nana!

After she calmed down a bit and started to relax she let me take care of her. Soon, we were back in her room and she was finishing up her breakfast and taking her medicine.

Ciara was a good girl for the most part...but very clingy. And very tired. And so was Nana. Next thing I knew, both Ciara and Nana were fast asleep! It was so sweet!

Time for Another Update...

I thought it was time for another update. We had some blood drawn on Tuesday of last week, but I didn't get the results until I was actually leaving town on Thursday. The lab results didn't tell us a whole lot, just that she is steadily declining as we suspected. Her GFR, which is her kidney function is down to 11% from 14% in Dec. Her creatinen is up to 3.9 from 2.8 in Dec. Really all these labs tell us, is that she still qualifies for Hospice Care, and it's just a big waiting game.

She is sleeping more and more and is weaker and weaker, but she really seems to be holding her own. I talked to Kim, who is the head nurse at Love Health Care (Hospice), and she said that there still is no time frame they are willing to give. Which is fine with me, it really is still a day to day basis. She could hold her own for some time, but then again she could just crash at any time. We just keep living each day as they come.

Haircuts

I'm not sure if this would count as a memory of my Nana or my Mama, but here it goes anyway...

I realized at a very young age that my Mom can NOT cut hair! Well, technically she can cut it...ALL OFF! I spent a lot of my childhood with little hairs sticking out of the front of my hairline that would be considered bangs and they STILL weren't even!

So when we moved to Utah with Nana, she became our "hairdresser". I was at that awkward age when you are too tall to sit in a chair and too small to sit on the floor so I had to sit straight up on my knees while Nana was trimming my hair. I remember telling my Nana that I was dizzy and BAM! I was out! I woke up on the floor with my Mom standing over me with her hands on her hips, "Are you faking!? You better not be faking! You almost broke my Disney figurines!" In the meantime my Nana was beginning to cry thinking I was having seizures.

I still don't think my Mom believes me that I wasn't faking...

I think that was the last time anyone would cut my hair. It was salons from that day out. I guess it was worth the "faint"!

I Have Two Memories to Share...

I used to ride my bike to the Whittier house every morning and Deanna would sit on the book rack on the back (something my dad had told me never to do when he bought the bike for me...but it was Deanna, my best friend and sister). Anyway, Deanna, David and I would walk/ride to school together. One morning when I got to the house, Nana was cutting up some dried red peppers. They were hot and making her eyes water. About 30 minutes later, as we were about to leave for school, she started to panic a little. She said she couldn't see and couldn't understand why? She was rubbing her eyes and really afraid. It scared us too. Then we remembered she had been cutting the peppers and she must have gotten some of what was on her hands into her eyes. She went over to the sink and rinsed her eyes with cool water. What a relief! When we got home from school, she could see fine, she just had red, puffy eyes for a little while. Thank goodness that's all it was.

As I said before, I would ride to the house each morning so we could all go to school together. Deanna and I were in sixth grade and David was in third grade. One morning Nana was packing lunches for Dee and David. On the outside of the paper bags she wrote their names. I don't remember exactly what Deanna's read, but it was something flowery and lovely. David's read "David Choo Chee Man James". Oh my Gosh!!! He was not happy with that. We thought it was great, but David was so upset. He refused to take it to school unless she got a new bag for him and just wrote his real name "and that's all" on it. I can understand now why he didn't like it, but at the time, we loved it and teased him constantly about it.

Okay, I guess I lied. I have one more memory for now.

All of the sixth grade classes had a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. Nana went with us as a chaperone. Deanna, Nana and I were standing outside of the bus waiting to get on. There was a girl named Julene Galewick standing with us. She was in my ward, so we knew her well. She wasn't dumb, but she had moments, like this...She looked at Deanna and said, "You have dimples". Nana immediately broke into song and said, "She's got dimples on her, but she's cute". Julene looked at us and said, "I have dimples on my butt too!" We laughed forever about that one.

Okay, here's the clue...

We (Nana, Gina, me, and some of my kids) were sitting in the living room visiting and I looked up at Nana and asked her "Can you see very well, today?" She looked at me funny and said, "as a matter of fact, no I can't see very well today, I don't know what's going on." I said "maybe it would help if you wore your own glasses!!"

She was wearing my glasses, not hers!!!!

Good job, Dee.

Can You Guess What's Wrong With This Picture???

Look closely, There is something wrong with this picture....Can you guess?????

She Said, "No" to the Steroids

The answer to the big question is a big fat NO. Nana has decided not to take the steroids, at least for now. The Lortab seems to be helping so we'll just stick with that, for now.

She's had a very sleepy couple of days, but seems to be doing alright. Her vitals have been pretty sporadic, but they always seem to calm down. Her bruises are as purple as ever, but I think they've finally stopped growing! She's still sore, but not too bad. She's eating better and is very happy for the change in the temperature. We've gone from 90 to 60 in one day!!

Sorry this is so short, I just wanted to let you know what her decision was.

Thanks to Everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers in our behalf. She received several cards, phone calls, messages on the blog, etc.

I am thoroughly amazed at how well Nana has done this week. While her left hip and side are very purple, and she is somewhat sore, I am happy to report...she really isn't doing too bad!!!

Clarine, our hospice nurse, has suggested we put her on a steroid treatment to help with the swelling and joint pain in her hand and arm. We are trying to decide if we are going to go through with it. She kind of scared Nana telling her about the side effects, and that she couldn't just stop it if she decided it wasn't working. We would have to ween her off of it. I told her to pray about it, and we'll see.

Happy Birthday Nana!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREETINGS FROM ALL OF US THAT LOVE YOU IN CALIFORNIA!!!

WE ARE THINKING OF YOU AND WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS. ALL OF OUR LOVE ALWAYS

A Dedication...

I wrote this poem and I'd like to dedicate it to everyone, especially Nana my second mama.

"People we meet may come and go,
but there are those who leave a
lasting impression upon our hearts.
Though they may move on, we will
always remember them.
And because of them, our lives
will never be the same."

I love you all very much. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives.

Feeling the Pressure

I didn't sleep much last night. For some reason I was dreaming of Nana all night long. Maybe I just had her on my mind because it was her birthday. This morning when I woke up, I started thinking about my time I have spent with her.

I pretty much spent every day of my life with the family from the moment I met Deanna when we were in fifth grade until they moved to the house on Apache. Then I spent as many weekends as possible there and the entire summer of 1977.

I have so many memories of the times we had. It was one of the happiest times of my life. I actually felt wanted and loved. Thank you for that.

Well, the summer of 1979 they lived in an apartment in Westminster. I was blessed to have been able to stay with them for the summer again. One of my memories of that summer was that Nana really put the pressure on me. Any time we (David, Deanna, and I) went somewhere Nana would look at us and say, "You guys know how to behave and what is right and wrong and what I would approve of you doing." Then she looked at me and said, "I know you won't lie to me, Heather, so I hope you don't make me ask what you guys do or where you go." Talk about pressure. It worked though. She was right, I couldn't lie to her. She really loved us and wanted to make sure we were safe. Just one more reason I love her so much.

Miracles Never Cease!!

Just a quick note to let you know she did have a wonderful birthday today in spite of her fall last night! I can hardly believe it, while she is definitely sore, and pretty bruised, (I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the bruising), she hasn't suffered too much today! She hasn't even asked for pain killers today, at all. We did put some ice on her arm, that seemed to help.

She told me to thank everyone for all your prayers, she's sure that is the reason there wasn't more serious repercussions from that fall. You are the reason she is still going! Love and Thanks to all!!

"Ooops, she did it again??!!!"

Just a quick entry for now, I'll post more later, given the chance. But yes, Nana had a bad fall again last night! She fell in the bathroom, again, and hit the tub pretty hard. I'm not sure just how bad, as of yet. I am confident she didn't break anything! It never ceases to amaze me at how lucky (blessed) she can be. I called hospice last night and told them I wanted someone out here to check her out this morning. I think her whole left side is going to be VERY sore and VERY bruised.

She's been doing so well, lately. We're not entirely sure what happened. She got up to go potty, made it into the bathroom without me even knowing it. She said she wasn't dizzy, her legs were weak, and as she teetered a little bit she went to grab the sink to steady herself, she didn't have the strength in her hand to hold on, and her legs gave out. I heard her go down and hit the first time, it seemed like it took me FOREVER to get in there, all the while I could hear her hit several times. I got in there and she was up against the tub with her arm inside the tub. I careful lifted her off the edge of the tub and held her close till she could calm down. We assessed her injuries, she could wiggle her toes, then move her feet. We got her up on her feet, she could stand. Put her on the potty (she hadn't got that far yet, before she fell). I checked her out, she already had some swelling on her hip and side. A little bit of a friction burn, too. I called hospice, but by the time they called me back she was walking, slowly and cautiously, but not too painfully back to her room. I was convinced she hadn't broken anything, and she would be fine for the night. I just asked them a few questions and requested she be seen in the morning. I've checked on her this morning and she seems to be sleeping well for the moment. She just kept apologizing to me over and over. She was sorry to make more work for me in taking care of her. I have to keep telling her, I am the one who's sorry.

We are having an Open House Birthday Party for her all afternoon and evening. I am hoping she'll be up to visitors, still.

Oldies, but Goodies!!

Gina wrote a post a couple days ago about the good morning song, and in my comments my mind went started to go nuts about some of the songs Nana used to sing to me when she woke me up or put me to bed. I mentioned that I had way too many to keep going in the comments field, so here's a few....

I don't even know the name of this one, but I'm sure you'll remember, she sang this one all the time...Bubbles, maybe??

I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high, they nearly reach the sky.
Then like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortunes, always hiding...I've looked everywhere.
I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air.


I fell in love with you the first time I looked into... them there eyes.
You have a funny little cute way of flirting with...them there eyes.
You better watch it, if your wise.
They sparkle, they dazzle, they're gonna get you in a whole heap of trouble.


How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggily ta a a a ail.
How much is that dogggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale.


Shoo fly pie and apple pan dowdy makes your eyes light up and your tummy say howdy.
Shoo fly pie and apple pan dowdy I never get enough of that wonderful stuff.


Ain't she sweet, see her coming down th street.
Now I ask you very confidentially, ain't she sweet.
Ain't she nice, Look her over once or twice.
Now I ask yo very confientially, ain't she nice.

Just cast an eye, in her direction
Oh me oh my, ain't that perfection.
Voo de oh doe de oh

I repeat, don't you think she's kind of neat,
Now I ask you very confidentially,
Ain't she sweet.


I'll be loving you, always. With a love that true, always
When the things you've planned need a helping hand,
I will understand, always.
Days may not be fair, always. That's when I'll be there, always
Not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year,
But, Always.

I suppose I could keep going, but I must get on with life.

Veggies

Nana was a prettty good cook, well at least to me. I loved all her meals, some pretty creative ones two, seeing how at some times she was cooking for an army. But man her spaghetti, her tacos, and yes the lamb ribbets. Loved it all. Until that horrible day. Her and Deanna (whom I still blame to this day) decieded to become veggitrians. Such a horrible word I probably didn't even spell it right. Anyways mom would say "if it has a face we don't eat it" Even milk was out of the question.
Can't recall how long this phase lasted (maybe cause I was so delerious from lack of meat) but one day I remember so clearly. Me and RJ were sitting in the living room watching television when it happened. At first it was a faint scent but it grew stronger with every sniff. I turned to RJ he looked at me. We both belted out in song, "do you smell what I smell" "Its meat, it meat cooking on the stove, oh how beautiful it smells to me." (all this to the tune of that christmas tune do you see what I see?)
In doing this praise of song we both got up and ran to the kitchen. And yes there it was meat cooking of the stove. Yes nana broke we were going to eat meat. And what a glorious night it was. She was soon back to cooking her awesome spaghetti, tacos, and them sweet tender lamb ribbets. Way to go nana!!!!!!!!

Good Morning

The door slowly creaks open and the loving soft whisper fills the room. "Good morning to you...Good morning to you." The voice raises with each footstep to the bed. "Wake up in our places with bright shining face" You flutter your eyes open to see the brightest eyes smiling down on you as one of your favorite people sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing your arms, urging you to get up for school.

That was how I woke up every morning when I lived my Nana! What a WONDERFUL way to wake up! I loved it! And still love it! I try and wake my kids up the same way and they always wake up with smiles!

Nana Update...

I'm trying to be a good girl and keep the updates coming. Life is really crazy right now with only 3 weeks left of school. Lots of end of year activities, programs, and graduation exercises. I am so excited to have to the kids home and get lots of projects done, and yet not so excited. I'm not sure how it will play out with all the excitement around here all the time with Nana.

Nana, while she seems to be very clear headed, is in lots of pain most of the time now. We tried to put her on half of the water pill, to see if that would help with the swelling. While it makes her go potty more, it doesn't seem to be helping with the swelling. Then again maybe it's just not letting her get more swollen. I'm not sure. It doesn't seem to be helping with the pain, either. I was hoping it would help with that. She won't take the morphine, because of the hallucinations. We have her on Lortab. It seems to work somewhat, it at least makes her more comfortable than not, but she sleeping a lot again. I'm afraid she might be losing mobility of her right hand, she can hardly hold onto anything, it hurts too much.

We took her off the diabetes medication and are checking her blood sugar levels everyday. Her levels are great for almost two weeks now. Does that mean she's not diabetic anymore, I don't think so. Just another chapter in her already perplexing case!!

I just took a break and gave her a shower, she seems to be having a good day today. It really hasn't been a good week, so today is especially nice to be having a good day!

Keep thinking up memories and stories, we need more posting to keep it fun for everyone!!

Modern Day Pioneer

My mother was born into the catholic church. It wasn't until she met my father that she joined the mormon religion. I don't know much about the catholic church but I do know that must have taught her the basics of faith. At first my mother did not want anything to do with the mormons. in fact every time the missionaries would try to talk to her she would be very mean to them. She would slam the door on them, yell at them, even spray them with a water hose as the came on to her front lawn.
I am really not quite sure what got her to listen to them but she did and was in time baptized. Which was just in time for us kids because even tho the James family were mormon they were what in Utah called Jack-mormons. In fact I find interesting was that she was baptized by Connie's cousin. (yes dads third wife). Interesting dad could not stay away from the mormons seeing how he married into it again.
Well mom ran with it teaching us kids the importance of faith and family. We went to church every sunday and she taught us the teaching of the church. She re-established the church to the James family. Some time down the road when I was about nine she decided she did not want to go to church any more, yet she sent us girls. She said she was going to drink, curse, and smoke. Every sunday she would ask us what we had learned. Now I am not quite sure how much time really did pass but she started going to church again. I never really in that time she wasn't going, ever see her drink, smoke, or curse and I do believe she did still read her bible and prayed.
Mom was very strong in the church and did bare her testimony often to us kids. To everyone really. Now some of us go to church and some don't. Some of us belong to other churches. But one thing I can say is she taught us all the foundation of faith and about our Heavenly Fathers love and the sacrifice of the brother Jesus Christ. So I am sure I can speak for all of us kids, ex-husbands, sisters, grandchildren, great grandchildren, cousins, who have you, that we all thank her for that faith.

modern day pioneer

Look Who's Been Outside!!

Well I got home safe and sound to find out that all that worry before I left was in vain!! Aside from a huge cold sore on her lip, Nana was healthier than when I left! I couldn't believe it. She wasn't dizzy, still a little weak, but she has been able to get out of bed and take herself to the bathroom. She is eating better, talking better and her vitals are improved! Her oxygen levels are back in the high 80's, low 90's. I'm not sure what happened, but here is another perplexing chapter of Nana's illness. On Monday she asked for a shower, she did great. She wasn't completely exhausted from the excursion and since it was a beautiful day outside, she went out on the porch and sat for a whole hour!!!! She hasn't been outside AT ALL since January!! She came in and had lunch at the table with the kids and promptly went to bed for a nap. She really had a great day! And yes, just as Dee wrote in her post, she seems to be very clear minded.

She is quite swollen, her hands, feet and face mostly. Her whole right arm, hand and wrist have been in quite a lot of pain. I'm wondering if it's because the doctor took her off her water pill. I'll be asking Clarine, our hospice nurse, about that when she comes.

Tuesday, she had a hard time waking up. Not as good a day, but still not as bad as before I left.

Thursday, she's very dizzy and weak. Not a good day.

Today she's in a lot of pain in her arm and wrist again.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on here.

Thanks for the welcome home, Gina. We had a GREAT time, but it is WONDERFUL to be home!!

Tootsie Boxes

Let me start by saying my childern call nana tootsie. It all started when my mother brought home a tootsie roll home for Megan and said, "Here tootsie", Megan from that point on called her tootsie. The rest of the kids followed along with it. Now tootsie boxes. My mother moved to Utah when Megan was 2 years and Jesse about 5 months. So when it came time for birthdays or Christmas, Valentines or what have you she would send a boxes of goodies. In these boxes were stickers, penscils, littles books, and a shirt, just little things that weren't much but meant the world to a kid. As I continued having more childern and they continued to grow, more and more tootsie boxes continued to come. It didn't matter who was next in line to recieve one of these boxes because everyone enjoyed seeing what treasures awaited for the lucky kid who the mailman had come for. To this day they still talk about their tootsie boxes.

Welcome Home Auntie Donna!!!

I wrote this entry in my Blog yesterday, but I thought I would copy and paste it over here for you.

Welcome Home Auntie Donna!!!
Sunday I was so thankful to sleep in! Jenn said that she was going to visit Nana in the morning so I took advantage of that and slept in until noon! I couldn't believe it! The baby woke up at 7 so I got up with her but she was tired again by about 8 so I laid down with her in Katelynn's bed. (Katelynn was in my bed snuggling with her Daddy!) I remember Shawn coming in and getting the baby when he woke up. And I remember several attempts from Shawn and the kids to wake me up later, but all attempts were unsuccessful! I couldn't keep my eyes open at all! When I finally did wake up, I was shocked to find out it was 12:00!
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Katelynn and Ciara joined me to visit Nana! We brought a couple of movies to help keep them occupied..and it worked.
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Shortly after arriving, a nurse from Love Health Care (hospice) came by to visit. I can't even begin to describe the woman. She was overbearingly loud. Almost like she thought everyone in the room was deaf! I think we were all grateful when she didn't stay too long.
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Soon, it was just Nana and I. We were able to visit and chit chat for a little bit. Every car that drove by or every time that Lady would bark, Nana would get all excited. "Is that them!? Are they home?!" She knew that the kids were picking up their parents from the airport and was anxious to see her daughter!
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After about an hour the van pulled up! I couldn't believe how fast Nana was scooting her bum to the edge of the bed! She wanted to be up and ready for Donna! And there she was! Aunt Donna jumped into the room with the same excitement that Nana had! It was so wonderful to watch them hug and kiss and hug and cry and hug and kiss!

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I was able to stay just a little while longer to visit with the family and to hear just a few blurbs about the trip. I am so grateful that everything went well.

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Faith is a wonderful thing.
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Welcome home Auntie Donna!!