Home Again and Halloween

I headed home on October 16, Jim's birthday.  The kids stayed with his mom, and he came up to Minneapolis (where I flew in) by himself to get me.  We spent the night there and had a little couple's time together.

The fall colors were beautiful there.

The exciting part about being in Minneapolis was our visit to Ikea; we finally bought my bookshelves!!  Annie was a really good helper when Jim put them together.

 Beautiful!  My books finally all have shelf space.  That means I can buy more again, right?

Abby really thinks this is the right way to wear sunglasses.  She fell asleep on the way home from church like this.

Jim and I went to a Halloween party, so we dressed up...sort of.  We were Jack and Jill.  (Jack and Jill went up the hill...)

Our Halloween festivities consisted of the church trunk or treat, and trick or treating that night.  I was thrilled when Logan wanted such an easy costume this year.  He received a lot of compliments on it too.

My little engineer.

My little fairy.

My ballerina.

Wall-E.  This kid forgot to bring his costume to the church party, and we didn't realize it until we'd arrived.  So, Jim dropped us off and turned right around to go get it.  About two minutes later I decided that was silly to do so much extra driving for a costume and so I called him to just come back, but he didn't hear his phone.  Eventually he came back with the costume, so Alex had it for the last half.  Here's the funny part: At the end of the night Alex brought us an award that he'd won.  It was for best homemade costume. That award was the highlight of his whole Halloween, and he's keeping it with his treasures now!  I guess it was worth the extra trip to get his costume!

I love the photo bombing fairy in this one.

My sweet little pumpkin.

Recovery

My mom had surgery on the Thursday after we arrived.  My brother Josh flew in from Utah to be there, and my sister Sarah drove up that day as well.  My Aunt Marilyn (my mom's sister) also joined us at the hospital.  It was a long day of waiting, but the surgery was successful.  However, the neurosurgeon let us know that he thought the tumor looked like cancer.  Thus began a long wait for biopsy results.  Jim headed home with the four oldest kids the following day, and I stayed with Laurel to help for a couple of weeks.

This was her 'Made It Through Surgery' photo that she had us share afterwards.  My Aunt Marilyn is in this picture with her.

Josh had some cuddle time with his new niece.

Laurel (two months) started smiling while we spent time in the hospital with my mom.  It was such a tender mercy during those hard days.

My mom couldn't hold her like she wanted to, but we made sure she had little snuggles from Laurel every day.

Laurel and Alan had time together.

After a few days in the hospital, my mom was moved to a care facility so she could have rehab.  They were able to give her physical, occupational, and speech therapy five days a week while she was there.

She started feeling well enough to try on hats for a photo shoot.

Half of her head was shaved for the surgery, so we had a fun time laughing about her new 'comb-over'.  My mom has always had an amazing attitude about things.

She was in the care facility for two weeks, and because the nursing care was less than fabulous, Alan and I took turns being with her 24/7.  The rehab was excellent and helped her a lot, though.  Laurel and I would go to the care center every morning and spend the day with my mom while Alan went home, and then we'd head back to her house when Alan came back in the evening.

About a week after surgery, my mom had an exciting day!  She stood on her own two feet and took a few steps for the first time.  By the time I went home (two weeks after surgery) she was able to walk short distances with a walker.

Laurel was usually pretty tired by the time we came back each evening.  The care facility was so noisy that she wouldn't nap much.

I needed to return home to my family after two weeks, but we were able to bring my mom home the day before I left.  She was so happy to be back in her own home.  I was sad to leave her, but glad that I'd been able to be with her during those three weeks. 

The day I left, the results from the biopsy came in.  She has a glioblastoma tumor; it's a type of brain cancer.  It was a hard blow for all of us I think.  Since then, my mom has almost completed a six week round of radiation and chemotherapy, and we know little else.  It's been hard not being with her, but I'm grateful that we learned about the cancer so early.  Our plan from here on out is to make as many trips to Colorado as possible.  We're praying for a miracle, but we do trust in the Lord's will.  My mom says she is feeling a lot of peace; I'm so grateful for that.  I can't wait to see my mom again for Christmas!

My Mom and Laurel's Baby Blessing

We took an emergency trip out to Colorado at the end of September because my mom was going to have brain surgery.  We'd known something was wrong for several weeks, but had been waiting for a diagnosis and treatment.  A few days after Laurel was born (early August), my mom had a grand mal seizure.  She'd never had any seizures and seemed to be doing well, so it was a shock.  An MRI showed a growth on her brain, but it was very small. Over the next several weeks, she continued to have seizures and developed paralysis in her left arm and leg.  At the end of September, another MRI showed that the tumor had doubled in size over the course of six weeks.  Because it was so aggressive, the doctors determined that she needed surgery immediately.

We learned what the doctors were thinking one evening, packed the car, and headed to Colorado the next day to be have time with her before the surgery and to be there during it.

This was the first time my mom met Laurel.  She'd been so eager to see her new grandbaby, and so frustrated that she couldn't come to us.

We had a big family dinner that Sunday.

I think it meant a lot to her to have her family around her during the days preceding surgery. The kids were overwhelming at times, but mostly a great distraction for her from all the worry.

As we were packing to head out, Jim suggested that we might be able to have Laurel's baby blessing at my mom's house since she was homebound.  So I packed the dress.  While we were traveling I called our bishop to find out if we could do it that way (since this usually happens in church).  He said as long as a member of my mom's bishopric was there, we could do it.  So we made the arrangements.

Jim's brother, Ben, had just been ordained an elder that day, so he was able to participate in the blessing.

Jim's dad (who lives in Iowa like us) just so happened to be in Colorado then, so he was also able to participate.

My Uncle Dave and Aunt Marilyn (on the far left) were also in town to be with their daughter and grandkids who live near my mom.  We were grateful so many family members were able to be there for Laurel's blessing.

My mom said it meant a lot to her that we were able to have the blessing in her home.

The rest of these pictures came from my mom.  Prior to her illness, she'd put a lot of love and effort into making her home a fun place for her grandkids, so she really enjoyed having them there.

This really captures my mom's relationship with all of us.  We have so much fun with her.  She has always made such an effort to be close to all of us and to support us in everything.  We love her so much.