Manual Wheelchair Ordered

   Pool time on Monday was full of new things for Bruce to try. He was asked to march in place and Bruce was able to pick up his feet about four inches. Then bicycling in place. And finally he walked on his knees in the water along the side of the pool.

      I began a Zumba gold class (over 50, I know I am only 49 but she made an exception for me, wink wink). Tuesday we fixed the marvelous chicken tortellini soup my DIL, made for us. Thank you Lindsy! It was marvelous! 

     On Wednesday Bruce had a tube put in his ear. He said the pain killer shot hurt. (Oxymoron?) He said he can hear better now. The tube they inserted will last six to 18 months. He still might need hearing aids. We almost decapitated him getting into the van. He had lifted his chair so the ear Dr could work on him, he sat up after the procedure and we forgot to lower the chair so when he got into the van his neck and head were torked around. Ouch!

   Rosala and Debbie brought over dinner, Debbie made fruit salad, and banana bread brownies with icing and Rosala baked up some fish the twins had caught on their coast trip. With rice and veggies we ate really well.

     Thursday I skipped Zumba to go to Athena to a quilt class with seven other quilting friends. We learned a couple of new quilting tips, had lunch out and kept sewing. In the afternoon we got hot, no air conditioning except for fans. I was a good girl and only bought enough fabric to finish this project. We stopped at DQ on the way home to get some ice cream to cool us off. Now my bad.

   Bruce was measured for a manual wheelchair! Yeah! That is a BIG step. It will increase his upper body strength. It is an ultra light chair, weighing only 50 pounds. It should be here in a month. The OT writes a prescription, the DR okays it, SAIF sends it to a committee and it is ordered.  The chair is the same high school royal blue as his motorized wheelchair and the arms lift up so he can do slide board transfers. A. If step to increase upper body strength.

   Our friend Amy brought over barbecued chicken pizza and cake mix dessert with chocolate chips and fresh fruit. We sure love the pizza and zert!

      Friday was very hot, no air conditioning. Lotsa fans a blowing. I made ice cream with fruit, we had it for lunch and dinner, a new diet for hot weather I am trying...

   Saturday Carol took me to the farmers market and I purchased some baguette bread, thought I might have to knock a couple of people off but got the last loaf! I scored some home made rolls with sesame seeds too and I bought a couple of cucumbers. Later Carol brought over left over chili. 

    That is the latest from Camp Kevan be gone.

    

ER Visit

   Bruce was feeling sluggish on Monday. Andrew worked with Rick chipping up branches. No fire calls yet.

    Our son Dan calls with the exciting news Elodie Alora is born and tells me not to tell anyone until they get home. Roll my eyes. (that is like saying here is some candy but you can't eat it until tomorrow) I immediately call my mom and tell her as she doesn't do Facebook. Tuesday night Bruce wakes me up to say he can't breathe. He is wheezing. We call our home teachers and ask for a blessing at 10:30pm. They come over. Thank you for coming over. Bruce feels better and sleeps with the bed propped up. I sleep on the couch, in the living room, with the dog.

     Wednesday morning, Bruce is still having trouble. Called the Dr for an appointment and she is not in today, they suggest we take Bruce to the ER. Three hours in the ER, tests with blood, urine and X-rays. He falls asleep waiting for the results. He has a slight fever, all results are negative. They tell him to breathe deeply. We return home and he goes to PT. I take Andrew to the Fourth Street Clinic, pink eye infection. Return home for a 20 min nap and Bruce gets home from PT. He is sleeping and snoring away. I was going to go to tri cities with some friends, maybe next month. 

   Rosala and Debbie brought over sloppy joes, an orange, mandarin jello salad and a hot berry crisp. Are we blessed or what? 

    I missed my quilt Quester meeting. They had fun without me. So happy to see the photos they posted. 

    Thursday Bruce morning was at the Stake center paying the bills and that evening at he helps with a Bishops Training meeting. I found some energy and Duncan and I washed the van. 

   I can't get the wax hand machine to cool enough for Bruce's hand. He found out washing the dishes in hot water does the same trick. Yeah. So he gets to do the dishes every other day. Bonus!

   Friday our caretaker was sick so Duncan helped me get Bruce changed, dressed, stretched and out of bed. Then the construction workers showed up to finish the job after being absent for a week. The last cabinet and broken door replacement finally arrived. Our dog Hali does not like the noise of the drill. The kitchen looks great. Thank you Levi! We are waiting on the electrician to install the last couple of lights and it will be finished. 

   Bruce and Duncan set the water from the well to water the garden and then did the final spray of the cherry tree. They are almost ready for picking. Bruce goes to PT and is quite pleased with some massage therapy. He said his lungs, shoulder and back felt better. 

   I called my friend Chris and join her and Rosala and Sonnet for a movie and popcorn. We watch Inside Out. A delightful story about feelings and how parents react to their daughter. I only teared up once... From allergies. 

    Saturday my friend Carol takes me yard sailing. We haven't been in for evah! We head to Elgin for the quilt show, fabric and more yard sailing. I spent too much money on a couple things for the family reunion in July. I found some paint by number kits for the grandchildren, some light up yo yos, a couple of shirts for Bruce, a dog toy for Hali, a small glass pitcher and a small white pyrex mixing bowl for moi.

    Saturday afternoon Bruce and I go to a wedding shower. Everyone is happy to see him. I smile and head for the food.

    Sheesh, another week of spasms, ER room and baby steps.

New baby Elodie Alora comes home to meet big sistah Corlee.

    Can you see the squirrel in Grandma Ruth's tree?

Ride the Rails

   Bruce washed dishes this week. He put on his own shirt with a little assistance. He put on his shoes one time too. He is more flexible at therapy, at home he stiffens up because he doesn't move.

   On Monday, President Chadwick was outta town for two weeks, Bruce got to set apart a missionary going to Tobe, Japan.

    Had Rosala's twins, David and Daniel over to help weed the garden. The garden is Bruce's life. We stapled shiny strips of metallic paper to the cherry trees to keep the birds out, doesn't appear to be working, dang Robins.

   Bruce makes this cage out of white PVC pipe and the boys helped him put it together. It looks like a batting cage with black netting to keep the birds out of the blueberries. It works when birds don't get caught in it. 

    Rosala and Debbie brought over another delicious meal, stuffed manicotti noodles, green salad and strawberry pound cake with red jello and whipped topping. Andrew even liked it! 

   On Thursday our churches women's group had a potluck lunch at Riverside Park. The young moms can bring the little ones to play in the park and we middle aged ladies can sit and watch them corral their children as we solve everyone's problems. I tried to make lemon coconut bars to take and it didn't work, so we have a nice topping for ice cream. I took grapes. I guess you could say I turned my lemons into lemon topping... ;)

   Our friends, Kevin and Jean brought over a scrumptious raspberry, rhubarb pie. Bruce said we could only have one piece a day, so it lasted two long days.

    Friday my friends took me to Joseph to Ride the Rails. It was a fun experience. It is sitting on a chair (not wide enough for my foundation) on a railroad car and pedaling, two people to a car. No place for hands and I felt like I was sliding off the chair. It is six miles down the mountain and that was easy, mostly coasting. The grass was green, a slight breeze and we saw some deer, horses, wild cows and an Osprey's nest. On the return trip it is a 1 1/2 % grade so that is not too bad if you are in shape. Ahem alas the lady with the pushcart caught up to us and after sweating for pert near half and hour we resigned our selves to being pushed. Thank ful for the breeze and rest stops in the shade. They do three trips a day, 8am, noon and 3pm. Children under three can go in a car seat with one adult peddling. It is $20 for adults. You can google Ride the Rails. Apparently OPB made a video and that is online too. Thank you ladies for inviting me. When Bruce gets more balance and strength he said it would be a fun day trip.

 Riding the Rails with friend Kari.

     The Ospry nest had orange and blue twine from baling in its nest.

    Saturday we went a field trip to Millers hardware, to purchase parts for the gutter. We want to make a spout for the rain barrel. The roof was too hot to attach the parts so maybe this week we will accomplish that task. 

    Another week of small steps. 

   

 

Family Visit

    My sisters and mom came to visit! 

    They took us to dinner at Golden Harvest. 

They left too soon. We had some retail therapy at Bealls and then lunch at Taco Time. My sister, Bonita sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Robin is visiting from Virginia. My mom is older (86) and wants to be reassured we are doing okay. I gave them the tour of the new kitchen and they were pleased. We went to sing to my friend in the hospital. We sang I am a Child of God to cheer her up. I am always talking about my sistahs and she was happy to meet them.

   Bruce has a UTI, (look it up) we were able to confirm with a sample and the kind Dr. called in an antibiotic prescription for us. I hope they don't get tired of us. 

    Bad news on the remodel, we ordered two kinds of tile for the backsplash and only one kind was sent so we are on hold til Tuesday. Sigh, I asked them to empty their horses and trim from the garage so I can park my car in there and to finish the backdoor exit so Bruce can go sit on the deck. He loves to be outside. They acquiesced. 

    Rosala and Debbie brought a yummy crock pot meal, barbecued chicken with tons of delicious tater salad and a huge chocolate cake with Oreos, chocolate syrup, and butterscotch syrup, needless to saw we enjoyed it!

     Bruce made dinner on Thursday, sloppy Joes. He is excited to use our new gas stove. He didn't need much help, just getting things out for him.

    At therapy this week Bruce was able to stand and hold 130 pounds of his weight himself. They figure by the end of summer he should be able to stand by himself.

    They also had him sit on a giant ball in a corner teaching home to balance. They had four people helping him. We shoulda got that on film!

   The lawn mower is fixed and Andrew was excited to mow the back yard. Not! Our neighbor had mowed the front for us without being asked. What a kind thing to do. 

   Duncan has been LARPing this weekend. Live action role play at the 4 H center. He comes home sweaty and tired. It gets him out of the house. He had a costume from our basement. He said they had bandits for dinner and troll ear stew (beef stew). They meet twice in the summer. 

    Andrew worked for Kirkhams helping to take down fence posts and put in new ones. He came home sweaty too.

   On Saturday our friend Kevin came over to spray the cherry trees. He also set up the well to water the garden. I planted spinach and lettuce in the tall planter made for Bruce. We removed one board so he can get at it. He said he will thin the spinach and lettuce. Apparently I planted them too close together.  Hmmm 

  Saturday we took it easy, Bruce was worn out from therapy, tired neck and shoulders. I put a hot rice bag on his neck and it was too hot and there is a small burn mark on the back of his neck. My bad. So fire me. Bruce says it's not going to happen. Will have to think of something worse to do...

   

Graduation

No therapy on Monday, Memorial Day vacation, we got sub sandwiches, thank you for the Coupon! We usually go to Red Bridge for a picnic but this year we took naps instead. 

  Tuesday Bruce had pool in the morning, he said he was able to do everything. He came home with white powder everywhere. He said they used baby powder on the board to transfer him from his chair to the lift into the pool.

  In the afternoon he had OT which was building up his arms and then practicing rolling over.

     Amy blessed us with her infamous (more than famous) chicken barbecue pizza and a small salad and pink homemade Oreo cookies and pink cookies with sprinkles.  Yummy. Andrew said he could eat that every week.

     Wednesday Bruce had PT. 

  Rosala brought over beef stew in a can, salad, and a chocolate cream pie. Thank you for the weekly repast!

   Thursday we had the basketball barbecue at Riverside park. What a hard working group of young men. And the coach of four years did the grilling. 

   Friday I thought we would have pizza but my friend Ellen brought us a new recipe of pasta, sausage and yummy vegetables with warm delicious homemade rolls and jam. Thank you!

  Saturday our youngest son, Andrew graduated from La Grwnde high school.  Ben, our oldest sone and his wife, Lindsy were here for the celebration.  Ben's children joined us after the ceremonies for a barbecue. Duncan got out hide wii and they played for an hour. Then they went for a walk to Riverside park and Grandpa Bruce took a nap. Well it poured down rain and I went to rescue them in the van. I found Ben and his oldest son under a via duct waiting for a break in the rain. We went on to the park and crammed everyone in the van. Matt, the oldest grandson, said this was the best visit ever. Lindsy brought three more frozen meals. The best part for moi! Thank you for taking the time for us with your busy family.

  Andrew left for the all night drug free party to silver wood, in Coer D'alene.

April Showers

    Bruce wasn't worth much in pool time on Monday. (With stake conference and sitting in a wheel too small for him so we could get him up the steps to the stand. He was conducting and then had a talks,his left leg went numb.) He was stiff from the weekend. He couldn't stand up, and didn't do well pushing off the side of the pool. He was able to tippy toe across the pool a couple of times.

  For dinner we borrowed a friends oven (thank you Delphine) and baked some lasagna my DIL had prepared for us. It was very tasty. Thank you Lindsy, you are my favorite DIL this week.

   Tuesday in OT Bruce is standing with 130 pounds of his own weight. He stands for a couple of minutes and then repeat. He is getting stronger.

    Tuesday evening was awards night for SRs. Andrew got a special tassel for vocational arts. He has taken all the classes and did a job shadow in a cabinet shop. There were quite a few scholarships and awards. We were pleased not just academic awards, but arts, science, language awards were handed out. 

    Wednesday Rosala and Debbie brought us some KFC, strawberry jello with real strawberries and cheesecake, four different kinds. Heaven, I'm in heaven, tra la. Thank you! Sometimes I forget to say thank you. 

   I got to go to my monthly quilt meeting and be inspired to sew. When the cabinets are finished I will dig out my machine. 

   Thursday Duncan grilled some hamburgers and bratwurst.

   The crew came in to sheet rock. And it was finished by noon.

    I love the silts they use to mud and tape.

Paint man, Fredie was here on Friday to paint and it was finished by noon. Tuesday the cabinets should go in. 

  Friday is pizza night. Chris brought over a stuffed pizza from Papa Murphy's already cooked and watermelon. Wow it was good and we only needed one piece each however some people had two pieces...

     We went on a field trip to D&B, Bruce wanted a special kind of seed and spray for the cherry tree. I got a couple of hanging plants and we found a Y2K rain barrel. Apparently they are recycled, had olives or pickles in them (that is a lot of pickles). With the drought we want to save rain water, since it has been pouring lately, for the plants and flowers. We do have a well but it is surface water for the garden and lawn. Andrew will build a platform so the barrel is higher and will drain better.           

        

Saturday my quilting friend Earlene brought us some taco soup with chips, shredded cheese and sour cream. Bruce even tried the sour cream topping. He usually doesn't. It was very good, spicy enough for Bruce and not so hot for me. Thank you!

  

A good week, only one night with spasms and leg falling off the bed and no bowel problems having to change sheets. Sigh 

Jolly Jumper for Adults

   We skipped pool time this week for a jaunt to Walla Walla to see our new Dr. Marsh Jr. Duncan was our driver, we describe him as a gentleman's gentleman. We arrived early so we made a visit to Burger King for a lunch repast. 

    We found the Drs office on the second floor, his dad by the same name is on the second floor too and we did not get the offices mixed up. We had a nice one hour visit with Dr.  Marsh Jr. and he told us most spinal cord injuries would reach their peak of recovery at eighteen months. So Bruce said we have a year " to get her done". Dr. Marsh specializes in four areas, muscle spasms, pressure sores, bowel care and sex. Ahem

    Tuesday afternoon at OT, Duncan and I and our home care providers, Gregg and 

Delphine were instructed in how to help Bruce with a slide chair transfer. We hope to eliminate the sling and lift as the transfer will be quicker. 

Our sweet neighbors brought us some homemade bread, still warm. Bruce described the Banana huckleberry bread as 'deadly'.  Hmmm good from Eli and Rocky. The bread was war and moist and melted in our mouths. I told Ely to give his mo a hug from us!

   Our new kitchen cabinet installation was post phoned. Apparently the electrician is over booked and can't make it til next week. They did begin on our new back door. We are going from French doors to a 36" glass door with blinds in between. 

   Monday is tear out the cabinets, install the softest and mud and tape. Tuesday the electrician comes and Wednesday we get an inspection. I explained I needed it finished by Saturday as our son is graduating from high school. We shall see.

    In PT Bruce is in a 'jolly jump up' for adults. At least that is what he called it. It is a harness that supports 130 pounds of his weight and he stands with 100 pounds by himself. Will have to get Duncan to get a picture of it.

   Friday Bruce and the boys went to the Father/son camp out at Catherine Creek Lodge. No hamburgers, they had pulled pork sandwiches. They were disappointed. They stayed for the campfire and came home. Usually my daughter and I would enjoy a movie night and ice cream with m&ms. So I called up a couple of lady friends and we watched Aubrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in How to Steal Million. Carma bought caramel popcorn and Chris brought jam tarts. We had fun. Carma fell asleep but she said she had fun anyway. 

   Saturday was our Stake conference meetings. We get training and inspiration on how to be better and help others. Bruce conducted the evening session. We did a slide transfer into a small manual wheelchair and the boys lift him to the speakers stand. Bruce needed help with the second transfer after the meeting. He was tired.good thing our boys are strong.

  Sunday is more meetings (we are a meeting bunch). Bruce spoke for ten minutes about the fasting and prayers of our Stake (that means 13 congregations) and how other churches joined. He testified he could feel the power of prayer and he was lifted up and began to be healed. He said thank you to all those who prayed for him. 

    Sunday evening was Sr graduation night for the five Srs graduating from high school. They each had a table of items displaying their talents. Andrew had his Eagle Scout notebook and bb awards. The Relief Society made quilts for all the graduates. We ended the celebration with brownies and ice cream. 

  I'm tired. This week should be easier...