Hot Feet

   In pool time Bruce tried to walk backwards. And then side step. He can't go very far side stepping or walking backwards, muscles he hasn't used in a while. They have a bench in the pool Bruce has been using. He sits on the bench and tries to stand up. He says he has people on both sides of him helping to balance, but he does the standing. 

He is in three feet of water, so he is supporting about half of his own weight.

   They moved him up to a level four on the bike pedal machine.

   Debbie brought over some pork chops with dressing, cubed watermelon. And for dessert, banana orange bread with vanilla bean ice cream. Thank you Debbie, it was delicious to the taste. 

    Bruce stood up twenty times on Friday. He is standing for a minute on some of the tries. 

    In church today, Zayne talked about service, "when ye are in service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of God."

  Jennifer spoke on sacrifice. Not my will, but thine be done. Not our time schedule.

   Josh, a returned missionary from Ohio, spoke about how to get faith. One way is by keeping the commandments, read and study, fast and pray. Another way is to seek the council of the Lord, take steps of faith, nourish the seed that has been planted in your heart. Obey the commandments and blessings will come to you.

   Bruce spoke for a few minutes on foundations. How firm is your foundation? He told of the time we worked on the Navaho Indian reservation where they were building a new middle school on sand. They put a slab foundation and built the school on that. Now when it rains on the res, it pours and the sand was washed away. So build your foundation on Christ so you won't be washed away. 

     Last night Bruce thought the black boots on his feet made his feet feel hot. This morning he could still feel his feet were hot. Then he thought to himself, 'I haven't felt hot or cold on my feet before." And it dawned on him another sensation had returned. Yeah, one step forward.

  

Transfers and New Help

   Pam brought me/us a bright happy bouquet of flowers. Thank you and for a nice visit sharing adventures we are having and how we are surviving.

   Andrew got home on Monday from a fire and left on Tuesday for another fire, he was not a happy camper. We keep telling him it is better than Burger King or the mill. He called that evening to report he had worked a double shift when they got there. They had to set a back fire and watch it til 8am. He said he got three hours of sleep, won't have any trouble falling asleep tonight, he said they might rotate them to the front of the line tomorrow. Glad he is able to report every other night.

  Rosala brought over some tasty meatloaf and baked taters with a green salad and a loaf of French bread. Thank - you Rosala!

   After calling half the names on the DHS list for home care help we found two excellent helpers, The new hires have started and we are loving them. Yeah, so wonderful to get hard working and reliable people.

   Bruce said he stood up 15 times today and seven of them he stood for a minute each time.

    We are using the slide board at home. The OT's came to the house on Thursday afternoon to help us and we did well with the transfers from chair to couch. And then chair to bed. 

   Bruce on the couch. It is easier to do the transfers at OT because he goes from chair to mat. Here the couch and bed are soft so the transfers are harder, he is sweating by the end of each transfer.

    So Thursday night Bruce says we can do this and he ended up half way on the floor, oops, Thank goodness Duncan is around to help us and it took three of us to get him back on the bed. Dang, how did the OT ladies make it look so easy? Friday morning was a little easier and Friday night Duncan helped us pull him on the bed. He kind of hangs there with his feet off the bed. The stretch is good for his thigh reflexers.

 They need to be strengthened so his hips can support his weight when he is standing.

   The new ladies are working out really well. They laugh at my jokes so they can't be all bad. Thank goodness for good help. Did I say that already?

   Andrew is doing 'clean up' at the fire. They look for 'smokers' and spray them with their 3 gallon bladders on their backs. So clean up means they walk the burned area looking for smoke and spray it with the water backpack they carry. He should be home tomorrow for a couple of days. 

     

   

   

  

Care Taker Problems...

    Rick brought us some corn from his garden. Thank you!

  Debbie made another superb meal of ham, scalloped taters, watermelon and sliced cantaloupe and banana cake with frosting, marvelous!  Rosala is in Utah, family wedding.

  Went to my UFO group, cut out some borders and got advice on a rag quilt, shared some quilt magazines that Reta gave me. Thank you Reta.

   After four weeks of waiting, the slide board is finally here! Yeah! We will be trained how to use it at home next week. Yes, one step closer to more independence.

    Bruce stood up 15 times, yes I said 15, from his wheelchair at the parallel bar. His legs are getting stronger. He needs help getting started but then he can do it on his own.

  Our care taker neglected to call on Monday, so Duncan and I got Bruce ready, stretching, ranging and out of bed. She did not answer her text or phone call. Feeling frustrated. She said she wanted to go visit a friend in Idaho. So on Thursday she texts and says her car is broken and won't be home for a few days. I have very unkind feelings for her. In the mean time another care taker is doing double shifts with no time off. 

   I interviewed another gal but she can only help two days a week. She is on board. Will have to find someone else to replace the other days. In the meantime I have to be nice to this rude, inconsiderate, very unprofessional, low down skunk. Can't wait to hear from her. Trouble is we need her, she is very good when she is here, very knowledgeable, just not dependable. 

   Feeling dizzy, head stuffed up, cold. Am I under stress or what? Stayed home from church.

   Andrew left today, Sunday morning to fight a fire in Spokane, Wa. They think it will be a six day fire. He did not want to go. Fire fighting is not what it is cracked up to be according to him. We are encouraging him to finish the season. He did make a commitment. He stomped around the house getting ready and grumbling. When Bruce got home from church he gave Andrew a priesthood blessing of comfort and good health. They hugged afterward. I don't think they have hugged in awhile. 

  Andrew called tonight. Said they got there in Spokane at 5pm. Didn't work just set up camp. Might come home tomorrow, they don't know where they will put them or how they will use them. He will phone and let us know.

Recovery

After having 20 extra family members around, we are recovering.

I am sick, sore throat, shoulders ache.

Will keep this short.

This week

    Bruce stood up eight times in a row from his wheelchair. (the standing chair is broken) They put belts around him and three people help him. They discovered his hips were out of alignment so we have added another exercise to the stretching each morning and evening. 

   In pool time he was able to actually lift his feet instead of shuffle walk! 

He is on level three on his bike pedal machine. 

We are improving.

Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts. We can't do this without you.

Family Reunion

   Group photo at Riverside park

   Blessing baby Elodie, priesthood power!

  Baby William likes to push the buttons and knobs on grandpa's chair.

Matching Mt Emily tee shirts

The Bros are Back in Town

   Our sweet young neighbors brought over some hand picked huckleberries. I mixed them in with pancakes. They were delicious! Thank you Ely! 

  

The air conditioner/ heating unit was put in on Monday. The electricians will come on Tuesday to do the electrical hook up.

  In PT Bruce was standing in the stander. They have advanced to shifting weight on each foot. The next step is shifting weight from a foot placed in front of the other foot. They are prepping him for his first step at the parallel bars. That is exciting.

   Maur found a glass dome cover for the Shakespearian doll I have. It fits perfectly! It was Grandma Kevans and I wanted to keep the dust off her. Thank you Maur!

   Teija came over to work in the yard again. I coerced Andrew into helping. He gets up at the crack of noon...

    Duncan, Bruce and I are headed to Walla Walla for a Dr. checkup. We listen to the Lord of the Rings on Duncan's player.

    The Dr helped us resolve some concerns we have had. 

Wednesday Bruce has pool time. He has been walking on his knees. They put weight on his ankles and he is able to walk in the pool that way.

   Bruce had another day of OT. He is balancing on the big ball and getting strong abs.

We went to Catherine Creek to speak at girls camp. There were about 100 girls and leaders having a fun time doing skits and singing. I spoke first about setting goals, high school graduation, college, marriage, family and choosing an eternal partner to survive what the future will bring. Bruce spoke about making goals, standing firm and deciding now how you will choose so when the time comes your decision is already made. 

  We left right after as Bruce was tired.

 Thursday Bruce was able to rest. He was tired.

Friday Carol took me to lunch. We talked about the life changes that have happened to us and our friends this year, death of a spouse, divorce, moving away, aging of a spouse and Bruce. Man sometimes life is difficult.

    Saturday the brothers arrived. Three of the six brothers are here soon to be joined with the oldest bro next week. It is loud and busy with them, their spouses and 7 grandchildren.  I made meatball stew and it wasn't enough so Dan and his wife went to subway. Several poopy diapers, one melt down and the tired babies were ready to return to their rooms. And the grandchildren too...

    Baby William likes to push the buttons on grandpas wheelchair. 

  To life!

   

Rain Watching

      People are so kind to this motley crew!

  On Monday Bonnie brought over some cherry bread made from our cherries! Yes, yummy. I had a pedicure, nice mauve toenails. 

     Tuesday, Carma brought us some homemade sweet rolls which disappeared in no time. They did save me one. Carma took me to lunch at Golden Crown. It was fun to get out and talk and fix everyone's problems. 

   Alex came over and cleaned our recliner for the family reunion next week. Too many sweaty people sitting on it.

    Teija and fam is still coming over helping with the weeds, I mean yard. There is even a cleared spot to put flowers in. I think perennials will be nice and easy to take care of.

    Wednesday Rosala brought over clam chowder and bread. (No leftovers on that one) Debbie brought a delicious fruit salad and homemade banana bread. Thank you ladies!

  We will be getting the air/heating unit the first of next week. Yeah, that will be heaven.

    The electricians came over on Thursday to redo the breaker box. Apparently it was a recall because it started fires. We have been blessed with no fire. They said it was illegal to have it on the inside of the house. And the meter needed to be on the outside of the house too. So now we are legal and most important safe. I like safe.

  Oh you want to know how Bruce is doing. As one of the caretakers was wheeling him out of the bedroom, she accidentally hit his foot on the wall, well that man picked his foot up and moved it! Just like when he slammed on the brakes when I was too slow with a red light. We will have to begin a new therapy program called "gut reaction" or "scared stiff".

   He has pool on Wednesday this month. He was on his back and was able to draw his knees up to ninety degrees and then straighten them out. 

  In OT he was doing kneeling, kneeling straight up. 

  The muscles in the bottom of his feet have waken up. He can now curl his toes. They said that was odd as most motion recovered is from the waist down and curling his toes should be the last motion he gets. 

    My batik butterfly quilt kit arrived. I love looking at the fabrics. I will change the pattern up a bit and see what happens. 

     Our church has a women's meeting once a month for sharing talents and learning. I was on the food committee and we were assigned to do smoothies. Carma explained her family likes to make orange Julius as a smoothie. I suggested freezing old bananas and using them. If you are allergic to milk using apple juice is a good substitute.  We broke into twos and threes and made smoothies with the fruit that was brought in and no we did not do green smoothies. Ick

   The other classes were memory keepers, which was ideas for a summer journal like collecting post cards and putting them on a clip with activities of what happened written on them, envelope journals and paper bag journals. A couple of the ladies liked the recipe card journals. There was also a new sister there showing us how to do yoga. It was good to get out.

      I got a haircut on Saturday, mostly the bangs got trimmed. 

I found some pretty perennials to plant and got most of them in so the yard will have some color for the fam reunion. The ground was hard, the rain had only gone down about two inches. 

   Stayed home from church today. Bruce was having a bad day. Care taker was sick and couldn't get a sub. Bruce napped most of the morning and canceled one meeting and then went to an afternoon meeting. I ate ice cream.

     So glad the weather cooled down this week. And we love watching the rain.