Who are you going to Marry?

Today Isabelle came up to me and said "Mommy I love Joseph so much. When I grow up I am going to marry him"
I took the time to explain that even though we love our brother we can't marry him.
She took some time to ponder this. She soon came back and said
"Mommy I love Joseph. I also love Isaac (her cousin). I am going to marry Isaac."
So I started over and told her we don't marry our family. But I gave her a few sugestion for some cute little boys in our ward. I am not sure if she went for that.

The Great Gates

I just felt the need to post about the Gates family.
Here is the background. Darren and Heather Gates moved to Philadelphia for Darren to finish school. They had two little ones at the time. Well Jeremiah's parents took care of them and helped them out a lot (as Heather tells me).
By the time Jeremiah and I were married, the Gates had moved to Provo and just had their 4th kid. So when we moved down to Provo (2 months after we were married) Darren and Heather took care of us. They helped us find our first apartment. They put us up for a night when we couldn't move into our apartment right away. And through the years they check up on us now and again.
For me Heather was always some one to look up too. She is an amazing women and mother. Very loving and caring. I have always felt at peace in her presence.
This last trip I made to Utah I got to squeeze in a visit to the Gates. We had not seen them since we moved. It was so nice to be back in their home to see their 7 sweet children. When Jeremiah and I got married their oldest boy, Nathaniel, was 11. He is now 19 getting ready to leave on his mission in July. It is amazing to see this family grow. I loved seeing how church minded all the kids are and so giving and loving. I often hope I can be as good as a mother as Heather is. I am thankful to have the Gates in our life. They are truly a blessing to us. As I was leaving, Heather (oh she is so sweet), said "Isn't Missy like family. She is more like and Aunt then just a friend". Well I feel the same way. The Gates will always be family to us. Whether or not Sam and Isabelle get married.

Back to Utah We Go We Go

So yesterday Joseph and I headed back down to Utah. We were able to make it down to Provo this time and visit some friends. I always leave Provo wishing we had some more time to visit more friends. This time I got to go shopping with Karen. Visit with Mickelle and Scott. We enjoyed a great dinner with the Gates. We spent the night and had a yummy breakfast at McDonald's with Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson. And has quick visit with Malea and James. I think every time I come down I need to visit a new person. I think next time it will be friends from our last ward. We haven't seen any of them since we moved.
So anyway back to the reason we went down. Today Joseph went in for a check up. Dr Moshifar said his eye is looking good. Starting Monday we get to cut down on eye drops. Hurray. Also we found out he will have to have reading glasses and will have to wear sunglasses anytime he heads outside for the rest of his life.
We headed home right after the appointment. So in 35 hours I had driven a total of 15 hours. I am happy to be out of the car and sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Joseph Update

So here is what happened when we took Joseph in for his "day after surgery" check up.
First of all when the doctors came out and talked me after the surgery they told me Joseph wouldn't really be able to see anything for about a week. That it would be pretty cloudy because of some meds they injected into his eye.
After taking off the patch, Joseph said his eye felt weird and seeing was weird but he could kind of make out some things. Dr Vitale (uveitis specialist) checked his eye. Then Dr. Moshifar(lens specialist) checked his eye. As soon as Dr. Moshifar finished he looked up at Dr Vitale with a smile and said "I could have never expected it to look this good. The lens is taking so well" Dr Vitale said "I know I can't believe it".
They then had an aid bring in an ultrasound machine to get a good look inside his eye. As we were waiting I mentioned to the aid that Joseph was seeing a little. She decided to test out what he could see. She held out her fingers and asked how many Joseph saw. He got it right every time. So then she projected letters across the room and he was able to see every one. While Joseph was doing this the doctors walked back into the room and their jaws dropped. They couldn't believe he was able to see any of it. I started bawling. Silly Dr. Vitale came over and started patting my head like I was a little girl and said "it's OK everything is all right". I just thought "Well duh! My baby can see again. Why do you think I am crying". But I said "I know I know I just can't believe he can see again" I had to be nice.
So they are please with how everything is going. Watching Joseph is like night and day compared to how he was the day of the surgery. As we left the office and as we were driving home from Utah, Joseph pointed out everything that was exciting for him to see(which was quite a bit).
I have always believed in miracles. But this is the first time I got to witness one. Thank you again for the the prayers and fasting in Joseph's behalf.
We will be heading back to Salt Lake on Thursday for a check up on Friday. Then back again in early July. We have not yet set a date for the surgery on his right eye. I hope it will be in July but I know better then to get my hopes up.

Day after Surgery

Joseph was such a trooper through everything. I can't believe how little he complained.
Here is Joseph in the waiting room. Waiting to get his patch off. The patch took about 1/2 an hour to get off. That tape sticks so tight and the nurse was going really slow using some kind of wipes that make the tape unstick. Joseph got pretty antsy. Poor guy.

This is a picture of Joseph's eye that evening. I couldn't get a good shot because he is so wiggly. It doesn't quite show how bloody his eye was. He was put on a regiment of eye drops. One drop 3 times a day. One 4 times a day. And the last every 2 hours. For I don' t know how long.

Surgery Day

Here are some pictures of the surgery dayJoseph waiting to go in. If you notice he is using his hands to feel everything. He got to the point where he wouldn't even look at what he was doing. It was all by sense of feel.

After surgery. Joseph kept waking up and them falling back to sleep. This is the saddest looking picture. I always hate seeing him this way.

Joseph Surgery

Joseph's surgery went well. They only did the cataract surgery on the left eye. They were able to put in the lens and have great hopes of it taking. Joseph had a bit of a hard time waking up. He kept trying to pull off his eye patch and trying to pull out his I.V. He got a bit queasy in the car and threw up orange Popsicle in the car. In Joseph's words "the surgery made me sick and now there is disgusting orange Popsicle all over Grandma's car" (don't worry mom I already clean it up). He spent the rest of the day hanging out on Grandma and pa Stephenson's couch. He was such a good boy never complained. He never once complained of any pain and slept like an angel. I couldn't ask for anything to go any smoother.

T-Shirt Quilt

Tonight I just finished a T-shirt quilt my brother and sister in-law had me make them for their 30th anniversary (yes they have been married longer then I have been alive). They gave me some of the t-shirts of different places and things they have done in the last 30 years. It was a really fun quilt to make and I think it turned out great.

If you look close you can see the cool swirl design on the quilt. I was able to do that because of the class Jeremiah got me for Mother's day so I could use the big quilting machine.

Thank You All

I need to say thank you to all those who fasted with us today and kept Joseph in their prayers. I know many of you not only fasted for Joseph but fasted for our family to have strength. I felt it today. Today was one of the worse days I have ever had (read post below to understand). As I was going through this big trail I could feel the strength of others prayers for us. I am so thankful for all the people who love and care for my family. Thank you to all those who wrote us little note of encouragement. It has meant so much to me and Jeremiah. We love you all and thank you again. Please look for a post either Thursday or Friday for an update on Joseph.

One year Mark, What a bad way to Mark it.

Today was one year since my Dad had his stroke. Sadly it was the worse day he has had since his stroke.
This morning around 7:45 AM my Dad had a seizure. I am not sure how massive it was. I do know all of his body was shaking from it. My Mom had given him a shower and was helping him get dressed when it happened. He was in his shower chair still but had his legs out of the tub when it happened. Luckily My Mom was right there and was able to make sure he didn't get hurt at all. My little Michael was awake early and was at the door when it happened. Mom sent him to get me. She told him "go get your mommy and tell her Grandpa is hurt". Michael woke me up and said "Mom Grandma wants you". So of course I didn't hurry up. I made a stop at the bathroom and was getting ready to head upstairs when I heard Mom scream for me. I ran upstairs and noticed the bathroom light on. I headed toward there and called out for Mom. She yelled for me to call 911. As I called I asked what had happened so I could let the operator know. I could heard Dad breathing really deep and weird almost like a snore with water in it. I was so scared. She told me she wasn't sure if he had another stroke or a seizure but that he was unconscious. The operator got the information they needed and a fire truck got there within 2 minutes of me calling. An ambulance got there a few minutes later. I good friend, Steph came and got the kids. I didn't want them to see Grandpa being wheeled out in the gurney. Plus I wanted to be of some help.
Mom was amazing. She was very calm and knew what to do. I was a mess. I am a crier as everyone knows. By the time they got Dad into the ambulance Dad was starting to come too. He wasn't responsive, but his eyes were open.
Daniel came and got Mom and I and we followed the ambulance to the hospital. Then it was the waiting game. We had to wait to be let into his room. We had to wait for him to wake up again. We had to wait for the doctor to give us information. We had to wait for the results of the blood work and Cat scan. Luckily it seemed to go pretty quickly. Dad kept waking up and falling back to sleep quickly. Everything came back normal. So by 11:00 AM Dad was released from the hospital. He was given some seizure medicine and a prescription for more, which he will be taking twice a day.
Dad slept most of the day. We were happy he joined us for dinner. Plus we are so happy he is still here. I was really scared for awhile that he wouldn't be.
The doctor informed us that the seizure was caused by the stroke. Some stroke victims have strokes and some don't. Unfortunately Dad was one who did. The weirdest part for all of us is that is was exactly one year since his stroke. I hope next year we can mark it a better way.

Perfect intro

The world is dark, and light is precious.

Come closer, dear reader.

You must trust me.

I am telling you a story.

-Isn't this the perfect intro to a story. I am reading the kids "The Tale of Despereaux". This is what is written on the page before the story starts. I am already hooked.

Fasting

Joseph will be going into to Surgery Tuesday June 10th. Since fast Sunday is the Sunday before the surgery our family will be fasting for Joseph on June 7. We wanted to invite anyone who would like to join in. We appreciate every ones prayers for Joseph and all of the love and support we have received.