Not for the Faint of Heart...

So, I'm really at a loss for words...ok, not really. It always seems like I have something to say. I have many thoughts about this, however I just need to maybe keep them to myself until my emotions are not so raw. WAY too many emotions, even a week later.

So, Jeff got hurt again. Yes, you heard it right, it is really not some sick joke. I guess it's just the sick reality. He decided he had recovered from the recent crash enough to go take some laps on the track. Day 1 and 2 back, his friends say he was, "smooth as silk" (whatever!). Day 3 (Nov. 4th)back...not so much.

The day in a nutshell. Went to the track, took some laps, but not where he crashed before, continued, decided he wanted to hit the section he had crashed on in August. Ummm...not a good idea. Went down right in the section as before. Felt like his boot was filling with blood. Friend called the ambulance. Ambulance takes him back to IMC, back to the trauma wing, back to room 2, de ja vu...all over again!



I'm not going to go into detail about my reaction to the call. It's better to let me forget, although I'm sure Elysse and Tiffany will both have it burned into their minds. (I'm so sorry, my sweet sisters, I'm so sorry)

ANYWAY...he broke and dislocated the talus bone in the foot and in the process, broke the tibia as well. The Drs tried twice to reset the bone, but couldn't do it. He was rushed to the OR and had a 3 hour surgery. Spent two days in the hospital and then we took him home. He lasted about 8 hours at home until he got a 101 degree temp and we couldn't control the pain with the meds we had. I had to fight with him for 30 minutes until he decided it was probably a good idea to go back to the hospital, it was probably really the 2 nurses that I talked to that thought it was a good idea to take him back in, when he decided he probably should.
We spent 5 long and rough hours in the ER and then the Dr. decided he needed to be re admitted to keep an eye on him a little longer. Thank goodness the fever broke about 2 hours after we got to the ER and it never came back. Long story short, 2 more days in the hospital and seems like he has some pretty good nerve damage. He doesn't have any feeling on the bottom of his foot and his toes are in constant pain. He says it's like he has been hooked up to an electrical charger and some just keeps shocking him over and over...YUCK!

Here is his foot on the day we brought him home the second time. They had cut off the splint while in the ER and needed to re splint it before we came home. Like I say, this is not a photo for the faint of heart...sorry!





Needless to say, it's been a bit of a rough week. If we don't die, supposedly this will make us stronger. ha :) We'll make it through...eventually. Jeff will have to be non weight bearing on his foot for 3 months. I'm sure this will cause more than slight difficulties for the next few months. Oh well, just need to take it a day at a time. We are survivors!!

Redemption

Every year, there is a chili cook off that coinsides with our ward halloween party. I have taken home a winning award in the past, but last year was pathetic. I can't believe I even decided to take what I had. I didn't have any red cooking wine that my chili called for, so I was told by a significant other that using red wine vinegar would be fine to substitute (umm...it TOTALLY wasn't!) Anyway, I took the chili and to make a long story short...it wasn't good and I didn't win and maybe just maybe I had a blow to my ego (I know, silly...like isn't there always some awkward dish that is brought to EVERY church social event??).

So, back to the present...I decided to sign up again to bring chili again this year and do it right. I signed up a week ago and then just kind of forgot that the bmx races were the same weekend and we wouldn't even be there. Well, saturday at about 1:30pm, I get a call, "I just wanted to give you a quick call, I figure the chili is simmering on your stove right now and you don't need a reminder, but I just thought I would call anyway."

"Umm...yeah, I will make sure it gets there, but we won't be able to make it."

"Oh, thank you so much! We are depending on it!"

"Ummm...ok"

Oh CRAP!! I forgot all about it. Races started at 4pm. I had to leave at 3:30 to make it to the race in time. I was SO lucky to have most of the ingredients. I decided to make a couple of changes, surprisingly after what happened last year after taking things into my own hands. It seriously only took about 10 minutes to cut the onions, brown the ground beef and throw the rest of the ingredients in the pot. I didn't expect that it would turn out that great, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't bail on someone that was depending on me.

Well, the next day when I got to relief society, Launi from the activities commitee, told me my stuff was in the kitchen and I had won a prize. WOOHOO!!

I won the kid's choice award! What could be better than that? My kids are so picky and definitely not very easy to please, so being able to bring in that prize was huge for me. Yea me! (Ha!Ha! No need to give me a pat on my back, I'm doing pretty well on my own right??)

BMX Champs

This last weekend, indoor BMX started up for Parker again. Parker was so excited to get back to the track. He missed out on all but one of the outdoor races for the summer because of Ashley playing softball and Jeff's dirtbike mishap. Parker was on a mission. He was on a mission to not only make it to the main event, but to take home a trophy that was 1st-3rd place. He started practicing a week ago. He would go out every night after school and do sprints. Jeff would time him starting at the top of the driveway to the end of the cult-a-sac and see how fast he could go.

Well, last friday was the opening of the indoor season. We show up and Parks starts practicing. Parks has done really well in the past races, making it to the main event the majority of the time, but there are some pretty fast boys his age. Well, I'm chatting with Debbie (my sis-in-law) and Parks comes up to rest for a bit. I tell Parker, "I'll give you $5 if you win."

he says, "I want $100."

I say, "ok, your dad will give it to you."

Now Debbie looks at me like I'm crazy. I totally reassure her, "Don't worry, it will never happen. He hasn't ever placed top 3 in any of the races, those other kids are so fast."

Well, the races begin. Debbie and Brian stick around for a few of the motos, but had their two kids, so left before Parker raced his first moto. I forget all about the conversation, it had completely left me. (Nothing really new for me, I have lost a majority of my brain cells...can I blame that on 4 kids??) Anyway, moto 12 (Parker's moto) is at the gate. The gate drops and Parker pulls out in front right away from everyone else. This kid is pedaling his heart out. The race wasn't even close, Parker takes 1st. It was AWESOME!! I was so excited I had to post status about it on Facebook.

Since Parker took 1st in his moto, he qualified directly to the main event. We had to sit and wait through the second qualifier and then the main event started. I had a little time on my hands so I was browsing FB on my phone and noticed I had a comment on my status. Debbie comments, " What? $100? haha way to go buddy." Oh my gosh, I had forgotton ALL about that conversation. I just prayed Parker did too. I was NOT going to bring it up at all, maybe I could get out of this mess.

The main event begins. Moto 12 once again, the gates drop, and Parker is out in front again. The boy cleans house!! He was on fire and took the 1st place trophy!! Parker is not a kid that really shows too much emotion, but you couldn't have wiped that silly grin off his face. When we were driving home, he turns to me and says, "Mom, I was the BOMB tonight!!" Yes, he was!! Oh, and he forgot all about our conversation...PHEW!!!


We went back for round 2 on Saturday. Not only was Parker ready to race, but CJ had been waiting for this day for a LONG time. On saturdays, they let little kids (the BIG WHEELS class, they call it)race on part of the track. Debbie and Brian came back so their little boy Crue could race too. She decided to scary me a little here and there and threatened to remind Parker of the conversation from the previous night. Thank goodness she loves me enough to have kept it our little secret!

Anyway, those little guys riding their bikes out on the tracks is probably one of the cutest things you will ever see. CJ did so great! He beat all the kids in that rode in the 2yr old group. It will be interesting to see what happens when we get him into the real racing! BMX you better watch out for this kid!


And Parker? The kid did it again!! He liked winning 1st place the night before soo much that he decided he needed to do it again. It was so fun and it makes a momma and a daddy so proud!! Parker will turn 8 in just a few weeks so he will have to move up into the 8 year old class. Hopefully, he can hold onto the fire and keep it going!

The Recovery

Jeff ended up spending eight days in the hospital. There first few days were extremely rough on Jeff and he was probably in more pain than I would ever hope to feel, EVEN with the massive amounts of medication that were being pumped into his body. The doctors actually had placed a spinal block (epidural) in his back that blocked from his waist to just below the heart, that helped control most of the pain. The second night in the hospital was a really tough night. Jeff was really struggling with his breathing and his carbon dioxide levels got dangerously high. He was extremely close to having to have a breathing tube inserted and getting moved to the ICU. I really feel that it was by a miracle that that didn't happen. Day by day, Jeff would do a little better. It took a few days for Jeff to actually be able to stand up and that would completely wipe him out. Physical therapists would come in a couple times a day and work with him. During that week, he also had surgery to repair the collar bone. Jeff had an amazing talented doctor that performed the surgery. He was a VERY quirky guy, who definitely kept us laughing (his intention wasn't really to be funny, but we just couldn't help it)but his talent definitely helped Jeff for the better. The hospital staff was so amazing and took such good care of the both of us. I ended up staying with Jeff the entire 8 days and I will always be so grateful for Dave and Karel who took the kids for a couple days and also for Elysse, who came and spent 5 days with my kids. She took them school clothes shopping and 3 of the 4 kids actually ended up getting sick while she was there. CJ actually threw up all over her. She was such a good sport and I hope that she still chooses to get married and have a family after that trauma!! :D

Speaking of miracles, I really felt like I witnessed so many, not only that week in the hospital, but also in the weeks after. I feel really blessed to have been able to witness the love and concern of SO many friends and family for not only Jeff, but for me and the kids as well. It was so very humbling and overwhelming to know the true meaning of love from others. We definitely felt the prayers from everyone around us. I don't know if I would ever be able to truly describe the gratitude I felt for all the acts of service that were provided for us. Meals were brought in for over 2 weeks, Jeff received blessings, we had many, many visitors and recieved many wonderful gifts. People offered to take the kids, drive the carpool, take the kids to their activities, and the list goes on and on. I know there were so many that wanted to do things, but couldn't because of them not living close enough. Jeff and I had some very special moments in the hospital just reflecting on everything and everyone who had shown concern and love.

It took Jeff a good 6-7 weeks to really get back to feeling his old self. Still 10 weeks after the accident, he probably has about 10 pounds to gain back from the 20 he lost while he was in the hospital.

It is so nice to have him back to normal (for the most part) ha. I'm not going to pretend that I think Jeff will decide that motocross is no longer for him and that he will sell his bike and never ride again. He still has his bike and actually was hoping to be able to go out yesterday for a little while, but thank goodness the weather is bad and he decided not to go. Motocross is a part of who Jeff is. It makes him happy (and as weird as this sounds and I can't believe I think it), but it makes him the wonderful dad and husband he is. Let's just hope this "freak" accident doesn't happen AGAIN!

The Crash

So, it has been a little over eight weeks since Jeff had a normal day at the track turn into a nightmare. I am truly amazed at how quickly he has recovered, but not surprised because of the help of many friends and family that prayed and fasted for a full recovery for him. He is back to normal and has been for the last couple weeks, (besides the fact he still has a good 10 pounds to gain back) I am grateful he is back and doing great.

August 18, 2010 will not be a day that is easily forgotten for me. I was going to Idaho to help at an arenacross race. Jeff and I had decided that I just go and he would stay home and watch the kids because Ashley had softball practice and we didn't want to haul everyone up there and have to try and keep them entertained while I was helping. It was about 12:45 and I was just getting ready to leave. Ashley was going to watch the kids until Jeff got home from the track, so I was just leaving some final instructions before heading out the door. I gave Ash a hug and started walkind out the door when I get the phone call.

"Tami, it's Beau from the track."

"Beau, why are you calling me?" I knew exactly what the call was about. He didn't have to tell me.

"Jeff has crashed."

"I'm leaving right now, I'll be there soon", was my response.

I jumped in the car and headed to the track. I thought I should feel mad, but I wasn't, not one bit. Just worried, I hoped it was nothing really serious. I called my friend, but just got her voicemail. I left a message and also sent her a text. I knew she would understand, her son races dirtbikes and has been injured more than once. It's the life of motocross, it's not a matter of if, but when.

I got to the track in about 7 minutes. I pulled up to where Jeff and his friends were parked. His friends had got him and his bike off the track and he was just sitting in a chair. His face was ashen, not a bit of color in it and he is having a very hard time breathing. Jeff had come up short on a jump and hit the throttle to hopefully correct it, but it didn't work. He flew over the handlebars and fell hard. I wanted to call an ambulance, but he wouldn't let me. His friends had wanted to call an ambulance as well, but he told them "No" too. His friends were worried, I could tell on all of their faces. They tell me to go to IMC in Murray. We somehow manage to get him into the car and I tell Jeff that I'm taking him to the ER. He tells me he would just rather go to the Instacare, I veto that call and figure it's probably faster to go to LDS and it would be more convenient from our house. That didn't end going really well. It ended up taking about a half hour to get to LDS because of construction. I just felt terrible for Jeff and all he could say was, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

We finally get there and they get him right back. They get some pain meds in him, then take him to go get xrays. By the time he gets back to the room he's still having a rough time breathing and was in a lot of pain. We had to wait about 30 minutes before the Dr. came in to tell us that he had a "bunch" of broken ribs, a broken collar bone, some of his labs looked a little worrisome the doctor thought there could be some organ damage to the kidney or liver, but his biggest concern was the pneumothorax. Jeff's lung had been punctured most likely by one of the broken ribs and he needed to get a chest tube inserted before his lung completely collapsed. LDS hospital was no longer a trauma hospital, so they were going to have to transfer him by ambulance to IMC in Murray. I really wish I would have listened to his friends, would have saved us a lot of time and probably would have saved Jeff from a lot of pain. By the time we had gotten to the hospital and by the time the ambulance had arrived to transport him, it had been about 3 hours. I had felt pretty calm for the most part, but did break down out in the waiting room a bit after the Dr. shared his news with us. I did feel a little better because it didn't seem like the ER was in a huge hurray to get Jeff to IMC. We waited about an hour and a half for the ambulance to show up. Once the EMT's got there, the shock from the accident had definitely worn off and Jeff was in terrible pain. When the EMT's put the neck brace on Jeff and then tried to get him on the gurney, it was like they were torturing him. It was horrible. Jeff was pass the groaning and swearing, the screaming started and then the tears. Jeff never cries and it was horrible to have to witness and not be able to do a thing about it. Jeff's parents had made it by then and unfortunately had to witness it as well. All three of us were pretty upset. It finally to 12mg of morphine to get Jeff settled enough get him on the gurney. Jeff wanted me to go with him in the ambulance, so Jeff's mom took car of my car. They also went and picked up the kids and took them so we didn't have to worry about them. I'm sure it was so hard for them to be away from Jeff, but I'm so grateful they took that worry away for me. The morphine still wasn't strong enough to knock Jeff completely out, but was able to rest a bit on the ride.

Twenty minutes later, we make it to IMC. They take Jeff into the trauma wing and as we are walking down the hall, I see about 12 doctors, fully robed, with masks and gloves just waiting outside the door to one of the rooms.

"Are you waiting for us?" I didn't realize I had said it outloud.

"Is this Jeff Harris? Yes, we're waiting for him." The EMT's wheeled Jeff into the room and all of those waiting doctors swarmed in on him. I had to sit down, I got really light headed, it hit me, things were bad.

I sat outside the room and tried to gather my thoughts, but I was scared. A girl came over to me and introduced herself as a social worker. She explained that it was all standard procedure with IMC being a trauma center. Normally family members aren't with patients when they are brought in so they don't see what happens initially. Doctors are called from every specialty so they can determine the injuries of the patient and treat ASAP. Thank goodness for that social worker, she calmed me immediately. I overheard a doctor order CT scans, but then also said they needed to get the chest tube in right away. I knew I had been strong enough, I knew there was no way I could be around when they did that. I knew Jeff would be awake when they inserted it and I didn't want to be around when it happened. I know, I should have been stronger, however I didn't want them to have another patient on their hands when I passed out. I excused myself and asked directions to the cafeteria. I realized it was 6:30 and I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

I didn't like not knowing. It's hard not being in control. So many things were swirling in my mind. I could only sit and wait, there were no other options. My phone had been ringing off the hook. News definitely travels fast. Maybe because I posted a little note about being with my broken honey in the ER on facebook. Regardless, people were worried, people cared. I already had gotten a call from my visiting teacher asking what she could do to help. Anyway, I returned some calls and was grateful to be able to do something while I waited. It was about an hour later before they let me back into the room, he had his chest tube in and was calm. He still felt pain quite a bit, but was handling it well. The doctor let us know that Jeff had broken at least 8 ribs that he could see, had a broken collar bone, and a partially collapsed lung. The labs weren't a concern anymore, but Jeff would definitely be spending some time in the hospital.

Cyber Hackers make me SICK!!

I am slightly on edge today. I was awakened by a telephone call this morning from a concerned friend. She had recieved an email from me saying I was in London and had been robbed and I needed money and blah, blah, blah. I was really glad she called, we talked a minute longer and then finished our call. I decided to pull myself out of bed and head to the computer to see what I needed to do. As, I made my way into the kitchen, Megan had answered my cell phone. She handed it over to me and it happened to be another girlfriend who I don't talk to too much, but she was really concerned about me. "Tami, are you ok? I'm so worried about you, are you really in London??" I let her know that I was ok at home and hadn't been robbed in London. She was on facebook and had an IM message pop up from me. She was having a LIVE conversation with someone and was ready to send the money to me in London. I'm just so glad that she didn't. For the next two hours, I was getting texts and phone calls from wonderful and concerned friends who were worried about me and also just informing me that my email "probably" had been hacked. OH YES IT WAS!

These crazy SOB's somehow got a hold of my password and had changed all the info in both my facebook account and also my email. My fault, I shouldn't have had the same password to both accounts, I just didn't think that anything like this happened. Well, I know it happened...I just didn't think to take precaution. Let me tell you, it is not that simple to get things fixed. It can take 24-72 hours for hotmail to review my information to determine if I'm really who I say I am, so they can reset my password and send it to an email that is safe. I can't really do anything about facebook until I have my email one worked out. I just hate the fact that those $@$#@# hackers have all my friends and family's emails. I'm so sorry to all of you. I should have been more cafeful. Hopefully, it doesn't take long for it to all be fixed!!

A Balloon Poppin' Good Time

Today is Megan's 9th birthday, but this girl has had quite the celebration over the last few days. Saturday was the beginning of the festivities with a big friend celebration and it was definitely a PARTY!!
 
We decided to throw the party at home and I have to say, I really enjoyed planning it. It really was a lot of work, but it was worth it.
 
The games were a total riot to watch. The first game, the girls each had a balloon around each of their ankles. The goal was to pop the balloons on the other girls' ankles. The last girl with at least one balloon not popped is the winner. There was actually a tie between two of the girls. After 15 minutes, we made them stand in a smaller area. They still couldn't get the popping done, so we had all the girls go after each of them, but that still didn't work. It ended in a stale-mate!

Now, this game was fuunnny! We covered a piece of double bubble gum with whipping cream. The girls couldn't use their hands. They had to search for the gum, get it in their mouth, and the first girl to blow a bubble won. The girls tried and tried, but nobody was really able to get a good bubble blown. They had a great time playing it though and we did choose a winner. It wasn't Megan for the record, but she did blow some good bubbles with a new piece of gum.

PRESENT TIME!!

Megan and her loot!


We also mod podged frames and had cupcakes and then the girls got to make their own ice cream sundaes. I hope the girls had a good time, because I sure had fun hosting the fun.

Sunday was a celebration with the whole Harris Clan with dinner and singing and then today with just our little family.

Jeff, CJ, and I picked Megan up at school and took her to lunch...her choice, Atlantis Burger. (I love this picture, just Meg and her dad!)

We had spaghetti for dinner. We decided against cakes or cupcakes and just decided to go for ice cream. Coldstone is where it was at!!



I'm really so grateful to have Megan a part of our family. She has her place and no one else would ever be able to fill it how she does. She is growing into such a beautiful girl, both on the inside and out. I got lucky with this girl! Happy Birthday Megs! You are definitely my favorite Megan!!

Back to School

 
I have been a bit delayed with getting these adorable pictures posted. I just can't believe how quickly a year passes by and how big my kids are getting.

Ashley is in her final year of elementary school and was so thrilled with the fact that she FINALLY got to be in the same class as her very close friend, who also happens to be an Ashley. She was also so happy that she got the teacher that she wanted the very most. Hopefully, things keep going well for her. We have already been busy with some pretty big projects, hopefully we can keep it up! 
Megan is in third grade. She is definitely the kid who does school well. It seems like school always comes easy for this girl. She is in the accelerated reading program again this year and I have already gotten a note from her teacher saying that she wishes she had an entire classroom full of Megans. I always love to hear things like that!
 
Parker is in second grade. I'm really proud of Parker and all the hard work he puts in to his homework every night. School is not quite so easy for him, but he really tries. He has definitely come a long way since last year at this time. I love this kid!
 

Allstars Round 2- Black Ice

 
 
 

Another summer has come and gone. We pretty much spent the majority of this year at the softball diamonds again. Ashley has definitely taken a liking to the sport we call Softball. She is quite a little athlete and it really has been a lot of fun to watch her continue to grow and develop and she just continuously gets better. She has yet to get sick of it and is playing again this fall. She has had some fantastic coaches and had the chance to have Jeff help out this summer as the assistant coach. We didn't enjoy the winning season we did last year, but were pleasantly surprised at the progress the team made from the beginning of Allstars to the end.

Hats off to Lady Montague

Ashley and I had the opportunity to go down to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and spend the day there yesterday. Ashley actually got to perform with some kids from her school at the Adams Outdoor Theater, it was very cool!

We drove down late Monday night after a softball srimmage Ashley had so we didn't make it there until about 1:30am. A wonderful friend, (thank you Maryann) let me and Ashley crash with them for the few hours we got to sleep. Ashley had to be up and ready by 7am for her performance at 8:30. Maryann also was kind enough to let me stay at the hotel and sleep and she took the girls over for rehearsal. Ashley played the part of Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet and did such a great job.


 

 

She also got to be in the Witches Chorus for McBeth. The kids all did such a great job! They really spent a lot of time at practices and I was actually kind of annoyed about it, I'm not going to lie. I was even a little frustrated with the fact the the kids were required to go to Cedar City. It was truly a great experience, not only for Ashley, but for me too. So, I'm sorry to anyone that had to listen to me gripe and complain. It won't happen again! ;D

 

We went on a backstage tour of the two big theaters there and that was pretty cool. It is quite amazing the work it takes for those productions to go on. They said that it takes 7 people for every actor to make the show successful, whether it is for costumes, makeup, props, lighting, etc. After the tour, Ashley had a bit of fun and we realized that she isn't just two faced, but more than that!






She also informed me, "Mom, don't you know that it's all about the BLING??"


We decided to finish off the day, by heading to the play, "Pride and Prejudice". We were actually pretty lucky that they had any seats left, it was a full house. It was a fantastic show, very entertaining and the cast did an amazing job.



It was such a quick trip, but it was definitely worth it. I had such a great time with getting to spend some one on one time with Ashley. I'm pretty lucky to have her as my daughter. Oh, and Ashley? By the way...I won (the license plate game). :D

Nothing Happening

Well, ok. There obviously has had to have been some stuff happening around here in seven months. I just need to be honest and let you know that I have been just way too lazy to post anything new. I really need to step it up a notch and with summer vacation coming in a few short days, I will try to do better.

The last couple months have been non stop with softball for both Megan and Ashley. Meg's final game was last night and Ashley's is on thursday, but then Ashley is trying out for Allstar's again this year and will be pretty surprised if she doesn't end up on the roster. She has been doing so awesome this season. It has been really fun to watch her games. Megan has done great as well. I was pretty bummed because at one of her first games, she got nailed in the face with the ball and ended up with a huge, fat, bleeding lip for a few days and also caused her to become very timid around the ball, understandably so. I actually begged her to let me take a picture of it, but she wouldn't let me. :D She is a trooper though and ended up playing really well and hitting like a pro!

Parks decided that he wasn't interested in playing baseball this year and secretly I was thrilled. I don't know how we would have managed with him playing ball and Ashley and Meg's schedule too. The girls both had two games a week, so we weren't home much anyway. He is still loving racing his bmx bike and is thrilled that the outdoors are starting up, so he'll be racing shortly.

CJ of course is the life of the party around these parts. He loves his siblings and likes to follow them wherever they go and wants to do whatever they do to. CJ is LOVING baseball. He is out hitting the ball anytime he has a chance. He can actually hit the ball when it's tossed to him. Hopefully, he'll make us millions! haha!



Summer is coming! The kid's last day of school is on friday and I'm looking forward to them being around for a bit.