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.