Quick Up-date

I just wanted to give a quick up-date on my Dad and Brother...

They both had surgery last Tuesday. My dad's surgery lasted 9 HOURS. It was the longest 9 hours of my mom's life! They put plates, pins, and screws in both my dad's ankles so hopefully support the bones so they will heal back properly. They then put titanium plates and screws on his pelvis to hold it in place. As for now no more surgeries, but in the future when he is able to put weight on them he may have to have another.

My brothers surgery lasted about 3 hours. They put plates, pins, and screws also in his ankle. He was able to go home on Wednesday. In fact I went up to the hospital Wednesday morning to pick up my mom (she ended up staying the night with my dad) and I decided to go to Bronson's room first. I knocked on the door and Megan (Bronson's wife) opened it up and there was Brons in a wheelchair dressed and ready to go. He told the nurse he wanted out of there as soon as possible. He had a date with the Direct TV guy, who was moving his service for free to Meg's parents house since that is where they will be living for the time being. Meg's parents basement is wheelchairs accessible.

Brons has been feeling okay since. Managing the pain has been the biggest hurdle for both of them. They seem to have cycles similar to each other. One day they are good and next day not so much. Bronson will have to stay off his foot for 3 months. He has the option of wheelchair or crutches. He gets really warn out with the crutches so he has been using them as little as possible. I am sure with time he will be all over the place with them:)

My dad is still in the hospital. He is working with a physical therapist who is teaching him how to get around with his wheelchair. My dad cannot put any weight on his legs so he is having to learn how to get in and out of a wheelchair with his upper body. Thank goodness he is a tuff stud how has great upper body strength. Thanks to his 30+ years caring plywood. We were able to take the kiddos up to see him on Friday. We met him in a waiting area. His physical therapist made him get into his wheelchair all by himself then my grandma wheeled him to see us. It was great seeing him out of his bed, but he was completely warn out. He stayed with us for a few minutes. Enough time to give each kid "knuckles" and he even ate a cup of popcorn with us. Then he went back to his room. He knew he still had to get himself back in his bed.

Saturday morning we packed up the jeep and headed back up to the hospital to see Grandpa one last time before we headed back to Nebraska. He seemed to be having a great morning. (Luckily we came before he had physical therapy so he wasn't warn out.) He shared some goodies with the kids. The kids had made some valentines for Grandpa that were displayed on the wall which made the kiddos very happy. Then we all said our goodbyes.

Leaving has been one of the hardest thing for me to do. I have always been okay with living away from my family. It has been a really good thing for Ty and I. We have been able to figure out how we want our own family, but this time it was hard.

It was hard leaving my dad while he was still in the hospital. It was hard leaving my mom who has been so strong through this, but her life has really changed. She is having to figure things out for them. They had to have their bathroom completely remodeled to make it wheelchair accessible and she kept saying your dad would just come right in her and say this is the best way for it to be and it would be done. She had to make the phone calls to everyone to get the work done. Its hard to live away when you know you could help your own family if you lived close. It's just not fun right now:(

Blessings....

As many of you know my dad and brother where in a construction accident on Tuesday afternoon so I thought I would just let you know what happened and how they are doing...

They where framing a house in my parents neighborhood. They where sheeting (covering trusses with plywood) the roof of a deck about 30 feet up on the house and it collapsed. They have since found out that one on the braces on the bottom of the deck gave and the whole deck began to twist and fall. My dad was working above Bronson and Bronson said all the sudden he saw my dad go past him and that is when he realized that he was falling.

As my dad was falling he said he was falling head first and then felt literal hand push him up so he landed feet first. Bronson also ended landing on his feet. Bronson began yelling for their other employee, Grady Jeppeson, came around the back of the house where they were. He immediately called 911 and then took a truss that fell on my dad off of him. He then gave them both a Priesthood blessing.

My mom was at home working in her hair shop and she heard the sirens and kind of panicked, but then they stopped so she didn't think anything more of it she figured they just passed down the road. Then another neighbor pulled in the driveway and was walking up to the front door, but my mom yelled out for her to say she was in her shop. Peggy (the neighbor) said no you need to come with me. My mom knew something was wrong.

She got to the job sight and was able to ride up with my dad. My Sister-in-law Megan was in St. George working so they called her and she immediately got a flight home.

Both my dad and brother were conscious through this whole thing and have been able to give all details of what happened.

There were taken to McKay Dee Hospital where they learned that Bronson had shattered his left ankle and broken his back. My Dad shattered both ankles, broke his back, and broke his pelvis. The tried to operate on both of their ankles but both my dad and Bronson had such bad swelling they stabilized their legs and they will both have surgery on Tuesday to try and repair them. As of right now they will not need to have back surgery they will both be sporting some back braces. My dad will have to have surgery on his pelvis. They will put titanium plates on the front and back to hold the pelvis together.

In the ER the Doctors and nurses kept telling my family that when they are treating people who have fallen off roofs there is head trauma or paralysis never lower body injuries. They kept reminding them that it is a miracle.

They released Bronson from the hospital yesterday, but he will have to go back on Tuesday for surgery. My dad is still in the hospital. They have told him that he will not be able to put weight on his legs for 3 months and will not be able to walk for 6 months.

When my Sister Bree Anne, who lives in Chicago, and I found out we immediately started to figure out how we were going to get to Utah. Ty was able to go into work and get time off so we left Nebraska that night at 7:00 P.M. and arrived in Utah the next day. My Sister also arrived on the next day. She is an RN so she was going to take care of the hospital stuff and I am a professional homemaker so I take care of the house and kids:)

We have witnessed so many acts of Christlike service. The house they are working on the next day the sight was cleaned up and another construction crew, who my dad said he has only shaken their hand before, had already re-built the deck and roof. So many people have been at the house donating their time to finish the house for my dad. My dad and Bronson have been so overwhelmed with emotions when they find out how many people are their helping. Every morning the street is lined with trucks and trailers. Men from their Ward have been going over and just carrying wood into the house for the construction workers. One of them who is a retired electrician told me that even old electrician's know how to carry a piece of wood. Tomorrow a group of scouts are going to the sight to clean it up. A friend of my Dad's came up to the hospital yesterday and is making sure his other projects are running. He told him that he just wants to help STEVEN BARKER CONSTRUCTION INC keep running until my dad is able to take over again. It has just been an out pouring of love!!

We are so grateful for the many wonderful friends and family who have been helping through this. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Our Last Day with G&G Barker (until next time:)

So our last day with Grandma and Grandpa Barker here started like this...

Grandpa made us some of his famous animal pancakes which included....a T-Rex, Snake, snowman, minnie mouse, another snake and a whole bunch of balls. Every kind you can think of:)

Paisley enjoying some yummy goodness:)

Landen, Hattie, and Porter eating breakfast like champions!!

While Grandpa was cooking Grandma was busy getting Peyton ready for the day. She had a nice bubble bath followed by her first hair do. Yes a little curl down the middle. Peyton has been our first baby we've ever been able to do anything with their hair before they were at least a year.

After we were all full and were ready we took advantage of the nice weather we have been having (its been in the 50's its usually in the teens maybe twenties if we are lucky and the wind is usually blowing) and headed to the zoo. Notice all of us just in jackets and sweatshirts. Thats right no winter coats for us!!

Grandma and Grandpa getting ready to go and watch Amazing Caves at the I-Max theater at the zoo. If you haven't seen this it was pretty cool. My kids even sat through it. It may have been all the popcorn Grandma and Grandpa bought them...but hey whatever works:)

Hattie and Paisley sharing a secret:)

Landen in the desert dome.

I love this picture of Paisley. Before we headed into the zoo I handed the camera off to my Sister Brigette and she was the photographer for this trip to the zoo.

Yes Hattie is in the sand/dirt. This is were you can find her if there is any around.

Port

Land

Paisley with her new cute hat she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Barker. She LOVES hats, shoes, and blankets. She is a keeper.

Grandpa and Paisley

After all the fun it was time to go and Hattie and Paisley got the royal treatment...They didn't even have to walk out of the zoo:)

We can't wait to take Grandma and Grandpa to the zoo again:)

Presents Finally....

After Church we headed home and the kids were FINALLY able to open their presents. They actually did really well waiting. A lot better than I think we would have ever done. We did explain to them the night before they would have to wait until after Church to open their presents.

On the way home the boys told us they were getting right back into their Christmas PJs and they sure did. Here is some pictures from our day.

We ended the day by eating a traditional German Christmas Dinner. My brother in-law Steve served his mission in Germany and cooked us some delicious food. Sorry no pictures I was sleeping while he was cooking and to busy eating when it was done:)

Christmas Morning

This Christmas morning was a little different. Instead of waking up and getting right to the presents we woke up and got ready and headed to Church. We were so lucky this year to have my parents, younger Sister Brigette, younger Brother Braxton, Older Sister Bree Anne, her husband Steve and their little guy Ammon, all at our house this year for Christmas.

We had decided before Peyton came to bless the baby here in Nebraska instead of going to Utah because we don't plan on going back until maybe the Summer and we didn't want to wait that long. So we were able to bless Peyton on Christmas. It was a great way to start Christmas morning. Here are some pictures of Peyton in her blessing dress and the rest of the kiddos dressed in their Sunday best for Church.

Peyton Anne Loveless:) So as many of you already know we didn't find out what we were having. We wanted to be surprised, but we also needed to have a blessing outfit. When I was around 32 weeks I had my doctor do an ultra sound and write down what the baby was. I brought an addressed envelop and she sent an ultrasound picture with the sex of the baby written on it to my dad. He did such an awesome job keeping it a secret from everyone. He said it was pretty tricky because he always had to watch what he said.

My parents went to White Elegance in Utah and they picked out a boy blessing outfit and girl one. Then my dad came back another day all by himself and bought the girl dress. My mom didn't want to know what it was because she was afraid she would slip and tell me.

We were so grateful that they did all of this for us just so we could still be surprised:)

I decided to see if I was crafty and made this headband to go with her dress. The pearl in the middle is a real pearl from a necklace that a child whose name we will not mention decided to see if it could fit through a hole on their bed. The necklace ended up getting stuck and so of course they tugged and tugged until the necklace broke:) Peyton's dress has little pearls on it so it looked really cute to have a pearl on her headband. I just twisted to piece of ribbon together and hot glued it on a piece of felt. It was really easy and I loved the way it looked.

Grandma and Grandpa Barker with Peyton

Me and Ty with Peyton

The kiddos looking so cute in their new Christmas Outfits

Grandpa Barker and Peyton getting ready to head to Church

Ammon looking super excited to be getting his picture taken again:)

Paisley wondering why she doesn't get to open her presents yet:)

Yes another picture:)

Christmas PJs

Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without opening up a present and of course the present will be new Christmas pajamas.

Peyton's First Christmas

Ammon and Brigette posing for a picture

The Loveless kids looking so cute in the new Christmas PJ's.

COOKIES!!

Before we went to bed on Christmas Eve we let the kids loose with sprinkles and frosting to decorate some cookies just for Santa. They sure enjoyed it especially when we told them they could eat one and leave one for Santa.

Hattie showing off the cookie she decorated just for Santa!

Paisley showing off her cute cheesing face:)

Landen making sure his cookie is just right for Santa.

Grandpa helping Porter dip his cookie into all the sprinkles he put on his plate.

Paisley, Landen, Braxton (my little brother...not so little he's taller than me, but still little because he's younger:) and Porter all working hard on their cookies.

A little for Santa...A little for me...

Ammon (my older Sister Bree Anne's little guy) showing off the cookies he decorated!