Someday this may become a habit...I hope!

I realize that I just barely caught up the whole Christmas thing and now it's August but catching up is just not feasible at this point so I'll start with recent events!

Two and a half weeks ago my dad was having some chest pain that grew steadily worse so they called my sister and her husband and they came over and decided he better go to the hospital-in an ambulance! It was a good thing they did because he suffered a bronchial artery aneurysm that bled into his chest cavity collapsing his right lung. After stabilizing him with 8 units of blood they went in with a camera, found hole in the artery and got it sealed off. Next a thoracic surgeon inserted a chest tube that just allowed the blood to gush out of his chest. It continued to drain over the next 10 days in ICU. He developed some staff pneumonia (MRSA-the drug resistant type) and we all had to wear masks, gloves and gowns to visit him. The amazing part is that after all of this on a 78 year old, already some what physically weak body, they moved him to a rehab center yesterday (just 2 and 1/2 weeks after it happened) with only some oxygen, weakness and a scar from the chest tube to show for it! He has come through ever bit of it better than expected and now just needs to rebuild his strength so he can come home. That first night his blood pressure dropped at least 3 times to 50/30 and we didn't know from one minute to the next if he was even going to live. It has truly been a succession of miracles that brought us to today when he is walking down the hall to the dining room and doing most everything on his own again. We are VERY grateful.

It has all been hard for mom but she has been a ROCK! She has been guided and watched over by Heavenly Father and He has given her strength. My mom is the greatest. I only hope I can support and help parents all their days so that they will have a long and happy life.

In the midst of all this we had a happy family event! My brother's daughter got married in the Sacramento temple, had a reception there and then an open house at my brothers house back in Idaho. Dad was doing well enough that we all felt he would be okay long enough for us to go up, spend the night and then come back the next day. He did fine while we were gone and we all had a great time at the open house. My sister-in-law had covered every detail and the party was great. Another sister-in-law and I worked the refreshment table and had a lot of fun doing that. It was also the first time in a long time that all my siblings were together so we took a few pictures. I'll post a few here. The bride looked gorgeous and it's very obvious that her new husband is completely and totally in love with her! They were so cute. We all wished dad could have been there but other than that, it was a perfect evening. Sally had a great time because her cousin from Washington (her only cousin her age) was there and they had a great time together. My brother has gorgeous old farm house and pond and barn and all the trimmings of a farm. It was a fun an beautiful setting. Enough...here are some pictures.

The bride and groom

The bride, her dad and my mom (her grandma-nice 3 generation shot)

Some of the family enjoying the great foodMore family

Sally and her cousin

The siblings-Idaho man, Me, Desert Queen, BFF Sis and The Pres

The pond, complete with ducks and geese and that's Text Guy and Sally walking on the far side.

These last three are small but they are nice shots my sister took of my brothers house and farm.

Well, a little Billy to end things..."There will be miracles, After the last war is won, Science and poetry rule in the new world to come, Prophets and angels, Gave us the power to see, What an amazing future there will be..." (2000 Years)