Where Does the Time Go?

Wow, I can't believe I have not updated anything since May 19. We have been busy.

Courtney did cook us supper following her baking escapades. She made a delicious pasta, chicken & broccoli dish with a store bought Italian bread on the side. She baked some fantastic looking tiger cupcakes last week for her GROSS(Swing Dancing) friends. This time it was her friend Bethany's birthday and she likes tigers. Courtney is planning to create some green, out of this world, cupcakes next. Stay tuned for pictures that I will take. She took a pic w/her phone of the tigers and I haven't seen it yet.

Kelsey worked hard and executed her skills wonderfully on the track at the State meet on May 30. She went into the meet ranked 5th for the 100 meter high hurdles. She made it through prelims & semi-finals with excellent running and leaping. She was guaranteed a place & medal for State! In the finals she was leading until the 6th hurdle. On the 9th hurdle she caught her foot and lost some minor hundredths of a second. Her and the gal from Hemlock crossed the line together but Hemlock had a small edge. We were so excited for Kelsey that she took 4th place in Division 3 at the STATE meet! She has gotten over her disappointment for the most part.

Kelsey has been a little sad for the fact that many of her good friends graduated last Tuesday. Her and some of her other friends returning to high school in the fall all agree it will be different without them. Kelsey continues to make new friends. She has been hosting bon fires in the fabulously simple fire pit that Dave put up in the back yard last year. Sometimes it might be a few people and then tonight we had about 30 people! They come and go and they are entertained only a few steps away. The hot tub is on the deck, only a few steps up from the yard. Hopefully, they are not misbehaving in the moments that I don't have my full attention on them. If they are being naughty they will surely hear it from me! ... lol. Most of them come in and help make goodies or come inside just to visit. Now all we need to do is finish getting those too small clothes and misc objects of years gone by OUT of the basement. Then if the weather isn't bon fire friendly they can chill in front of the TV with a movie.

Courtney tends to go out with friends or to their apartments or houses. She is at that age where many of her friends live away from home. We keep reminding her how inexpensive it is for her to live under her parent's roof. At times she will have a few people over to go in the hot tub or watch a movie. Besides she would miss us...giggle, giggle. I know I will miss her when she does decide to escape from her paradise.

We got to see my mom almost everyday last week! My cousin Jim and his wife Shara were here from Arizona. They stayed in our 5th wheel parked in the driveway. That is what you call red-neck camping! The trailer offers more comfort, privacy and a queen size bed plus 2 tv's and a modern kitchen & small bathroom. The basement bedroom and living space has been over run with bags and boxes needing to be sorted and donated. Dave wanted the basement bedroom for his 'hunting room'. The girls and I decided he could have the library because we want a 'fire code safe' spare bedroom with windows. If I could keep them home during their waking hours long enough I might have some help sorting :(

Kelsey and I checked out a track club, The Grand Rapids FIRE, Monday and Tuesday. She is excited to run in an AAU or USA Youth type track program. This just was not the fit for her. It is fairly new and the people running the program are dong the right things. Most of the kids are very young. There was only one other high school girl in the club and I think 2-4 boys. Both days they had practiced an hour earlier and were leaving when we arrived. They practice at Ottawa Hills High School which is near Grand Rapids Christian High, but still a 20-25 minute drive for us in good traffic. With her asthma she trains at a different pace, not slower, just spaces her speed training out a little more. She wants to tighten her hurdle form and speed. We are thinking of giving it a go as an Independant at the sanctioned meets. It would be nice to have her in a program or find an individual trainer to work with her that won't cost a fortune. If you know of any opportunities give us a shout.

Dave has been busier than myself in the yard. He has uprooted and dug out hostas, lillies, peonies and numerous other plants from our front garden of weedin'. Dave killed off the weeds and then rototilled the area. Kelsey's friends lent a hand one evening. Thank you to Ben who wielded the shovel with great talent. We (mostly Dave) have split and replanted hosta around most of the trees in the yard. I now know why people have these tailored looking yards lined with hosta and lillies. Every time they split them they get 2-4 plants and need to find a new place to plant them!

We have yet to land any camping for the summer. Kelsey has enjoyed some fun days at the dunes by Silver Lake so we have entertained that possibility. There have been some sites open up over the past week, but nothing for Grand Haven unless we camp in a tent. I no longer find that to be an enjoyable adventure, so it will come down to day trips to the beach. We are also paying attention to sanctioned track meets that Kelsey can compete in. We do not want to rush our summer away.

Best Face Forward

At 11:00pm last night, Courtney left to go stay overnight with some friends, but not before baking 2 dozen cupcakes and a homemade cheesecake. She has been promising cheesecake for all of her Grand Rapids Original Swing Society friends. This morning she spent acquiring a filming location for her friend Caleb. She was ecstatic over the fact she would have 2 different 'credits' in his film. He suggested she could use her 'management' talents on a regular basis. I told her when something needs to be done and it is a challenge, then it is more satisfying when you accomplish the fete. Today is her friend Lauren's birthday and I guess she likes owls, because this afternoon Courtney created 24 owl 'faces' on the cupcakes she baked with mini oreos, frosting, runts, and M&M's. The completed project was a delectable looking treat.

I got a call from Kelsey this morning at 10:00am. She was on break and had just finished Gym Class. They had been playing Ultimate Frisbee. She ran or dove for the frisbee and put her best face forward...and slammed it into another friend's shoulder. It just about knocked her out. She was worried about a concussion, after hearing news reports earlier this year of Natasha Richardson's death, following a minor skiing accident. The athletic director happened to be talking with her teacher and answered questions about a concussion. I called her doctor's office and they had me ask her a bunch of questions, so the text lines were hot. If there is any chance of a concussion they send you straight to the ER. Oh, yay! She kept in contact with me. I delivered her and 2 of her friends Mountain Dew slushies from Speedway at the end of lunchtime. I reminded them NOT to spill, as they have Business Communications in the new Media Center. I really don't think the teacher would have been thrilled with me. The other 5 students in that class were probably salivating for those slushies. Kelsey continued to be dizzy, have a sore neck, a headache and pain in the back of her head, which she did not hit. She is also dealing with a wonderful spring cold. I stuck around Grandville running errands while she was in her afternoon classes. Her last 3 classes are all with close friends so I had them watching for any changes. It could have been as simple as picking her up and bringing her home. Unfortunately, when she had pneumonia at the start of the year she missed 11 days, then another 2 days when Grandpa Louie passed away. Calvin Christian allows a maximum of 15 missed days. Then you may not get credit for any of your classes, regardless the reason. Since the 9th & 10th grade members of the Track team had a JV Invitational in Belding, her practice would be minimal. It was only her and 2 other girls, also going to the State Meet, that had practice. I stayed nearby making sure she could drive home. She took a cool shower, rested while a friend checked in on her, and is now holding up a pillow in the cool basement while watching the newly released movie,'Taken'. I think it shall be a good idea if she continues to use her skills running circles and leaping, even though it is equally possible to get a concussion in the Pole Vault!

We will be monitoring Kelsey over the next few days. She has a local Track meet featuring the best of the best next Tuesday, then the State Meet on that Saturday. Hopefully, the cold leaves her body soon and she has no remnants of that HEAD-on collision. As for Courtney working in theatre, we hope she continues in her medical path and finds respite in assisting her friends challenges. Tomorrow she is cooking dinner. We'll keep you posted.

A New Season

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely,
to risk life, to be needed ~ Storm Jameson

We enjoyed a fabulous Spring Break in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island in Florida. Dave, Kelsey and I joined a few other families that we are friends with. We entertained ourselves with friends, the beach, dinners, an interesting trolly ride, and an even more interesting Bradenton Seafood/Music Fest. We even tried to recreate our version of The Titanic with two sinking pontoons. You had to be there! Kelsey and friends, including our dear friend Linda and son Jon went para-sailing over the Gulf of Mexico. Kelsey created some new friendships with kids from our home area. That has blossomed ten fold into a tribe of friends she now hangs with. Thank you God for the fun that was had in our 'little blue house' on AMI. Courtney chose to stay home with Grandma Arlene and 4 dogs. Normally, Courtney has plans almost every night after classes. Every time we called she was HOME enjoying her time with Grandma. They had a fabulous time hanging out together!

It is hard to believe that another school year is almost done. Courtney has been done with classes at Grand Valley State for almost a month! Kelsey has a couple more weeks until summer break.

Courtney is contemplating a change in majors, from Nursing to Physical or Occupational Therapy. Then it is the decision to study in an Assistant or Doctorate program. If you have input, send it our way :) Courtney has taken a deeper interest in cooking and baking. She likes to try her hand at new menus for dinner and shake up some yummy treats for her friends. It gets her to the grocery store with mom and lets me out of the kitchen for a little while. She has not fully grasped that clean up does not just mean cleaning off the counter and putting the dishes in the sink...lol. It will come. Courtney has been a subject for photographers, some local and others visiting family in the area. Her model portfolio is growing. She has gathered some really nice captures and has had a lot of fun along the way. Just so you know she always has another adult along for the shoot :) She starts a new job this morning. She is helping prep a local corn field for their annual Witches Walk Corn Maze in the fall. Dave would like to hire her for more hours but only has small tedious jobs for her now and then. That doesn't quite offer enough for mad money, let alone gas $$.

Kelsey has had a decent season with Track. She took All Conference for 100 high & 300 low hurdles for Calvin Christian. At the Conference Meet she also placed 3rd in the Long Jump and as 3rd leg in the 400 Relay, that team took a close 2nd. At Regionals this past Friday, she placed 2nd in the 100H and will compete for the 2nd year in a row, at the State meet on May 31. She scratched by a few inches on her best ever long jump(meaning her toes were over the scratch line of the take-off board). If the 'scratch' distance were subtracted from the length it would have put her in 2nd place and on to State for LJ...maybe next year. Her Relay team has had substitutions due to injuries, sickness and for the Regional event...Prom. Their relay team took a 6th place and were less than a second from the State qualifying time. They went to State last year with the 400 Relay. In the 300 low hurdles, Kelsey placed 3rd with less than a second from State qualifying time and only 2.5 seconds behind the 1st place hurdler, who is ranked #1 in the whole state! We think she and her team mates performed well.

As I mentioned, Friday night was the Jr/Sr Prom for Calvin Christian. They had a beautiful venue at the VanAndel Public Museum. Its located in a prime downtown location along the river with bridges and cityscape views for fabulous photos. We rushed home after her last running event so Kelsey could shower, dress & make-up her already beautiful face. I dropped her off just as the dance portion was getting under way. She missed out on the ice-cream sociai, one of her favorite foods, and all the picture taking going on. They even had the carousel open for the kids. I heard from a couple of her friends that the music was lame and reminded them of a Middle School skating party. Kelsey agreed but had a great time anyway.

I have been snapping myself into craziness. I absolutely love my camera and take pictures of everything I can. Of course that is usually my children and their friends! I have so many photos on my computer that I can not even edit until I download past photos to discs. It gets really frustrating. The girls & I love our Macs. Dave doesn't. He's a PC man...haha. I need to upgrade my internal memory and all will be better. I guess I should have stuck with that more expensive MacPro that I started out with. I decided on the smaller iMac 24" for portability...hmmm, what was I thinking?

Dave ventured to the Upper Peninnsula a couple weeks ago. At the house in Nahma, he took out the furnace and replaced it with the space heater that mom & dad had taken up last year. Loaded up the old but 'new' furnace, an old boat & trailer, and a wicker set to his flat bed trailer along with his 4 wheeler already on board. He only spent a couple days at the house, then spent Thursday to Sunday with a large group of guys from our church 4 wheeling across God's north country. He was accused of looking like a Beverly Hillbilly when he arrived at the outcamp! They had good weather and a fun time.

My Mom, Arlene, visits Dad's resting spot regularly, checking to make sure the grass didn't completely wash away in our monsoon rain we had. As she put it, 'someone had trampled across the new grass with giant footsteps'. Then she realized they they had placed the bronze plaque and had a board supporting it. She planted flowers on Dad & Marvin's grave, went back to cover them from frost and then uncover them...a couple of times. Mom has been making sweeping changes all over their homestead. Shortly after Dad's passing she paid her neighbor and his brother to put on a new deck, adjoining the newer portion that Dad had replaced for the hot tub a couple years ago. The old portion, like what Dad replaced, literally broke through the week of the funeral. Her hot tub has been repaired from the boo-boo caused by the electrician cutting through the water line. She has already enjoyed it sometimes twice a day! My cousins Jim and Roger and the neighbor helped remove her old bathroom vanity, cupboards in the little bedroom, and furniture. They have sorted and scrapped all sorts of things from the barn and yard. Mom has ripped up carpeting, painted walls and will have new wood floors in the bedroom to match the dining room, new vinyl flooring in the bathroom, along with a new toilet & pedestal sink. This work is being done while she has escaped to Nahma. She even has my cousin Jim on 'frost patrol' at the house and cemetery. My cousins, her friends and neighbors are so good to her :) She took paint along to Nahma to tackle some tasks up there also! It has been cold in Nahma. Mom said it is nice and toasty with the new space heater and it doesn't sound like a jet taking off like the furnace did. She has been busy sorting and tossing at the UP house also. She will be home this weekend before the honors service at the cemetery. She also wants to watch Kelsey in the State Track Finals. Mom plans to tackle the kitchen and dining room when she returns home.

I've been trying to be as ambitious as my mom. Whew! My schedule with my kids doesn't allow me hours at a time to stay on a project so I try to be as effiecient as I can. I get easily sidetracked though. Maybe I should just get a full time job. Yeah, good luck with that one, and hire my organization and dispersal of items to someone else. Mom and a couple of friends did clean our bathrooms top to bottom while we were in FL. That was a nice treat to come home to. Thank you ladies! We are trying to make our basement 'hang-out' friendly. We have boxes of clothes & toys to go to Nice Twice, Calvin Christian's second hand store. We have items that need to get marketed on craigslist and ebay. I have more painting of walls and of furniture, including a bed frame before Mom comes back home. Courtney is begging to redo our dining room table. Yay, I finally have someone to help me do to that project! Dave and I need to tackle a problem perennial garden we redid a few years ago. We have enough projects to last us until Kelsey's graduation open house NEXT YEAR!

Restored and Made Strong

This past Monday, February 23, is the kind of day that you never want to endure. Before Mom arrived at the hospital a new team of doctors with fresh perspectives, following old clues and conferring with the previous Critical Care Team were in checking and evaluating Dad. The ICU has a rotating team of medical professionals each week. Dad was scheduled for a new dialysis port for the morning, with dialysis in the afternoon. With doctors continually reviewing the charts you would think they would have been able to fine tune the trouble spot for Dad's mysterious infection and fluid retention that made his belly so distended. The doctors had an answer and a probable cause but the outlook did not look favorable for a full recovery for Dad. They suspected a rupture or leak of the chyle duct. I had never heard of this anatomical term. I guess it would be left to Google. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/190025-overview.
Their explanation made sense, that's all that mattered. They would continue to do everything they could to try and turn around Dad's condition for as long as we desired. They were on morning rounds and I felt Mom needed to be present before any further treatment plans were engaged. As she arrived Dr. Cox and his team were prepping to put the new temporary port into Dad's neck area.

As they performed the port procedure, we took a walk to the lobby to mail some greeting cards Mom had prepared, one for Dr. Pates who delivered me 46 years ago. He is the oldest practicing doctor in Idaho! No, I wasn't born in Idaho. He used to live in Belding. His daughter was celebrating his 85th birthday with a surprise. We wandered back to the family lounge where Mom read her book and I wrote a little bit into the blog. Nurse Jenn came and said they were all set and we could come back anytime. Mom headed back as I packed up the laptop. She was gone a couple of minutes then peeked over my shoulder and said the doctors were done for their morning procedures and could talk with us in the consultation room.

They explained in greater detail of the possible chyle leak, which in healthy patients can be controlled. In order to confirm the diagnosis more tests, ultra sounds, and ex-rays of specific detailed areas would need to be done. Surgery would be required, which Dad was not a sound candidate for, considering all of the recent set-backs. The doctor explained in certain pro-active(politically correct?) terms that he was pro-life and respected the patient and the family's desire for protecting the quality of life. It makes one wonder what kind of college and humanity courses on compassion these professionals need to acquire in order to maintain their composure in such conversations with a patient's family. They needed to know if we had any previous conversations with Dad prior to surgery regarding long term, life sustaining measures. Any that knew Dad would question that we had already pushed the limits on heroic measures with all that had already been done. Dad had already been going to dialysis 3 times/week for a few weeks prior to surgery so was already in gear for that plan. With all of Dad's recent complications, at best, if treatment was in the Lord's favor, we would be looking at a long term stay in a Nursing Home. Prior to this last infection Mom and I were prepared to inlist the services of Spectrum Health's LTACH
http://www.spectrum-health.org/cs/Satellite?c=eHA_Content_C&cid=1218817408142&ehapubname=Cont_Care&pagename=Cont_Care%2FCont_Care_Central_Template
for rehabilitation to get Dad back on his feet and in his OWN bed. Nursing Home? Ventilator Dependent? With Dad no longer responding to us, the doctors or physical therapists how much more could we make him endure? We had already felt we overstepped heroic measures with the respirator following his seizure on January 28. With a tearful, prayer of petition to God, we felt his answer had been in front of us already. Dad had been breathing on his own, yet needed the extra pressure support of the ventilator to complete his breaths. As the infection increased so did the dependency on the ventilator. Mom and I agreed that if God was calling, Dad should have the dignity to heed his call. We tearfully called my family together. Pastor Curtis from Spectrum's Pastoral Care brought us a Comfort Quilt, hand stitched by the Quilters Guild at Emmanual Lutheran, and prayed with us as we laid it over Dad's feet. Dave's sister Mary and daughter Christine arrived to join us in our time of prayer and grief. We are one in body as a family. We surrounded Dad with clinched hands, hugs, prayers, tears and laughter from 3:00-4:45pm, at which time God peacefully called him home.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10

The hospital staff was generous with their compassion with regards to Comfort Care, making sure Dad and his family were comfortable and allowing privacy in our time of grief. His nurses Jenn and Bridgett monitored him quietly from their station, periodically coming in to make sure he was in a restful position.

Mary and Christine offered to drive our second car home, but Courtney said she was able. Dave and Courtney had picked Kelsey up at school so her friend Christopher had driven her car to his house, then later shuttled it home when the girls arrived. I drove Mom home in her Tahoe and Dave followed in our Expedition. She insisted that I stay at home with our girls. I didn't give her the option, I called my cousin Jim to come over. She said he didn't have to stay. We had already made a private decision that he would! He told her to get some sleep and he and Murphy would do their thing.

I felt sick to my stomach and had a horrible headache all the way home. Dave stopped at Walgreen's to get cold meds for him. I got out of the truck just to get air. Dave had made several phone calls to people while at Mom's. I wanted to make a couple more when I got home and spend some quiet time with my family, but all I could do was grab a bucket and curl up in my bed. With every twinge of pain from my pounding headache and the chill that overtook me, I was awash with grief and emotion. I could not help but think what kind of pain or the feeling of being cold my dad must have had at times while he lay in that bed unable to talk. My only comfort was knowing that Dad was no longer in pain. I realized I was about 10 hours past due in taking my blood pressure and anti-anxiety meds. I don't carry them with me. Courtney brought me water and Dave garnered my pillow, which I had left in the living room on Sunday afternoon, and another comforter because I was so cold. I finally fell asleep. I awoke at 12:04am feeling much better. I checked on my sleeping girls, let the dogs out briefly and went back to bed. I don't even remember if Dave snored ;) I did wake up every couple of hours though.

Tribute and Honor Arrangements

Johnson-Feuerstein Funeral Home
203 S. Pleasant St.
Belding, MI 48809
616-794-1630
toll free: 1-888-663-5633

http://www.jffh.com/

Funeral services will be at 10:30am, Thursday
at Johnson-Feuerstein Funeral Home
in Belding with Pastor Kendall Harger
of Shiloh Community Church officiating.

Interment with full military honors by the
Belding VFW Post 4406
will follow in River Ridge Cemetery.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 6-8pm at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Alvah N. Belding Library

Farewell to a Great Man

Monday, February 23, 2009: With heavy hearts we said an earthly farewell to our dad, husband and grandfather today. With all of us surrounding him in prayer, Dad courageously entered the woods of Heaven with Our God and Master of Creation at 4:45pm, from the Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center.

Please uplift our family in prayer for peace of mind, as we struggle with Dad enduring 3 weeks of treatments and now as we open a new chapter in our life.

Thank you to all who have been a link in our chain. We are ever grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

I will post further information regarding services later today.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philppians 1:21

Sunday, February 22: Ex-ray was in at 6:15am. Dad was restless this morning and his blood pressure is up and down. Nurse Holly laughed and said Dad's morning meds look like pea soup. I agree...ewww! She mixed meds and benefiber and uses a huge syringe to plunge it through his feeding tube.



Physical Therapy came in early and had to deflate Dad's air bed in order to turn him and get him to the edge of the bed to sit up. The right corner of Dad's right eye is really blood shot and his left eye has a yellow film over it. I asked the doctors about it and they said the right eye was probably caused from a broken blood vessel due to coughing and the left eye was just residual blood. Neither should cause alarm. They still look nasty. Mom arrived about 9:00am. I skipped church because the doctors came into talk to us right when I would have needed to leave. I cut for home about 10:30am. Gwen Petrowski pre-arranged to cover my Sunday School class this morning. Thank you Gwen!



Dad received a unit of blood today. He had another Paracentesis performed with another 5 1/2 liters removed! Arrghh!!! Dad was snoozing soundly after the procedure so Mom called and said she was coming to visit. I was excited because for once I could treat her to a meal. I had put a roast in when I got home then I took a long nap. Courtney added carrots when she got home around 1:00pm. I was just starting to make noodles when Mom called. She loves beef and noodles, so it is a good day. Mom headed back to the hospital about 6:00pm. Nurse Sue and Tech Christopher started their shift by removing Dad's temporary dialysis port. The doctors don't like to leave them in for a long duration as infection can occur. A new one will be placed on Monday before dialysis.



Mom creeped out a little after 9:00pm. Family acitivities kept me busy at home so I didn't get up to the hospital until after 10:00pm. I called Mom and when I walked back to the room Sue and Chris had the door closed. I checked with the desk supervisor and she called Chad, who was in the monitor room. They were shaving him and hadn't started his bath yet. I knocked and snagged my bag with Dave's laptop so I could chat with Kelsey and Courtney for a few minutes before bedtime. Dad was awake on and off through the night. Sue sat and visited for a few minutes during a break. She peeked in to say she leaving for lunch. Dad was getting kind of restless. I had his right wrist restraint off which is near his respirator tubes. He rested his hand on his forhead and rubbed his fingers across his eyes. I asked if he had a headache and he winced. Sue arranged for some Fentanyl and Nurse John came in to give that dose. I hate seeing Dad in a fog but really don't want him in pain either. It is better for him to rest at night so he is more alert for all of the crew in the daytime and for Mom.