David`s Horrible Accident

On Friday, February 6, 2015, it was super windy out. David was working for a roofing company in Lethbridge. We found out later that this was his last day of work. He had quit the night before, but finished off the week.

Megan and Chris were planning on taking our kids for the night so Richard and I could go on a night out for our 14th Wedding Anniversary. The kids were so excited for that. Our Anniversary was on Tuesday, but I was so sick and not feeling good, that we decided to celebrate on Friday.

I got home from the bus and picked the girls up from Steffeson`s. We got home and had some lunch and then I was playing cars with DJ on the floor. I heard my phone vibrate and jumped up to answer. It was Richard. He told me that we couldn`t go out, because Megan is in the ambulance with David on the way to Calgary. My heart dropped. Richard didn`t have any details, just that David fell off a roof at work and is now being transported to Calgary. It was too windy for the STARS helicopter, so they had to drive him up to Calgary. Megan went with him.

I was a little frantic and trying to figure out what I should do. I finally called Brent, who was at the Lethbridge hospital with David, before they took him to Calgary. He told me to get ready and meet him at his house and we could go up to Calgary together. So that was the plan. He also told me that David fell off a roof at the Heritage Park (so it was tall) and he broke his neck, lower back, both legs (femurs), shattered his left knee cap, broke his left elbow, arm and wrist. That`s all we knew at the time. It was so scary. I was so scared and upset. I was crying when Brent finished telling me, and then he told me he loved me and I started crying even harder. By this time all my kids were standing there staring at me, not sure what was going on. I got off the phone and explained that Uncle David was in a really bad work accident and that I was going to go see him in Calgary. I rushed around and got Richard to come back home so I could take off. I should of packed some clothes but I didn`t, I just took off for Lethbridge.

Brent, Tiff and I drove up to Calgary together. We got to the hospital around 7pm. We had stopped to grab some food for everyone there. Jill had gone up with her parents, and Cody was there and Megan and Chris. Mom and Dad got there after us. We were all waiting in the waiting room just outside of the ICU. We waited for about an hour and then they let us all in. We all went back to the room and filed in. We were all in shock, seeing David laying there. It didn`t even look like him. He wasn`t even all cleaned up yet, so he still had blood on his face, and head. It was so hard to stand there and hear what the doctor had to say. He went through all the broken bones and then said that he has a severe brain injury as well. He said that they wouldn`t be able to know exactly what kind of injury his brain had until later. They kept warning us that it would start to swell in a couple of days. After the doctor talked David was able to receive a priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong in the room. I don`t think there was a dry eye in the room.

Jill was really upset and didn`t want David to be alone. So we all figured out a schedule that we would take turns sitting beside him through the night. He was also in a medical induced coma. So we went to a hotel close to the hospital. Chris, Megan and I went back up to the hospital at 12:30am to switch off mom and dad. We sat there until 4am. The nurse was super nice and always explained everything that she was doing. Jill and her parents came at 3:30am. We sat with them and left at 4am.

We got back to the hotel and I tried really hard to go to sleep. I finally fell asleep and slept till just after 7am. So I got 3hrs of sleep. I think everyone was exhausted and still in shock. Family kept calling or texting to find out what was going on. Stacey was having a really hard time being so far away. I talked to her on Saturday and we were both crying. They decided to drive to Calgary.

Well I should explain more about the accident that we learned from David`s co-worker, Darrel. He was there with David. They were working on the Heritage Building in the Exhibition Grounds in Lethbridge. Darrell was working up on the peak, but David was working on the eves troughs. So he was still on the ground. Darrel was having a hard time chalking a line and David volunteered to come up and help for a second. So they were on the peak and started walking away from each other. Darrell doesn`t know how David fell (cause his back was facing David) but he heard a noise and turned and David was gone. He ran over and saw David on the ground about 40 feet down. He screamed for someone to call 911 as he was coming down the ladder. There was a car show going on so there were people around and someone called 911 right away. Darrell got to David`s side and was able to clear his air way and did CPR and then put him into a recovery position and held his neck still as he waited for the ambulance. We found out that Darrell is a certified medic, which was such a blessing.

Saturday was such a emotional and scary day. Things weren`t going very good and the doctors weren`t giving us very good news. They still didn`t know if David was going to make it or not. They took David in for surgery to fix all his breaks. He got rods in his legs and they repaired his knee and his elbow and the breaks in his arm. After the surgery they were really worried about his brain, it was starting to swell. So they wanted to put in a drain in his head. They told us that procedure wouldn`t take very long but it took hours. Not sure what was going on, but it was scaring us all.

Richard and Cody came in at about 9pm Saturday night. I was so happy to see my husband. I had been calling him and updating and crying with him on the phone. I got a text from Stacey and they were going to get there around midnight. So we went back to the hotel to wait for them. I was so tired by this point. I was going to lay down and then my phone went off and Stacey was 20 mins away. So we out and met them in the lobby. Then we took them over to the hospital but we still weren`t able to see David. But Jill was so happy to see them. Then we came back to the hospital to get some sleep.

On Sunday, we were finally able to go in and see David. Things weren`t looking very good. He was becoming very sensitive to noise and touch. So we had to go into the room in smaller groups and not talk or touch him. But his pressure levels were still too high. The doctors had to do a few things to get the fluid to drain from his head. They were then being very strict with how many people were in the room. But Jill asked if David could get another priesthood blessing and the doctor gave them special permission to do that. But they were not allowed to actually touch David. So the men stood around the bed and had their hands on the bed railing. We weren`t able to see this blessing but Richard told me all about it. It was very powerful and the Spirit was so strong. Then they all turned and gave Jill a blessing of comfort.

By Sunday afternoon everyone from our family was there. Including Steve, Stacey and all their kids and Shelley and Travis, Brent and Tiff, Richard and I, Cody and Emily and their kids, Megan and Chris and mom and Dad. Cam and Kim had come by earlier with their kids. It was amazing to be surrounded by family all the people that we love during this hard time. Richard and I left that evening with dad. We took dad home on our way.

We didn`t get home till late that night. So the kids were still with their grandma and grandpa Spencer. When I got home from the bus run in the morning they were at the house getting ready for school. They all gave me big hugs and then Cadence started crying. I felt bad, the way I left them on Friday. I was very frantic and crying and they were upset too. I gave her a big hug and tried taking them to school. Everyone else went but Cadence stayed with me. So I had a cute little shadow with me that whole day. It was good for her and me!

Then Tuesday came around and around 3pm I started getting a whole bunch of texts (we had a sibling group text going for updates on David). I kind of skimmed the first one and my heart dropped. It wasn't good news about David. I immediately put my phone away so I could drive the bus. Then when I got home I read the texts and called Richard. I couldn't talk because I was bawling. He came right home. As he was driving home he phoned Brent to see what was going on. It didn't sound good at all. I was in a panic again and didn't know what we should do. Richard calmly talked to me (we were locked in the room, so the kids couldn't hear what was going on) and said he thought we should both go back up. That felt right to me so I agreed. I quickly got on the phone and got someone to drive bus for me. Richard talked to his parents and we took them to Cardston on the way to Calgary. Before we left I went out to my parents house to get some things for my mom and I picked up something of David's that Jill wanted. I'm not sure how I got out to Raymond because I was bawling the whole way.

The news on David was the doctors were concerned because they were intervening every hour (meaning opening up the drain that was in his brain). That was the most they could do. And even with that it wasn't bringing the pressure numbers down. They said if it didn't get better over the night that they were going to have to remove the back of his skull. They didn't give us much hope on that either. If David survived that, they didn't give him much chance of living a high functioning life. It was crushing to hear all that.

So we drove to Calgary. Megan and Chris were just ahead of us. We got to Cody and Emily's around 10pm. Mom and dad and Joey (my cousin) came from the hospital around 10:30pm. We all sat down and mom and dad explained again what was going on. Mom kept telling us that it was in the Lord's hands, which I agreed with her. It's still hard to accept that. Then dad suggested we have a family prayer together, so that's what we did. It brought the Spirit in very strong and made it so I could sleep that night.

We got up and headed straight to the hospital in the morning. Jill and her whole family were there. They took turns through out the night staying with David. The others slept in the family room. We got there and they excitedly told us that his pressure numbers were way down. It was a huge blessing to hear that. His numbers stayed down that day too (Wednesday). And we took the night shift. We all stayed with David for a couple of hours through out the night. Then we slept on the couches in the family room (the one in the ICU). He stayed level the whole night.

Oh during the time period (can't remember exactly what day), they put David into a deeper sedation and gave him a heavier dose of pain meds. The doctors were happy with the results and happy that his pressure levels went back down to normal. So that gave us hope. Richard and I headed for home Thursday afternoon.

So that's basically the first week after David's accident. It's basically a reader's digest version. There was so much that happened in that week.....it felt like a month. So a rollercoaster ride. We love David so much and it was so hard to see him like that. I will update more in another post. Keep on fighting David......YOU ARE SO LOVED!

DJ The Builder!

I decided to take my camera out to the house one day with DJ. I was checking on our laundry and knew DJ would want to keep working on his plane. He went out a few days before with his dad and had so much fun building things with the scraps of wood. He was in heaven!! So enjoy a whole bunch of pictures of my cute boy working!!

Some Random Thoughts!

1. We were having supper and the girls were talking about their teachers. Cadence and Brianna were saying that their teacher was going to buy new chairs for everyone in their class. Abbi all of the sudden said, "She's not rich she doesn't drive a limbo." Ha ha!!! So funny. She meant Limo!! Made me laugh!

2. DJ and Abbi have lately been saying the word "DOOM" with everything. For example, I was pulling them behind the quad and they went over a big snow drift and I could hear them yelling, "OH NO THE SWAMP OF DOOM!!" Then they would be laughing so hard. Or if DJ forgets something he says, "I'm DOOMED!", in a really dramatic voice. They say it all the time....silly kids!!

3. Richard and I are no longer have our snow shovelling contract. Last year was our last. We did it for 13 years. I think we did pretty good. Richard was a little upset that it didn't work out for this year. A new person was over us and Richard talked to him once and decided there was no way we could deal with him all the time. He was horrible. I, on the other hand, was excited we weren't doing it. We had way too much on our plates! This year would of been horrible too, Richard even agrees!

4. Richard and I are going to go on a week get away the end of this month. I'm pretty excited and a little bit scared! We've never left our kids for that long....EVER!! No, we aren't going to a really warm place! We are going to Vancouver! Richard is going for a 2 day class on a new boiler. Then we will stay for the rest of the week. I get to fly out with him, since I am part of the company too! Ha ha! I've already got someone booked to drive the bus for me for that week. It will be fun!

5. I hate not feeling 100%. This week has been the hardest for me! I can't do anything. On Monday, I got up and drove bus and exercised and did laundry and everything...thinking I was feeling good. Then Tuesday I woke up at 3am in the morning feeling like I got run over by a bus!! ha ha! I think I over did. My body wasn't ready for that. So now I'm laying on the couch trying to feel better. I'm thankful for my awesome mom and mother in law! My mom made us supper last night and Shelly came today and helped and brought us supper.

6. We are so close to drywalling in our house. So exciting. Richard just has to finish putting in the water lines. We are really hoping to get in within the month. That is, get into our basement. We are all very excited about that though.

DJ climbing up the stairs to the garage door.

Walking downstairs.

Downstairs in the doorway. Everything is ready for drywall.

7. DJ was Star of the Week for Kindergarden this week. He was super excited. He helped me make a poster all about him. It had a bunch of pictures and things that he loves. He was pretty excited to take it to school on Monday. Then he got to take something everyday for show and tell. Then today, I came to school with him and talked about DJ and we shared chocolate chip cookies with his class, which is DJ's favorite snack. Love my boy!

Sure had fun making this poster with DJ!

8. Abbi called Brianna a party pooper as we were driving. Brianna was mad and kept yelling, ``I`m not a party pooper. DJ then chimes in and says, That`s ok, you can call me a party pooper, cause I stink up parties all the time! Ha ha, we were all laughing so hard. He was being serious too.

9. One night the kids were having a snack before bedtime and Richard was laying on the couch doing a puppet show for them with a couple stuffies. It was a huge hit. I came out to see what was going on because the kids were all laughing so hard. So cute!

The kids laughing at Richard`s puppet show!

10. DJ has been a little bit obsessed with Lego lately. I gave him a new set, when I was not feeling good and laying around. So we were able to build it together. I bought 6 brand new Lego sets from someone off Buy and Sell for $60. It was an awesome find. All the kids have had fun building them and playing Lego together.

DJ playing with his Lego ship! He didn`t want me to take his picture.

Playing under the table with his Lego!

My cute boy!

11. One night DJ declared that he was too tired to walk to his bed. I couldn`t carry him and he knew it. So he decided to wiggle like a snake all the way to his bed. Probably not the best way to have a calm bed time, cause we were all laughing at him!! Crazy boy!

Here he is slithering like a snake!!

He was laughing pretty hard too!

Slithering all the way to his bed!!

12. Our girls have loved reading books this year. I love walking into the room and seeing them laying in their beds reading a book. Makes my heart sing!! Ha ha!!

Abbi busy reading her book before bed time!

Cadence all ready for bed and giving me a crazy face!!

Brianna refuses to EVER sleep under her comforter. She always sleeps on top with just her tiny blanket on her!! Silly girl!! Here she is reading her book!

Cadence's Own Post!

So Cadence has been asking me if she could post something on our blog. So this is going to be her own blog post. She even has pictures that she took with her new watch camera that she got for her birthday. So enjoy her post.

I like to take pictures with my game watch. At school I was videoing Taya screaming outside at recess. She asked me to video her. I tried to scream in the video too.....but I can't scream really good. Taya is a very loud screamer. We thought it was funny and we were laughing hard. I have fun playing with my friends at school.

This is Brecklyn, and she is in my ward too.

I always want to play with DJ and DJ always asks me to play with him. But I always say no because I am too busy. Then later I ask him but then he says no. Sometimes I say yes and DJ always likes to play with cars. One time DJ went up to me and said, "Can you play with me." And I said sure, and we started playing. Then Abbi came up and started to play with us and DJ started to get mad at Abbi. Then I said, "Abbi, what are you doing to DJ?" Abbi said, "I just want to play with him." And DJ said, "Can you please get out Abbi." Then Abbi started to cry then she went over to mom and she started telling mom what happened. Abbi tattle taled on DJ. And DJ told me that we were going to pretend that the cars are humans. And I said ok.

My brother, DJ playing on the IPad.

Abbi and Brianna and me like to play with our dolls and Brianna's doll name is Alejandria. Abbi's doll name is Shannon. My doll's name is Ashley. We are sharing all of our dolls clothes. Brianna got a doll closet for Christmas and we are sharing it. Abbi has a cast for her doll and a wheelchair and some crutches. We are sharing everything.

Abbi's doll, Shannon, Brianna's doll Alejandria and my doll, Ashley!

I got a new pony for my birthday. Her name is Heart. I took pictures of my pony, Heart and I took lots of different pictures of all my ponies.

Here is my new pony, Heart.

The first pony is Heart, then the 2nd is Pinky Pie and the third pony is Polk a Dot.

I was in piano. Then we quit piano. But the boys are so funny. The youngest boy was so funny cause this girl (their neighbour) was playing with Abbi, me and the youngest boy. It was so funny because the youngest boy was hiding everywhere and saying, "Oh no, the girl is coming." I was looking for Abbi and found her and after that it was Abbi's turn. Then after that it was Brianna's turn. Then me and Abbi started playing mom was coming to pick us up. Then the youngest boy was following us outside and saying goodbye Abbi, Brianna and Cadence. And when we left Abbi said, "That girl and boy was so funny. Cause the youngest boy kept saying Yes, yes, lets hide from the girl."

Abbi with two of the boys at the piano teachers house.

 Brianna always freaks out when I try to video her. I say, Brianna calm down. But Brianna says, no because you always video me, please stop. Then I say, "Brianna lets sleep together at Grandma's house." She said, "sure". Then she kept kicking me when we were sharing the bed. She started crying and said that she was homesick. I told Brianna that we just need to go to sleep. Abbi and DJ came into our room and said, "Cock a dooddle doo" and they pretended to toot. Brianna was sleeping and they woke her up from a beautiful dream. We finally fell asleep. Then when I woke up I was confused because I was sleeping on the couch upstairs, but I thought I was downstairs. I don't know how I got upstairs. I just asked Grandpa how I got upstairs. He didn't know how I got up there. Then Brianna, Abbi and DJ asked why I was upstairs. Brianna was worried and looking everywhere for me. DJ and Abbi told Brianna where I was.

My sister, Brianna!

She is an artist. She's very good a coloring.

I like to ice cookies. So I was icing cookies and I took a big scoop of icing and iced it on the cookie. Then I took sprinkles and shook it on my cookie. Abbi and DJ and Brianna asked what I was doing and they wanted to ice a cookie too. And when they did, DJ didn't know how to ice the cookie. Dad showed him how and then I just squeezed the icing and plopped it on the cookie.

Here's my upside down snowman.

My yummy cookie I iced.

 That was my blog it is my first blog of  my own.