HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY McKALLISTER!!

The day was a rough one for Cali (and probably Josh, but he had work to take his mind a bit away from reality).  We first took Oak to a friend's party out by their house.  It's amazing how just driving in the car can wipe Cali out, so when we got home at lunch time she slept the rest of the afternoon away!  But her honey Josh had planned a birthday party for Mac; he had invited family and friends on the down-low to meet at Mac's park at 8 pm. 

 So when Cali and Josh pulled up...

 ...this is what she saw!...

There was a very bitter-sweet singing of Happy Birthday...

...then the releasing of balloons so McKallister and Quincy had something to play with in heaven.

(I love this picture with the big bunch of balloons in the upper left corner, a small bunch that Oak and Cali sent off together in the lower left corner and the moon in the upper right.)

Some of the balloons got stuck in the tree, not sure they wanted to leave the fun of the party!!  And who could blame them?... 

...all the kids, big and small, really had a great time at Mac's park...

...and they even got to run through some sprinklers...

and with a beautiful sunset to end the day...

...we got to be reminded again of our angel baby on his special day, and now he has his little brother with him forever!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY McKALLISTER!!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

The good, the not so good, and the random...

Let's start with the good news....

Cali is home!!!  She got home late Thursday night.  (They came to our house so Cali had someone to help her while Josh was at work) It took so long to check her out of the hospital because she had so many doctors and nurses that had to come give her a hug and say good-bye.  She made a big impression on a lot of people.  There were a many people who felt the spirit while with Josh and Cali, but some of them didn't know that's what they were feeling. They just knew they felt good when they were with them.

 Oak didn't want to let her mommy out of her site.  This is a picture of her playing with a toy and singing a song right next to Cali, but as you can see the meds had kicked in and Cali really could have cared less.  But the important part is they were together.

 Tomorrow is the big yard sale that the Hinckley family has put together and we have 1/2 of a garage FULL of items for the sale.  So many people have been amazingly generous; even people that don't know us, the Hinckley's or Cali and Josh.  A young woman in our stake made these tutu's for the sale.  They didn't make it to the garage!  The girls wore them all morning!!

And now the not so good news...Colby and Kierra are dangerously close to the fire in Eagle Mountain.  They have not been evacuated yet but some houses nearby have been.  They have taken out valuables, some clothes and the dog and have been camping out at my parent's home. 

 This is the view from their neighborhood last night.

 And this is the view from their driveway.   Too close for comfort.  And a lot of dry land still to burn.

And now the random...

I've mentioned before how talented TJ is, well here's more proof.  This is what she gave Mike for Father's Day; she painted a dolphin on either side of his gas tank on the motorcycle.  Beautiful, isn't it?!  She did a fantastic job.

The other night I had to have some wood cut up at Lowe's.  Al tagged along with me and when the saw started going he ducked behind this fork-lift, put a crate on his head and covered his ears with his hands.  Definitely not one who likes loud sounds!!  But I still thought it was an adorable picture.

Thank you for your concern, your prayers, your faith.  We couldn't have made it through these past two weeks without them!

...

If you are wanting to help in any way, right now finances is something both Josh and Cali are concerned about.  Here is a fundraiser yard sale that you can either donate items for or come and browse and buy!  Please let everyone know about it!!

 Cali looks and feels like she has been beaten!  These pictures don't do her bruises justice.  The one on her upper arm is just from the blood pressure cuff. 

 Here's another comic relief story;  this sweet woman is Margaret.  She is the surgical ICU's social worker and is the one who helped us get the hand and feet casts of Quincy.  But she also was the butt of a joke between all of us.  She is about 8 feet tall (as you can tell from the picture of her walking away from me) and walks kind of like a vulture, very hunched over.  She dresses VERY elegantly.  When Cali was still coming in and out of consciousness, she made this very scared face and asked, "Do I know that creepy stalker woman?"  She was referring to Margaret, who kept peeking in the windows to her room to see if some papers she had given Josh had been signed.  But all Cali saw was this fancily dressed, extremely tall vulture peeking in on her.  Josh called her the Grand High Witch.  We saw her again after Cali had been moved to the Women's Center with her dog which is a therapy dog.  Guess what?  The dog looks just like her!!!

Here's a pic of Al and George hanging out at the hospital for a few hours.  Alex playing the ipad and George zonked out.  We all can't seem to catch up on our sleep.  I'm sure it's as much emotional as it is physical.

Here are Oak and Mo playing doctor on one of Oak's stuffed animals.  Oak was telling Mo everything to do; "Now you hold his head and I will cut his tummy.  He will be fine, but you need to hold him still."  It was pretty cute.  Oak is handling things as well as could be expected after waking up from a nap and having her dad doing CPR on her mom and then a bunch of strangers coming into their home and then mom and dad gone for a few days and having to stay at everyone else's house.  She is very clingy to Josh, and it takes her a few minutes to warm up to Cali each time they go to the hospital.  But all in all I would say she is doing well.

The latest on Cali;  no fever for 24 + hours.  Bleeding has slowed way down.  She is up and about mostly by herself now, even though her dad and I want to still help her.  She is still only on a liquid diet mostly because her bowels aren't working yet like they should.  The plan for right now is to take out the umbrella (filter) on Thursday (if things continue to improve) and then home on Friday.  A lot of IFs have to happen between now and then, but we already have seen such an improvement in this week that I think we can be fairly realistic with hoping for it.  

The reason for the fever and bleeding is because she had a small clot in an ovarian vein.  It's not an infection, but her body was reacting like it was.  They did put her on an antibiotic just to cover their bases, but her body really just needed time to heal itself.  When you consider all that she's been through - cardiac arrest, multiple times she stopped breathing, 2 major surgeries in the belly area in a few hour time period and a blood loss of about 21 liters, plus the loss of a child - she's healing quite well.  We all know it's because of the power of prayer.  Please continue to pray for her mental and spiritual strength as well as her physical.  We worry about how this will all effect her when she has time to actually think about it.  But she is strong, and miracles happen!  

Prayers needed and answered

I have tried the past 3 days to write down what happened to Cali here on our blog and I just can't do it.  Either I get too emotional, or I just get the urge to touch Cali to make sure it's real that she's still with us.  Either way, I could never write as eloquently as Josh's sister, and she has kept the info up to date so I think for the whole story I will ask you to go here and read the details, and I will add the little antidotes that kept us laughing through the tears, and helped us realize it really is the little things that matter.  I will also share a few pics that will be repeats from Erin's blog, but I wanted to have them here as well.

 Sunday afternoon; Air Med with Cali as the patient landing at the U of U.

First glance we got of Cali late Sunday night.  So many tubes and meds.  She was completely unaware we were there.  In fact, she still doesn't have any memories (as of Wednesday night) since Saturday evening at the lake by their home. 

 This is only 5 hours later on Monday morning.  We all had left and got a little sleep.  It was this morning that they had finally decided her problem had been a cardiac arrest caused by an amniotic fluid embolism.  This is also the morning we got the news that the baby would need to be sacrificed to save Cali's life.

And this is today!  Bad picture quality, but the therapists got her sitting up, standing up, shuffled over to a chair and then sat in the chair while the bed was remade.  Then they got her walking around the bed to get back in.  Quite a difference from death's door!

These are Cali's 3 heroes; Windi, Josh and Amanda.  These 2 ladies were incredible on Sunday night and have continued to show their support to Josh and Cali. 

We can't thank the emergency crews, the air med staff, and all of the hospital staff enough for their talent, their kindness and support we have felt and witnessed these past few days.

Now for a few of the little things that make the difference;

*  JO NOLAST - This is Cali's new nickname.  When a trauma patient comes in they are assigned a name and the blood bank reserves blood for them under that name.  Cali's name is Jo Nolast (we think the Jo comes from JOsh and the Nolast is from no last name).  But through this whole hospital stay, even on her arm tag, it says Jo Nolast.  It took us all about 12 hours to realize that this Nolast person was really Cali.  We just hope that Jo Nolast gets all the bills, too!

*  TOOTY FROOTYS - As it says in the other blog, Cali and Oakland were taking a nap together when the cardiac arrest occured.  It took Oak a few minutes to wake up but when she did she said, "Dad!  I need Tooty Frooty's!"  And if you know Oak, you know she can be pretty insistent.  Thank goodness, a kind neighbor gave her her cereal while she waited for Granny Goose to pick her up.

*  HOW YOU DOIN'? - If you have seen the TV show Friends, you know Joey.  I didn't know until last night at the hospital that Joey is Josh and Cali's bishop!!

I know there are other things I wanted to put in this blog, but I'm exhausted.  This is a quick run through and I will add more another time.

Thank you all for your prayers!  Miracles happen!

Fire hydrant check...

The fire department came by this morning to do a check on the fire hydrant in between our house and Frank-Frank's house.  The kids LOVED walking in the water that was gushing down the gutter.  (So did I!  Alex was being the lifeguard and telling us all to be careful.  He was standing behind me in this picture.)  Thank goodness for all the safety personnel - including Alex - that take the time to make sure we are safe and secure!

Me and my newest granddaughter!

I have the most beautiful ladies that call me Nanny!  Such a lucky girl I am!!