Spring Breakup is here..........

First - Here is the picture we have all waited and prayed for: The Hayden Smile.  

She heard a helicopter coming and lit the world with her smile.  We are so extremely blessed to be able to see this smile.

Whitneytoo and Hayden.  Standing on her own!

Erick snapped this picture after Hayden walked over to Whitneytoo  to hug her.  

We will be seeing them again in May when we stop off at Erick/Whitneytoo's for awhile.


About the time the weather begins to straighten up spring breakup begins.  Spring breakup is when folks you've lived, loved and laughed with during the winter begin the trek back to wherever they are spending the winter.  This spring the economy has made changes to many of our pocketbooks with diesel/gas prices skyrocketing.  Thus we shall take two months returning to Wyoming to bum around Campbell/Crook/Johnson counties for the summer.

This morning we bid goodbye to Gary and Carol.  They are headed to Piedmont, S.D.  They probably aren't returning here next winter but we shall stay in contact and have a tentative date for Spearfish Arts in the Park in July.  Dianne and Emile (Ontario, CA) will leave Wednesday.  They have a family emergency so are returning through Texas. Cliff and Karen left last week.  We shall miss them mightily.   

Clay/Sharon and Newell/Linda will be the next ones to leave about the middle of the month.  The Martins and us will leave around May 1st.  


It has been a wonderful season.  We are so thankful for meeting so many wonderful people - our winter family.  

 Lori bought us a 2000 peice puzzle last summer.  We had to wait until we got two extra tables and one extension before "we" started it.  Here are Ki and Sharon working on the last 400+ pieces.  Today Sharon told me to "put that material down and put in at least 5 peices".  So. I did.  Now I can say "we" put it together. 

And then there's the "chicken" - Roady II, the roadrunner.  I hope to get the movie of Roady II done soon.  :)   

Hayden is going home!

What a wonderful weekend we had in Denver.  Hayden is doing great.  Here she is with her Daddy and Whitney.  Mom is in the chair.  Ken and I drove up Wednesday.  It was a beautiful day.

We went to the hospital.  Hayden was having an off day but it was still good to see her with only the ng tube in.  We stayed with Erick Thursday night and then went to our eye appointments.  After getting a good exam with good eye health, we met Whitney, Travis and the boys at Cracker Barrel.  KaCe came running in looking for GDad and threw his arms around his legs.  This is a first for KaCe and GDad.  :)  Ethan barreled into the restaurant and streaked for Ken's arms.  Nothing like a gbaby hug.  After dinner we checked into the motel.   Ken and Whitney went to the hospital, KaCe, Ethan and I went swimming and Travis watched Aedan.  Everyone was happy!

Hayden was going to get her kidney catheter out and not go home with any medical equipment.  We were so happy.  We visited her on Sunday about 2 hours after the procedure was finished.  She was eating up a storm and had already drank 8 ounces.  She as to drink 24 ounces a day.  Erick is applying for full custody of Hayden (hearing in July) and will gladly settle for joint as long as he has medical decision making also.  It will be a road.  He wants what is best for Hayden and is committed to that end.

GDad got a good baby fix. Saturday we went to the Childrens Museum.  It is an interactive learning environment.  They had a blast. It was a wonderful time of connecting with everyone. 
We went back to Erick's on Sunday.  He had the crud and began taking meds in order not to give anything back to Hayden.

We got up early Monday and boogied for E.B. and arrived 11.5 hours later.  The wind was horrible most of the way through NM.

We're good to go for g/ggbaby fixes for another couple of months.  :)

Celebrating, Perspective and Odds and Ends

First - Here's our beautiful little Hayden sitting on her Daddy's lap.  What a blessing to see her.  We leave early next week to go to Denver and will be able to see and hug them all.  What a long month it has been.  But all of the baby steps have added up and she is getting better.  There are still concerns, but she is getting better all of the time.  They will continue to monitor everything. 
It will be good for Ken to see Hayden. And just having Aedan take a few naps on his chest I hope will help him also.  He was down in Elephant Butte in record cold while I was in CO/WY.  However the mental anguish he has for her being in a forced coma has him very upset.  It was (is) tough for Ken as an adult but Hayden is only 2. The flip side is she is young and resilient.  A family fix will be good for us and since I refuse to drive The Bus in snow this year it will be June before we get much farther north than Reserve, NM.
Perspective:  What a crappy word and once again I have lost mine!!  Well spit!  Where did it go?  What is perspective?  I don't even know how to spell it let alone find it.  Google says: the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship: Your data is admirably detailed but it lacks perspective  or how about this one:  the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship: You have to live here a few years to see local conditions in perspective.  OK so I got bit again by a couple of PF's that have been masquerading.  Oh well.  Sucks to be me.  Rub it and move on.  Well how about that? I found perspective and since it isn't underlined in red I spelled it correctly.  

It's that time of year again - Purging 101.  We'll be leaving here is a few weeks and "stuff" needs to be put in it's place.  I found some "Darrelisms" and reread them.  Hmmm.  Perspective.

Swedish Weaving - the new obsession. We are just going crazy with SW.  Debbie only likes table runners  AND she doesn't finish............ :)  
Wyn is in trouble - I didn't get a picture of her with hers.  BUT I will. 














"I think I love this pattern best."  That is a phrase I hear often - by the same person mostly - on anything they are working on.  Yup!  Obsessed.  AND a lifesaver.  I must keep SWing - it is better for my health.  Sorry folks I'm turning into a combination of Granny and my mother.  Pretty scary!  When Granny died she had afghans crocheted for all her grandchildren plus future ones to be given to them for HS graduation.  Mom on the other had was a quilter and a Wilson. Calmly sitting down on the outside; standing up screaming on the inside.  That is the definitaion of a Wilson.  Which is a good thing as when the Simonis side comes out there is war!  AND every morning I see Mom's mouth in the mirror. Her mouth seems to be saying - you need perspective girl!.   Love it!

Diane shows a beautiful baby afghan for her Gdaughter.

Barb is working on a material order. 

Our fearless leader sue.  This is a beautiful BIG afghan on navy with bright yellow yarn.  MY kinda afghan.


My yellow one.  I finally got one with the contrasting single line done correctly.  I shall steal the daughters lap afghans this summer and finish them.  It'll be my little secret.


We ordered 1050 inches of Monk's Cloth as a group.  It should be here today.  We will get to see more colors!


Daylight Savings Time - a reality - but such a pain.  Oh well. Sucks to be me.

What an awesome season this has been being able to spend a lot of time outside.  Love it.  Burnt River friend Sharon is getting ready to go back to Idaho - Yuma was in the 90's yesterday  Yup we'll be heading to high ground soon.  (Not too high.)

Ready for a new day!

Not only out of ICU but Peeing!! Pee the bed Hayden, pee the bed!!

 New News at bottom!! :):)

Hayden is still improving!  She was moved out of ICU yesterday.  Her right lung is still real bad and Dr’s. said not to take her to high elevations for at least a year while they continue to improve.  (Therefore, Erick is moving and trying to get his house on the market to sell! It is in Red Feather Lakes, CO which is about 8,300 to 8,600 ft above sea level!)  Her kidneys are still not functioning but she is off the CRRT dialysis machine and on one that  runs about 10 hours a day.  We are praying that they start this week.  The longer it takes, the less the chances of them regaining function.  Kidney Dr. said she has 50% chance at best of kidneys starting back up and they could work for a while (year or so even) and then stop again if they don’t start up soon!  Hayden has D-HUS which is the non e-coli and worst type.  Less than 5% of the people that get HUS get D- so there is not a lot of research on it.

NEW NEWS! Erick just called and said Hayden peed 30 grams!!!!! Her creatine levels went from 3 ½ or 4 yesterday down to 2.8 this morning. If they fall below 2 then that means her kidneys are doing all of the work and she gets off dialysis!!!!! Praise God!!!!! This little girl has surprised all of the Doctors with her improvements! Pee the bed Hayden! Pee the bed! Go Prayer Warriors!! :)

Thank you Lord!!

Awake, smiling and talking!! Thank you Lord!!

Hayden is awake, smiling and talking.  Hallelujah!  And she is looking more like "herself".   This is how today will end.  Being thankful for the small things.  1) Hayden awake and smiling; 2) Mac out of pain, playing with Jaz.  I choose to think there is an animal crazy blond-haired boy rollicking with them.
  Tears of joy mingling with tears of sadness.

Loved him enough to let go............

 Today was a sad day in camp.  Mac - The Wonder Dog - was too sick to carry on any more and as Dave said, "We love him enough to let him go." Big words - easier said than done.  They loaded him into the car yesterday to ride to Cruces.  Congestive Heart Failure is an animal disease also.    Mac was a golden lab that Dave and Debbie raised from a puppy.  He could take the lid off a bottle in about 20 seconds - but only once.  If you wanted the lid give him another bottle.   He came to every "happy hour"; in between hour and many card nights at the clubhouse.  A loveable, gentle giant. 

Dave and Debbie are heartbroken as in the last 8 months they have lost both of their golden labs in that time.  Jaz (4) died in Washington State and Mac (just turned 11) here in New Mexico.  We all cried a little as they took off yesterday - we shall all miss him.  Ken and I hope a puppy will come soon to be added to the Martin family.  They both have a great way with dogs and we hope they won't let that instinct/compassion/knowledge lie dormant. 

Goodbye Mac - The Wonder Dog - we shall miss you.

We are born with brains but we still aren't the final authority........

So good to see her beautiful blue eyes.   

This is today's  favorite picture.  Poor baby!  I think to myself, she's only 2 and she can't make noises when she wakes up.......does she think she'll never talk again and will have to communicate by blinking her eyes or squeezing your hand forever? It is so confusing.  I know that when Ken came to from his coma he was pretty.....mmm..."owley" is  nice term for it.  Do/did these drugs do the same for her?  I know she is a smart little girl but this must be pretty overwhelming..  OK ENOUGH!!
When this nightmare started I was telling the ladies at the clubhouse one morning about Hayden.  This one lady, Ella, asked me some questions then said she was sure her sister's church was praying for Hayden (it's in Ft Collins).  So this morning when I saw Ella I told her the latest on her.  Thank you Ella.  You reminded me again that WE are NOT the final authority on this child.  God is.  Enough said.  We say "ALL I can do is pray".  No that's not an "all" thing; minimizing it to a 'not a big deal' role.  What you can do is pray - give it the role it deserves.   God gave us brains to use (although it's debateable whether we DO use them) and folks in the health care industry do a wonderful job.  But the final authority is God's.  May HE heal this child totally.

The future for Hayden?

My heart is so heavy for Erick and the future he is facing for Hayden.  Her lungs have "substantial" damage.  She  is living at "mile high" Denver right now but she will have trouble going to a higher elevation (so shouldn't)  and activities such as swimming are going to be out.  At present they are wondering if she doesn't have another infection.  Her liver is very swollen and has been "pushed down".  The doc aren't sure why and are investigating this.  Her kidneys "at best" will only come back to 50% function.  Although they will not take her into danger they have begun to "dehydrate" her.   She is still on two life supports - kidneys and lung. 

Erick is beside himself.  He is putting the Red Feather house up for sale (anyone want a good deal?) and he and Whitney have a new apartment in the valley.  Kevin and Jaci came down with pkups last weekend and moved 2 loads down for him. Finding this was totally a "Godthing".  He went to visit a lady and came away with a place to live.

Erick and Vanessa had sat down and agreed upon an immunization schedule.  Vanessa (and MGma maternal grandma) were against any because of autism, etc.  Erick wanted some.  They agreed upon a spread out schedule.  One of the shots would have been the pneumococcal vaccination at 17 months.  http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/pneumo/default.htm  A cursory study of Hayden's records show not only no PVC-13 nor PPVSV shot being given; but NO vaccinations of any kind have been given to her.

Hayden first got sepsis.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001687/

This doesn't make a hill of beans of difference but this was totally avoidable.  Now Hayden will live with the consequences of cross purpose decisions.   Of course this will come to play in the coming days as they learn more and more little "tidbits" of Hayden's future.  The fight will be bloody and perhaps long but oh well.  There are probably more tidbits to glean from the medical records.

I am just overwhelmed with saddness and the realization that once again this generation will be embroiled in a custody battle.  In 1975 Ken was awarded custody of his two girls in Houston Texas.  It was a 2 week jury trial.  We received custody of the older one Mona by proving her mother set out to turn her again Ken (brainwashing).  Custody of Lucky (Lucretia) was granted because the change would benefit her mentally, emotionally and physically.  And although we have been scorned for not providing "proper counseling" we did what was available at the time (they were called social workers then) and we followed the advice of about 6 of them.

Then in 1989 Mona and her husband Kevin were separating.  Because of the lifestyle Mona was leading Ken and I felt strongly that Kevin needed to retain custody of Mykel (later changed to Mike) and Erick.  Ken testified for Kevin.  By this time Kevin was taking total care of them anyhow so there was little change.  The judge award Kevin temporary custody.  When Mona realized he would probably win in the end she told him that if he'd give her "everything" he could have custody.  (car, furniture, linens, etc. you know "everything").  And so it was.  Mona ended up back in Texas and she had a couple of visitations there.  However when Erick got back from one of them he began a campaign to have Lori (Kev's new wife) adopt them.  Not sure what happened but it made a lasting impression on the lad.  He got his way and is quick to say who is mother is - Lori.

Now in 2011 the cycle has started again. Women have decided their wants come before the welfare of the child.  And once again it appears there are people out there who believe in "looking out for the child" takes precedent over "blood is thicker than water".  I pray this is true and that whatever it takes Hayden will be first.

Please God give Erick guidance in the path that has been dealt to him.  Give him wisdom to act for the good and not in retaliation.  Hayden must remain the goal.

Here is Grrrrmama Lori's status update from Monday:  

Hayden had a rough day yesterday - ran a fever. Dr's thought it might be another infection & did blood tests & xrays. So far, nothing has cultured! Kidneys have a 50% max chance of working again according to Dr's. :( Liver is swollen. Today she did much better. Ventilator levels lowered. She HATES that tube down her throat and keeps trying to bite it! Please keep praying for her.