Poppy's Big Surprise

My dad for several weeks was working on a special project. He bought the grand kids a big play set. He took time off of work and spent many weekends and nights working on this. He hauled in dirt to level the area, he stained all the pieces beautifully and put it all together. We had to keep the girls away for a bit until it was finished. So on Mothers Day, the big reveal happened. We were all anxious to see their reaction. Tried to catch it on video (until my camera died, errrr), it was so funny. Emma saw it and shocked said, "OH MARMEE! What is it?" And went right for it. Angelica headed right to the trampoline until she turned around in amazement and saw it! Emma has already clocked hours in on the swing and asks all the time to go to Poppy's house to play on it. What a treasure....not only because they will have so many memories playing on it over the years and with cousins but mostly because their Poppy built it for them!! Thank you Dad, you are amazing!!

Taylor's baby shower

A few weeks ago, friends threw Caitlin and baby Taylor a shower. My camera of course decided to have the flash break so most of the pictures were dark....but here are two that came out...

the excited grandmas

two anxious aunties

"On the Rock" Photo Shoot

Down at the end of my parent's long driveway, there is this great rock. The kids usually love to jump off of it or climb all over it...but we decided it also makes a great place to take some pictures...and not bad with four little ones in the cold!!

Not a lot of room on the rock anymore...

Silly cousins

I think they definitely look related here

Silly Angelica

Hard to believe...

Pictures of Marmee and her baby-grands

I hope they are dancing!

Today would have been the 57th Wedding Anniversary of my beloved Mamasan and PopPop. They were blessed to be able to share 52 of those years together. One of their favorite things to do their entire life was to ballroom dance, so I hope they are twirling around heaven enjoying one another today! Some pics I had fun looking at today.....miss and love you Mamasan and PopPop.

Couch Cousins

Chris, Megs and Albert came in form NYC for a visit. Emma still calls Albert "baby albert" even though he is almost bigger than she is and knocks her over all the time. She loves to give him things but gets a little terrified when he attacks her. Angelica on the other hand LOVES how he chases her and grabs her face.....she just loves playing with him. We tried to get some pics of the three of them the other night at my parents house. We got some cute shots, but here are a few funny ones...gotta love how the parents help with the posing!

Long Overdue

Well, I am finally getting a chance to sit down and do some updating. First and foremost wanted to give an update on Vicki Hartsell, Jason's mom. After he left Virginia, she was moved to a PT rehab facility. For awhile there, it was as if she was making 100% improvements each day....everyone is still pretty amazed at the recovery that has taken place. The doctors have said that as hopefully the brain bleed gets reabsorbed a full recovery will be possible, but can take anywhere from 6 months to one year. She did get a UTI in the rehab center which wasn't any fun....but slowly is speaking better and moving better. She still stutters and is slow to answer some questions but one day at a time! Then due to insurance stipulations....Vicki had to leave the rehab facility today so this is her first day at home! She lives with her mother and brother so please pray that she can do alright on her own for the most part. It makes me nervous and I wish she could have stayed longer in the rehab center. She is not allowed to cook, work or drive yet and could be awhile. I just hope things continue in this positive direction and no more falls or setbacks. We may never know all the answers as to why things happened.....but thanks to all the prayers, offerings and well wishes.....she has pulled through and we all felt so much support from friends and family during that difficult and scary time. So a BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!

Slowly but Surely

Well, over the past couple of days Jason's mom had made incredible progress and slowly improving. The nurses and doctors are quite amazed as things looked so bad originally...so keep all those prayers coming! She is off sedation, off the ventilator....has regained some movement in arms and legs....can speak some words and answer most questions although slow and jumbled at times. She did have a stroke but the kind where it doesn't kill the brain area it occurs just paralyzes it in a sense. MRI results yesterday didn't show any change.....brain separation or shift still there and blood bleed still there....but nothing worse or new. Could take awhile for brain to absorb the blood and explains the memory, speech and motor issues she is still having. Today she had an angiogram and didn't show anything major to be concerned about. She sat in a chair and did eat some (as Jason called it) "mushy chicken soup". She told him she loved him, which made his day! The doctor still will be doing some tests and he may never know exactly what caused this or the fall etc. She might be in ICU until Tuesday and is hoping to have a PT assessment done that day as well. They are thinking she will need to go to a PT rehab facility for several weeks.....but after that....well one day and decision at a time. Thanks for all the love, support and prayers! Jason has definitely felt them and we KNOW they have helped his mom.

Updating Again

Jason arrived safe and sound in Richmond and thanks to his sister Kim for picking him up. He went to his parents house (too bad they are in NY for a wedding) and picked up the car and house keys. Then he headed to ICU to his mom. He isn't sure if she recognized him but as he was talking to her and holding her hand she squeezed it, so who knows. She has some movement back in her hands and legs but hands are restrained so she doesn't pull anything out if she does regain that much movement. She still has the ventilator in although it is not on, so she is breathing on her own and it is available if needed, it is helping keep her airways open. They may try to remove it again tomorrow. She has another tube going to her mouth for nutrition and if they remove the ventilator will probably move the nutrition tube to her nose. They may do another CAT scan tomorrow and I know Jason is curious as to what the bleeding and things look like...although at least she hasn't gotten worse, kind of no change at this point. Still hard to tell what permanent ramifications are or what progress might be. She is not being sedated anymore but is in and out mostly. Hopefully now that Jason is there he can talk to the docs and maybe get some of his questions answered and clarified....thanks for all the prayers for him as well they are working! I will definitely be hugging my little ones a little tighter tonight and they already miss their Papa lots!!

Update

Well, we got Jason on a plane this morning (nothing that $700 bucks cant fix...crazy...we even called the airlines for emergency family tickets and they were $1000!!). He is in the air now and should be with his family in Richmond by 10pm Virginia time. From what we know for today...Vicki remains the same. She was put on a feeding tube this morning and they are hoping to try and remove the ventilator and see how she does since she already has lung/COPD issues and they worry about pneumonia settles in. We are waiting for them to do another CAT scan today and see what those results show!! Thanks for all the thoughts and emails and most importantly PRAYERS....keep them coming!! Will keep you posted!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad Hartsell (and Grammy & Grandpa!). Wishing you another year of married bliss...hopefully a little less challenging and stressful! Your love is a blessing and example to us all, wish we could be there to help celebrate. Miss and love you lots.

Happy Birthday Mom and Marmee

Happy Birthday Mom. Glad to hear you had a good day and we look forward to celebrating with you on Sunday! We love you lots and hope you have another great year ahead!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad & Grandpa

This picture is a few years old, but I love it. Happy Birthday Dad....we miss and love you so much and hope you had a good day and have another healthy and happy year ahead!! Hope we can catch up with you soon!! Here is a little birthday message from Angelica and Emma!!

More Cousin Bonding Time

When we left Pac Beach we took the scenic drive through the Olympic National Park. We had wanted to stop at the Hoh Rain forest....but the weather wasn't great, we didn't bring strollers or rain gear....so with three little ones decided we needed to plan for that trip next time. The rest of the family headed home but we decided to extend the vacation a little bit. We stopped in Sequim and found a nice hotel for the night....with a POOL which is what the girls were excited about. We went out for a yummy dinner first and then went back to take a dip. The girls have only been in a real pool a couple times and so they were excited. Emma LOVES the water and thinks she can just take off. She loved the hot tub and swallowed a good amount of water walking down the steps thinking she could just go all the way on her own!! Angelica was still a bit timid and loved to SCREAM partly with excitement and part fear. So after awhile of getting to her to calm down and listen to me so she wouldn't swallow water...she did GREAT. The puddle jumper float we have is AWESOME. She finally let me let go and was swimming on her own. By the end of the night she was going the length of the pool....as long as we chanted "Arms out like a T, nice and calm" over and over. We were so proud of her and I know with more pool time she would do great! I loved being in the water because I felt so buoyant and so NOT pregnant! Albert was cute and loved the water as well.

The next day we checked out, did a little shopping in the cute town of Sequim (it is dangerous to let me and Megs go into a scrap booking-stamp store!) and then headed to Hurricane Ridge. Of course we picked probably the worst day to go as it was rainy, overcast and VERY foggy. It is a windy drive up and supposedly very beautiful.....we got glimpses of it on the way down since it had cleared some...but definitely need to do the trip again on a clear and sunny day! The big lookout on top was well, all fog! oh well, we enjoyed perusing the gift shop, the information lodge and grabbing some lunch in the cafe before we headed back down. We think it would be a lot of fun to go snow tubing there during the winter!!!

Where the view should have been!!

Notice the shirt, Grammy & Grandpa??

Emma LOVES Bears

This first video is Angel just trusting me to let her go on her own, and the second is when she was doing great and swimming the length of the pool!!!

Beach Fun

The girls loved the water....Emma especially loved walking into the water and then running away from the waves....they both got their pants soaked!! Angel enjoyed finding shells and treasures on the beach and then spent most of her time playing in the sand. Jason was trying to build a big sandcastle but the girls had fun knocking them down and sticking feathers in it! It was so neat to see my parents and my grandparents with my girls...what special memories they will have!! We were laughing really hard because Angel's pants kept dropping lower and lower but she just kept on playing! They would have stayed for hours except Emma (who was drenched from going in the cold water) was shivering and ready to get warm. Such a peaceful spot and hope to get back one day soon!!

Walking with Meme

Jason throwing Alli into the ocean

Emma heading for the water

Emma with Pepe

Emma with Meme

Alli and her friend Michaela braving the cold waters

Angel searching for treasures

Let the sand fun begin!!

I wonder who is having more fun?

PRICELESS!!!