September 28th

So today is my birthday. That's right, I'm now another year older. We had so much going on today, I'm very exhausted. First, It was Jason's homecoming. He gave a wonderful talk and the spirit was so strong. I can't believe how much my little brother has grown up in just 2 years. Angela was able to attend, but she had to be careful, so my Dad brought her in just before church started and then left right after church. Everyone wanted to say, "hi" to her, but she had to get back to the hospital.

After attending my parents sacrament meeting, we had to go to our ward, because it was the primary program. Since I teach the CTR 5 class and McKenzie is a sunbeam, we decided to go. McKenzie sang almost all the songs and was having a great time. When it was time for her to give her part, she got scared and didn't do it. We are so proud of her, even though she didn't do her part, she still sang her heart out and had a great time. Maybe next year she'll be able to do her part. Matt's brother Mike and his family attended to support McKenzie. She was so happy that they came to see her. It meant a lot to her.

We came home after sacrament meeting, because the kids were exhausted from being at church for so long. Owen had been fighting with Matt during most of our sacrament meeting. It's hard for the little ones to be still for so long. Since we attend sacrament meeting twice and our sacrament meeting went way over, it was just too much for him. We had dinner and then took naps.

After our naps we went to my parent's house to celebrate My Dad's and my birthday. My Dad's birthday is on the 27th. We opened gifts and had cake and ice cream. My grandma and grandpa Samuelson and Hudson, My aunt Kim and Diana, my cousin Brittany and all my siblings (expect Angela) and their families were there for the celebration. Then me and my siblings and their families all went to the hospital to see Angela and to draw names for Christmas. Since Scott and Janel live in Rexburg, we decided to do it now, while everyone was together.

It was so nice to see Angela again. It had been over a week. She was able to get over her infection and was able to accomplish the tasks that her therapists have given her. My parents took her out to taco bell yesterday and the day before, she went grocery shopping. Her therapists want to make sure that she will be as independent as she was before the accident, before she can go home. She is still on track to be coming home on Friday. Everyone, especially Angela, are so excited.


Owen is holding my Dad's birthday card that him and McKenzie helped color

My Dad opening presents

Everyone at the birthday celebration

The rest of Everyone

Owen

My sister Wendy

My sisters Jaime and Wendy

Great News About Angela

I found out yesterday that Angela might be released from the hospital on Friday. I haven't been able to see her in a week because we have been sick, but my Mom said that as long as she finishes the task that the therapists have for her, she will be able to go home.

The only thing is Angela developed an infection while staying at the hospital. She is on anti-biotics, so hopefully that will clear up so she can finish up on her therapy and go home. She did get very frustrated being sick, because she just wants to go home. I feel so bad for her. I can understand why she feels the way she does.

Problems with our bank

So Matt and I have had the same bank account since before we got married. We've had some problems, but overall, I guess it was okay. We have wanted to change our bank to a credit union, but delayed the change, because we were worried about having out standing checks that were going to clear. (Basically we were just lazy.) Plus, There is banks in Washington and Utah, which is where we would travel, so it would be easy to withdrawal money, instead of carrying a bunch of cash.

Some issues we had were: we got charged $5/month for our checking account. When Matt asked what the $5/month was for, the Lady told him that we got special perks, like Money orders for $0.25. Are you kidding me? I can go to any grocery store and pay that amount without being charged $5/month! So Matt asked the lady to cancel that subscription. 6 months later we were still being charged. (We waited a couple months just in case the cancellation wasn't until the following month.) Matt went back to the bank and they said that they had no record of the cancellation order. Luckily, they did work with us and refunded the money and got the subscription cancelled.

We also deposited $12 into our account one time. (It seems like a silly amount, but if we didn't, we would have overdrawn.) Well, the deposit never showed up in our account and Matt lost the receipt so we had no way of proving it. Well, we should have been charged a $34 over limit fee, but they waived that fee for some reason. We still don't know if the teller had taken the money and then waived the fee, hoping that we wouldn't go back and get her fired, or if she just made a mistake and put the money in the wrong account.

This last issue is what finally sent everything over the edge. We received a notice in the mail on 9/18 stating that our account was suspended as of 9/12 and that on 9/25 they would be closing the account. They would send us a check after the 25th in the mail for any amount in the account. (We couldn't wait that long! We have bills to pay!) We received the notice the same day that Matt got paid and they accepted his check, despite stating that the account was suspended. The notice didn't say why or give any explanation. So Matt called and spoke to some lady in India, and she said that it was because we were overdrawn in our other account over $400! What??? (we had 2 accounts, 1 for my ebay business and the other was for our personal checking.) Matt tried to tell her that we hadn't used that account in months and according to our records and their online records, the account was at $0.00. So Matt went to the local branch and they said that our account was still open and we still had access to everything. We had tried the debit card online, because Matt needs a new cell phone, but it was declined. Obviously they aren't on the same page, So Matt just told them to close the account and to give our money to him in cash.

We now are banking at a local credit union. What a mess!

Jason's Home!!

My brother Jason arrived home last night from his 2 year mission in Chile. We are so excited to see him! This weekend all 9 of us kids, will be in Boise for the first time in a long time. Jason will be giving his homecoming talk and My Parents are going to have a full house! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Nasty Colds

So I woke up on Friday feeling a little bit under the weather and now I have a cold. I absolutely cannot breathe! I had a hard enough time breathing because the baby is still up pretty high and now I am completely miserable. McKenzie also woke up with a cold the same day and her voice when she is sick is so cute! Owen has been sick for a little bit longer. He has a really bad cough and his nose won't stop running.

I have to be at church today, because next week is the primary program in our ward and I teach the CTR 5 class. I still not sure if McKenzie should be there, but she needs the practice. Matt's family is all coming to see her in the program, so we definitely don't want to miss it. Next week is also Jason's homecoming talk, lots of family will be in town, so it will be a very crazy day!

I'm so disappointed! I probably won't be able to see Angela for a couple weeks! Unless the DRs let her come to Jason's homecoming. I don't want her to get sick, it could be very harmful and painful for her. I know that when Jason gets home on Tuesday, he will probably go straight from the airport to see her at the hospital.

Lucky for Matt he hasn't gotten sick yet. Hopefully he will be able to stay healthy!

Thursday at the Hospital

So we went to see Angela yesterday and she is looking so much better! She is working with 3 different therapists, but she is doing so well that she thinks that it's pointless. She talked to us for about an hour or so, which is the longest amount of time that I've seen her awake since the accident. She doesn't like the hospital food at all and she just wants to go home. Jason comes home from his mission on Tuesday and Angela wants to be able to go to see him at the airport and to be there for his homecoming talk on September 28th. The DRs are considering letting her go just for the talk, but then she has to go back to the hospital. We'll see if they let her. It seems as if her pain has gone way down, which is nice. She still has pain when she sits up and in her neck. We are still unsure how much longer Angela needs to stay in the hospital, she is improving and doing so great, that we are all hoping that she can come home soon. We shall see...

Here's a catch up on Everything

It's been awhile since I last wrote, but Angela is still improving. She is working with therapists and she was able to get up and walk a little bit. She is still in a lot of pain, so she is doing a little bit at a time. They want to be sure that there is no permanent brain damage and so far, she is doing great! She is even feeding herself.

Angela had another surgery on Friday on her thumb. She broken her thumb in the accident. We had originally thought that she had broken or fractured her arms, but she actually tore 3 ligaments in her arm. (The same arm that she broke her thumb.) She will have to have a cast on her arm down to her thumb. The cast is one of those that will allow her to bend her elbow. Her thumb has been causing her a lot of pain and hopefully this surgery will help ease the pain.

Angela has to wear a neck brace, because she did fracture her neck. She absolutely does not like it and has taken it off. She even has pulled out her IV and other tubes. The DRs call her Houdini.

Her memory is getting a lot better. She doesn't remember the accident, but she remembers that she was in an accident and she is now remembering things like who visited her last, etc. She has always remembered people or if you asked her a questions she would know the answer, she may have needed so help, but she knew the answers.

Now that we know Angela is doing really well, we have been able to get back to some of our normal activities. We had a ward Luau on Saturday, September 6th (we didn't stay too long because it was right after the accident. Even though she was improving, I wasn't feeling up to staying there.)

Richie's birthday was Tuesday, September 9th. He turned 2 and we had a family birthday party for him. He was really cute and loved his new presents.

On Thursday, September 11th, I had an ultrasound appointment. I've had to have quite a few ultrasounds because I have huge placenta lakes and the DRs wanted to be sure that the baby was still getting the nutrition that she needs. Well, at this appointment, they said that the placenta lakes have gotten smaller, but now the DRs are worried about the size of my baby. She is approximately 5 lbs and 11 oz right now. Obviously the placenta lakes haven't stopped or slowed down any growth! The DRs predict that she will be approximately 9 1/2 lbs if I go to my due date. I wasn't too shocked by this because both McKenzie and Owen were 11 days early and they were both over 8 lbs. We were laughing and the ultrasound DR said I hope your drugs work! So we will see what my OB DR will say when I see her next. It would be so nice if just one of babies was 6 or 7 lbs...

Friday, September 12th was Angela's surgery, so I went to my parents house and watched Richie. Owen and Richie sometimes have a hard time getting along, but they did really well and they laughed and played together. It was so cute! I also got to hang out with My grandparents. (They moved in to my parents house on August 30th.)

Saturday, September 13th, Matt had to work most of the day. My Mom, grandparents and 3 youngest sisters, went to the hospital to see Angela. (My grandparents and sisters hadn't seen her in the hospital, up until then.) Afterwards they came over to our house to hangout for a couple hours. It was nice to have some company while Matt was gone.

On Sunday, September 14th, we went to Matt's company party at Settlers park. McKenzie and Owen had a blast and they were able to "fish" for prizes. McKenzie got a new teddy bear and Matt said that her eyes lit up when she saw it. Owen got an alphabet foam puzzle and he played with it for hours yesterday and today. They were so cute! Matt and I were hoping to win either a new TV or a new bed, but we ended up winning a $200 gift certificate to the Anniversary Inn. (We didn't know that was going to be one of the prizes, so we weren't at all disappointed.) We will be using the gift certificate sometime after the baby arrives.

Today at the hospital

As soon as Matt and I walked into Angela's hospital room, she waved to us. I was so thrilled! Every time I've gone in to see her, she's been sleeping. She even opened her eyes for a little bit. Angela's eyes are still really swollen, but at least she can open the other eye now.

Angela was able to get her breathing tube removed today. Because that wasn't in her mouth, she started talking. I was so excited! I couldn't really hear what she said some of the time, because the machines are so loud and so far she can only whisper.
While I was there, the speech therapist came in and helped her with eating. First he tried crushed ice and from there he tried juice. She could hardly open her mouth, but he kept encouraging her. After the juice, he had her eat some pudding and then drink some water.

After the speech therapist tried feeing her, he started asking her questions. First he asked if she knew what state she was in and she said, "no." Then he gave her 3 different states and asked her again and she said, "Idaho." Then he asked if she knew what city she was in and she said, "Boise." He asked if she knew where she was and she said, "hospital." I was really excited! He continued to ask questions and she would answer, sometimes she needed multiple choice answers, then she would answer correctly. She still doesn't remember why she is in the hospital. He had to tell her that she was in a car accident.

Angela is looking better and better everyday. She is very uncomfortable and tries to pull out tubes. Her personality is really showing through, despite her injuries. I got a little emotional, because I am just so excited that I could be there to witness these small steps that she is taking towards recovery. We were only there a short time, because we wanted her to rest. She looked really tired. Angela is still in the ICU, so friends and extended family, are still not allowed to see her. We will keep you posted and let everyone know when it's okay. Thank you for your love and prayers!

My Friends with Special Skills

So recently I have been finding out that my friends have some awesome skills that I had no idea that they knew how to do. My Sister in law Lindsay has been helping paint wooden nursery letters for over a year and is really very good at it. She has painted letters to match hundreds of different bedding sets and room themes. I also have been doing this, but because of my pregnancy, I have taken a break to spend more time with my family. Here are some samples that Lindsay has done:























My friend Kalei has started a hairbow business. I am so excited, because I have a VERY girly daughter and another girl on the way. These hairbows are so cute and you can pick your own ribbon colors. I am going to be ordering a bunch for McKenzie and the new baby. I just have to pick the ribbon colors and I'm still deciding on what styles I want. Here is her Blog for her hairbows. They are SUPER cute!! http://kahanashairbows.blogspot.com/

My Friend Lindsey has her own business. Check it out at www.hprocessing.com. She can help you with financing your new home. As soon as we are able to purchase a new home, we will be using her.

My Friend Michelle is really creative and has lots of great ideas on how to save money, especially on groceries. She finds lots of good deals at yard sales and from other money saving blogs. Check it out at http://www.savingsomegreen.blogspot.com/

My Sister in law Robin LOVES to take pictures and is considering starting her own business doing that. She has taken lots of really good pictures of her sisters for their senior pictures and she used to work at the JCPenny portrait studio. My Mom is considering using her to take our family pictures when my brother gets home from his mission. My Family has grown so much in the last 2 years!

My friend Kamille and her husband have painted picture frames for their nieces and they're really talented. I didn't include any pictures because I haven't asked permission.

My friend Trisha made about 6 wedding cakes over the last 6 years and LOVES to decorate cakes. In high School, she used to work at Baskin Robbins and decorated ice cream cakes and now she does her own. I had no idea! The cakes that I have seen have turned out VERY nice.

My friend Rory redecorated her bedroom and it turned out SO GOOD!!! She said, "A little bit of spray paint and a cheap bedding set from Target and voila!"

I am really excited about finding out all this cool stuff that my friends can do!

My New Nephew

I have a new nephew! Congratulations to Mike and Robin Dickerson on their new baby boy! Brady Lucas Dickerson was born Monday, August 25th and was 8lbs 5oz and 20 inches long. Baby and Mommy are doing great and both are now at home taking it easy. This is Mike and Robin's 2nd baby, Jonathan Michael is their oldest and he is 16 months old.