Our prayers are being answered!!!

First of all I would like to thank everyone that has had Joseph in their prayers... He has done very well today!!! He is off the respirator, feeding tube, and sedation!!! He was able to say a few things to my brother Ryan today. He still cannot have anything to drink (for fear that he will aspirate it), but was able to try eating a few things and have ice chips. He is still very nauseous and tired but seems to be improving, which I consider a miracle after how crazy the beginning of this week was for him. We are still not sure when/if he will be transferring back to his base or if he will be able to come home to rest for a while. I would love to see him and give him a big hug!!! My Dad said that he will most likely be out of the ICU and into a regular room tomorrow as long as he is continuing to improve like he has been. We are going to continue praying that he keeps going in this direction even if it is in baby steps!!! Thank you again for keeping Joe in your prayers!

Updates on Joseph

My younger brother Joseph, that recently finished boot camp with the Marines, is in the ICU at Columbia University Hospital in Missouri. He went to the hospital last Thursday and started treatment for double pneumonia and was in intensive care on Saturday. He was getting worse and was life flighted to Columbia very early Saturday morning. My parents caught the first flight out to be with him and I am staying with my brother and sisters in Utah. They think that he has an allergy induced pneumonia and he is in critical condition. The doctors put him on a breathing machine, feeding tube and insulin, have done a lung biopsy and had him in a medically induced coma to keep him stable. They are now trying to bring him down slowly off from the sedation and see if he can start breathing on his own. It has been a roller coaster because his vitals get a little crazy when they try to reduce the sedation. The doctors are hopeful that he will continue to improve, although tonight may be a tough night since they are trying to back off the sedation again. Please continue to keep Joseph in your thoughts and prayers!!! Also thank you to all of our friends and family that have been so supportive during such a difficult time.
** For updates please see Niki's Blog under friends and family**

***As a side note I will try to post pics of Karlie from the pumpkin patch and Halloween as soon as I get home or have a chance.***

Fun at the FAIR!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=6dea17772134558167adce&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

(If the video doesn't post click on this link.)

We had a fun day at the fair on Monday. We went with Jim's eldest brother, Pete, his wife Alisa and there two kids, Brayden and Shelby. It was pretty windy most of the day and a little cooler than usual but we bundled Karlie up and she was content in her stroller for most of the time. She loved feeding the goats.

At the very beginning of the video she says "yum yum" to the goats and would only feed them one piece of grain at a time, even though they kept biting her fingers! She also like the calves and chased a rooster around for a minute or two.

We let her go on the merry-go-round a couple of times and a pony ride.

She liked the pony ride so much that she cried when it stopped and she kept trying to go back and pet the ponies. Every time we would pass Jim she would say "CHEESE!".

She is talking so much now it almost scares me a little... I'm sure she will be talking back to me in no time!!! She said her first full sentence yesterday while we were waiting for Jim to get home from work... She said,"Mommy, when Daddy come home?" (or something close to that) It caught me by surprise because she hasn't grouped her words together like that before. I can't believe how fast it seems like she is growing up!!!

What a CRAZY month!

Sorry for the delay between posts... This month has been a roller coaster ride. I would like to start off by saying Happy (belated) Birthday to Susie (Sophia and Josh), SETH (my youngest brother), and anyone else that I have neglected in the last few months! We have been trying to get on top of bills from Jim's car accident--2 1/2 years ago-- and me being off from work for longer than we had planned to be home with Karlie when she was born. We had alot to do around the house to have it appraised, but we were blessed with a good appraisal and hopefully will now be on top of things in that area of our lives.
This last week has been very physically and emotionally draining for all of us. Last Thursday Karlie came down with the stomach flu(we didn't know until I caught it that she had the flu--we thought it was a bad reaction to milk because we have not been able to get her to stop drinking formula yet), Friday and Saturday we had a yard sale that I couldn't cancel because I had already put the ad in the paper Tuesday Jim had a 2 day appt. out of town that was set up as part of trying to settle for his car accident. Tuesday morning I got the flu and had to leave work... later around 7 p.m. we got tragic news that a very,very close friend of Jim Sr.'s and our family had passed away unexpectedly, so Jim and his dad came back to town that night and Karlie and I packed up and went out of town(about a two hour drive- we got to the hotel about 1am.) We came home Wednesday afternoon and tried to finish out the week with out breaking down too much. Saturday Karlie and I attended a memorial service for our friend(Jim came down with the flu at about 3am and was very upset that he was going to miss it.) Hopefully we will get to take Karlie to the fair tomorrow if it isn't too cold... I will try to get lots of cute pics to post soon. I hope this post doesn't sound too pitiful or like I am rambling... I just have alot on my mind with every thing that has been happening... I will try to have a more positive post tomorrow...

More pictures from the past few weeks...

I just wanted to post a few pics from the last few weeks... Things have still been super busy...

This is Karlie with our puppy we got a couple months ago. We decided to name her Lily. We got her at the local animal shelter when she was about 2 months old. It has been a lot of work trying to potty train her. (My husband likes to remind me that he told me it would be a lot of hard work!) She is a supposed to be a Yorkie/Chihuahua mix.

We visited the TF Temple with my G&G N and Jim's Dad. (Jim Sr.) It was very pretty. I wanted to get some pics of Karlie around the water fountain and flowers by the temple, but Karlie was so tired that she would hardly stay still for these pictures. Hopefully I will get another chance to get some pics the next time my family visits or if we end up taking Jim's mom.

Karlie has started to try to dress herself with whatever she can find. She was so proud of herself for getting the swim diaper and Jim's hat on, that she wore them for about an hour and kept laughing and saying "CUTE".

Karlie LOVES the water. She would stay in it all day if we would let her.

The water park was a blast to visit for cousin Hunter's birthday!(I know I really need a tan!)

Happy Birthday Aunt Tara and Cousin Hunter!!!!!!!!!!(Or "Huntee" as Karlie has been saying constantly since we visited last weekend) We rode up with G&G N and ate at the Cracker Barrel. It was a lot of fun!

I thought the rocking chairs they sold there were adorable. Karlie seemed to like them quite a bit too. Hunter sure is a cutie!

So much for at least once a week...

Sorry it has been so long since my first post. We have had a lot going on the last few months. We have made a few trips to my parents house to visit, see Joseph graduate, and go to a trapping convention.We had a fun 4th of July here at home watching the local fire works and then lighting off some fountains and sparklers of our own. Karlie kept yelling yay, yay and clapping her hands. Karlie really enjoyed eating her ice cream cone all by herself. Karlie had to have her first "surgery" last week. Her tear duct on her right eye had still not opened even though we had it probed once when she was seven months old. She had to be sedated this time because she is older and stronger. Every thing went really well though and her eye has not been watering since a couple days after it was done. Hopefully it has healed all the way open this time. She then had to have her 15 month shots a few days later (she is 16 months today!) Also, we are still in the middle of trying to settle from a car accident that happened over 2 years ago. Karlie is talking really well (I will try to post a list off all the words she has said to date) and is loving swimming at the babysitters, the pool or at home in the back yard. I better go to bed now it is going to be a crazy week at work with two people gone this week.

I finally got this done...

And it only took me a year to do it! Hopefully I will be able to update it weekly...and not once a year. Karlie is now 13 months old and growing SO fast! It is a little bit sad, but exciting at the same time . Wednesday night while I was reading her a bedtime story (about animals) she pointed to the picture of the kitty and said, "Kitty...meow." It was very cute! She is now trying to take a few steps at a time between Jim and I. She has already had a few pretty bad run-ins with our hardwood floors. Jim asked jokingly, "Do they make helmets for babies?" It is almost like she is trying to run, but the top half of her body moves faster than her legs. I think she might have it down in a few more weeks and then I won't be able to keep up with her. Well I should really get to bed, I have a feeling she will be waking up early tomorrow, I mean, this morning. I am hoping to have some pics posted of her 1st B-day this weekend.