Day 169 to 175, Feb. 15-21

Day 169 to 175, Feb. 15-21

This was a pretty good week with an awful ordeal toward the end. Life's lessons seem to be almost cruel at times, but that's when we really have to rely on our faith that these things do happen for our own good, somehow. 

On Monday Jeff, Annette, Cherie, Blake, and Aliyah came home from St. George. As far as traffic goes they got pretty lucky until the Provo/Orem area and then the masses seemed to be on the freeway. 

When they finally did make it home Brandi, Zach, and the girls surprised them with Pizza Hut so they wouldn't have to worry about dinner and unpacking. Their breadsticks are Annette's favorite and they haven't had Pizza Hut in ages so it was a special treat. Before leaving Zach helped Blake unpack a few things. 

Again we want to let Blake know how much we appreciate all he does for our mom and dad, and our whole family. We are grateful he is a part of our family and are blessed because of it. 

Annette made the comment that it was hard to come back to the cold and the bad air. A small storm blew some of the garbage out of the valley, but not all of it. We found this picture that sums it up pretty well and made us laugh. 

They went to Neuroworx on Tuesday, stayed home and relaxed Wednesday, and then went back to Neuroworx on Thursday. Everything is going well in therapy and while progress is slow, it's still progress. On Friday Kasey came to the house and they planned future visits. 

While it might seem boring, we are thankful when there isn't much to report. In general it means things are going how they should be. Well, Saturday completely ruined that. 

Ryan's family brought lunch over and ended up staying so Ryan could help work on Jeff's computer. 

The longer it took the more Jaxon begged to ride his bike. It was such a nice day that Jeff decided to go around the neighborhood and get some exercise in his manual wheelchair. We made it a family outing. Ryan filled Jeff's tires to the proper amount of pressure and he was off. 

We all had a good time outside, but the wind was a little chilly. Blake and Jaxon rode bikes while the rest of the clan walked. Jeff went around the subdivision twice before we all decided to go inside. 

On the way up the ramp onto the lift in the garage Jeff tipped backwards. Ryan was close by holding Tylee on his shoulders and  Julee was standing next to him. Blake was above Jeff, just inside the door, and holding Aliyah. While we all cringed when it started to happen, we trusted that the wheely bars on the back of his chair would stop him. But they didn't. 

Jeff paused for a second before he continued to fall back, faster than any of us could move. Ryan jerked forward so hard in order to stop the fall that Tylee fell backward. Thankfully he had her leg tight enough that she didn't fall to the ground. It was her sudden crying that alerted Annette and Cherie that something was wrong. 

The back of Jeff's head slammed into the side of the truck, wrenching his neck and forcing his chin into his chest, and then he continued to slide down the side of the truck until he cleared the bottom. Bits of his hair even got caught in the trim molding. Then his head slammed onto the garage floor. His colorful language was much justified as we scrambled to help him up and assess the damage. 

Annette helped support his head as Julee and Blake lifted the chair back to a sitting position. During the debate of whether we should go straight to the hospital or wait and see how things went Cherie gave him some Tylenol and ibuprofen and Annette and Julee looked over his scalp for any obvious injury. In the end Jeff won and we got him inside. Ryan and Blake gave him a blessing and then we got him in bed with an ice pack behind his head and neck. 

Annette called his doctor's answering service while Julee assessed for a concussion. Thankfully everything looked okay, he was just in pain and stiff. It wasn't long before Brandi and Zach arrived (Cherie let them know what had happened). We want to thank their neighbors for helping to watch Kaisy and Sierra! 

The on call doctor returned our call and spoke with Jeff on speaker phone so we could all hear. She was very thorough, listened carefully, and gave specific directions of what to watch for and what to do. Ryan later made the comment, "That could have been an office visit. She actually took the time to talk to him instead of just telling him to go to the ER so she wouldn't have to deal with it." We are so grateful for her caring and professional advice!

Roxane came just minutes later to check on Jeff. Brandi had informed Peggy of the accident and she was very worried. We are so grateful Roxane is so close and always willing to be there when needed! After we explained what had happened Ryan pointed out that one of the first things Jeff asked after he fell was if the truck was okay. It made us all laugh and broke some of the tension. 

With lots of tears and plenty of frustration we soaked in what had happened. First fear, unsure of how severe his injuries would be. Then anger... Why did this have to happen? Hasn't he been through enough? It's difficult enough as it is every day of his life without adding more pain to the mix! How much more can a person take??

Then we began speculating. What if it had happened when only Annette was there? It took two people to get him up. If he hadn't hit the truck would the momentum have been enough to crack his head open? Probably. A combination of both? We decided not to even think on that. 

And this led to gratitude. We are grateful this happened when so many family members were present. We are grateful we learned of the faulty wheely bars in such a way that didn't include serious injury even though he is suffering because of it. We are grateful for the priesthood in our family. While this never should have happened, we are grateful it wasn't worse. 

The evening was spent alternating the ice with heat and hanging out as a family. The stress and worry were still present, but together, and with the Lord's help, we can handle anything. 

While Jeff expressed his desire to go to church in the morning, his neck was too stiff and sore when he woke up so he wasn't able to make it. He also has two knots on the back of his head. We are grateful he was able to rest. 

Sunday was Brandi's birthday! We want her to know how much we love her and how grateful we are for all she does for our family! After spaghetti dinner Clifton and Joyce came and we were able to celebrate Annette and Brandi's birthdays. 

Brandi had the opportunity of teaching the Relief Society lesson today at church. It was on adversity and help from on high. It was a reminder that we all needed and she graciously agreed to share some of her thoughts with the family before we left for the evening. 

We will be posting a copy of what she put together in the hopes that everyone who reads it will be as uplifted as we all were. We are thankful for her insight and willingness to share. 

It's difficult every time something negative happens. It feels as if we've had enough negative to last us a lifetime. It's not fair. And yet, when everything is said and done we see the little blessings, the many small things, that we have to be grateful for. 

This is the purpose of this life. Not to live without adversity, but to aim your focus on how we are blessed through adversity. Sometimes it's harder to count your blessings than other times, but start small and you'll find light even on the darkest of days.