Visiting day....

On Thursday, Bruce, Colter and I met Justine in Salt Lake for a hospital tour. Our first stop was to visit Wade, who was admitted to The Huntsman Cancer center on Monday. He was severely dehydrated and suffering from some type of infection. When we got there, he seemed to be in pretty good shape. He had a good, positive outlook, and expected to be home soon. Aleisha had come on Tuesday, so we were fortunate to visit with her. We didn't get to see Brant and Kendell though, as their flight wasn't expected to arrive until midnight. We had a nice visit, and when we left, I held his hand and told him that we loved him. Next, we headed to Primary Children's to visit Briggs and Aubrie. Brigg's was home over the weekend, but he caught a cold, so it was back to the big house for him. He was doing really well and was really happy to see us. I brought him a "Cars" Easter egg filled with tattoos (he still can't eat, so it was perfect for him!) that he loved. He loves tattoos, and showed us his tummy, which was covered with the Hulk! What a character. He was so talkative. Telling us all about his stuffed animals and the hunting movie he was watching. When we were telling him goodbye, I told him that Emma missed him. He said "Emma's my cousin". What a cutie! Next, we headed over to Aubrie's room. Aubrie had been rock climbing with her friends on Sunday, when she fell 40 feet. Luckily, she hit a tree which broke her fall. She was rescued by Life Flight, and taken to PCMC. Unbelievably, she only received a few injuries. She has a broken femur (which was fixed), some internal bleeding, a fractured pelvis, and a few very small scratches. What a miracle! When she told us the whole story, we were amazed at her strength and bravery. And Anna? Poor Anna has sure been through the ringer! When she told us the story of her having to follow Life Flight in her car, not knowing the extent of Aubrie's injuries. Well, I just about lost it! Not to mention that being at the hospital brought back memories of Emma Jayne's medical emergency exactly two years earlier (I'll post that story later)! It was a pretty emotional night, but more on the positive side. Everyone seemed to be doing so well. Wade seemed to be healing, Brigg's would be home soon, and as soon as Aubrie is stronger, she'll be going home. She'll be in a wheelchair for awhile, but she'll recover. What a night! After we were done, Bruce and I took Colter to Crown Burger & had a late night dinner. UPDATE: On Saturday, while I was cleaning the house for our Easter party, Mardee called. Wade had taken a turn for the worse. His liver and kidneys are failing. The prognosis isn't good. I immediately called my mom, and we made plans to go down. Mason really wanted to go with us, but he has had an allergy problem and since it could be a cold, he had to stay. He made him a neat card, then told me "Mom, I think Grandpa is going to come and pick up Wade...Maybe in a truck". I hope so. We ran Mason and Emma down to GMA and GPA's (Justine would pick them up when she got off work) and off we went to pick up Gma Sue, Jeni and Nikki. It rained all the way, and was pretty depressing. When we got to the hospital, all of our family was there. It was a flash back to when my dad died. All of the same people together, heartbroken. We all gathered and Jo gave us an update. Again, not good. While she was talking, she suddenly stopped and said "look at that, the sun is shining on one little spot on the Great Salt Lake". The hospital sits on the mountain, looking down on the Salt Lake valley and the Great Salt Lake. Seeing this sight was truly beautiful and very calming. She continued to give us the prognosis. He probably wasn't going to recover. We all cried. It was a very sad time. After awhile, Wade was ready for two visitors at a time. Tobin, Jeni and I went first. It was very hard to see my strong uncle who had helped us move, till, lay sod, camp, and lots more other big jobs, lying in a hospital bed, nearing the end of his life. We tried to be upbeat, commenting on the U basketball game that was on TV, making small talk. It was so sad. It was all we could do not to break down. We could only stay a minute, so when we left, we told him that we loved him, and again, took his hand. We went back and sat with the family. We reminisced about all of the great times we had together. Having a close family is one of our greatest gifts. We spend holidays, birthdays, vacations and other fun times together. There are so many great memories, I couldn't begin to say. When there is a tragedy, we lean on each other, and we're certainly leaning on each other now. It's so hard. We love our family so much. It was hard to leave. When we got in the car, I realized that I didn't have a chance to get the last of the Easter gifts. I had planed to go to Target to get Mason and Colter's big gift, and Ulta for Justine's, but then Mardee called, and I forgot about it. It was now 9:30. We decided to go eat in Centerville and then go to the Target there. As we pulled into Ihop, Nikki said "I think Target closes at 10. We better check." Sure enough, Ten. We had exactly eight minutes to run in and grab the boys gifts. We ran in, got the stuff, and on to Ihop. We ate and headed home. Justine had done a wonderful job with the kids. She even got Emma to sleep! Not an easy job. What a great kid. I talked to her about her Easter gift, and promised I would take her to Ulta. Stay tuned for an Easter update, and please, please keep my family in your prayers. My Uncle Wade is a great guy. I have so many great memories of all of the great times we've shared. Keep Wade, Jo, Aleisha, Matt, Grace, Ivy, Braden, Tiffany, Brant and Kendall in you thoughts and prayers. We love you!!!