Mom Update

Today was a day we have been waiting for for a very long time.  It will be 8 months tomorrow that my mother had her brain aneurysm and survived it after being told she would more than likely not make it through the first night.  But as most of you know she is one very determined lady who's time was apparently not up!  After all the hurdles she has been forced to jump she amazes me as she continues to beat the odds everyday.  Let's face it, she was dealt one bad card after the other when she was hit with this brain bleed and I'm not too sure if anything more wrong could have happened to her.  It was bad enough just to have an Aneurysm let alone the Pneumonia that settled in after some time, a Tracheostomy, needing a Pacemaker while in a medically induced coma, 4 head surgeries w/ 2 separate shunts needed at different times , 3 Blood Transfusions, GI Food Tube, a Sub Dural Hemorrhage (2nd bleed), several falls (while in hospital) the final fall resulting with a Hip replacement, VRE (infection), Months of therapies  and I'm probably leaving out a few things...

Needless to say, my Mother is the strongest, bravest woman I know and today marked just another small milestone in her journey back to health.  She had her Food Tube taken out today and she was tickled pink to have that thing gone and to her it was another hurdled accomplishment.  I could see the relief in her face when the procedure was over and the sigh she let out swelled my heart and made me reminisce about those long, hard, unknown days that we, as a family experienced as we watched her fight for her life for days on end, for months on end.  I am thankful every single day when I think about her journey and how close we were to losing her and I am thankful for all the support, all the prayer and encouraging words from everyone that was there for us.  GOD is good....for sure!

Adele....Currently in my top 3

If you haven't heard this song yet, you have to because she is amazing!

OMgosh....When did this happen?















I can't believe that this year we had to have Malissa's Senior Pictures done for the yearbook. She only just started high school it seems. So we made arrangements for a very special person do the pictures for us at Whitnall Park and although it was hotter than Haiti's outside we managed to get in some pretty fabulous shots!  Malissa's BFF Kay was able to come along and have a few "BFF" shots taken together of the 2 of them at the end of the session.

As I watched Malissa posing for these shots I couldn't help but wonder where the time went.  It seems like yesterday we would look up at the clouds together and point out shapes and characters we would see in the cloud formations or the nights she would curl up on my lap and fall asleep while I would gently brush my fingers through her hair...

Now here she is, at a blink of an eye, attending her Final year at Whitnall High School, working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs at a time, driving and always on the go. And all I can ask myself is "When did this happen"??? When did she stop sitting on my lap, when did we stop looking at clouds together, when did she become so independent?

It's funny how busy life is and then something like this happens and slaps you right in the face. It's a little bitter sweet, but I am happy to say she is turning into a beautiful young woman, although very opinionated, stubborn, wise beyond her years and doesn't always make the best choices for herself, she has turned out to be an amazing young girl!  And even though we have had our moments through the years and we don't always see eye to eye on certain things, I am very proud of all that she is and the woman she is becoming!  I love you sissy... Always, Momma Donna <3



Charicature Engagement....

Well, he finally popped the question! My nephew, Kolten is now officially engaged to be married to his high school sweetheart, Aerial.  She currently lives in Texas and Kolten went to visit her and her family this past week and told Aerial he was heading back home to Missouri  two days prior, when in fact he had the whole proposal premeditated, once he got permission from Aeriel's father of course.  Even though he really didn't go back to Missouri like he said he was going to, he stayed at a friends house and planned everything. Kolten had Aerials  family meet him in San Antonio for a "family day" and he had pre-hired an artist to draw this picture shown above, (unbeknownst to her)!  All the while Aerial thought he was drawing a portrait of just her, as Kolten was standing in the background waiting with the ring! When the artist turned the portrait around she was very confused and actually thought the artist was proposing to her, while out of the corner of her eye she saw someone walking towards her.

If you look closely, you can see my nephew in the background waiting for the que to step forward and ask the big question! She still doesn't know what is happening at this point!

He finally gets the Que and comes from behind with the ring and asks her to marry him!  There were tears, excitement and disbelief from her, but from the looks of it she was very happy!

He asked, she said yes......Stay tuned for an update on when the wedding will be!
Congratulations Kolten & Aerial we are all very happy for you both <3

Feels like forever....

I am really going to try and do this "Blog" thing a lot more often than I was doing.  I'm finally getting over all of the past years events with my Mom having a brain aneuresym and surving it, the heart breaking decision of having to put Mom in a temporary rehab hospital and then dealing with everything that possibly could go wrong and did, learning that someone very special to me is losing her daughter to Cancer, to my oldest sister being diagnosed with MS.  Needless to say it has been a crazy year and things are finally calming down a bit for all of us.

BUT.....let's not forget the blessings that were given to our family this year. The biggest blessing of all is the fact that my Mother survived and fought through the anueresym she had on Feb 12, 2011 and although she is not the same "Mom" that she was before hand, I am very thankful and lucky to have her here.  We were also blessed with a new baby in the family this year, my Niece Karlee and her husband Perry welcomed a new baby boy in June little  ~Jackson Parker Ashlock~