Griggs Visit :) 2013

Cousin M and S :) 

All but one :) Missing Auntie R :) 

We had a great visit!! We went to the fair and to home church. 

We played games, drew pictures, had sleepovers, and watched Duck Dynasty.

E got a new bike! We ate lots, slept little and generally had a great time :) 

Grandpa and S. 

I didn't get a picture of Grandma holding S :( 

Grandma and Grandpa Griggs!! 

Grandma and Grandpa and all their grandkids! 

Stucco Pictures :) Scratch Coat.

Where we started Aug 20th.

The outside long wall! 

The hallway.

The inside of the hallway where the rooms will be. 

That open spot where Papa is, that is the bedroom doorway. 

This panel is 12 by 8 and one side used 3 wheel barrows of stucco.. that is a lot of stucco folks!! 

The tools of the trade! 

Boys hard at work.

 I have been able to do very little stuccoing, but the boys have been a great help to Papa!! 

The master bedroom and bathrooms. On the right there is a gap and then more stucco under the window. Papa thinks it should take one more day to be done the scratch coat. 

What is left to do! Just that front kitchen wall and the rest of the side wall! 

Then we are on to the brown coat. We are starting the brown coat in the inside as it needs to be done before we move in. The outside can stay scratch coated until we have more time. 

Not a bad 8 days work!!  :) 

A little nook at the end of the hallway.. maybe for a flashlight.

The front. 

Stucco must be kept from direct sunlight while it cures.. so we will have a great unveiling in a few days :) 

Just a note.. I was going to count wheel barrow loads of stucco like I did for the other side. I did not. Suffice to say it is A LOT!!! One load of stucco does about 32 square feet. I really never had a chance! 

A Little Video Of The Piglets.

They are busy little things hey?? They are an hour or two old in this movie! 

OUCH! J's First ER Visit!! *Warning Pictures!!

Well it's happened.. J has had his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ER visits and multiple other visits from the home care nurses.. who are all super people btw..

Papa had two weeks off after S was born and so one day when S was 6 days old he decided to take J, L and E for a nature trek to the back 'lease' area for a walkabout. They found a neat nest full of babies, E brought me a wild strawberry! And J was walking along, fell on a stick and punctured his leg. I was asleep but Papa told me it squirted blood... I believe him.. J's shoe was a bloody mess! Apparently J cried a little at first. I imagine it hurt a bit and it's pretty scary to see blood pumping out of your leg! Papa stripped off his shirt and tied it around J's leg to use as a tourniquet. It was his DAD shirt. Dedicated and Devoted. Yup that fits! J walked a bit of the way home but it hurt pretty good so Papa back packed him the rest of the way. By they time they got to the house they'd had a heck of an adventure, were sweaty and covered in bug bites. Papa was just thinking he'd clean up the wound and we'd bandage it and keep on with life.. Until he thought about it for a minute and remembered the squirting blood.. and, I think, saw my face. J was holding up pretty good by now and he braved us taking a quick look before walking out the door to go to the ER with Papa. 

Papa says he tried to prepare him a little about them numbing his leg with a needle and cleaning it out before they got there, but when they talked to the doc on call the doc talked about freezing it and poor J thought that meant they wouldn't need needles.. until Papa explained that it was the same thing. But J bravely took everything they threw at him, needles, cleaning it, stitching it up and all. Papa even had to run down to the pharmacy to fill his antibiotic's and J had to stay behind, the store was closing!, and he was still brave and did great! Oh and btw J is the first of our kids to EVER BE ON ANTIBIOTICS. That was weird! How do you remember to take them 3 times a day! Anyway here is J the night after the first ER visit. 

July 5th.

OUCH!! Wait it gets worse... 5 days of antibiotics later it starts to weep.. pus and clear stuff.. Both Papa and I sighed and they headed back to the ER. J had been feeling wonderful and even riding his bike!! But there was a LARGE red area in the area behind the wound and it felt warm to the touch and we both knew what that meant. So off they went. 

They came back hours later. J had to have minor surgery to clean out the wound and it had been left open packed with packing and would need a lot of care over the next few weeks. For the next couple of days Papa brought him to the ER every evening to get it unpacked, cleaned and repacked. The hole was quite deep.. deep enough I could have easily put my little finger tip inside of it.. and remember I didn't see it the first few days!! It had been bigger yet! 

A few days later a home care nurse, our first but far from last, came and showed me my first good look at the wound and showed me how to change his dressings.. including packing it with stuff so it would heal from the inside out and be sure to heal the hole they had found in his leg. This next picture is a bit nasty. J was very insistent on doing as much as he could with his dressings and we found it hurt him a LOT less if he could do it himself. Taking band aids off, pulling out the packing which is what he's doing in the next picture, and re wrapping it after I packed it. 

July 14th.

We did try to keep things sterile like the nurses taught us.. 

That whole first 10 days or so is a bit blurry for me. S was just newborn and not sleeping super tons. Papa was home to help and I did rest a LOT and napped almost everyday but I'm pretty sure J had the roughest time of us all. He was on bedrest. Pretty much. By the time the home care nurse came several days after the surgery he'd read at least two books. He read roughly ten total. He'd watched movies and played while laying on the couch with his leg up. At her visit I asked for some getting up and about guildlines and she said wrap his leg in tensur wraps and he can be up for an hour at a time 3 times a day. J learned how to play lego with his leg up, watched way more movies then normal, and pretty much did nothing for about a week. Tough on a 9 year old active boy who was missing out on summer!! Thankfully his siblings were quite willing to entertain him :) 

July 19th.

Soon we didn't have to pack it but we did need to keep it covered and re bandage it every day. 

It started to close from the inside out and healed quite nicely!! 

July 29th

Then one day after a swim J had a spot of pus with this little splinter in it.. 

We think it was the cause of the infection!! July 31st! 

All and all it was about a month from injury to going without a bandaid!! 

This was taken this morning.. Aug 27th! Still not completely done healing. 

Camping Out With Cousins

Uncle D, Auntie A and O and K asked if J and L could spend a night out at the lake and when Grandma F found out she invited E and R to spend the night out with her too!! So we spent the day at the lake and then the kids slept over with cousins and Grandma and we went home, did cow chores, slept the night and came back the next afternoon to pick them up. 

J couldn't swim but he could boat!! Here is him and E in Uncle D's boat.. Later on Papa took J, L and E for a row and they were gone about two hours. They had a blast!! 

Uncle D braving 5 girls in Grandpa's boat! Going for a ride. They did do some fishing in smaller groups.

L swimming with several floaties. 

Uncle D and J, L and E fishing. They didn't catch any. E had one on her line but it got away at the last minute. 

A closer fishing picture!! That Uncle D is sure a great guy!! 

G and J3 playing on shore! 

Waterfight!! Auntie A and Cousin K in the background! 

J3 and G sleeping on the way home.. very strange to only have 3 kids for the night. The truck felt super empty! 

I never did get a picture of all the cousins.. My sister A and her family were there too.. We had a great time though!! 

The Chicken Whisperer

Those hens know who feeds them :) 

We call L 'The Chicken Whisperer' 

And a random picture of Milton and some hens.. 

E's Smile

She popped that second top one out in bed one night and came running out to tell me :) 

Now she has another one loose on the bottom!! 

Gilts Piglets!

Gilt made this big nest before she had her babies. The nest was about 12 feet in diameter.

 She had 12, lost one the second day and is doing very well with the other 11. 

About an hour or two old.

They are 10 days old now and she brings them out to see us several times a day!

 Super cute!!