Trek

Just after school let out in June, the stake held a pioneer trek for the youth. Michael was able to participate as the cut off was being 14 by the beginning of the school year. Justin and I were on the base camp food committee.

My friend Carla, that works with me at the Family History Center made my dress and apron along with the shirts for Justin and Michael. I provided the fabric and she did the rest. She was such a blessing. She had so much fun doing it.

As late as May 22 when we were to go on a mini training trek for the Ma's & Pa's we had major trouble. That weekend we were hit with a late storm and there was a huge snowfall in the area and we could not even get to the area in which we were supposed to trek. They scambled and changed the place to a new facility that the church recently purchased in 2008. It is a church farm in eastern Washington, actually on the WA/OR border literally. We were only 10 miles from Hermiston, Oregon and a stones throw from the Columbia River.

Here are 2 links to places with photos of trek http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182460&id=121601903556&fbid=405605978556&ref=nf and http://www.blainewilsonphotography.com/Events/Trek-2010/12743657_y7U58

We had to leave the day before the rest of everyone left to get things set up and be ready to go when they arrived the next day. Michael stayed with the Byron family as there was 3 in their family going. We knew they were going to have some issues as the day we arrived it was 93 degrees and we had come from just barely 60 degree temperatures for weeks. It was also rather muggy. Justin and I had cots, a tent, screenroom and lots of water, ice, drinks and snacks. We were in the afternoon shade of lots of trees. They arrived and started out. The very first day they trekked for about 14 miles. Michael's family was really happy to have him. He was almost always in the yoke the entire trek. The other kids were small and had a hard time with the cart. He and Brother Snyder from our ward were their rescue team. His Ma & Pa, Brother & Sister Ogden of the Kingston, WA ward. 

They ferried the carts across a pond on the property as well as hard pulls straight up and down hills. They kept being shorted water at the rest stops. There was another stake there from Eugene and they were only supposed to take 5 gals per cart and we found that they were taking 10 gals and leaving us nothing so we got behind. The first day they had almost 20 get hit with heat exhaustion as they were not able to drink enough. Not to mention the blisters and heat rash that hit. Heat rash hit some of the adult men......ouch!

They were supposed to be out until Friday afternoon, but were called into base camp on Thursday afternoon as it was too much as too many were starting to fall. They marched in and made camp and were just excited to have access to drinkable cool water at all times. They were doing activity stations and the most used and enjoyed was the trough to wash their hair. The guys went to the faucets and stuck their head under the faucets.

Justin and I left early on Saturday morning before they broke camp as I was bitten up by biting flies and the doctor that was on staff wanted me to get home and get on a regular dose of benadryl so that cellulitis did not set in. I gladly did so. The busses were due back at 6:30 pm or so and they did not arrive until close to 10:30 pm as they had a long testimony meeting. They were all worn out, bitten up, stinky and sunburnt. I know Michael was happy to see the shower. I think he had about 15 layers of dirt to scrub off and he said it took about 3 showers before he really felt fresh again. LOL!

I am including the letter from his Ma & Pa, Brother & Sister Ogden as well as a picture of his family. He came home a lot more mature and with a healthy respect for those in our family that were pioneers on the trail.

Time to breathe...............

This was originally written back in May, but I forgot to post it.

Well, tax season is over and I finally have some time to breathe. I know it is May but I have not had the chance until now to take a deep breath. On April 10th, I had a friend from many years ago come to visit. She said that she could not stand LA any longer and need to make a change. She arrived finally and was sick with a case of shingles. I can relate that it is painful, but life must go on to some extent. The month that the person was here really was a waste of time. Now, please understand I love my friends, but I am not going to allow anyone to stay with us any longer to get on their feet because we are always taken advantage of and we are the bad guys.

She sat around for over 2 weeks just complaining about how lousy she felt. I told her that we could pay for her to be seen by a clinic here and she finally agreed. We got her the medicine so she could feel better and she still continued to just gripe and complain. As time went on, I had to admit that she has a number of emotional and mental issues. Her kids walked out on her and she can't figure out why they do not want to be around her. I know I am not a psychologist, but I can recognize things when I see them. She is severely depressed, paranoid, co-dependent, as well as bi-polar or borderline personality disorder. In the month that she was here I doubt that she bathed a total of 3 times. She ate ice cream like it was going out of style daily and would let her cockatoo eat out of her mouth. Many times during the day she would bring the bird out and tell the bird, "Say Hello" "Say I Love You" and all it would do is squak loudly. She was up one minute and then crying her eyes out the next. If anything was said to her about needing help for the emotional roller coaster that she was on she immediately became defensive. She said that she was continually yelled at. I did raise my voice and it was in desperate frustration that she was doing nothing. She wanted everything handed to her on a silver platter and to do everything in her power to sit on her butt and play the "whoa is me", "I am having a never ending pity party." After her stupid comment, I never raised my voice to her because I never knew how she would react.

Whenever anything was said about looking for a job it was always an excuse. I had no other choice but to conclude from her behavior that she wanted nothing to do with a job. She is 48 and will be 49 later this year and is trying to relive her youth for lack of a better explanation. She thinks she can go to Paul Mitchell, learn to cut hair and then follow bands like My Chemical Romance around cutting their hair. She is dellusional if she thinks that young bands want a 49 y/o following them around. She said many times that Gerard Way's mom was named the same as she and her middle name was the same as hers. I thinks she wants to mother him in place of her grandmother and kids.

Her Grandmother, bless her heart has Alzheimers and is 96. It is safe to say that she will most likely not be around much longer. She will soon be in the position that she does not know the people from one day to the next that care for her. She will become more and more not in touch with what is going on and will most likely become combative. She REFUSES to face the truth that this is most likely what will happen.

She up and left on Sunday. I must admit it was a big relief and weight lifted. I know that she will bad mouth us as she did that to us about others that tried to help her. She will continue to do this until she burns every bridge that she has for help. I feel bad for her, but I can no longer allow her to bad mouth my husband, Michael and myself for that matter. Late Tuesday (close to midnight) she sent me an email that said she is sorry and that she is very, very sick. Then this afternoon while I am on the way home from my shift at the Family History Center she goes off about Justin doing something. I come home having not really reading the email and Justin is disoriented and cannot remember most of the afternoon. 

We did what we could to help her. She let the bird eat part of the wall and so now we have to patch that. The bird went poo all over a blanket over a stand and all over the table. Now we have to clean everthing.
She takes the bird with her everywhere. She thinks it is cute. It is not. She is dependent on the bird as well as we would hear her have long conversations with the bird. Then she has the nerve to say that we are on the wrong, lied to her and every other accusation in the world.

I made the decision to block her from sending me messages. I just cannot tolerate her violent mood swings
and trying to figure out is she is up, down, or completely flipped out. She can't understand why people are just turning their backs on her. Well I can. She is out of her noodle and no one in their right mind can deal with her instablility. I hope she gets some help.

My own mental health has been in question for the last couple of days.  I have done what I could but it is up to her now. I had to put it in the hands of the Lord because she refuses to listen if you have a different view or tell her she needs to seek mental health help. Is she a danger to herself? Yes to some extent. Will she harm herself? She says no but then those that commit suicide sometimes say that too. Is she a danger to others? Not really except that she is living in a world of denial and non-reality.

I am sad to say that I am going to have to shut her out as I cannot allow her to constantly try to have me feed her co-dependency and cycles of irrationality. I refuse to allow her to speak ill of Michael or Justin any longer. I know that they have their quirks and that Justin sometimes does things that are a bit harsh but he has medical issues and she has not one clue as to what he deals with. He is not always in his right mind. He is not perfect but none of us are.

Next week, we go up to the area of Mt. Rainier for the mini-trek. I do not think that the ma's, pa's, aunt's, & uncle's are realizing that they will be trekking somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 miles in a little over a day. They will not have to clear brush that they are going to make the kids do but they will have to cross a stream. They are really pushing these kids. I know they will do it. I am so glad that I am just doing cooking for the base camp. In June we will have a total of 25 handcarts. Approx 10 kids to a cart/family, ma & pa along with one aunt or uncle. That is a total of about 240 with support staff, medical, cooking, etc. This is going to be something very powerful.

2010 New Year

Well, It's February 1st and I should update this more often. Bad Me. I have been busy getting more people found on Justin's line. I have be able to locate a good deal of information and it is a great feeling. I have been able to find pictures of his Great Grandmother Belen and Uncle Jesus who is Belen's youngest brother. His Great Grandfather Roberto is the hard piece to the puzzle. We guestimate that he look his own life in May 1933 when Grandpa Raul was just 8 months old. I was able to locate them on a 1930 Mexico Census and it has given me a great picture of his siblings and parents. We keep saying prayers that more information will be opened to us to be able to get the work done for the family.

Last month I took training for Federal Tax Preparation here. I work with the AARP Foundation and IRS and we prepare Federal Tax Returns for low income and seniors as well as anyone else that needs out help. We turn away very few. Today was the first day of preparation and it was a little crazy. I was to be there for 5 hours because we wanted to have extra time for set up. That was ok until something went wrong and my computer crashed the served at the IRS in Georgia.

We never could get it back up and running. Everyone else was fine. I did get to prepare a few returns so that made the jitters go away.

This week will be a bit crazy as all of the centers in the county open this week. I am working 4 days this week instead of 2 but then it should settle down a little.

I am excited. It is fun. We have an appointment for Justin with an eye specialist in Seattle. They may need to do surgery to help his sight. This will happen on the 19th. Justin goes tomorrow to get his first crown completed and then the rest of the work can now be done as they finally have the authorization to do it.

Justin has had a cold the last few days but seems to be getting over it. I am trying very hard NOT to get it. Cross my fingers.

Smokey is due for some shots. It is hard to believe that he has been with us for a year. We love him to death. He is such a good companion for all of us. Slyvester and Shadow are doing well and being their snotty kitty selves.

Michael is growing and getting bigger. The Stake is doing the Pioneer Trek this year and he will be deoing it June 23 - 26. This will be an exciting time for him. We are going to be reading some pioneer stories in preparation for this. We know this will be a powerful experience for him.

Well I am sick in bed with a cough from you know where and am hating it. I decided that since I can't talk that this is the time to update the blog again.

We went to see the pulmonologist for Justin and once again he failed the pulmonary function testing. They know that he was exposed to so much but cannot pin point the actual cause of the dimished lung function. Just less than 48 hours later we had to take Justin to the ER as he has symptoms of bronchitis/bronchialitis. He is now isolated at home through Sunday. I am doing fine except for the cough, but I will live. At least I can sleep so that is a positive.

Smokey is my guard dog and follows me everywhere. Shadow is our sick nurse. He usually stays to himself but when you are sick he is right next to you. Kinda scary for us. We will get through this.

Justin is to go do a sleep study on the 10th then to have a fluroscopy done on the 16th. We will see what those results bring. All will support that the PTSD is worse than they thought. We will take it one step at a time.

I am hoping that I will be able to make some presents for Christmas. Justin and I want to go to the temple more often as well. I hope to have everything ordered by the end of the week. Now let's pray that everything is in stock. I am ahead of the game in getting Christmas cards ready.

We will update more as we know things. I think we are in for a long cold winter. We are trying to be prepared. I have to get back on my feet so I can get this done. TTFN!

Fall is here......

Fall is here and the colors are beautiful. Leaves are a pain but something has to give. Today one of Michael's friends came over with his dog (a female lab) to play a little with Smokey. They are so cute together. We had taken Smokey into the VA office at the request of Dawnell, Justin's service officer. She brought in Faith, her dalmation and they had a blast together. I wish that we had taken a picture of them together but we will have to do it again.

We received an email from Laura my MIL, telling us that Dave is hospitalized with H1N1, MRSA, and pneumonia. I think I overwhelmed Laura with questions. Evidentally he is coughing up blood but she said that they do not know what type of MRSA it is or where. With the pneumonia I hate to say it but it will attack his lungs and I am getting the impression that he does not have long. We will keep him in our prayers but I am not sure sometimes how much to believe.

I am sure that Laura will fall to pieces if anything happens to Dave. In some ways it would make her stand on her own feet. I know that it may sound a bit callous but there is a co-dependency factor involved. I doubt that the other kids have done anything other than call. Dave is in isolation. Laura is spending all of her time there even though she has a compromised immune system.

Justin may go into the hospital next week but everything is still tentative. They changed his medication and he is now on Thorazine. We were told to keep the Risperidone as they may change him back to it again. He got the Thorazine on Saturday and he ended up sleeping until after 1:30PM yesterday. He seems to have slept better last night but that is only my perception.

We did get a nice surprize a couple of weeks ago as we were told that we were entitled to Disabled Veterans Plates for our car. We received the plate and we no longer have to pay registration on the car. That is such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. We are so very grateful for his care.

We are excited as we have cards for Halloween and Thanksgiving. We are getting ready to send them out. We found some really cute return address labels for the Holiday's. This year it is fun trying to plan for the holidays.

Michael has been doing well at school and he seems more settled this year. We are pleased to see the progress he is making.

Cannery Assignment Today

This morning Justin and I had the opportunity to work at our dry pack cannery here in Bremerton. It was a great deal of fun. Justin could not work directly with the food because of Smokey but he was able to do other things. I went in and filled cans to be sealed. There were 4 of us doing packing and one sealer. They were shocked as we did over 200 cans and cleaned up in just about an hour. We did rice, red wheat, white wheat, sugar and flour. We look forward to being able to go back and do more.

Yesterday afternoon, Justin went to see his psychologist and they have decided that he will go into 7 East at the VA in Seattle after the fifth of October or so. I know that he decided then so that he would be able to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. I am deeply concerned about him as the P.T.S.D. is getting worse. That is the hard part. He grinds his teeth at night and was fitted for a mouth guard at the dentist. We have to get some paper work done and together so that all is in place for the hospitalization. I do not know how long he will be there as he could be in for as short as 5 days or for 5 weeks or longer. I am very nervous about all of this but do not dare show anything to him or Michael. I guess I just have to put it in the Lords hands.

Our Sealing

We went to Los Angeles and San Diego for a planned vacation from August 18th to 25th. On the 20th (my mom's birthday) we went to San Diego to be sealed. We were joined by Bonnie, her daughter Cheryl, as well as Tony and Susan Vargas. We had such an amazing experience being able to be sealed together for time and all eternity.

Justin gave me a beautiful new ring for the sealing and had the date engraved on the inside of the ring. He also gave me a matching set of earrings and a beautiful watch as well. What a great husband do I have?
Once we came out, we were with our friends and our sealer came out. We were able to have our picture taken with him. Brother Vance was very gracious and posed with us for pictures.