Picture Time!

Hello again! We're sorry we didn't supply you all with photos of Grandma's recovery, but I'm here right now to make up for it. There's not too much to say, so I'll just tell you what each photo is about and you'll get an idea of how Grandma's doing and what we're up to down here ;)

Here's Dad and Garrett looking at good ol' smoggy Burbank! It was so nice for them to come down and visit us last weekend! We were so sad to see them leave us (again!), but hopefully early next week we'll reunite with them once again... at home!

This is Grandma's house (the white one) with her dear neighbors that always do what they can to help her right next door in the green house. Garrett and I have known them all our lives, because when we were small and lived at Grandma's house, we would play with their two girls after school sometimes.





This is the walking/bike trail (I know our friends at home are probably laughing if I'm calling this a "trail") that is very happily situated at the end of Grandma's street. The guys brought two of our bikes down last weekend so Mom and I could ride them out on the "trail". It is a very leisurely ride and I love riding my bike, so this is perfect for me! The path is probably about 6 miles long, or longer. This path used to be railroad tracks, but they hadn't been used since I was about 3 years old, so Burbank made the tracks into a walking path about two years ago or so.





We took this while Grandma was in the hospital. This is The Walt Disney Co. The only reason I took these two pictures was to show you sculpturing of the "seven dwarves" that help hold up the building.





Here's a clearer shot of the dwarves...





Here's a picture of Grandma after surgery! This was the first picture she even allowed Mom or I to take. The pillow on her chest was to help relieve the pain of the incision... You know, heart pillow / heart surgery? Ha ha... sorry, that's probably not too funny. Oh, and sorry about our nighties!





Here we are at our favorite Italian deli, Monte Carlo. Grandma has been going there since she moved to Burbank probably 50 years ago! They make an awesome fresh Parmesan cheese blend! You really must try it! :)





Oh... yum... not to mention their delicious, succulent, tasty, mouth watering Gelato... YUM! ;)





Universal Studios... yes, we actually went. Grandma wanted to take Mom and I out, so we decided to go to the Universal Studios City Walk. It was fun and I bought a souvenir and a new headband. :)





The famous spinning ball... we had to get a picture of that! ;)





Just along City Walk... They also had a Dodger fan shop, which was interesting. :) It was fun to just walk around and see all the different little stores and shops.





Hard Rock Cafe.... We thought the huge guitar was neat :)





There's a nice ending photo :) That's my cute little cousin, Alicia. She LOVES dressing up and having her nails painted, so we did both when we babysat her for my Aunt Diane. She was absolutely ecstatic to paint my nails... or was it my whole hand? (I gave in to her puppy dog eyes, but as soon as she got picked up to go home, off went the nail polish!) :)

On another note, before I sign off, Grandma's been doing a lot better and we're doing last minute clean-up that she needs done before we go home next week. Hopefully our next post will take place in Oakhurst!

The Wild Side of Burbank ;)

Hello everyone! Some interesting events have taken place in the last week...

Last Saturday night (24th of Feb.), Mom had to take Grandma back to the emergency room due to atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) which kept her in the hospital throughout the next day. She came home (again) Sunday evening and things got even harder after that. They gave her too much medication and her heartrate continued to drop into the 40's at times which kept Mom monitoring her through doctors and nurses on the phone and waiting for the drugs to begin to come out of her system. She is still seeing the effects of this but it is beginning to get much better now. She is getting help from nurses visiting the home and believes that the worst is over as far as that goes. Now the medication needs to be adjusted to her body and things should get easier after that. All in all, things are going well, considering the seriousness of the surgery and recovery stages. Thank you to all who are praying and continue to lift Grandma up in prayer.

Now jumping back to the 24th when Mom, Aunt Diane, and I started getting Grandma out the door to go to the hospital that night, Aunt Diane told us that something weird was going on at the end of the street (about 6 or 8 houses down from Grandma's house on the left) and to just ignore it. As Mom was helping Grandma into the Land Cruiser, the situation at the end of the street got louder and more violent. We saw now that there was a girl in the driver's seat in a dark SUV and man on the sidewalk (and maybe another person in the car with the girl, it was too dark to tell). At first Aunt Diane thought it was an accident and they were just angry, but then she concluded that it wasn't an accident, but something else. It was a very heated argument (or whatever it was) and the guy and girl were yelling and screaming at the other like there was no tomorrow. The guy started throwing things at the car and yelling at the top of his lungs. I was already inside the doorway holding the screen door for my Aunt Diane when my Aunt Debbie and cousin Richard pulled up. Aunt Diane hurried Richard inside (he was to keep me company while Aunt Debbie and my Mom took Grandma to the hospital) and told Mom to leave as the SUV and the guy on the street pulled up in front of Grandma's house. Aunt Diane pushed me into the house and locked the door as Mom took off with Grandma and Aunt Debbie. I was very nervous and wondered why they decided to pull up in front of our house! Luckily, my Aunt Diane kept telling me that she's been involved in worse situations and that this was very minor. Well, to my innocent mind I thought that it couldn't get any worse than it already was! The screaming and yelling increased, and it started getting more aggressive. My Aunt Diane saw that it was probably a good time to call 911. Five minutes after she ended her call with 911 and the police were on their way over, the SUV took off and left. We had no idea where the guy went off to or if he jumped into the car. After they left, my Aunt Diane called 911 back and told them what happened and that the threat was gone. Five minutes after that phone call, my Aunt Diane saw that it was probably safe enough to leave (She lives in Simi Valley, and she was only in Burbank to get together with her friends at a restaurant down here). As she got in the car, the police pulled up to our house and stopped her. She explained everything to them and at last was allowed to leave. She called on her cell phone after that to tell me what was going on and that the police would stay in the area to make sure nothing abnormal was going on in the neighborhood. I was relieved to know that they would stick around for a while, so Richard and I relaxed and played some games and watched a video.

I do have to admit I was thoroughly shook up and listened for any strange sounds outside. But in the end, I calmed myself knowing that God had his hand over this house and was keeping us safe. I also felt better after talking with Dad on the phone and asking for him and Garrett to pray for our safety and for the Lord to have His hand on the hospital group in Hollywood.

Mom and Aunt Debbie didn't come back until 11:30 that night. The doctor decided to keep Grandma overnight to regulate her heart rate and to administer any medications that would help her.

I believe it was two days after Grandma came home from the emergency room that Richard and Derek decided to come over and spend time with me while Mom and Grandma took naps in the other rooms. It was very nice to spend time with them and catch up on each other. Garrett and I used to spend every free weekend after school with them or during a school break, so moving up to Oakhurst has split the foursome for a time until we get together on our Burbank trips and holidays ;)

A couple days ago Aunt Debbie, Mom, and Grandma went to the hospital at 9:30am for her regular check-up with her cardiologist. While they were gone, Richard and I stayed at Grandma's house to spend time with each other playing games, cleaning up the house, and preparing meatloaf and veggies for dinner. When they came home, everyone was relieved because her doctor confirmed that she was being severely over-medicated, and took away half of her medications. She is slowly losing the toxic effects in her body. So she is down to only two heart medications instead of five, which is a great relief to Grandma and my Mom. This will probably help decrease her daily nausea.

We'll give you more updates letting you know everything that's going on. Thank you for reading and keeping us in your prayers! God bless you all.