June/July update

My last post was a long time ago. Two months and so many things have happened. May found us really busy, as I said before it's our month of everything.

The most significant thing that happened in May was the passing of Joe's mom. We got a call on May 23rd saying that Sally was in the hospital. She had found a lump in her throat and was getting it tested. She was admitted to the hospital that night. She was diagnosed with a very aggressive tumor, Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer.

It was VERY aggressive. On Wednesday the 25Th we received a call that mom was getting a tracheotomy done and if we wanted to be with her and hear her speak again, we should get there ASAP. We made a split second decision to go to Utah to be with family. We left that night around 10pm so we could be in Utah before her scheduled surgery of 2pm. We didn't make it. As we were traveling through Montana about 70 miles outside of Missula, our tire blew out. It was 1:00 in the morning I was driving and it was scary. I pulled over and we proceeded to change the tire only to realize that the spare was flat. Then we discovered that the hazard lights had drained our battery and the car wouldn't start. Thankfully a truck driver pulled over and helped us. He was able to give us a jump and we were able to drive on the flat donut tire to the nearest little town and fill it with air. That got us to Missula where we decided that we would get a hotel for a couple of hours and sleep.  This whole thing took about 3 of our precious hours.  It was rough. We really wanted to be there for Joe's mom. We found out though that we wouldn't have made it regardless because they moved Sally's surgery to 10am.

Joe was able to talk to his mom that morning for a few minutes before she went in for the trach.  He had a nice conversation with her but was so tired it didn't last nearly long enough.  We ended up sleeping for 5 hours and then getting new tires. What should have been a 13 hour trip ended up taking over 24 hours.  Even though it was a long journey down there it was very worth the effort. Joe was able to stay with his mom Friday night.  He had a good experience with her and will always remember that night. As I said before, it was very aggressive. Sally passed away one week after her diagnosis. It was hard. I'm so thankful that we had the means to go though. It was nice seeing all of the family. Every brother and sister was able to be there. It had been a long time since that happened.

The circumstances were tragic but being with everyone that we love was a blessing. Mom was surrounded by everyone the day she passed. All 9 kids and many of the grand kids, and even great grand kids. It was a very spiritual experience. Her memorial service was June 4Th and then we had her burial on Monday the 6Th.

After the memorial service we started the journey home. Thankfully it didn't take us as long. Nine hours from Logan Utah where mom was buried. For the most part the kids traveled pretty well. There was minimal fighting and arguing. It's not a trip I want to make again for a long time.

Once we got home life settled into our routine again. The kids had one week of school left. It was a happy/sad week for them. They were glad they didn't miss all of the fun end of school stuff but sad they had to go to school at all. June pretty much went by with out anything significant. We worked and the kids started summer vacation. June quickly turned into July. We decided that we would have to do some small summer fun stuff since Joe and I both used vacation time for Utah. For the 4th we had family over and had dinner and fireworks. Joe went a little crazy with his purchases so we had a pretty good show. We also went to Silverwood for the day on the 9th. That was lots of fun. It wasn't the warmest day but we spent a good 3 hours in the water park and then headed to the carnival rides. It was a good day. We also had a new member of the family join us on the 1st of July. Brent Jameson Woodard was born to Bryan and Rachel. The cutest baby ever! He looks just like his brothers.

That brings us to now, the middle of July. I can't believe how fast this year is going. Before we know it, it will be December again and we will all be posting about Christmas. I will try to do better, but let's face it I probably won't. ;-) This really is more of a journal for me anyway. Hope you all have a good summer.