This week Taylor went in for surgery on Thursday to replace the battery on his VNS.  It has been 4 years next week since he had this done last.  He got it implanted when Robyn was born 8 years ago when despite maxing out medications he was still having seizures 40-50 times a day or sometimes he would just stay in an epileptic state for a day or two at a time.  It was no way to live.  The VNS has not stopped his seizures but having 1-3 seizures a day is a very manageable amount.  The photo above is right after they got his IV in - it was not an easy process and he managed to pull the first one out with his fingertips.  He is a sneaky strong little guy especially when he has to skip breakfast.  But the surgery went great, the leads were all intact and working so they just had to swap out the batteries.  The only tough part was that his body temperature plummeted to 90 degrees during surgery and despite all the heat lamps blaring away they could not get him warm during surgery.  After they had him swaddled in hot blankets that they kept changing out.  Between all the drugs and warm sheets he was a little wasted.  But after a few hours he got up to almost 97 degrees and was able to come home.  So it wasn't too bad of a day.  Left at 6:30 am and back at 4.  And the nurses gave me great ideas on how to stop the pressure sore forming on one of his hips.

Friday he spent recuperating.  He went for a walk, took a bunch of drugs, ate chocolate whole milk and cookie for lunch and had a massage from his therapist in front of the fireplace.  I think he felt quite pampered.  He isn't quite all the way back up to snuff but seems to be doing pretty good now.  And we were worried about the affects of anesthesia on his digestive system.  Our prayers were answered and this weekend the poop smell jokes have abounded around here.  Thank you to everyone who prayed on his behalf.


This week Allison went to BYU for the regional science fair.  I had the pleasure of driving these little ladies who did awesome.  They loved feeling all grown-up and hanging out at the creamery while the judges picked the winners.  That night at the awards ceremony Allison and her partner Samantha came in second in Computers and Engineering and won the Humanitarian award.  They were very excited.  Their project was what blades work best on wind turbines.

The night worked out well because at the same school as the award ceremony was Spencer's volleyball game.  So we split the night between the two kids (and getting Robyn from dance class - it was a busy night).  We were cheering for Spencer because for the first time ever he figured out how to serve and never missed all night.  Huge self esteem boost for him.  I don't think he ever got it over the net before and they never allowed him to serve during a game.

Spencer went out to practice backpacking with the teachers this weekend.  He was feeling very self sufficient that he could cook an MRE over a backpacking stove by himself.  Allison had play practice and a party.  So Robyn decided to have some friends over for pizza and we got to enjoy visiting their parents.  Our date nights are getting harder to squeeze in so we are trying to be more creative.


Saturday night I got to go to the women's broadcast with my two girls.  Jeremy snapped a few photos for his mission along the way.

We were lucky that my sister-in-law Kelly and daughter Kayla were able to join us.  I am not sure how much my daughters got out of it but I spent most of the time choked up and bursting with joy that I get to be a mom to these two girls.  That joy abated a little bit as we grabbed our neighbor and daughter and we all went out for a monster cookie (huge cookie with ice cream and whipped cream).  Robyn went into full on pout mode over that fact that she was having to share her cookie.  Evidently she can eat a lot of dessert, more than anyone else and did not want to share.   Since she couldn't finish her portion the evening ended with smiles and she gleefully went home with Kayla for an impromptu cousin sleep over.

With Robyn gone our house seems very quiet.  Taylor is happy in his bean bag with the fire place going inside and the storm blowing outside.