Update on Humpty Dumpty

Russ fell off the roof 8 days ago and is doing very well. He is still very bruised (big massive dark purple bruises all over his lower back and right hip) swollen and sore but is walking, talking and remembering normally. Phew! His jaw (TMJ) is really sore and he thinks he must have clenched his teeth pretty hard when he fell, in unhappy anticipation of hitting the ground.

People have been super kind to Russ and have had fun teasing him too. He has been called a daredevil, and Humpty Dumpty and more. He has been accused of trying to fly, get out of work, doing the Christmas lights ever again, or just getting attention. He just laughs! He was not laughing when he got the bill for the helicopter ride though... $15,000!!!! Yes, from Gilbert to Scottsdale, at $2,500 a mile and a $2,500 fee on top of that and he doesn't even remember it! 

Our good friend, Rick Neiner, (who also fell off a roof when he was younger) came over 2 days after and took the Christmas lights off the palm tree. Even though he has a serious fear of heights, he was determined to keep Russ on the ground. It worked. 

THANKS RICK!!

On Monday, Olivia and I took treats to the firemen of Firestation 2 and 3 (3 is pictured and they were the first ones on the scene both times) to say thanks for their quick response and much needed assistance. They loved their popcorn and cookies and were glad to get the full update on Russ.

Captain Hellmann was on both calls and was a comfort to me as Russ took off in the helicopter. He is pictured here (on the right) training a new recruit. Alex Ramos, the first person through my front door to help Russ, said that when he asked Russ if he remembered him from the fire at our house on New Years Day, Russ responded. "We had a fire?" His memory was really messed up at that point!

Boy, have we been having fun with his memory loss! Our neighbor told Russ he owes him a million dollars, he just forgot because of his fall. We keep trying to think of all the fun "memories" we could have planted during those confused few hours at the hospital. I am actually 29 and he promised me a new diamond ring right before Christmas.

Rustin also had a lot of fun pestering Russ right after the accident because Russ was too sore to be able to chase him down and pound on him (lovingly) like he normally does.

Last night I heard a new joke that made me laugh so hard. I was describing the scene where I ran outside and got to Russ lying on the ground and how he didn't know what was going on. My friend said, "I bet when he looked up at you he was thinking, 'Please let that be my wife!'"

Another good laugh I got was at Liv's basketball game, when describing the clanging of the ladder that I heard, my friend asked me, "Did it sound kind of like a clatter?" 

When I thought of the words to T'was the Night Before Christmas, it fit so perfectly!

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

Exactly! (except I was in the kitchen, not bed, and sashes are so 1823)

Okay. I hope you got some laughs too! Now I will blog about normal things, like Christmas!


p.s. For all you Koskis out there, the lyrics to the song "Senor Don Gato" have been running around in my head too. Remember that one?

Russ's 911 Emergency!

Yesterday morning, on Jan 5th, at about 7:20 am, I am in the kitchen making Chloe a sandwich and I hear the ladder that Russ uses to put up Christmas lights CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! And even though I have heard this clanging often in my life, this time seemed too loud and too long and worried me, so I ran to the window (as I have done other times when the ladder has dropped or he was just being noisy) and when I looked through the blinds I saw Russ, lying flat on his back, on the cement, not moving. 

He was lying right between the step on the right, and the retaining wall on the left. I grabbed the house phone and ran out the back door and over to where he was. When I got there his eyes were open but he was just staring a blank stare and moaning. 

I called 911 and told them my husband had just fallen off the roof. He had some blood on his teeth which scared me, but he had just bit his tongue. I asked him some questions like, "What is your name?" and "What day is it?" and he didn't know the answers. Freaky! But he did try and tell me he was fine!!!! Ya, Right!

Within 3 minutes, Alex, the same fireman that came to the garbage can fire we had 4 days before, walked through my door. Most of the men on the scene I recognized from the fire. It was kind of strange and yet kind of comforting having these new friends on mine taking care of Russ.

The roof is 10.5 feet high. I measured it.

When I got out there the ladder (pictured below on it's side) was still propped up against the house, right outside the window. I thought it would have fallen or be crooked after the clanging I heard, but it must have been Russ's foot hitting it on the way down, or the giant gardening sheers he had in his hands when he fell. The roof is 10.5 feet high. I measured it.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Don't run with scissors?" How about don't fall off the roof with gardening sheers!" 

(UPDATE: Last night- Jan. 6th- Russ and I realized that he also had taken a leaf rake up on the roof with him that he uses to reach out and grab the palm fronds. I'm sure it is part of the clanging I heard as he fell. It was laying out on the ground where he fell, but I never noticed it.)

Luckily he didn't injure himself with them in the fall. He was very blessed. He could have hit the step, the diving board, landed in the pool, on the retaining wall or on the sheers. Could have got his legs tangled in the ladder, which I'm sure would have led to compound fractures. Ugly, yet... his guardian angels were in top form yesterday and they kept this from being much worse.

It was a very cold and frosty morning yesterday and we are pretty sure (because he doesn't remember going outside to take down the Christmas lights, the fall, or the next few hours) that he probably slipped on the frosty roof, which he didn't expect to be frosty in AZ, right as he was getting off the ladder and on to the roof. All he had left to do was to cut the zip ties holding the lights to the top of the palm tree.

This is how he got the lights up there a few weeks ago. He rented a boom from Home Depot with a friend, Rick Neiner. Russ always does an incredible job with decorating our home for Christmas. We are the only one's I know who light the entire palm tree, fronds and all. He also takes the lights all the way around the entire house and on both stories. This year, using the boom it only took him 30 minutes instead of the usual all day long with the ladder! Oh how I wish he had rented that boom again to take them down!!

That's my boy.

Back to the story: The Paramedics strapped him to a board and put a C-collar on him and took him on a stretcher to the ambulance when it arrived several minutes later. Tess and Rustin were already off to school, Chloe was just heading out the door while all of this happened, and Olivia woke up to me saying, "Olivia, wake up! Dad fell off the roof and I need you to go outside and direct the ambulance people to the back yard by the diving board." She said, "This has been a very strange Christmas!" Amen Sister!  

So, they put Russ in the ambulance and then drove him just around the corner to the park by our home. I somehow got dressed while they were getting him on the gurney, and ran down to the park to see him off on his HELICOPTER RIDE!!! They felt that time was of the essence and didn't want his injured brain and possible spine injuries, getting jostled around in the ambulance all the way to Scottsdale Osborn Trauma Center. 

The paramedics were very concerned about his head injury because, although he did remember his name, he couldn't answer their other questions, and he kept asking them the same questions over and over again. He couldn't remember anything for more than 5 seconds. He was doing this to me when I got to the ambulance and for the next 2 hours. 

It went like this...

R: What happened?

S: You fell off the roof.

R: Why was I on the roof?

S: You were taking down the Christmas lights

R: Oh. Dang it! (then he'd clench his fists and get so mad at himself)

five seconds later...

R: What happened?

S: You fell off the roof.

R: Why was I on the roof?

S: You were taking down the Christmas lights.

R: Oh. Dang it! (then he'd clench his fists and get so mad at himself)

ten seconds later...

R: What happened?

At first, and for a LONG time, he just kept wanting to know what was going on. I kept thinking each time that maybe THAT time he would remember my answer, but a few minutes later, he would ask it again. It was a little unsettling to say the least. It was cute how he really wanted to know what was going on, and as soon as he forgot why he was on the stretcher, he asked again. Apparently, he forgot a lot!

Later, in the hospital, the questions changed and got more intermediate... yet still were repeated over and over...

R: What day is it?

S: Wednesday, Jan. 5th. 

R: Whoa. (he always was surprised at this answer like he was expecting me to say something totally different).

R: What time is it? Is it morning or night?

S: It's morning

R: What time did this happen? 

S: 7:20 am.

Then after all that finally sunk in, he got more serious...

R: Do we have insurance?

S: Yes

R: Is it up to date?

S: Yes

R: Is is really good insurance?

S: (Lying) Yes.

I was never really sure what he remembered or understood. So every once in a while I would reassure him about what was going on and that he would be ok. He always just said, I know. He wasn't worried about himself, just about our big deductible. We also have to pay our home owner insurance deductible from the fire. ICK!!

Olivia is holding up the shirt Russ wore that morning that was cut off, along with two layers under it, by the paramedics so they could examine him. The kids were so shocked they would just cut his perfectly good clothes off of him. 

So, the first thing Russ remembers from all of this is when our Bishop (Steve Budge- a friend of Russ's from high school in Idaho) and our Stake President (Kevin Ballard- lives in our neighborhood) came into his room to give him a blessing. When I told him that Bishop was out in the waiting room and wanted to come see him, he teared up and bit his lip (which he does when he is trying not to cry. He does it a lot!)

Their blessing was amazing and we know that Russ was protected by angels that morning who helped this not to be a traumatic experience for him or his family. He is so loved.  Funny thing is, as soon as the blessing was over, he forgot what Bishop had said, so we kept telling him again and again later that morning. He remembers everyone that came to see him (Dolan Hall, Dave Blaser, Sean Stapley, Shauna and Brian Gallman, Kami Tilby, Steve Despain, Michelle Budge, Bishop and Stake Pres.) but he doesn't remember any conversations or that Sean Stapley was helping him stretch out his legs etc. I really thought he was retaining stuff by the end because he wasn't asking the same questions over and over but he still wasn't "all there" yet. 

The nurse, Jill, who I adore, told us that all his tests came back negative. They had given him CT scans from his head to his knees while I was driving over to the hospital (30 min. in rush hour traffic). 

We couldn't believe it!!! 

No broken bones!!! 

No serious head injury!!!! 

A miracle!!!!

This is the disposable scrubs they let him wear home from the hospital since his clothes were all cut up. So cute! 

Before they could release him, they had to make sure he could walk. This is where I start to lose it. I had been calm and fine this whole time. Just trying to make sure Russ is okay kept me calm. But when he sat up I got a look at the angry red bump on his head, it wasn't huge, but it bothered me, then when he stood up and almost collapsed from pain in his lower back, hip and rear, I really didn't like that. We already figured he didn't land on his head (that would have been really ugly) and when he sat up he realized he had landed on his right, hip/lower back, then hit his elbow and head. He has such a high tolerance for pain, I knew if he couldn't even take more than 3 painful baby steps, he was REALLY hurting. I started feeling dizzy and hot and sick to my stomach, I had not eaten anything all morning. Luckily, Sean saw that I was pale as a ghost and got the nurse to take care of me after Russ lay back down. I have never been so happy to drink a Coke in all my life!!!

They gave up on the first try and gave Russ anti- inflammatory meds and pain killers and we waited about 40 minutes. By then he was feeling better and they tried again. He did very well. Walked about 6 steps and then put him back in bed. This long journey and the pain meds on an empty stomach, however, made him sick. Also, the spot on his arm where the IV had been, started bleeding like crazy and we didn't notice until there was a big puddle of blood on the bed. This time it was Russ who went pale and got nauseous. Poor guy. He had been all ready to go. We just waited until that passed, got the blood cleaned up, had some more visitors and then headed out. 

It was so nice to wheel him out in the waiting room and see 6 of our dear friends there waiting for us. I was surprised by the crowd. They all walked him to the car and then he stood up and  walked to each person and gave big hugs and lots of thank you's. He was laughing and happy and so grateful for their love and support. It was a great scene of love and friendship. 

A little before noon, I drove him home and he made it to the couch where he stayed for many hours and received more visitors. Brooke, and Bree Sampson came and they had driven all the way to the hospital but barely missed us!

Mandy Stewart came too. She was teasing Russ that she had just told him the night before, when she say him up on the roof taking down the last of the house lights, DON'T FALL! Russ just doesn't listen.

This is him lounging around this morning. Yesterday he was NOT sitting up!! Only lying on his side. He is feeling better in some ways and worse in others today, but still knows who he is! :)

Russ eventually headed upstairs to bed (that was scary but he made it) to be more comfy and there was a steady stream of visitors all afternoon, then more in the evening. Olivia made him a card at school and her whole class made one really big one. Karli, our neighbor, who adores Russ made him a card too. Brooke and her mom Traci made him cookies. The Gallmans' brought us lunch from Flancers (yum!), plus there was dinner, dessert, lots of goodies and treats, lots of teasing and funny cards dropped by.

His phone was ringing off the hook with calls and texts and emails too. I got 30 comments on my facebook profile wishing him well and teasing him too. 

From Kami Tilby, "The next time you get an urge to crack something open, try pistachios instead of your head." 

He was in very good humor about everything and took it all in stride.

Then after the last of our amazing friends left and I was rubbing Russ's sore shoulders, he scared me to death when out of nowhere he asked...

"What was I doing up on the roof?"

He was joking buy my heart skipped a beat! Good thing he was hurt or I might have hurt him for scaring me like that!!!!!!!!!! We had a good laugh and then went to sleep. I had to set a time for every two hours and wake him up (doctor's orders) every two hours and make sure he was ok and recognized me. The first time, I said...

S: What is my name?

R: June- haha!

Second time...

S: Who am I

R: John- haha!

Third time...

S: What is my name?

R: What is MY name??? Hahaha. 

Glad to have my hubby back! I love that guy! 

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, help with the children, dinners, cards, offers to help and everything! You are such wonderful people. Shauna Gallman is right,

"Heaven is LOVE."  

To see the riveting article in the paper about his accident go to:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2011/01/05/20110105gilbert-man-falls-from-roof-abrk.html

 On the same day, in a different paper, our fireworks fire was mentioned in an article too:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_efcaba26-1847-11e0-8787-001cc4c002e0.html

That has to be some kind of a record. Oh, his accident was on the news too. I haven't seen it though.

P.S. A few hours after we got home from the hospital, the insurance adjuster came to the house to check out the damage from the fire. Fun fun!

New Year' s FIRE!!!

On New Year's morning, around 8 am, our neighbor (Nancy Cramsy- who I had never met before, but am forever grateful too) was out jogging and saw smoke, and a fire, next to our house and came and rang the doorbell about 10 times until Russ answered.

She said, "There is a fire next to your house!!!" Russ ran out there and sure enough, the garbage can that was holding our burnt out (or so we thought) fireworks from the night before, had burst into flame and completely burned to the ground along with everything in it!

Our blue recycling bin (like the one pictured above) was sitting right next to the black garbage can (same kind, different color) and also was completely incinerated. They were both stuffed to the brim, now they are GONE! Just a puddle of blue with some ashes and bottles (from the yummy Sprecher Soda the Stewarts sent us) and cans. Russ put out the flames with the hose and told Olivia and Chloe to go wake me up. Oh- It was the morning of Olivia's sleep over and we had 5 of her friends still at the house, all tucked in their sleeping bags, watching a movie and wondering why the house smelled like smoke.

Our wall does not usually have these pink scorch marks. I think it is from chemical smoke coming from the A/C unit as it burned. 

So... the girls come upstairs in my room and start hollering about smoke and I am half asleep and keep telling them to shhhhhhhh so they don't wake up daddy. They try and tell me it doesn't matter and I need to get up, but I shhhhh them again. Finally they yell, "Dad is awake! There has been a fire! Get up!" I flew out of bed and grabbed my bathrobe and went outside (in the FREEEEEEZING cold weather- seriously it has been in the low 30's!!!!) and there is Russ, hosing down the ashes and the side of our house. He says the fireworks must not have been out all the way, even though we stomped on them and broke the big ones apart. They re-lit or spontaneously combusted in the early morning and were still going when he got out there. He was NOT happy! 

To make matters worse, the fire had reached all the way up to his Christmas lights and melted/exploded three of them right on the strand. I called 911 and those wonderful Gilbert Fire Fighters came and checked out the house. Of course they brought 3 fire trucks and a cop car!!! Lights and sirens and everything!! Embarrassing!! The cop was so nice. Her name was Tara (and then a long Russian sounding last name) and she made Olivia's day. She was showing them her cool pepper spray and other equipment and telling the girls (who were all evacuated from the house and standing in the front yard wrapped in blankets) how they will have the coolest answer to the question, "What did you do on your Christmas vacation?" when they get back to school! 

This gate used to have wood slats in every one of those empty spaces. Now they are all burnt and gone except the top left charred piece, still hanging on. The other door of the gate is totally fine. Crazy. Other damage was, the tire to the trailer (which you see propped next to the ashes) the closest A/C unit, possibly the other one too. The wiring to the A/C unit, christmas lights, our tether ball pole tire, a bag of fertilizer, our rope golf game that Russ and Randy made years ago, and 

a nice black/gray scorch mark all up the side of the house.  Do you see the gray shadow right up behind the skeleton of a gate. (Russ put chicken wire behind it so the dogs can't get out). You can also see a bit of the other perfectly unharmed half of the RV gate.

The firemen had a cool sensor that they held at all different places outside, inside the garage, and in the attic that detects any hot spots or smoke. After about 30 minutes they decided there was no fires anywhere inside our walls or attic. PHEW!!!!! Thank you NANCY! Thank you Lord for Nancy and small miracles. The firemen also said that if the fire had decided to start in the middle of the night, when no one was out jogging, it very easily could have gone up into the vents above the scorch marks and caught the attic on fire pretty quickly, then we would have had a real big problem on our hands! Phew!

So, it was our first year with fireworks in AZ, hopefully it won't be our last. We definitely learned our lesson!!!

Olivia turns ELEVEN!!

My baby is now an Eleven year old! Where does the time go? Here she is with the only RAT cake I have ever seen in my life! 

The cake was designed and made by "Spiffy Cakes" owners and designers, Hailey Kasofsky and Tess Crawford. Hailey is wearing her new chef coat that she and Tess got for Christmas, complete with personalized embroidery. 

They really outdid themselves with this amazing Rat made out of rice crispy treats. Tess sculpted and decorated it to look just like Olivia's real life, pet rat, Carmel.

The cake also had the number "11", our dog Jasper, Olivia diving into water, her new electric scooter, a basketball, and jumbo sour patch kids (sprinkled with sour powder).

 Olivia invited 11 girls over for a new years eve, birthday, slumber party. Fun was had by all! Here we are playing Ninja!

She had to buy the biggest pinata in all of Party City and fill it with tons of candy!

One of our activities was letting the girls do face painting on each other. Some had fun getting revenge on their partners, like Rainen and Eden. 

Shaylee and Sophie look like they are suffocating and sunburned, but it is really a giant flower and heart.

Olivia and Anika love rats and horses.

Kiera and Olivia were kind to each other and did their hair too in these "Hair bows."

Opening presents!!

Anika got Olivia AND Carmel a present. A rat carrier! Now I have to take Olivia's rat to school when I go pick her up in the afternoons. I guess it's better than carrying her on my shoulder, which I have done before.

Carmel likes the present and the replica of her on the cake! Great job Tess!

The Gallmans always go BIG with presents (like the kayak they got us for Christmas!). Olivia and Shaylee got Olivia this huge ball and it entertained the whole party for HOURS!!! THANK YOU!!!

Olivia and rice crispy Carmel after blowing out her candles. So cute!

Party girls enjoying their cake and candy!!

At midnight we went outside and lit off fireworks. They are finally LEGAL in AZ!!! This is the first fireworks show we have ever had at our house. More to come on how well that turned out in my next post....

Rainen and Eden all bundled up. It was one of the COLDEST nights I have ever had in Arizona!!

Blasted fireworks!!!!

All done.... time to clean up the fireworks and throw them in the trash.

Olivia is the perfect addition to our family!

We couldn't have asked for a better ending!

Or a more entertaining little animal lover and dare devil!

Love you baby and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tess is 17!!!!

Just a few days before Tess turned 17 (on Dec. 11th, which was her due date btw.) she went to her first school dance, the Winter Formal with Harrison Jones. More pictures to come when I get them...

 Getting ready!

 All set to go! Isn't she beautiful? Thanks Audrey for hemming her dress last minute!

Dec. 14th, the big day! She wanted a ukele for her birthday and ordered it herself, SURPRISE!!

Cake making and decorating supplies for my favorite baker!

 After only a few weeks she taught herself at least 6 songs and we sang along to some of them on Christmas eve. She learns very fast and practices a lot in her room, or out in the garage in the Suburban, so we can't hear her singing along.

 We went out for dinner with family and friends to Macaroni Grill. YUM!! For her b-day party, Hailey's dad drove them up to play in the snow a few weeks later, right after a BIG storm. Brrrr!!!

 Tess with best friend and baker, Hailey, and good buddy and Lacrosse player, Taylor.

 Did Tess make herself a big fancy, spiffy cake for her birthday??? NO. She wanted an ice cream cake instead. That's alright by me!!

Tess sure has grown up! 

 We love our little Queen!

 Happy Birthday darling daughter.

So glad you are part of our family!!