The Drew Israelsen Family

We took full advantage of the beautiful snow storms we have had the past week and headed for the cabin. Lena and Rob love going to the cabin and love when we can get out and go for a snowmobile ride.

Robert had a great time with Adam and Carson and I really enjoyed getting to spend some one on one time with Melissa!

Drew took Stacey and I for a ride up the hill in the sled and lets just say it was bumpy, snowy and FUN!

The boys finally talked Uncle Chad and Thom into taking a cruise in the sled and thought the most fun was hanging on the back of the sled to see how far they could get, Rob, Landon and Tanner all made it succesfully up to the meadow and back down without letting go....they were so proud.

Drew, Chad and Thom went for a ride on Saturday and except for the fact that the trail sled was Thom's only option they seemed to have a really good time.

I love spending time at the cabin and I am glad I gave up to my fears about going(because my dad was in the hospital) and went to enjoy a great weekend with the family!

This is just an update on my dad. He keeps improving a little everyday. He is still unable to stand but they did manage to get him out of bed yesterday so he could sit in a chair for a while. The speech therapist is confident that he will be able to get his speech back to normal. He gets pretty frustrated when he is talking. He also was able to start keeping food down and was very excited that they let him have orange juice. The hemorrhage has not changed in size it is still holding at a 2.5 cm but the density has decreased which is good. They checked his heart and his enzyme levels were elevated which shows a heart attack but the main arteries going into the heart looked OK. I am going down tonight to take a turn at the hospital so Jan can go home and get some sleep. He has got a little of his sense of humor back which is great to see! Thanks to everyone for the support, phone calls and prayers.

Once again I am asking for prayers for my dad. He was taken again today by life flight because he had a stroke. They told us tonight that if he can survive the next 3 to 5 days he has a good chance. It is really hard seeing a parent in this condition. The hardest thing was being in the room when they are asking them if they want to be resuscitated, if they wish to be on life support and if they wish to donate their organs. It has been an extremely long night and I find that I can't get to sleep because I am worried that the phone will ring. Please pray for my dad and wish for the best.

Marty was nice enough to let us use one day of his weekend at the cabin. We took full advantage of it and went up just the 4 of us! Marty and Drew were able to go for a ride before they left. The kids all loved playing with each other for a little while. We spent the night playing dominoes, watching movies, making snow angels and just enjoying being with each other. It was very peaceful and unbelievable how well our two kids played together without any outside influence! The only bad thing that happened was Drew was stopped by the RANGER for giving one of Marty's kids a ride to the parking lot because she wasn't feeling well and ticketed for no helmet. The ranger was extremely rude to them and good old Marty took the ticket since it was his kids. So lesson learned when there is a sting going on in Franklin basin ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET!

Lena took interest in the computer last week and won't let you turn it off now, so she has officially inherited the lap top. For three years old she amazes me! I found some great learning games for her age on the fisher price web site. She can sing the alphabet like a pro, tell you almost every shape, and loves working with the colors. She even has no problem using the mouse on the lap top which is awesome because that took me like a month to get used to!

Drew came home from work yesterday with a big surprise for the kids. He went and did a service call and the guy had a couple of power wheels setting on a trailer, so Drew being Drew asked what he was doing with them. Sure enough the guy ended up giving them to us. A pink one for Lena and a red one for Rob. THEY LOVE THEM!!! I think they will really enjoy them this summer. (Lena was obviously having a bad hair day yesterday!)