The Drew Israelsen 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!)

The boys had another successful trip of fishing. Drew snagged himself a nice bass and Rob was so proud to get his picture taken with it!(it looks alot bigger with Rob holding it than with Drew.) Hara and Rob were exhausted from waking up at the crack of dawn so they caught some z's on the way home!

I snapped these of my two favorite guys before one of there most recent fishing journeys! I am so thankful for Drew and that he takes the time to really build a relationship with his son!

Happy third birthday Lena!!! I love this girl so much. When Lena was two weeks old she gave us quit a scare and stopped breathing on us. Luckily I had a great neighbor and first responders that were awesome. I can honestly say I have NEVER been so scared in my life. The thought of losing a child is aweful so my heart goes out to any one and everyone who has ever had to experience it. That day when we took her into her the nurse looked at her and looked at us and said well she is SMALL BUT MIGHTY!!! I have never heard something that describes Lena better than that. She brings so much joy to our house and has really begun to get a funny sense of humor. She loves putting on a show for her dad and I and really loves it when Rob thinks it is funny as well. Her latest and greatest is her butt dance and if you can really get her to do it she puts in her dad's neck dance and tongue with it....it is a riot! The trick is trying to get her to do it on command...doesn't happen very often.

Lena got a new dress for her birthday today from Grandma Taylor so I decided to dress the kids up and snap a few shots of them....These were actually my favorites and they are priceless. And of course every good photo session has to end with the smart face pose right?!

Robert is HOOKED. Drew has been taking Robert ice fishing and he loves it. The first trip Robert came back in wet from knees to toes. I asked him what happened and he said dad and uncle Chad pushed him in the hole when he was trying to fish. I asked the big boys about this and they laughed...I guess what REALLY happened was Robert thought he could put his ice chips back on top of his hole and stand on it and from his wet pants I guess he figured out that didn't work. The second trip was more successful they even caught fish this time (that is how Robert describes it). It is his new favorite and Robert can't wait until their next adventure.