2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Blake surprised us by coming in to town last night instead of coming this morning, so we were able to have a fun filled day. First we decorated cookies, Bridger made a “how to” video for you all just in case you need more sugar, we launched a Mentos and Coke geyser, and followed by throwing the baseball around. Later in the day we did some relay races, for one of which we balanced eyeball gumballs on spoons held in our mouths. We also ate doughnuts off of a dangling string with out using our hands, shot silly string and then Bridger rode his bike for at least an hour. He had so much fun all day he had a smile from ear to ear. We had a short break for dinner and then got his costume on. We headed out to trick or treat around 7:15. He made it to two trailers then he dropped his bucket, shield, took off his helmet and said “I’m too tired to trick or treat”. He left all of his stuff in the road and asked his dad to carry him. So Blake carried him for two more stops and then he tried to get him to stand one more time. He wouldn’t have it. We were back to our trailer, gave him his medicine, put his PJ’s on and he was fast asleep by 7:45. What a day. (still working on the video)

Coke geyser


On your marks get set... Doughnuts anyone? Trick or Treat? He is done. really done.

Yesterday was one of those perfect fall days. (As fall as you get in TX) I woke up wanting to snuggle with Bridger because it was so cold. This was a welcome change form the sauna like weather we have been having. I love when the seasons change. The air was crisp and cool with a slight breeze. The sun was shining but a light jacket was needed. We played for hours out side chasing butterflies, seeing how close we could get to the squirrels, and looked in under and around everything looking for spider webs. We had a great time the weather was perfect.

Today we got great news that starting next Monday they will lower Bridger’s dose of Gen graft. It is the medicine that keeps him form getting Graft VS Host disease. He is doing very well. We will just have to watch his skin very closely for any new rashes or anything out of the normal, and his bowels as well. We hope he will do just fine coming off of it. We have no reason to think he won’t. This is all very good news most kids stay on the med for six months (we may too just in a lower dose) and some don’t ever come off of it from what I understand. We another happy thing about today is we got a package form our donor. She sent letters, a bunch of Lighting McQueen stuff. Her 6 year old daughter drew a great picture for Bridger and she sent an angel pin it has a quote about being a special healing angel…. Bridger wanted to put it on right away and wore it all day long in the middle of his color in his t-shirt. He must have for got he was wearing it because later in the evening when he looked in the mirror he grabbed it and then he said in a relived voice “Oh good it’s still here, I just love it”! It was too cute. Bridger got sick this afternoon. By dinner he was feeling much better and ate two peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

Above is the angel pin he obviously loves and below he thought he was so funny putting a hand wipe on his head. He giggled and giggled over it.

Friday was Bridger’s 6th Birthday! He was so excited when he woke up and found streamers in his door way and all over the ceiling. He wanted his presents but I had them hid because we weren’t having the party until later when his dad came and I thought it would be too much of a temptation. It didn’t take him long to find his presents. Bridger, like a good boy told me he saw them with out peaking in the bags or opening them. We let him open one of his presents first thing. It was a new pair of running shoes he didn’t take them off all day. We displayed the rest of the presents out on the table and he didn’t even ask to open them all day. Later about 4:00 we where saved with presents from Grandma Dar (my Mom). We played out side with the new bow-n-arrow for a long time. Blake got held up at work and so we didn’t end up having the party until 7:00 pm. Finally, when he got here it was party time. We broke out the nurf swords and I honestly think we could have stopped there Bridger was so happy. They played swords for at minimum 30 min. and then we opened the rest of the presents. His big gift was a play castle with a catapult, he loves it. My favorite part about birthdays is making the cake, I’m not great at it but I think it is fun. It was a great day.

Saturday we played all morning with his toys. I can’t believe he is so strong with the sword; I have to really be on guard. He loves all his toys. Later we went to the Houston temple, Doyleen had never seen it. Then we watched a disappointing BYU football game.

Sunday I tried to find the local branch to go to church. I followed my GPS and couldn’t find it. I said a little prayer and turned the car around and out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign that said “The church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints institute of religion”. I had missed it because I was looking for a small church building, but instead found a two story pink house with white trim that was set back from the road. I drove down a dirt path I wasn’t quite sure was a road and found 4 or 5 other cars to park by. Once inside, I realized I had missed the sacrament but found a seat in the crowded little room of folding chairs and was touched by the spirit as I listened to the talks. After words I coordinated with the Elders quorum president to bring us the sacrament. Later at home we gave Bridger his primary lesson then they came to give us the sacrament. As soon as the prayer began I had a strong confirmation of the spirit come over me that this is Jesus Christ’s church. The spirit was strong and I felt blessed to have the sacrament, it has been way to long.

I know this is a long post but I have to give my thanks. I have seen the hand of God in our lives on a daily basis through this trying time. I have felt more love and blessings come than ever before. The people here in the RV center are all so kind. Fred the man that helped with his bike gave him a toy forklift on his birthday; others want to know if he has any diet restrictions so they can give him something on Halloween. How blessed we are to be living here right now. His primary class from church made a CD of songs for him and A DVD with ALL the kids singing wishing him a happy Birthday and talking to him one on one, along with some other things. He loved it all and it brought tears of joy to my eyes. The Woodfields always know what we need, even people form Blake’s work have been supportive along with countless of others. Thank you all so much. We have to many blessings to count.

One more thing at our appointment this morning Bridger had his Dr. appointment and he is a little dehydrated and lost a pound so we are on intake duty. He is ok other than a couple of headaches.


waiting for Dad's arrival.


The Cake (it is supposed to be a shield)





sword play



One happy boy!

We are ½ way done! We only have 50 more days in Houston if all goes as well as the first 50 days. When I realized what day it was I was getting Bridger’s PJ’s on him and I started jumping up and down on the bed yelling “Only 50 more days”! He smiled, giggled and probably thought my mom is crazy. I can’t believe we are half way done. We have come so far in the last year. It seams so long ago that we feared we would not be celebrating Bridger’s 5th birthday with him, and now we are getting ready for his sixth. My emotions are very close to the surface. When I think back to that time my eyes still tear up. We have been blessed this last year the out pouring of love that we have received it is unbelievable. I have a lot to learn still but my testimony in, and ability to submit to our Father in Heavens will is stronger than ever before. I am able to under stand the atonement form a different perspective and more fully. We have all seen miracles happen and prayers answered right before our eyes. These experiences we have had, and the knowledge we have gained are our most treasured blessings. The other day I was asking Bridge what his favorite story of Jesus was? He gave me three, “when Jesus blessed all the children, when he calmed the storm for his disciples and when he got hung on the cross”; in the hospital we hung the picture of Jesus calming the storm. Bridger seamed to under stand that when we put our faith in Jesus we can weather the storms of life with peace in our hearts.

Bridger has had a couple of rough days this week he was throwing up and complaining of his waist hurting and got the worst headache he has ever had. Yesterday afternoon he started to feel better and we played football for a long time he loves to make touchdowns. To him it is not a touchdown unless you get down and touch the ground with one knee, the ball and your other hand.

I was trying to post this yesterday but the internet went down, so today is acutely day 51.

Bridger is doing well he only threw up a couple of times yesterday probably do to his medicine more than any flue symptoms. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck. I bought a ticket to fly to Dallas for our friend’s funeral. Bridger wasn’t running a fever and acted well so I went. Blake and I had a wonderful evening out to dinner. The next morning we went for a quick bike ride and then we went to work. Our back yard has not been mowed for lets just say a very long time. The best way to describe what it looked like would be to read the definition of Jungle from the dictionary,

jun•gle (jŭng'gəl)
1.Land densely overgrown with vegetation.
2.A dense thicket or growth.
3.A dense, confused mass; a jumble

Number 3 is probably the closest. I only wish I had taken a picture before Blake got to chop it all down. He was so excited to be home on a Saturday and get caught up on the yard work. While he was busy in the jungle I had another mission of my own. The house. Blake has done quite a good job for some one that works 12 hours or more a day and only comes home to eat and sleep. But it still needs a deep spring cleaning. I was able to catch up on some laundry, scrub the bathroom, vacuum, dust and get a few spiders out of some corners before we got ready to go to the funeral. I still had a tone I wanted to do but ran out of time. After the services we packed and where back in the car on our way to Houston. We had got a call from the Dr. saying that they had done further testing and found out he was negative to the flue but still wanted him to finish the medicine. Bridge had a great time with his Grandma whose birthday we got to celebrate today. Bridger sang happy birthday to her more than once and thought her presents and cake were great. It was harder for me to let Blake go tonight than it has been. It was nice to be home for a few short hours but I think I feel that much more home sick. It has been a crazy 48 hours. I am very glad Bridger is well and rambunctious, Doyleen had a great day, that I have a hard working husband and we have seen the end of our mini Amazon jungle.

Bridger had a little bit of a runny nose on Thursday when we when to his Dr. appointment. So they did another nasal wash(they are ultra cautious. We didn’t think anything of it because he has one at least once a week. Later we got a call that he tested positive for type B flue. This is the “normal” seasonal flue and NOT swine flue. He was put on two new meds. The Dr. said that “Any strain of the flu can become problematic, but typically only if patients are not treated within 36hours of there first sign of symptoms”. He was able to start his meds and should do just fine, but some extra prayers never hurt. The only thing he complains about is his stomach hurting. Nobody else in the family has any symptoms. We are just going to keep a close eye on him. Our Dr’s are so great they even called today to see how he was doing.

Bridger got a chanse to be a Dr. he is quite good.

Bridger loves to play but he also loves to clean. He hleps every day.

Theas are some haloween decorations we got from the W. family and the head lamp he got from my brother J. family that he wouldn't take off.
The pakage that my brothers family sent was full of Camping equipment. Bridger had to use the hat, head lamp, and misquito net when we whent out for a walk it was too funny.

Bridger’s appointment went great yesterday. His ANC went up to 1750 on it’s own over the weekend. We now only have to go to clinic every Monday and Thursday for checkups. We are going to have so much free time we won’t know what to do. The Dr.’s are all very pleased with his progress. He has a few skin issues his skin is very sensitive to the sun and gets very dry and frail. His skin is so frail that one day he was karate chopping me so I put my hand up to block him and he swiped my fingernail with the side of his hand. It cut his skin right open. Luckily it has healed quickly. His hair is starting to grow it started out like little peach fuzz but grows longer every day. It is blond as can be. We wonder if it will darken up. Time will tell.

Yesterday our dear friend and neighbor Ruth G. passed way. We are so blessed to have known her. She always had a smile to share with us. She loved Bridger as did he her. We will miss her greatly. We will cherish the love she shared, the hugs she gave, and the lessons we learned form her. We have peace in our hearts knowing that we will be able to be with her again some day. We send our deepest sympathy to her family and friends.

Last Friday Bridger’s ANC level went down to 750. The Dr. thought it was ok due to the fact that the cells the looked at where all young cells and it hadn’t dropped below 500. So we didn’t have to get any medicine or we would have had to stay longer than the four hours we had already been their. He was able to go down another half a pill on his prednisone. He still loves to ride his bike every day (when it is not raining) and his favorite movie right now is Narnia. Blake and I went out on Saturday to the dollar movies and to pick up Bridger’s Halloween costume and Birthday presents for the up coming events. The weekends never seam long enough. Bridger is noticeably happier on the days he doesn’t have to go to the hospital. It is also getting harder to take his meds. One night he had tears streaming down his cheeks. He knew he had to take his medicine and he rely didn’t want to. It is hard for me to make him take it but I just remind him why it is important and then it seems to be easer for both of us. He is our Big Brave Bridger that has matured so much in a very short time period.

It is nice to have some cool weather it makes us feel like we are truly camping. Bridger enjoys the trailer he even asked to night if we could buy one of our own.

We got great news today. Bridger’s ANC levels went up all on their own, from 530 up to 1000! He didn’t have to have any meds infused today and all his other numbers look great. He is doing very well. We are so happy. We hope to see this upward trend continue on his own. They also said that if on Friday if everything looks good we will only have to go in twice a week instead of three times. This will be great for one, we will have less exposure to other sickness and two; we will be saving on parking money. Things just keep getting better. I can’t tell you how many of our prayers are binging, or have been answered.

The last four days the internet has been on and off, mostly off. We were very sad because we were only able to listen to parts of sat. And sun. General Conference. The parts we did hear lifted our spirits and strengthened our testimonies. The good thing is if you are reading this post we will most likely be able to watch or at least listen to the rest of the talks.

Last Friday Bridger hit day 30 after transplant. All his lab work looked great and he was feeling great. Until I let him eat 5 eggs for dinner, which he promptly threw back up. Saturday he was feeling much better and very excited for his dad to come. After he showed off his biking skills to his Dad, we all gathered acorns off the ground and then had an acorn war. I lost. It stared raining that afternoon and continued to rain most of Sunday. Bridger had kind of a rough Sunday. He got up at 5:30 a.m. for the day. At 8:00 he managed to choke down five of his pills with some milk before he threw them all up. The rest of the day he didn’t eat much, he only had one and a half breakfast bars. Doyleen (Grandma) had been cooking a very nice roast dinner for us all day. We had to coax Bridger to come to the table to eat because like every meal time he said he wasn’t hungry. He has been eating so well lately I figured once he had a bite he would realize how hungry he was. Two minutes after we started to eat Grandma choked on some honey and rely had us worried. No sooner did she start coughing and breathing a little better Bridger decided to have a bite of potatoes that never reached his stomach. He began throwing up and heaving. Luckily paper towels are as strong as the commercials advertise. I don’t know what brand I had but I would gladly vouch for them because it held a whole gals of milk + and didn’t tear or drip on me before I got it to a paper plate. Blake was quick and handed me a bowel for Bridger and some more paper towels. Some where while poor Grandma was still in the back ground having a fight with the honey and Bridger’s heaving, Blake and my appetite seamed to disappear. Bridger was off the hook from eating until I could get him his nausea medicine. Grandma couldn’t enjoy the meal fully because she was still coughing off and on. There sat the food that had hardly been touched. But what was touched in the couple of minute’s prior to all the chaos was delicious, my complements to the cook.

Today Bridger’s Dr. appointment went ok his allergies have been bothering him. He is constantly scratching his eyes and nose. They did a nasal wash on him just to make sure it is nothing else they are very thorough. His ANC has stayed above the 500 mark but will most likely be below by Wednesday as it has continued to drop from last over the past week. We are planning a GCSF infusion for Wednesday. He had a good day today and Bridger was feeling much better.

To day was our first day we had nothing planed, and we had no Dr. Appointments. I told Bridger last night that we were going to get to stay home all day and have a fun relaxing day and that he cold sleep-in in the morning. Well, he must have thought we where going to have a lot of fun because he woke up at 2:30 this morning. He said his leg hurt, he couldn’t sleep and he wanted to play video games. I made him lay in bed with me but after an hour of tossing, turning, an unsuccessful leg massage and listening to the repeated question of can I play video games now? I made him go to the bathroom and then we had Gram crackers and milk.(The Gram crackers tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten. That is what happens when you eat them so early in the morning.) We where able to doze off for a while but were back up at 5 for the day. I still didn’t’ let him play video games. Instead I made him watch the Apple Dumpling Gang which he fell in love with. I was disappointed we didn’t get to sleep in but was glad we got a nap later in the day. I have an address but would prefer to give it out over the phone. I can be reached at 713-427-9442(thanks Nichole) or you can E-mail me. Tooley family we got your package and Bridger loves the video. He wanted to watch it over and over. You all look great.