Fourth of July Weekend:

Friday night Dwayne and I went to the Rolla Carnival.   This has been a tradition in my family for years.  Dwayne's family always camped out for the weekend on the Gasconade River at Elrod's Landing.
We always go to buy tickets for the car they give away every year.  This year was a Camaro.  We didn't win.  Darn!!  My Uncle Emmett won a 1964 Chevy Impala one year.  He was like the celebrity in the family.
Saturday:
We went to Dwayne's cousin, Bryan's house in Cuba for a huge Elrod Reunion and barbecue.
Sunday:  Dad called early to say Mom wasn't breathing well and needed to go to the hospital.  I took her to the ER and they admitted her.  Wednesday of that week, they put two stents in.  One artery was 97% blocked.  Her breathing improved some.  She came home that Friday.  We thought she would get better that weekend but unfortunately she didn't.  That Monday Dad called around six to say he needed help as he'd been  up with Mom most of the night.  I sat with Mom until around 1:30 and took care of her so Dad could get some sleep.  Judy came over for awhile in the afternoon but she is so sick from the Chemo, she's not really able to help out.
Tuesday morning, Mom called and asked me to call an ambulance as she needed to go back to the hospital.  She had lost blood from the cardiac cath the week before.  They gave her two units of  blood and are monitoring her really close.  That was all last week,  This week she's still in the hospital.  My days consist of taking Dad up to see Mom.  Some days it's just emotionally draining.

We did squeeze in some fun on the weekend Mom was in the hospital.  We went to my cousin, Chris Feeler's sons wedding.  Lots of visiting with cousins I hadn't seen in years.  We brought Cash home with us for the night.  He is so entertaining and we enjoy him so much.  Sunday, Cash and I went to church.  Before church started he was so good and kept telling me sh.  I though we would get through church fine but when the pastor started talking, Cash started crying very loudly.  So we spent the rest of church in the nursery.  Cash had fun playing with all the toys and kids.
April and Mike came over and Chad and Todd came by for Sunday dinner.  I love being able to have them all home at once.  I have some great pictures from the weekend but me and this new computer don't get along very well for me to download.

Life has it ups and downs and the past year seems to be a lot of downs, but we're making it ok.  We count our blessings to still have our parents with us.  Although, if Mom keeps getting worse, I don't want to see her suffer.  Dad and I have had a lot of time together in our many trips to the hospital.  I learn new stories everyday and sometimes the same one over and over again.  lol

I am grateful for the life I've been given.