OtterPops: Jared and Cait Update

We have had a few events happen recently that have made us realize how quickly life can change and just how precious life is. The first was a fender bender that I was in last month. I was in the Tahoe on the way to a work training seminar for the weekend and had taken my older two girls with me after dropping my younger two off at my parent's house for the weekend. I was on I-80 past Sacramento and saw the brake lights in front of me and tried to stop in time but, since we were in a construction zone in the left hand lane, I ended up crashing the car in front of me who had already crashed the car in front of him, and then I was rear-ended by the blue truck behind me.

As far as we could tell there were 4 or 5 cars involved, but it was fairly low impact because nobody was physically injured and all the cars could still drive. Well, drive they did! Everyone fled the scene except the car in front of me and myself who pulled over to the side of the freeway! So of course, since I was the furthest back I was found liable. The police man that came to the scene basically said "I have calls coming in left and right with Friday afternoon traffic and the construction zone so if you can all drive and walk-I'm out of here! Good luck!" I did not catch the license plate, of the truck who hit me because I was making sure my girls (who were in the back seat of the car) were okay. Lillian was crying just because they had never been in an accident before and it is scary, but anyhow, it was a bummer that now my insurance has to cover what the blue truck did to the back end of my car. I guess the good news is that our insurance covered a rental car for the past 10 days and they gave me a Tahoe. A Tahoe that costs 10 times as much as mine, but hey! We'll take it and drive in style until mine is fixed up. We were mostly grateful that nobody was hurt. Cars are just "things" in the end and all the important cargo was still unscathed. It was our first incident ever in that car, so I guess that is a good track record...I feel like it shook my confidence a bit though. Like I am driving super cautious and timidly now in response.

The rental while our car is in the shop

The damage on our tahoe

The girls and I still had a good weekend at the Training Seminar and especially enjoyed working on the "lifebooks" and making some friends. The girls were particularly on each others cases that weekend for some reason, but I am trying to encourage the positive interactions and ignore the negative to some extent.

I have somehow become art & craft central lately even though it is not something I seek out normally. For volunteering in the older girls' classrooms, I am the art cart mom and recently headed up these two projects after teaching the students a little bit about art theory and elements: Landscapes with some weaving for the 3rd graders and a leaf relief for the 2nd graders. While we were prepping the materials one afternoon Jonas and Emma did not want to be left out so we set the easel up for them to get in an "artsy" mood as well! I was also put in charge of a leaf garland craft for the ladies church "Super Saturday" so with the help of my mom I created a few different decorative/festive garlands and will be hosting the craft for 26 ladies this coming Friday. Let's just say I am on a first name basis with the Jo-Ann and Hobby Lobby staff taking care of special orders;)

Jocelyn with her Art Cart Weaving Project

Lillian with her leaf relief Art Cart Project

Jonas and Emma painting

Fall, Valentine's and 4th of July garlands

The Garland on my mantel

I am also on the teacher appreciation committee for the girl's elementary school so we put together an "apple" themed lunch and I baked a ton of apple cinnamon muffins and put together some decor with the other ladies. It turned out cute and yummy and the teachers seemed excited!

The second event recently that really took us for a turn was another trip to the emergency room for Jared. This is the 3rd fall in a row where he has ended up in the emergency room-all for different reasons. I told him it was really thoughtful of him to make sure we met our insurance deductible every year! But if he wants some excitement, maybe he could just take me on a foreign trip or something-really!

Friday morning he took the girls to school on their bikes and about 20 minutes later I received a call from Jared's phone, but a lady was talking telling me to come down near the school as she found Jared after he had been in a bike accident. Luckily, he had already taken the girls to school and was just on his way home. I rushed the younger two out the door and headed over there. Jared was in the dried-out canal type area right behind the school in between the bike paths and upon arriving I thought he just had some road rash and a dislocated shoulder but then after hearing him talk for a bit, I quickly realized he was saying the same phrases on a loop. He would repeat about every 2 minutes the same things over and over. He recognized me immediately but he did not know his age, how many kids we had, and could not recall the incident or the past 24 hrs. The lady who had found him was thankfully an ICU nurse out on her morning walk and had very adequately kept him from moving and knew exactly what to tell the paramedics. Upon arriving, we agreed we needed to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital to be seen for head trauma. Thankfully, he was wearing his helmet which probably saved his life for the second time in his life!

The other small miracle was that my neighbor had just taken her kids to school on their bikes and rode upon the scene of the accident before I arrived with the kids. She immediately took Jonas and Emma so they did not have to see Jared with blood all over and I did not have to worry about the getting to school or being taken care of. I called another friend who was there in minutes to take Emma for the morning. I then followed the ambulance to the hospital so I could concentrate on Jared. It was a very emotional day for me seeing Jared (who is usually so clear of mind) being so confused, asking the same questions and repeating the same things over and over. For a couple hours there I really thought this would be my life now. Answering the same 100 questions every day and seeing my husband trapped in his mind. Luckily Jared's brother works not far from there and rushed over to be with me at the hospital. He gave Jared a priesthood blessing and was able to calm me down and even keep things comical for a bit. I would have been in a much darker place without Greg there! And his wife Maren kept Emma for the last half of the day, then came over that night with dinner and to help put the older kids down for bed.

Anyhow, after the CT scan came back clear after several couple hours they removed the neck brace, got Jared stitched up and set his dislocated shoulder back in place, it seemed like his repeat loop was more on a 30 minute cycle rather than a 2 minute cycle. The doctors told me it was all within reasonable boundaries of a severe concussion but I am not going to lie...I was still really worried. We got him home that afternoon, feeling very grateful it was not worse and very grateful for the friends and family who had helped us through the day. Jared's aunt Lisa told me "That's the best part about having a big family-you know we were all on our knees immediately in prayer!" I know that was true of both of our families and I tell you what, the quick healing was proof. Seriously, by the time he got his stitches out 5 days later his face was looking so much better. Although Jared is still very tired and experiencing nausea really regularly, he has his mind back which we are most grateful for. The rest will come with time!

Here is an excerpt from the email Jared wrote to his family following the crash:
"Apparently I really like Caitlyn deep down in my brain because I was very relieved when she got there and they said that when the doctor was stitching my lip I kept winking and making noises at Caitlyn to try and flirt with her. The doctor was amused but kept telling me to sit still so she could put in the stitches. I also told every doctor and nurse that came in that Caitlyn knew what she was getting into when she married me because I had crashed my bike before.

I was also glad Greg was there and when I "heard" that he had moved to Morgan HiIl. I was even happier that I had "talked" him into moving out here. I also have some vague recollection of Greg giving me a blessing. After I woke up in the hospital I reportedly told Greg "you know me I had a million dreams" but when Greg would try and talk I would tell him "you be quite, you weren't part of my dreams" (don't worry Caitlyn was in my dreams, she's my dream girl!).

Caitlyn had to take my phone away because I kept trying to call my boss and tell him that I was okay and could still do my job. I did manage to call him once and send him a text message. I repeatedly assured him that I still know the difference between a 35 USC 102(b) and a 35 USC 103(a) rejection from patent office. This is is something that my boss and I talked about when he first interviewed me for the job so in my mind it was critical that I conveyed to him that I still knew this. I made him laugh and he sent me a fruit basket."

Jared home after the crash

Emma with the fruit basket from Jared's boss

Claire putting Emma down for her nap when Maren was taking care of her

Maren and Greg helping take care of the kids watching a movie on the ceiling in our front room

Because of the crazy events we are trying to appreciate the time we do have together. Our generous neighbor gave us some more gilroy gardens tickets so here we are one weekend (before the bike crash) enjoying the beautiful weather at Gilroy Gardens. Emma was being kind of a stinker and would hardly go on any rides. She would not ride the horse on the carousel but instead demanded that her sisters ride on the bench with her. They were good sports to comply...And can I just say it is a lot more fun to go on outings like this when your husband comes with you?!