Daniel's Blog

Daniel's uncle has set up a blog so that we can all receive information on his condition. I haven't been able to be to the hospital and Christine hasn't been there since yesterday afternoon (she is in Provo attending her classes until 5 this evening), so the information that I actually receive is somewhat limited. If you read from the beginning you will be able to catch up on all of the details.



Christine and Daniel on the mountain after getting engaged


As you get ready for the day today, please pray that Daniel will be strong enough and in a more stable condition so that he may receive the surgery that he needs. Also pray that he will remain strong during the surgery if he does go in this morning at 10:30 (the surgery is scheduled for a *fingers crossed* final, and long term fix for his elbow).



Rock Climbing - Daniel's favorite


Christine will be back this evening to spend the weekend with her fiance. Keep her in your prayers as well, I am sure you can understand why this is such a stressful and terrifying time for her. She has been doing all she can to stay on top of her school obligations driving back and forth from BYU sometimes more than once a day. I was discussing with someone yesterday how I personally would not have the strength to keep on top of other things if I were in a similar situation. Although it is unfortunate that she should have to deal with this, it has been amazing to actually see the love that she has for Daniel, and the determination that she has to be her best, and do the best for her future family. Christine and I have not always been the best of friends, but this has been a reminder of the importance of family, and I want Chris to know that I love her so much.


Sisters - I think we must be somewhere around 5-6 years old


If the link doesn't work, the blog address is: http://www.danielconner.blogspot.com/


Muddy butts after mountain biking at the cabin (aren't they are perfect for eachother!)

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support.

-Danielle

Little update.

Daniel was taken off of his ventilator a little earlier and is now strong enough to breathe on his own. I know Christine and his family are looking forward to finally being able to communicate with him.

Daniel and his family need our prayers.

My sister's fiance Daniel was in a motorcycle accident yesterday morning on his way to work. A car was turning into a gas station and he was unable to break in time. He is currently in the Surgical ICU at the University of Utah Hospital where he is being treated for (I will try my best to explain) a very broken elbow, damaged knee(no breaks), two broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, two dropped lungs (one of which has a tube in it to help him breathe and relieve pressure). He is also suffering from a very badly damaged kidney, lacerated liver and his spleen is also damaged. Thankfully there is no sign of brain injury.

Yesterday throughout the day Daniel had very serious internal bleeding. He had two blood transfusions, and was stable enough to be moved from the emergency room to the Surgical ICU around 10 a.m.. His blood pressure was very low, so the surgeons were unable to provide him with very much relief from his pain. Because his blood pressure was so low they were not able to operate on him. Around 7:30 p.m. the doctors felt like he was stable enough to take him into surgery, where they cleaned out his open wounds to greatly decrease his chances of infection. They were also able to temporarily set his elbow with wire (there were several breaks in his elbow). with this temporary fix, they will be able to wait until his body is strong enough to handle a more invasive repair. He came out of surgery (around 9:30 p.m.) cleaned up, but not any better than when he went into surgery. His blood pressure climbed back to a normal-ish level around 10:30 p.m. and they were finally able to give Daniel the pain relief that he needed.

Christine, and Daniel's parents are doing fairly well considering the situation. I know that they didn't spend the night at the hospital, but they were all there around 11 p.m. when I left, so they were there late. There has been a great deal of support from both families and friends.

Christine is going back down to Provo(BYU) this afternoon to go to her classes and take a test and will be back this evening to spend her time at the hospital.

Keep Daniel and his family in your prayers. We are praying that he will not lose any mobility as his limbs heal. We are also praying that his internal organs can repair themselves and if not, that he is able to handle any future surgeries that he may have to face. We are very grateful that he did not suffer any brain damage or any damage to his head or neck.


We love you Daniel, even though you are not technically part of our family yet! We all know how strong you are, and we hope we can have you back soon.


I will update as I receive updates.

Doggies are Swell

Oh, pup.
I lurve you.

Don't Be Jealous...

But my husband has been accepted into the S.J. Quinney School of Law at the University of Utah.

Booya!

And even though I am totally not looking forward to dealing with school-mode-John, I am very excited.

Congratulations baby, I am so proud of you!

Mission Control Puppy Asleep at the Switch

I have not had a decent post in a long time. We are still alive! I thought I would post a few things that have been going on lately.

I have been spending very much of my time with this little guy.

It is nice to be around family. Plus he is incredibly adorable(a stinker when waking up from naps), and terribly fun to be around. As much fun as we have been having, it is nice to get to leave him with his mom and dad when the day is done-we are not ready for this yet!

Things have been going well all around. Anyone who knows John and I knows that we can very easily drive each other into a deep madness....I had a wonderful realization last week at my brother-in-law Doug's birthday party, I was talking to Doug's mom and she asked me how I was liking married life. For the first time in a year and a half I said "I love it!" I was so relieved! I didn't know if I would ever say it! Up until that moment, when people asked that question I always said "Its good, but its hard" -Don't get me wrong guys, I love my hubby. Madly. But being married is hard. I think that we are finally starting to understand one another better and it makes all the difference. It is much nicer now coming home to someone that I don't start a fight with every 23 seconds.

The other thing that I love coming home to is...Sally Wag! She spends all day long running around with her pals at doggy day care and when she gets home all she wants to do is curl up on the couch. She wont let anything stand(or sit) in her way.

She is sitting right on top of me! Someday Sally, we will have a bigger couch. Yes, I let my dog sit with me on the couch, but dont worry, the bed is still off limits. Our 1 year anniversary with Ms. Sally Wag is coming up in just a few months. It is crazy to think that we have had her for a whole year.

Speaking of anniversaries,

This is the tiny-sized cake that I made John for valentines day(which also happens to be our half anniversary). As you can probably see, I was experimenting with food coloring. You may think that I am weird all you want, but I love making crazy, silly cakes. And it tasted amazing!

Cake making is my latest favorite thing to do. I desperately want to learn how to make a wedding cake and have already perfected my fondant recipe. I am trying to build up my supply of cake making tools. I still don't really have pans, but my trusty pyrex have been doing the job just fine. Someday.

My other favorite thing:


No, not Good Housekeeping. Jon and Kate Plus 8! It is my all time favorite show and I follow it religiously. John now knows that every Monday at 8 I need my time to watch the new episode. He hates it, and if I don't kick him out of the room he will sit and complain about how annoying Kate is (what do you want? she has 6 4 year olds!) and how dumb it is that I love it so much. At least he really doesn't mind that I watch it.

On a completely different note (this whole post has been a little unfocused) this thing is my new enemy:


I read about the clarisonic on some blog a while ago where the author raved about how great it was. About a week ago my sister gave me this one to use and so far it has brought me nothing but trouble. I haven't ever really had bad skin, so I thought that it would just keep my skin nice and clean. This is not so! I have been breaking out since using it! I keep hearing that you have to use it for two weeks before you see results. I think my skin must be uber-sensitive or something because things just arent working out like I had hoped. I will keep using it for another week just because I am holding out for positive results and hopefully my face will stay in one piece until that time.


It was hard for me to stay on one subject for very long during this post, but I am glad that I finally got around to blogging something again. Hope everyone had a Happy Valentines Day like I did!

It looks as though it has been about a month since I last posted. Everything is going well. John was recently promoted at work and is now working full time hours and I am taking care of our nephew Ben. John is sending out law school applications and I am taking a few classes this semester, considering law school myself(I don't know how we would make this work, but its just a thought). Hope everyone has had a wonderful 2009 so far!