May 2022

Lots of goodbye this month...

At the beginning of the month, I took the girls to Louisiana to visit my best girlfriend, Jennifer. Our dogs did not get along! But Bryan was working on getting his parachuting license and wouldn't be home to watch him. So I had to bring Howie with us. Otis is really sweet, but definitely a protector. 

In the morning, we went to the Armadillo Stampede 5K in Leesville. The girls rode their bikes while Jennifer, Ryan, and I ran. Kate took off and I was running after her panicked she would get hit by a train, that I ran my fastest ever, until a train made us all stop. Ha! I ended up with the first female finisher and got to eat breakfast for free at the May Day Fest.

After we cleaned up, we went downtown to enjoy the festival.

Jennifer made us do this crazy awesome video!

The girls got some awesome face painting and slushies. It was really HOT! 

And then we went over to Jennifer's friend Zandy so the girls could create a cute little Mother's Day artwork for me. Isn't she the most thoughtful?!? Thanks Jenny!

The following weekend, our family flew to Utah for Bryan's mother's funeral. She passed away on the 4th of May surrounded by family in her home in Highland, Utah. I will forever be grateful for Debbie teaching Bryan good work ethics and strong mindedness. She had such a strong personality and I can see a little bit of her in all 11 of her living children. She is survived by 46 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren (probably more than this). If you knew Debbie, then you were sure to know her whole life story. She had a smile in her eyes and an enormous amount of energy. She was steadfast in her faith and the glue that held the Ahlborn family together through the years. I am grateful she is at peace after a tough battle with cancer. She will be sorely missed by all. 

She had a beautiful funeral service. The 11 siblings were finally together after 20+ years. Most of the grandchildren were able to make it out to the funeral as well. Stratton, Becky, Rachel, and Aunt Julie were the speakers and they all did a fabulous job describing their mother/sister. We were able to have a goo day celebrating the life of Chammelia Deborah "Debbie" Ahlborn. 

Debbie's one wish was to have family photos completed with grandpa. The photos turned out really well and it was nice to see everyone together.

When our family returned back to Texas, it was my turn to say goodbye to all my friends and co-workers at Seton Medical Center. This is the first place I have worked for a consecutive 4 years. I worked with some really great people and am really going to miss the place. 

The girls had their last day at Northside Baptist Academy. They spent 2 years at this wonderful private school during such a crazy time (pandemic) in the world. I will forever be grateful for filling up the last available spots the week before school started! 

School ended early with a pizza party, bouncy house, and obstacle course.

Kate's teacher Mrs. Harvey

Jane's teacher Mrs. Oster

Saying goodbye to everyone is so hard! I wanted the girls to be able to enjoy the last day of school and so we had an end of school, moving, and pre-birthday party at our house after school. One last hooray! I ordered Chick-Fil-A and a water bouncy house and let the kids go at it. 

Jane wrote this cute story about her summer plans. I love it!

Another goodbye...

I am so grateful for Mrs. Christie! She was such a wonderful piano teacher for Kate and Jane. The girls did a great performance at the end of the school year recital. Jane played "The Cinderella Waltz" and Kate played "Almost There". 

We put our Harker Heights home for sale on Memorial Day weekend. Over the last 2-3 months, Bryan and I have been preparing for our move to Kansas. We sorted through our stuff, hosted a garage sale, starting using up the freezer and canned goods, and fixed up the house (all the important things that need to be done before a move). We will miss this place!

Saying goodbye to our great neighbors!

And of course my best friend!

We started our 3rd drive to Utah at the end of May- actually the day after school ended! The house was packed (mostly) and we were headed to vacation before the great move to Kansas. Time for a little fun! 

A stop at Wilson's Arch to break up the drive. Bryan and I have been up for 24+ hours at this point...

When we finally arrived in Utah, I think Bryan and I took a 4-5 hour nap. We were exhausted. When we woke up, my parents were home taking care of our kids that we had neglected (kind of) while sleeping. So grateful they house and feed us during our times of limbo. 

Memorial's Day was a bummer because it was cold and wet! We were used to Texas weather and Utah wasn't really showing signs of summer when we arrived. Bryan arranged for us to go to the Children's Museum with Becky and Lauren's kids. They had fun, until playing in the water area and getting too cold again...

Weiden Klinikum

After my parents left, Bryan went to an army course to get the coveted EFMB badge.  Its a two week course, but you can fail out anytime after the first week.  Its supposedly one of the toughest badges to get in the army.  So I had the girls all to myself for two weeks.  The last day of the course is a 12 mile ruck march/run.  That was the easy part for Bryan.  Or so I thought.  

Bryan told me the night before he wanted to set a personal best.  I should have told him to just walk across the finish line under 3 hours, but I didn't.  I woke up the girls early so we could see daddy cross the finish line.  Its about an hour and 15 minutes to the base he was competing.  I got the the finish line around 7:20 am and stood for about 2 minutes when his boss came over and told me Bryan was in the medical tent receiving treatment.  The first thing I thought was "seriously! you couldn't have just completed the stupid ruck march".  When I got the the tent, it was much worse than I anticipated.  I had to walk out because I didn't want Kate to remember her daddy like that.  The medics and PA did their job well- cooled him off with icy blankets, started fluids, monitored vitals. Bryan wasn't all there for sometime.  When the ambulance arrived, he was more alert and oriented. He wanted to see the girls and me before he took off.  

Bryan spent 19 days in the Weiden Klinikum.  His heat stroke and exercise exertion caused rhabdomyolysis, that caused acute kidney failure.  He was put on dialysis two days after getting admitted to the hospital.  I had no clue and just showed up to his room with him being dialyzes.  That was the toughest moment of my life.  I had to be strong for the girls, but my insides were screaming. 

It was a very hard time for me and him, of course.  I had just had a baby, Kate and I were an emotional wreck, and the hospital was and hour and a half away from home. Oh, and did I forget to mention the language barrier?  My church, my friends, and Bryan's co-workers were such a support to me during this time.  My family volunteered to come out and help, but I didn't want to inconvenience anyone, especially since its not really cheap to get to Europe.  

Bryan gained 40 pounds of water weight because his kidneys shut down.  This picture was taken two weeks after he was in the hospital and on the mend.  Both of us look pretty bad.

This picture was taken two days after the picture above.  Bryan's kidneys were really starting to pick up, as you can tell by his loss of water weight.  He was losing almost 10 pounds a day once his kidneys started to function.

Bryan was released from the hospital on my birthday, September 21.  He was (and still is) weak and needed to be cared for, but he was home.

 I am so grateful for everyone that helped, whether it was being a shoulder to cry on, bringing dinner, watching the girls, driving with me to the hospital, cutting my grass and hedges, or praying for our family.  And although it was hard for me to except the help, I needed it so badly.