Warren, Oregon - Mountain View Farm

Our family enjoyed a very special treat yesterday.

We took a trip to a FARM with MINI horses...

and the most delightful MINI donkey named Daisy.

 

 Hi Daisy, my name is Henley.

 Ben & Jerry

 Nana & Henley say howdy to Ben.

Ben has beautiful blue eyes.

 

 Sweet Logan and her Meemaw, Theresa.

Those are some striking BLUE eyes!

 My silly guy ready for a ride in the cart.

(Though he really wanted to ride ON the horses)

Here he comes!

Smokey was such a wonderful sport.

He LOVES to race around the arena,. 

 There they go! 

 When he wasn't SMILING,

Henley was chatting it up with Mary.

Thanks Mary for being SO sweet and hospitable!

 Then Hazel got a ride.

 She got the fastest ride,

since she was the biggest kid.

She LOVED that!

 What about me?

 Holden was VERY interested in the arena activity.

 Nana was so kind to take him for his own ride.

 I hear he BEAMED,

but always on the backside of the arena.

 Smokey began to trot,

and Nana had to hold on to Holden's helmet!

Mary and Nana had some good belly LAUGHS!

 Theresa packed snacks.

BRILLIANT!

 Beau took a ride,

didn't even spill his cocoa!

 The setting was surreal.

I kept thinking I was in the midst of a fairytale.

 What do you see Holden?

 Back to the donkey named Daisy.

 Hey, I want to see Daisy too...

Breakin' out.

 Hazel was delighted to stroke Daisy's ears.

Shocking!

(Our Hazel has a thing for ears.)

 Instead of a new dog,

maybe we need a mini Donkey?

 Hazel enjoyed playing with her friend Bea again.

 Showing off his striding skills.

This guy LOVED racing all around the farm.

Saying a final goodbye to our new friend,

Daisy.

***

Thank you Mary & Jack,

we LOVED our fairytale experience at your beautiful farm.



Holden Robert...

Fall 2012

Our baby is growing into a BOY!

Holden loves...

Making us LAUGH

He CLENCHES his whole body,

until his face turns red like his hair.

 He knows we will LAUGH!

Copying

Snap your fingers,

he snaps his fingers right back.

(Seriously, those tiny 14 month fingers snap!)

Tickle him,

he tickles you right back.

"Tickle tickle tickle," he says.

Curl your toungue,

he curls his tounge right back.

Talking

His vocabulary is growing almost as fast as his legs!

Words-O-Holden:

ball

uh-oh

HI!

bye-bye

mama

dada

woof-woof

nana

tickle-tickle-tickle

milk

bottle (baba)

yes

dat (that)
boop (poop)

Mobility

He has been walking strong for a few months now.

He LOVES getting around,

ALL around.

He climbs, walks, and I swear runs!

Watch out world,

HOLDEN is coming!!!

Oh how I LOVE my red-headed, darling boy.

Henley Roland...

 

Fall 2012

 

Life is always interesting,

with Henley.

 

Hot Cocoa starts each and every morning,

for Henley.

Clothes are picked out carefully,

by Henley.

A yellow Strider is ridden fast and furious,

by Henley.

Books are picked and read quietly,

by Henley.

More clothes are picked out carefully,

by Henley.

Little Einsteins is watched again and again and again,

by Henley.

Mommy is kissed and snuggled,

by Henley.

Daddy is wrestled and kept company,

by Henley.

Holden is strangled...I mean...hugged,

by Henley.

Hazel is usually a great playmate and teacher,

for Henley.

Bella is still dearly missed,

by Henley.

 

Our family would never be the same,

without HENLEY!

 

Love you buddy.



Hazel Elizabeth...

 

Fall 2012

 

First Parent-Teacher Conference

Hazel's a joy.

Reading superstar.

Social butterfly.

Responsible line leader.

Crushing on Caleb.

BFF with Allie.

Kindergarten is fantastic!

 

Mommy & Daddy

so VERY proud

xoxo

Becky had BACK surgery...TWICE!

If at first your surgeon doesn't succeed, then try again!

That is what we have done.

Tues, October 23rd, I was admitted to the hospital.
8:30 am my microdiskectomy began.
Was told it went very well,
though the bulge was very large
and the doctor had to remove a lot of disk material.

Wed, October 24rd, discharged happily and went home.
A few days passed and I would feel better, then worse,
then better, then worse. 

The pain was never completely gone.
Ever.

A week post surgery, my discomfort turned into misery!
I started getting severe, searing pain from my hip to my foot.
I hadn't had hip pain before.
Ever.

I asked Beau if I may have dislocated my hip.
It hurt THAT bad.

I "walked" by dragging my left leg.
The pain was nearly unbearable.
I was twisted.
I called my surgeon's office.
Much later that day, they called and gave me an appt for Thursday.
Two long days away.

Thurs, Nov 1st, my surgeon confirmed this pain wasn't normal.
I was scheduled for another MRI that afternoon.

Later, went downtown for MRI.
It was HELL. 
Hold perfectly still I was told,
by the technician with spiky black hair.
Must force my pain riddled body to be still.

Still?  How can this pain be silenced and still?
I fought the spasms and held my breath,
hoping for results that would show something.
It was agony.

Thankfully, the scans ended I called my Dr.
Please look at the scans and tell me what is wrong.

Roberta drove me home.
My cell rang.

Turn around the kind voice said.
You are going to be admitted (again).
You need surgery (again).

All I heard is relief is coming.
I tried to believe.

That night is a blur.
Nurses trying so hard to find a med to help me.
Beau coming with the kids.
Even some insomnia induced online shopping.
(Still finding out what I may have bought.)

I remember Dr. Hauck's visit.
So kind.
So apologetic.
So committed to fixing me.
So willing to do his very best.
Love him.

Friday, Nov 2nd.
A painful, lonely, long, long, long morning.
Nurse Michelle in tears,
desperate to relieve me of pain.

12:00 - Down to level 3 for surgery prep.
12:30 - To sleep I go.  Dr. Hauck does his magic.

Woke up hours later in recovery.
No leg pain.
Surgery went long.
Dr. Hauck worked twice as long as normal.
No leg pain.
He even had a colleague come at end,
check my work.

Perfection.
No pain.

Back to my 6th floor room.
Hi Beau.
No pain.
Afternoon of no pain.

Saturday woke to no pain.
Discharge today?
No, one more day.
A whole day, pain stayed away.
Incision healing.
Laugh at Caspian's bangs.
Ducks beat USC!!

Slept so well that night.
Ready for discharge.
Home.

Home without pain.
It's been a long time.
Far too long.

Help is coming out of the woodwork.
Lesson for the next 6 weeks...
PATIENCE.

Easy Becky, take it very, very easy.
Pain-free easy living has been so nice...
six days and counting.

Thanks to my family,
generous friends,
Dr. Hauck and his staff,
and everyone who put up with grouchy me in pain.
No more!

For those of you who are visual, or maybe in medical school...

I am going to follow ALL my discharge instructions,
and ensure there is never a surgery #3.

Happy Halloween

This year us Garners decided to show...

OUR TOUGH!

We donned our tattoo sleeves

studded necklaces

and flexed our muscles.

 

I wonder why we didn't scare off more

Trick-or-Treaters?



 Holden wasn't sure he could pull off the tough biker look.

Soon, he realized it was within his little 13 month old self.

A baby biker he could be!

 Princess by day,

Biker girl by night.

 Cowboy and his daddy.

How cute are they? 

 Martha (Stewart) taught me how to drill holes in a pumpkin!

 "Don't mess with this!"

 This was the day before I had urgent back surgery.

See the look of PAIN on my face?

I HAD to do this.

No silly ruptured,

then re-ruptured disk,

will spoil my family's HALLOWEEN!

 LOVE them.

 Such characters.

Friends came to go trick-o-treating with us.

(Not me, I was holding down the home front.)

This is a great one!

*****

Already thinking about what to be next year!