Happy Halloween!

With each year that passes, I realize that my days of little ones trick-or-treating are nearly gone. So sad! My girls still get pretty excited about the big day, however, and this year was no exception. They had a hard time picking a costume, but I think they turned out pretty cute! I put on lots of make-up on Kaiya and when my dad saw her, I about gave him a heart attack. Let's just say that make-up on her pale skin makes really shows up.

Cutest bumble bee

The bee and the vampiress

I love the tradition at the elementary school of a Halloween breakfast. I was able to go to both girls' classrooms and enjoy that time with them. Kaiya also had a Halloween-themed piano recital.

Now that's what I call breakfast!

Kaiya's Halloween piano recital

Cooper decided for the first time in his life to go as a fictional character. Took him 13 years, but he finally decided to go for it. He was Buzz Lightyear and he got quite a few laughs. It doubled as Doug's costume as well, so it was a real bonus.

The weather was so gorgeous that night that they were out for a long time. We got to hit the streets with friends, so it really was a nice night.

Ready to hit the streets

The annual post trick-or-treat candy trade

A hunting they did go . . .

Doug and Cooper had been planning a hunting trip with Doug's brothers for the last year. With the difficult news about Spencer, the trip became even more pressing because both Doug and Cooper had a strong desire to go see him in the hospital.

They left at 4 a.m. on Thursday and pulled into Doug's brother's house at around 12:30. Unfortunately, his brother was stuck up on the mountain helping a fellow hunter who was lucky enough to get an elk. Doug and Cooper were able to visit with the Manti cousins and even got to watch a bit of Mikala's volleyball game while they waited for Mike. They got up to the camping site that evening and headed to bed. I need to let Doug fill in all the details about their hunting adventures, but suffice it to say, they had a blast riding the 4-wheelers, cooking meals, and hanging out with Doug's 3 brothers and Cooper's cousin, Jacob. No elk were to be found, but it didn't seem to matter. They also shared a special prayer on top of the mountain for Spencer.

Father and son

Cooper and Jacob
On Saturday evening, Doug and Cooper headed to Salt Lake to see Spencer. I get emotional just thinking about what was described to me by both of my boys. I'm not sure which was harder to hear about--Nancy's tears as Doug hugged her or Cooper's account of seeing Spencer on ECMO (which is essentially a portable heart-lung or "bypass" machine that took over Spencer's circulation). Cooper is a sensitive kid anyway and he's a deep thinker and the whole experience has caused the wheels in his head to really turn.

Cooper and I had some pretty deep conversations after he got home and even over this last week after he and I spent Saturday together at the annual Cardiac Kids parent conference. He worked in the daycare all afternoon while I attended the conference. The majority of the kids in the daycare were cardiac patients, some of which were transplant recipients and one of which also had a pacemaker. He told me on the way home that the day was a life-changing experience for him and he knows his life is a gift. I get teary-eyed just putting this down in words.

He has been dragged to Cardiac Kids functions for years because I sit on the board and, honestly, it was getting to the point where he would roll his eyes because he has outgrown all the little kid activities. But, this time was different. After having seen Spencer and I think reflecting on his own health history, the whole day meant something different. We had a great conversation on the way home and my heart was so filled with gratitude for this kid. I'm sure we will continue to do battle over typical teenage stuff, but at his core, he is a great kid--compassionate, caring and intuitive.

I had to throw in one picture of Cooper's recent basketball game because I've teased him about it. He decided to write Spencer's initials on his basketball shoes as a constant reminder of what he's going through. What a thoughtful idea, right? Only problem is that he wrote, using a Sharpie, the initials "SL" all over them. The look on his face when I asked him what SL stood for was priceless because it dawned on him as soon as he said "Spencer Lindhardt" that he goofed. Spencer's last name is Felt. Oops!!

For Spencer

Our family has been all-consumed with some horrible news we got last week. Doug's sister, Nancy, with whom he is very close and whose kids are super close to my kids (weekly e-mails, sleepovers every time we're in Utah, etc), had her and her husband Matt's world turned upside-down last week.

Her son, Spencer, who is 5 was admitted to the ICU at Primary Children's in SLC in heart failure. He had a stomachache that wouldn't go away and it turned out his pain was due to his enlarged liver caused by the heart failure. Within 48 hrs of arriving at the hospital, he was being prepped for life support and emergently listed for a heart transplant.

Even with my cardiology background, I am stunned. Things just don't normally progress this quickly. But, I took care of lots of kids with cardiomyopathy and I've seen lots of miracles, so that is all I can focus on for now. Tomorrow, he will come off full life support (called ECMO) and put on a VAD, which is essentially and artificial heart, but it's connected outside the body. It is used as a bridge to transplant. Again, I've seen lots of kids get a VAD, get a transplant and then go home healthy! I even took care of a teenager who wheeled her VAD around (it's about the size of a suitcase on wheels) and even into the teen lounge at the hospital to hang out.

When my kids ask how to pray for a transplant, I have simply told them to pray that if someone finds themselves in the situation of having to make the decision to donate life, that they will have the strength and courage to do so. Every single day has been a roller-coaster for Matt and Nancy and the plans seem to keep changing by the hour. We just found out that Spencer's medical team consulted one of the cardiac surgeons in Denver today as they were making new plans--just so happened to be the same doctor who has operated on Cooper three times. The world of pediatric cardiology is indeed very small.

I would love to organize a blood drive or some other significant event for Spencer in the near future, but for now, we just pray and fast and wait.

This last weekend, my mom and I ran with Team Cardiac Kids in the Denver Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon. We all had shirts dedicated to kids with congenital heart disease/defects and we pinned a photo of Spencer on our shirts. I literally thought of Spencer for all 13.1 miles. We love you, buddy! Keep on fighting!!!!

Team Cardiac Kids before the race

Cold, but ready to run

Spencer on the backs of our shirts

About 0.2 miles before the finish line

Glad to be almost done!