The Incredible Foutz Family

Surgery update

2012-02-06T17:26:00.001-08:00

We are now one week past surgery and Ella is doing amazingly well. Since the surgery was done through her nostrils there is no wound care. By looking at her you wouldn't know she just had surgery. She is now almost back to normal. Now the plan is to just wait for a few months for the new airway to heal. Then we will spend a night in the hospital with a cap on her trach to see how she handles breathing without the trach. If all goes well, we will take the trach out. One of the best things will be to hear Ella's voice. Now we can see her laughing, but we can't hear it. Of course there are sometimes benefits to your child not making any noise and I will miss a few of those conveniences, but I can't wait for her to hear her own voice. No trach will also mean about half the equipment we have now. The doctors won't take a trach out in the winter months so we hope for sometime in April! Yeah!

Surgery

2012-01-28T12:41:00.001-08:00

I would really like to start posting again, so today I thought about what I could even say. Then it donned on me that some people might want to know that our sweet little Ella will be having surgery on Monday. The doctors will be repairing the airway in her nose. The hope is in a few months she won't need the trach anymore and life will be a little better for her.

Laughing

2011-10-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

I know that is has been forever since we posted last. I have no excuse. We are in the planning stages of getting the blog updated on a regular basis, thanks to a great idea from family.

The reason this is getting posted on the blog is because I could not get it to attach in email.

Since coming to Minnesota, Ella has been getting AMAZING care. This state really knows how to treat its special kids. We recently received a prescription for a Passy Muir valve (Passy). For those that are unfamiliar with trach's, it is a one-way valve that allows the individual to breathe in through the valve, but to exhale, it has to go through the mouth or nose. In doing this, the air passes the voice box and the person can make noise. In case you haven't guessed where I am going with this, Ella can be quit noise with the valve on.

And now the rest of the story,

In school, the kids have been learning the elements and yesterday was Helium. Sandy bought some balloons at the store and brought them home. They only served the purpose of inhaling and talking funny. When Sandy got home with them, the balloons were brought into the family room where Ella was playing on the floor. After getting ahold of one the the balloon's ribbons, Ella started to laugh. She didn't have her valve on so it wasn't really audible, but you could tell it was a laugh.

So being the good parents we are, we took the balloons away. Put on the Passy. Turned on the camera and started to record.

By the way, I am no photographer, but here is a clip of it. Enjoy.

There are a couple of spots that the balloon hits the camera and it is quite loud. I apologize for the blown speakers.

Trafalga Homeschool Day

2010-06-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at Trafalga last Wednesday. There were probably 100 homeschoolers there. We had lunch and then got a 2 hour pass to do whatever we wanted. The go carts were fun, the kids are begging to go miniature golfing again, and I am queen of the jumping video game. Lots of fun. It was also cool to hang out with so many homeschoolers. We met some fun people and I'm excited to see them more. There are so many home school activities around here we have to pick and choose which ones we will go to. Friday we will go to a park day for the Orem and Provo homeschoolers. This is mostly for Geoff's benefit. He has been asking for a month when summer was, because somehow he got it in his head that whenever this magical thing called summer comes around you go to the park. Jason will be in school, so I get to bring Ella. That ought to prove to be venturesome.

Ella

2010-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ella is doing so good. Her surgery for a g-tube and nissin (to prevent reflux) went well. We spent 2 weeks at the hospital. It wasn't too bad. We moved into the Ronald McDonald house and that was wonderful. The drive back and forth was hard. So we just moved the whole family up to Salt Lake. Jason commuted back for school. The kids were able to be in Ella's room, so we did our lessons in her room and then played in the playroom the a lot. I love Primary Children's Hospital because they are so kid friendly. The kids made play dough and slime, played games (Jason is awesome at fooseball), built hotwheel tracks, did medical play (I think Kieva could give me an iv if she wanted), painted more crafts then I care to name, and made friends. While there we went to the Children's Musem and a special Shrek the Final Chapter showing and party. It is so nice now that Ella doesn't have tubes taped to her face anymore. She is much happier and so cute. Yesterday I brought her back my bedroom and laid her on the bed when I walked back in I found her content and cuddled up with her dad. Kieva loves to take care of her. She even took her back to her room the other day and laid Ella on a blanket and just let her chill while Kieva cleaned her room and read. Zak is a sweetie and takes good care of Ella too. He was the first of the kids to suction her and help me change her trach. Geoffrey loves to help and take care of her as well. He will often tell me "I'm your helper remember." Jason has set an air raid alarm to remind me to give Ella her meds. Whenever it goes off Geoff comes running telling me to give Ella her medicine. Jason is so good with her. Her has rocked her for many hours and is always the one to get up with her at 5am when the nurses leave. We are starting to really figure Ella out. She is doing great.

(By the way, this was not a posed picture. I was, emphasize was, sleeping right up to the point when the flash went off two feet from my head. Not sleeping so much after the shot.-- JF)

Another Geoffrey story

2010-04-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hi this is Kieva. Today we were taking a walk and Geoffrey wanted to cross the road. My mom told Geoffrey to look out for cars ,so Geoffrey looks around and sees a parked car and says ''I found one.'' and then he ran across the road. I thought that was funny.

Geoffrey's Law of Gravity

2009-10-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

***WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS SOME INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT. PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED***

Just as Newton discovered gravity sitting under a tree, Geoffrey came up with his own ideas about gravity today as we sat under the tree in our front yard. We were reading "Little Britches" and eating our morning snack when Geoff announced he needed to go to potty. I told him to run inside and use the toilet. He thought for a second and and said "No, I'll just lay down and the pee will go back up in my penis." I said, "Go in the house and go potty." "No" he says. Then he lays on his back and sticks his hips as high as he could get them and says, "See it will just go back in." Geoffrey's Law of Gravity. I see the genius in him already.

RESULTS! FINALLY!

2009-09-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

We finally have our test results! First let me say that yes it is a girl!!! Jason wouldn't believe it until we had DNA proof. Well babe now you have your proof! It's a girl. We are being given the privilege to raise another angel. Our little girl has the same unbalanced chromosome as Aryn had. If you want the medical name it is partial trisome6 partial monosome3. This a familiar road to us. We don't consider this bad news. It is not what we hoped for, but we are at peace. The nervous feelings I have had for the last two weeks anticipating the results are finally gone. Now we know and we will take it one step at a time. We feel blessed and privilege to be trusted with such a special child again. We know how hard it is, but Aryn taught us many things. Just to name a few; we can do anything with the Lords help, he has a divine plan, and our challenges in life truly make us better. How could we be anything but grateful. I think the hardest part is the knowledge that her life will not be as long. So, here we go again. Oh, to add to the irony, the baby is due in February. What is it with that month and my family? Crazy!

Music, Yeah!!

2009-09-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday night Sandy and I sat and were checking out other peoples blogs. Yes we were blog surfing. I kept coming across music on other peoples blogs and decided that I wanted music on ours. Almost every blog we were on had tons of country music. Not being a major fan of country music (when I listen to it my sister's get more attractive)(Not saying anything negative about my sis's either)(good for sis's, bad for country comment). Yes that was a redneck joke. But seriously I really don't enjoy listening to country. so I put together a play list. I tried to touch a few different genre's yet also tried to keep it mellow. Sandy said I needed some kid's songs on there. So I put those. We recently watched August Rush and I loved the music so I grabbed a couple of those. I put one of a Hawaiian singer that I REALLY enjoy. I even touched on classic rock as well as some techno. I also chose some comedy songs that I really like. There are two songs on here that are important. One is the first song that Sandy and I danced to, the other is one that Sandy REALLY hates. The first is probably easy to figure out. The other might not be so easy. You decide. I like them all and will try to change them occasionally. I hope you enjoy and if you don't oh well. My intent on the music was to be able to put some on there that you wouldn't mind coming to our blog and just let the music play. I can't put all the music that I like because that would probably weird some people out and my music tastes. Well that's enough rambling for one night. Until next time, Same bat time, Same bat channel.

I LOVE MY KIDS

2009-09-13T09:09:00.001-07:00

I just randomly shot this picture last week. My kids are amazing! I love them each individually. Kieva is a hunger for learning stage. She wants so much more. I have a mission to do better at home school. I need to order more books for her and turn her loose. She could learn more on her own then I could ever teach her. She loves to read especially when her dad is reading the same book and racing her. I actually ask her how to spell words sometimes. She wants to learn Latin, so I decided I would turn that one over to Jason. His first home school assignment. Kieva said she would get up at 5:30 if that's what it takes. I wish we didn't have to eat or clean or shower then we could study all the time about anything we wanted. Zak is a little explorer. I think he's a bit frustrated that we don't watch tv or play video games much. Maybe someday he'll thank me. We are having fun doing the tiger scout program with him. His school request is to study animals. When I asked him what kind of books he wants to be reading he said "Easy to read books about animals." He's one of those kids who would rather read the encyclopedia than a fiction book. He loves to invent things. We all have him pegged as an inventor of some kind. He has great ideas. His other request for school was to learn how things work. The other day I let them dismantle our broken VCR. Geoffrey is happiness. He makes us all smile. He is a lot of work. It takes all of us to keep up with him. He is fully potty trained. It was his idea and I can say now it was a good one. He had no qualms with the toilet. He loves it. The other day we found him dunking his head in it. I was so grossed out while Kieva and Zak thought it was hilarious. He can dribble a basket ball really well and kick a ball across the room. He must do everything himself. This morning I caught him on the kitchen floor eating a bottle of ketchup. He said he was just watching it. I really need a lock for my fridge. His disaster trail has inspired a major purge and organization frenzy. Although I have made things more of a mess. He gives the best hugs and kisses. When he'll give one up. He loves learning. He knows several letters, has most of his books memorized, Can count to 6 sometimes higher, and knows several of his colors. He makes the cutest I love you fingers. I am counting my blessings 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . 5! I am so excited the Lord is blessing us with one more.

OHH BABY

2009-09-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Since I never update my blog I dout anyone will see this. Still maybe it will help me a little. We are expecting. Given our history it is always a little scary at first for us. I have miscarried twice since Geoff. I am 16 weeks now. On Friday we went and had an amnio done. Yes, they stuck a 6 in. long needle into my belly. I did not look. Jason just watched on the screen to make sure they didn't poke our little nugget. Five weeks ago we had an ultrasound that showed extra fluid behind the babys neck. Of course they had a fancy name for it. It is a huge marker for cromosome abnormalities. So we assumed we were having another trisome6 baby. We are very much at peace with this although I was a little surprised. Aryn was the best two years of our life, so how could we complain. The ultrasound on Friday went very well. The baby looked great. She (yes I said she) was growing great, had a strong heart, the fluid behind the neck was gone, aminotic fluid was great, overall she looked like a perfectly healthy baby. They did notice a little bright spot on her heart. It doesn't mean much. The doc says they always go away it is just a minor marker for chromosome abnormalities. At the end he says there is probably a 50/50 chance here for a tri 6 baby. We just have to wait 10 days for the test results to come back. Ahhh 10 days. I am going crazy. I am happy with either outcome, but I just want to know. In the mean time I am happy to know we are having a girl. Jason says we have to wait to get the test back before he'll believe it. I say it fits our pattern; girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. So the waiting game begins. I asked them to give the results to Jason. I would rather him tell me the results instead of me telling him. He thinks it's great and I hope he doesn't tourcher me with it.

2009-02-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this is Jason. I figured I would put my two cents worth in. There are very few pictures of me and I am invovled in little as well. I tend to have a very busy schedule that I hope will soon start to free up. Lately all I hae been doing is work and school. I started back to school last month. I have felt a great desire to finish my bachelors degree. I quick workiing on it when we had Aryn. Once she was gone I never got back to it. Thanks to a great friend and mentor I was encouraged and motivated to get back to school.

Also, I have been working on my dune buggy quite a bit lately. We are getting really close to putting the engine back in it. And hopefully soon I will be a ble to start painting it. If I can find a good sample of the paint I will post it.

Thanks for listening. I will check back later.

The Big Scary Monster

2009-01-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Kieva told me a funny story today. She said she had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When she opened her bedroom door she heard an awful scary growl. It scared her at first, but she finally realized it was just daddy snoring. So, I guess I sleep with a big scary monster every night. I love my kids!

Snow Suprise!

2009-01-18T17:45:00.001-08:00

My sister Penny called me up last Wednesday and asked if we would be willing to go play in the snow on Mt Graham with her if she came down. We had a blast! We slid down hills on our bums, threw snowballs mainly at Cory, discovered a frozen waterfall, sucked on icicles, and just enjoyed the pure spontaneity of it all. Well, all except Geoff he didn't like it too much. Maybe it was because he had so many layers on he could barely walk and two pairs of gloves made it hard to suck his thumb. Thank you Penny we had a blast!

Hair

2009-01-15T08:23:00.001-08:00

French Braid Piggies with Ringlets

Doing hair is fun to do fun to do to do to do

2009-01-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

I've had fun doing Kieva's hair lately so the other morning Zak decided he wanted his hair done too. Kieva thought he was the most handsome boy in the world. We all know she is beautiful

Kieva's Mystical Garden

2009-01-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is Kieva's Mystical Garden she got from winning a science contest. You put the pieces together and add their liquid in the tray and wah-la watch it grow. The kids had fun watching it. We forgot to take a pic before we added the magic liquid.

Do older siblings really pick on younger ones?

2009-01-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

This is Kieva and Zak's idea of playing with Geoff or maybe they are tired of cleaning up his messes. Notice the handcuffs around his ankles and the rope behind him is tied to the door. Amazingly enough he didn't seem to care, but I still put an end to it, but took a picture first of course.

Sunbeam quote of the day

2009-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

While showing the picture of the first vision and asking the kids to tell me about it one little sunbeam says "that's Jesus and Heavenly Father". Another little beam pipes up and asks "now are those good guys or bad guys."
Got to love 3 year olds!

Dunes!!!!

2008-03-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the 1st Annual Jones Family Dune trip. We left town Thursday evening for our six hour drive to the Imperial Sand dunes. We arrived at about 2:30 after a 45 minute search for a Walmart in Yuma. The first night was quite comical. Not wanting to set up a tent upon arrival we decided to sleep in the car. There was not much room with a packed car and five people so, Jason decided to sleep on the picnic table. It started out quite nice. If you have never been in the desert late at night, there is nothing to retain the heat. It ended up getting quite cold. Any ways to make a long story short, Rough night.

The next morning we were up and running. After feeding faces and getting dressed it was time to play. We rode sand rails and four wheelers for the next day and a half. The neat thing about sand dunes is that it isn't really dusty. The sand is so fine that there is virtually no dust. Pretty cool, eh? The down side is it gets every where. The slightest breeze and its in you ear, in you shorts, in your tent. EVERYWHERE!!

Friday after noon we were getting pretty warm. Erick asked if we wanted to go swimming. The general consensus was yes so we loaded up for the 10 minute drive to go swimming in the All American Canal. The All American Canal is part of the Colorado River that takes water into Mexico. There were rope swings and cold water to play with. We had fun. Jason and Sandy both swung from the ropes and jumped into the water.
All in all a really great weekend. No serious injuries. Just good fun !!!!!!!!

Chicks Dig Scars

2008-03-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

On Wed. around 4pm we were at my friend Nicole Wilson's house visiting and letting the kids play. They live about 20 minuets away on the outskirts of Pima. Zak and his friend Ian were playing in the back yard with the chickens. I was inside and heard a terrible scream. I did not recognize the scream because, I have never heard any of my kids cry like that. Zak walked in still screaming holding his hand that was dripping with blood. We quickly rinsed it and found that it was very deep. Nicole grabbed a soft cloth and wrapped it around his hand. I quickly threw the kids in the car, called my neighbor, Lana, and asked her if she could meet me at the ER and pick up Kieva and Geoffrey. Kieva held his hand while I drove very fast to the hospital. Zak was very tough and brave, even though he thought he was going to die. I assured him that everything would be fine. He didn't even cry in the car. We only spent about 1 1/2 hours total at the ER. They cleaned it out and we had a wonderful science lesson as we got to see both layers of skin and then the fat underneath. Zak hardly cryed at all, but screamed very loud each time the stitches hook went in. It took 6 stitches to close the wound. Jason got there just as they finished, and he told Zak stories of all the stiches he got as a little boy. I hope he doesn't follow in his dad's footsteps and end up in the ER every summer. The first night was a little rough since the numbing medicine wore off and tylenol wasn't cutting it for the pain. Around 11pm Jason gave Zak a blessing in which he was told the pain would be less and he would be able to handle it. It also told him that he was being healed with the same power that Jesus healed people when he was on the earth. Zak finally was able to relax and he slept well for a few hours. He woke up a couple more time crying and in pain. I said a prayer with him each time and he would fall right back to sleep. We have once again been shown the power of God, and our testimonies have been strengthened. Zak is now feeling great, enjoying the attention, and trilled that mom is not limiting his time in front of the TV and X-box. I didn't think he would be able to hold the controller, but he has definitely found a way.

IT'S OFFICIAL

2008-03-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 11, 2008, was election day. We all went and voted and at about 7:30 Tuesday night the Safford city clerk called gave us the new. Jason was voted into office. He received 1068 of the 1989 votes cast. He needed 51% of the votes to get into office or it would go to the general election in May. Now it time to learn a new job. Jason does not take office until the end of May. Good luck.