Well, a lot has been going on. My mom had a go-kart accident (I know, crazy) a few months back which revealed that she had a brain anuerism. It was determined that because of the size and location of it (kind of sitting on her brain stem) she needed to see one of the leading neuroligists in Pheonix, Arizona. She flew there for surgery last Friday. The surgery went well, but after a few days she still hadn't woken up. After lots of tests and waiting, it was discovered that she had had a stroke, and her brain was swelling a bit. She's still expected to gain everything back, except maybe her right peripheral vision. The news of how she's doing seems to change hourly, and it's been hard to get the information to so many people. (8 kids, remember?)
It looks like she's starting to recover, but it's going to be slow going. I'm flying out this Sunday to stay with her at the hospital for a week. She has her good friend Christy there, which has been a big help. I've been through so many different plans this week- driving to Kansas to be with my younger siblings, flying to AZ, my older sister flying here, finding friends to watch the kids, etc. I'm so tired of thinking! I'm glad to have a solid plan locked in. My younger sister McKenna is flying here to help watch the kids while James is at work and class.
This has been so scary for me. I feel like she's going to be okay. It has been really stressful to find things out a piece a time, especially for the few days when she just wasn't waking up. We didn't know whether to be worried or not. I'm really glad to be in a position to go and be with my mom. And I'm glad for the priesthood- she's had several blessings. We've also fasted for her recovery. It's brought our family closer together as we all try to help out.
We visited the Reiman Gardens- part of ISU campus- a few weeks ago. 14 acres of beautiful grassy hills, stone walkways, lake and rose gardens. The lake is in the background here. 
There is a children's garden that has a current theme of trains, as well as an exhibit garden with the Moby Dick theme. My kids love the fish ponds, the little stream and running up and down these hills.
Here's the white whale himself. Isn't this amazing?!! It's all out of twigs. When I visited the gardens a few years ago the exhibit was out of actual cars that had been "planted" the ground. Really cool.
Cute little house at the end of a maze of walkways separated by really cool prairie grass. I didn't get any pictures of the best part- the butterfly house. There is a U-shaped walk inside with a butterfly habitat. There are so many butterflies in there that they land on the ground, the walls, and on you. It's nice and warm and has lots of flowers and trees and bowls of sugar water. The colors and sizes of all the butterflies are amazing! I don't stay too long in there as I constantly worry that someone is going to step or grab one. :) There is also a case of all the cocoons so you can usually see several butterflies emerging and drying their wings. So cool! (Compared with BYU's Bean Museum- the good ol' Y is sadly lacking :)
