Father's Day Weekend

We had a fun Father's Day weekend in Bonner's Ferry with the grand kids. John really wanted to go up to let the kids see that Papa was well. The last time they saw him he was going in for surgery. Mackenzie came with us. Shawnte' and Cameron brought the kids too so we were all together! It rained most of the weekend but time spent with family was relaxing and just what we needed! Saturday evening, Owen took us to see Kaelynn and Makenna perform in their dance recital! So precious....

 Papa with his princesses

 Shasta with Makenna and Kaelynn

 Colson...what a face!

 John and Katrina...forever

Monday morning, Shasta and the kids went with us to find a "ghost town" up in the mountains. Not much left of the town but the kids loved looking for treasure. It's always a fun adventure with Papa!!

Fun times with an old friend.

Out of the blue, Elder Munn's and his wife stopped in to visit on their way to a family wedding. It was like the years had not separated the "Elder's". It was fun to go down memory lane with them as they talked about their missionary days!!

John has a heart!

After a visit to a local cardiologist John said, “Well, they’ve discovered I do have a heart after all.” That is so like him to find humor in an unsettling situation.

In January, John started having what we now refer to as “episodes”. He was suffering from chest pains, lack of oxygen, and tightness in his arms. He was miserable, and we were frightened. In February, he went into emergency with severe pains that he could no longer ignore. After an EKG the doctor’s released him saying they couldn’t find anything. A week or so later, we were back in the emergency room. This time he stayed for three days: doing a stress test on a treadmill, a nuclear medicine test and countless other tests. They still couldn’t find anything so they diagnosed it as esophageal spasms and sent him home. We then began treatment through his gastrointestinal doctor who prescribed nitroglycerin for the episodes.

At first we thought it was under control but the “episodes” continued in frequency and intensity. After nearly three months of horrendous pain and anguish—and the fact that John was taking up to 14 nitroglycerin tablets a day, his doctor suggested we go back to a cardiologist. So we made an appointment and waited with anticipation for that day. We had been praying feverishly for someone to diagnose him correctly, as we had already done research on line and knew that we were dealing with Angina!

On Mother’s Day, we weren’t sure John would make it to Monday. I found him in the bedroom sobbing and unable to move. We begged the Lord for help and thankfully, we did make it through the day, had a wonderful dinner at Karen and Travis’ and went home to await our appointment scheduled the following morning.

Monday, we decided to mow his first job before our appointment but I had to do it; John was completely out of it. We rushed home, changed our clothes and got in to see the doctor as soon as we arrived at his office. He came into the room, introduced himself, glanced at John’s chart and said he didn’t think it was his heart.  John and I looked at each other stunned and feeling helpless. Why wasn’t anyone listening to us! After two minutes with us, the doctor tried to send us back to the gastrointestinal doctor but we were adamant, so he agreed to do another stress test. Knowing they wouldn’t find anything unless John was in the middle of an “episode”, as soon as the doctor left the room, John got down and did about 10 push-ups. The nurse came back in, hooked him up and put him on the treadmill. Within a few short minutes, he started having an episode. The nurse took John off the machine and left the room. Seconds later the doctor, now visibly shaken, said we had a serious situation and rushed us over to Kadlec Hospital for an angiogram. The doctor said that, during the angiogram if he could fix the heart issue at that time, he would. Otherwise, John would need surgery.

As John and I waited for him to have the procedure, the nurse walked him down the hall to use the bathroom and I heard someone say, “Hey, I know that man. That’s John Cornett.” A moment later, a young technician came in to our cubicle and introduced himself as Michael, one of John’s former Sunday school students in our Kennewick ward. Of course, John remembered him and it was a fun reunion. It wasn’t until later that evening when we witnessed God’s hand in bringing Michael to us. After his shift ended, Michael came to visit us in John’s room. With tears in his eyes he said, “Brother Cornett, you have no idea how close you came to dying today.” He then said he could get into big trouble telling us this, but he wanted us to know what had gone on during the procedure.

Michael and another LDS man were the technicians helping the doctor with the angiogram. The doctor was in the middle of putting the stent in when they flipped the image on the computer screen and he noticed something the doctor hadn’t. There were seven lesions and had the doctor completed placing the stent in, it would have caused a massive stroke because it would have blocked the blood flow from the main artery. The doctor quickly removed the stent and opted for a double bypass.

As Michael finished telling us this, he choked up. He said, “Brother Cornett, when I was your student I was struggling as a young man. I just want you to know how much your lessons meant to me. I drew strength from them, and the way you taught them. Now that I teach, I use that same pattern of teaching in my own lessons.” The spirit bore testimony to all of us that Michael was here at this moment to save my husband’s life, just as John had saved Michael’s spiritual life over 16 years ago. It was a powerful moment between them and I’m so grateful to have been there to feel that spiritual connection.

John had a successful open-heart (double by-pass) surgery and is recovering miraculously. He is strong and determined but still needs to take time and allow the internal healing to take place. We are so grateful for second chances.

John and Katrina...not taking life for granted.

Jayden's Eagle Project

Day 1 - The prep

Brooke & Jayden

The Crew

Brother Meldrum

Brooke helping out

Couldn't have done it without Dad

Day 2 - Laying the Gravel
Dad getting tips from a Jr. volunteer
Jayden directing the project
Dennis was the first to show up!

Finally!!! Exciting times as Jayden finishes up his scouting experience. He planned a project that involved two days of clearing and blazing a hiking trail at the base of Badger Mountain, and then laying gravel along that trail. This will be used for the handicapped or those who can't make the steep climb. Amazingly, he had 23 people show up to help him on a windy Saturday morning, and another 23 on Monday to finish the project. Most of them were friends from High School and some ward members. It really says a lot about Jayden as a person when so many would come out to help him achieve this goal. He's very blessed.

Sharing Talents

Jayden, Shawn and Jeremy
Singing for Sam (our neighbor)

About a month ago, Jayden and a couple of his friends (Shawn and Jeremy) decided to combine their voices and spread the gift of music. Each Sunday night, they go around to different homes and sing beautiful hymns to those who are homebound, and often alone. What a blessing they have been! More of the youth are wanting to get involved and do the same. What a wonderful sharing of talents!

Sample of the great talent in our youth!

Catching up in February

Dad, Dennis and Jayden
Dennis awarding John the Mentor Pin

The New Year has brought fun and exciting changes! I was called as the Young Women President in Church and so far, I am loving the responsibility and the girls are such a tremendous example to me. Now that I have my counselors in place, we’re preparing for the year’s activities and girls camp—which I’ll be going to!!! A week of camping in the mountains with teenagers…AWESOME!!!

As a family, we have redirected our focus to follow more closely the “Law of Attraction”, or in biblical terms, “Law of the Harvest”; focusing on righteous attraction of prosperity and abundance. No negative thoughts, words or actions. It’s amazing to see the results already as we maintain an attitude of gratitude for all that the Lord has blessed us with. Miracles and life lessons have come to us and there’s no worry or fear of the future, but a sure knowledge that the Lord is in charge and knows the desires of our hearts.

John was given a wonderful honor by a young Eagle Scout that he taught over the years. Dennis Christiansen presented him with the "Mentor Pin" at his court of honor. Quite an honor for dad!!!

John’s had some health challenges this winter—thought we were looking at a heart attack but after a short hospital stay, that’s inconclusive. So now we’re on to exploring other options. Thank God for nitro tablets. We’re spending lots of time with the grandkids and treasuring those moments.

Christmas Memories

It all started with the lights

(Jayden & his friend Shawn)
Our Christmas TreeSome things never change...brothers!
Papa, Grandma and Lilibug
Javis, Liliana and Chaylia
Lilibug helping Grandma with the dishes
Lilibug and Tracen
Jayden taking Liliana on the slide

Feeding the ducks

John with Javis, Jayden, Colby and Braden

Treasure hunting!

Colby and Mad Jack Jones

Braden and Colby

The "Sign"

Colby and Braden

Good Times!

Colson and Papa

Family Ties

(Plus one curly head kid named Shawn-Jayden's best friend)

Christmas this year will hold a tender spot in my heart. Javis & Chaylia brought our Liliana to stay for a week so we could bond with our beautiful little girl. We haven't really had quality time with them since they moved to Brigham City. They arrived Christmas Eve, so we had dinner with Karen and Travis, then gifts and games. Great times! Lots of teasing, fun and laughter!!! Christmas morning, after Sacrament we came home to cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate then enjoyed opening gifts. Lilibug and Jayden made quite a haul:) We really treasured our time together: playing games, watching movies, taking Lilibug to the park and to feed the ducks at the pond. Chaylia and I even took in some shopping and lunch. One night, Grandma & Papa watched Tracen and Lilibug as Javis, Chaylia and Jayden went with Karen and her brood to go rollerblading! The kids were perfectly content to stay behind and play together, entertaining us old folks.

Shasta and the kids rolled in Thursday evening so she could spend some time with her brother. We got into some serious Skipbo (just like old times when the kids were little) and fun conversation!! I was capturing as many memories as I could during this week. For the better part of Thursday, Papa had been plotting an incredible, albiet spooky adventure for the boys. Friday morning he took Braden and Colby out exploring for buried treasure. Complete with a treasure map, they hiked in the Delta and miraculously discovered all these hidden archives that had been buried (Grandpa had gone out earlier in the morning with junk he'd picked up at the goodwill and stuffed in one of my old pillowcases...he even spray painted some rocks gold so they looked like riches). Unbeknownst to the boys, Javis (wearing a mask), and Jayden were also lurking in the brush and as Papa read the "Tale of the Toolies and the legendary Ghost of Mad Jack Jones"...they ran by giving the boys quite a fright! Braden nearly stabbed Javis out of fear because Papa let him carry his knife...hmmm. Not sure that was too bright but, hey...they had fun! They had a real story to tell when they got home and dumped their treasure on my dining room table. Memories.....

Friday evening, we went to the church so we could spread out and have a fun game night with all the extended family: Olsen's and Purdum's were there too. We had the entire church to ourselves so we played basketball, ate turkey sandwiches, salad, chips, homemade root beer, fruit...and played some wild games. We laughed...laughed and laughed. It's so good to be with family.

New Year's Eve, Chaylia's parents came into town so we had them over for dinner and good conversation. It's amazing how much we have in common. We loved having them here. They are just an awesome family and we're so grateful they allowed us this time with Lilibug. I know it's hard to share those grandparent moments so we were very touched. Later, the kids went back to the hotel with them for some swimming and fun. I was pretty tuckered out by then so I just jelled-out. I don't even think I made it to New Year's.

I think the week caught up with me. By Sunday, I couldn't get out of bed. I'd been up ALL NIGHT, hugging the porcelain...I was sick...sick...sick and, afraid I poisoned everyone. Fortunately, I was the only one who fell ill.

The week was just magical and by Monday, I was feeling the weight of sad goodbyes. I truly just loved having our kids here and enjoying our Lilibug, as well as all the grand babies that were here!

As I look back in retrospect, Shawnte' started off this holiday season with her visit. We had two wonderful days with Vance and Demi before the holidays so it felt complete; celebrating family time. But, there's always that emotion that comes when we miss the ones who couldn't be here. We miss Breck, Sienna and Veda!!!