First of all, just wanted to pass on another update about Jason. Saturday I got news that he had developed a super high fever and that a few more complications had arisen. Slowly but surely since then he has shown some improvement. This morning, Buddy said the latest update is that he has improved enough to decrease oxygen on the ventilator and try to start tube feedings into his stomach, though he's still too critical to move for any scans or surgery. Please continue to pray for him.

This week is Tarleton's Spring Break! The bad news is, since I am staff, I don't get the week off. The good news is, I DO get Thursday and Friday off! yay :) So today, depending on if we happen to get early release, I will head home with my dogs tonight. If we don't get early release today, I will head home tomorrow morning. I'm really really really excited about getting to finally see my new little colt in person, and deciding on a name for him. It will be great to get to spend some time with my family, and I'm really excited about that too. Believe it or not, it's been about a month and half since I've gone to Leander (that's a long time for me...lol).

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and Happy Birthday to her hubby, Ryan! :)

Jason Smarr is a guy who our family has known for a long time. He grew up attending at the Burnet congregation, so we got to know him and his brothers pretty well. He moved to Stephenville a while back and has been attending with us at Westside.

This weekend, he was in a motorcycle accident and was care-flighted to Harris Downtown in Fort Worth. I don't know technical terms, but from what I understand, he broke a bone in his spinal column, but the specialist said they should be able to fuse his vertebrae back together, and that after about 10 days in the hospital along with continued physical therapy, he should be fine. His surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

This morning, the most recent update I heard was that he has developed pneumonia. Because his oxygen level was low, he had a seizure. He is now in ICU completely sedated. I don't really know what this means as far as his upcoming surgery, but I know that this is serious, so please keep Jason and the doctor's caring for him in your prayers.

------------ UPDATE (3/10 @ 8:00am) -------------

Last night, a group of us from Westside went to visit Jason in the hospital. He is still in ICU and is completely sedated, but his case of pneumonia is improving. In fact, his mom told us that it has improved enough that they are still planning on doing surgery today. If nothing changed during the night, he was scheduled for surgery at 7am this morning, and the surgery would last from 6-10 hours.

------------ UPDATE (3/10 @ 9:30am) -------------

Just got a text that Jason's oxygen levels dropped to a critical level during the night and they were unable to do surgery this morning. They are focusing on his infection now.

-------------UPDATE (3/12) ---------------

Buddy talked to Marnita (Jason's mom) and then gave me another update. Basically, what happened Wednesday is that they actually took him in to the operating room to prep surgery. Apparently, when they turned him on his side, the fluid that was in his lungs from the pneumonia coated the good parts of his lungs, causing his oxygen levels to drop to a critical level. At that point, they decided to focus on the infection before attempting to do surgery again.
That being said, they've now got him in a medically induced coma on a rotorest bed (it's a bed that they strap you into that is constantly swaying/moving from my understanding of how Buddy described it). The thought is that the movement of the rotorest bed will break up the fluid in his lungs to help get rid of the pneumonia. Because he is in a medically induced coma, they took the feeding tube out and are getting him nutrients intravenously. That caused his glucose levels to increase, so they are having to administer insulin.
They hope that his condition will improve by Monday or Tuesday, and as of right now they are hoping to do surgery on next Wednesday.

Please keep praying for Jason and his family :)

My mom just called and woke me up to say that my horse, Cheyenne, had her foal last night! She hasn't been able to get close enough to tell whether it's a little colt or filly yet, but I'm super excited! She said it's bay colored just like the daddy (dark brown with a black mane and tail) and that its little face is completely white! Yay!

Also today, I'm heading out in a few minutes to go hiking at Colorado Bend State Park today! A group of us from work/school are going, and hopefully it will be lots of fun. We'll be hiking up to Gorman Falls, which is really exciting, because my mom has talked about how they used to have family reunions there before it became a state park, so that's pretty cool. Anywho, I guess I better get packed and going.
Gorman Falls:


"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Chris and I booked our flights and rental car to San Jose, California.
Lord willing, we will be embarking on a California vacation May 1-8! :) I'm SUPER excited about Yosemite, the Sequoias, the Redwoods, and the Pacific Ocean! We hope to see a little bit of everything while we're there. It may not be Costa Rica, but we will save TONS of money plus, seeing the Redwoods is something Chris and I have been planning on doing for years, literally.

He came up here (to Stephenville) this weekend, as did Simon and Tyler and we all had a blast! :) Makes me miss the good ol' days a lot, that's for sure.

Hopefully my horse will have her baby this week! ...I guess I'll just have to wait and see :)

Last week was crazy.
This week will be busy, but I think it's going to be good busy, rather than crazy busy.

SO, my parent's mare had her baby a couple weeks ago now. My dad is saying that my horse, Cheyenne, is looking and acting like she should be having her foal any day now! I am going to be such a proud mama (grandma?) lol. My dad told me I should name my baby Sassy (cause that's what he says I am...how mean! haha) but I told him that if he liked the name so much, he should just name his filly that. Plus, I've got a feeling that Cheyenne might have a boy. SO, any name suggestions for a baby horse, boy or girl?

This week, Westside in Stephenville will be having a Gospel Meeting. It started yesterday and so far the lessons have been great, and I am sure they will continue to be great! We will be meeting Monday-Friday at 7:30pm (except for Wednesday: we'll meet at 7pm), and Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10am. Please come if you can!