Helmut Alwin Fischer

Well, for those that don't know, my father-in-law, Helmut Fischer, passed away on Wednesday, August 20th. It was very sudden and unexpected. He was at a store with his wife and a grandson and didn't feel well, so he went back to the car, which was not unusual for him. 10 or 15 minutes later when Shirley and Jayden came out to the car, they found him looking like he was just sleeping in the car, but the door was open. Shirley tried to wake him, but couldn't. He was still breathing, though, so she called 911, who got there fairly quickly since a fire station was literally across the street. They loaded him and headed for the hospital. At first, they suspected that it was just a sugar issue, but not long after they got him in the ambulance, he flat lined and they had to start CPR. Shirley had to drive separate since she had Jayden with her, and when she got to the hospital and saw they were giving him CPR, she had to tell them that he has a living will and and do not resuscitate order. By this time, they had already shocked him and been doing CPR for a while, and they told her he wasn't responding to any of it anyway. So, just like that, he was gone! Ironically, I had just picked up Rob for lunch when we got the first call from his mom telling us that he had passed out and was on his way to the hospital. We told her to keep us updated, and we talked about making sure we went up after work if he was still in the hospital. Rob went into a store, and a couple of minutes later I got a call from my sister-in-law who got to the hospital before both the ambulance and Shirley, and so she saw them giving him CPR as they unloaded him. She called me and said it wasn't looking so good and I told her we would head straight up. I went and got Rob and we headed straight for the hospital, but only about 10 minutes later we got the call from Rob's mom saying he hadn't made it. It made for a very shocked, long drive! All of Rob's siblings came to the house that day, and we have been getting together everyday at his parents house since it happened. The viewing was on Friday night, and yesterday was the funeral. We miss him so very much! I miss him. We had the unique situation of living with him for 5 years of my marriage, and in that time also loosing our own son, who Helmut had a very close relationship with. Helmut has always been so kind and sweet to me, and he was one of our biggest supporters after loosing Caydin. He is a wonderful "papa" to his grandchildren, and was Isaac's special play buddy as well! Whenever I told Isaac we were going to papa and grandma's house, he'd start singing songs about papa and just get so excited! I think one of the hardest things for me is knowing that my kids most likely will hardly, if at all, remember him themselves, yet Helmut loved them so very, very much! I want to make sure all my kids know how much their papa loved and adored them! I am so happy for Helmut, though. He had been in chronic pain for a long time, and did not want to go in a slow, painful, dragging way! And, he has missed Caydin so much! What a joyful reunion they must have had! Right after we found out what happened, I actually daydreamed that maybe he went to the car, looked over, and there was Caydin, and he just got to go with him! Helmut, we love you and will miss you!!!

Busy Month and Eden's Birthday!

August is almost always a busy month for me. There are a ton of birthdays in my family, and a few anniversaries as well! Plus, it becomes the month where you finally do or finish all those things you were going to do the whole summer but never got around to until now because you realize that it's the last month of summer and if you don't do them now, you never will! So, that being said, I'll update you on a few of the things we've been doing! Last weekend we had a family reunion with Rob's immediate family up at a lodge at Jordanelle. It was a lot of fun! We rented a pontoon boat one day and went tubing behind it and fishing. I haven't gone tubing since before I was married because I've been pregnant or recovery from having a baby recently pretty much every summer since I got married, so it was a lot of fun! Eden even went on the tube with me once (going slowly!) and love it! We also had a birthday party for Eden and my nephew while we were there. It was fun! Last Sunday we also had a birthday party for Eden with my family, and I think Eden really enjoys being 4 now. Her birthday was actually on Monday, and I did make the mistake that morning of being all excited and telling her she would never have to be 3 again, to which she replied back to by bursting into tears and saying she LOVED being 3 and she wanted to be 3 forever! I tried to calm the situation down, and by afternoon, she had decided being 4 was good and I haven't mentioned being 3 since! She did make me sing happy birthday to her every morning until yesterday! So, anyway, Eden is officially 4! She is so sweet, and makes me laugh, smile, and cry and everything in between! She teaches me so much about life and myself, and I am so grateful I have her. I know she is an amazing spirit and I am so blessed to get to be her mom! She is a wonderful big sister (even though she has her moments with her siblings, even now!) and already is wanting to help me plan EmmaLee's birthday which is on the 15th of this month. So, we are still going to be very busy for the next few weeks! Hopefully I will be able to update this blog before the end of the month and for EmmaLee's birthday! I also have all my pictures saved on a folder so I just need to remember to burn them and put them in my purse so I can actually post some pictures! Those of you who haven't seen us in a while will be surprised how much my kids have grown, mostly EmmaLee! I'll try to post them soon!!!