Crazy Week.

It has been quite a week for the Zimmer family.

Last weekend we made a very long trek to Michigan to go to my niece Maggie's wedding.  It was so worth the drive.  (14 hours each way)  Mark and I left on Thursday night and drove to Jeff and Mandy's in Pennsylvania.
Then we all went the rest of the way the next morning.  First we went to the Detroit Suburbs where we are from and had dinner with 5 or 6 couples from our old church on Friday night.  It was fun.  Then Saturday morning we got to go help Jessica and Frankie move all of their furniture and wedding gifts into the apartment that will be their new house.  That was such a joy.  Here are a few pics from Saturday morning and afternoon:

Jess unpacking in the kitchen

Frankie, our soon to be son in law putting some shelves together.

The guys building a table and chairs

Then after lunch we headed up to Grand Rapids to the hotel.  The wedding would be Sunday.  It was fun to see my mom and sisters and visit.  We had our traditional morning coffee routine, and I think I had 3 starbucks by the time I was done.  (I LOVE Starbucks!)   I headed up to the brides hotel room and enjoyed watching my nieces and their friends get ready for the big day.  

Here are the most precious photos ever of my sister Colleen and niece Maggie while they were getting hair and make up done.  

Cue the scene from Mamma Mia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy8HkHLqDeo

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and filled with touches of who Brandon and Maggie are.  I love when you can see the traces of the bride and groom in the wedding.  That means more to me than anything.  

Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Haines

The reception was wonderful and we all danced all night long.  Our family enjoys celebrating together.

Early Monday morning, (and I mean really early) Mark had the 4 of us back on the road at 5:00 am.  It was a good drive.  Lots of naps, snacks, and talking.  Just the way I like to travel.  

Mark and I pulled up to home in Connecticut in a record 13.5 hour and we were exhausted.

Tuesday morning was right back at it, the girls and I working our jobs for A Great Impression at our own homes and getting life back in order.  

Thursday we had our big appointment with the Orthopedic surgeon for Julie's feet.  Starting back more years ago than I can honesty remember, Julie was a gymnast and had pain in her heels.  I think she was 9 when it started.  Many years later, (she is 16) and 3 surgeries, endless tests, 13 casts, and ignoring it for the past two years, we made our way back to a specialist at Yale University for some answers.  She had had an MRI on each foot and an EMG on each foot in the past few weeks, so we were excited to hear if this Dr. could help or not.

Unfortunately it was not.  He told us that her nerves in her feet had been compressed by a muscle mass for too long before we ever figured out what was wrong, back at age 9 and 10 and that the reason that they surgeries to repair it had been unsuccessful was because the nerves were damaged on the insides.  There is basically nothing that can be done for permanent nerve damage.

As you can imagine, that was a terrible blow to Julie.  She was hoping he would have some magic answers.  

That was our Thursday.

Our two older kids are a huge support.  Jeff and Jessica check in with Julie on a regular basis, and we all talk very often about these family matters.  So on Thursday we had all been texting and talking all day in support of Jewels.

But Jeff never mentioned to me that he had been bit by some kind of a spider or bug on Wednesday night while he slept.  He probably didn't want to add to my stress.  

Yesterday morning Mark called from work to see how things were and to see if Jeff had sent me the pictures of his horrible bug bites.  I texted Jeff and told him to send them to me.  Jeff is 23 and invincible..... right?  

The pictures were disgusting but Jeff told me he had gone to the dr. that morning and was on antibiotics.  I left him alone and went on with work for the day.

At 3:30 I was wrapping up my work day and this very strong mother instinct thing came over me.  I just knew something was very wrong and I texted Jeff to see how he was.  The answer was not well.  I started to encourage him to go to the hospital.  By 5:30 he and Mandy were at the ER.  They didn't mess around at the hospital.  They confirmed that Jeff had been bitten by a Brown Recluse and had him on an IV bag and Morphine very quickly.  

Last night was crazy.  I had one foot out the door wanting to go to my son, but I knew at the same time that there was nothing I could do for him.  Mandy was keeping us updated.  His fever got up to 104 last night.  I was  nervous Mommy, but I knew so many people were praying all over the country.

By 4:00 am I heard it was down to 101.  By this morning the fever had broken.  Jeff will be in the hospital for a few days while they watch him and make sure he is ok.   I know he is on the mend, and that God heard our prayers.  

Oh, I know this post is very long but there is one more thing.  My dad has been not doing well at all.  He is in the ICU in Florida right now as I type this.  He is severely dehydrated and his blood pressure was ony 70/40 yesterday.  He has COPD and congestive heart failure.  So please, if you possibly get this far in reading, say a prayer for my dad too.  His name is Bill.