The last 3 weeks have been exceptionally busy . . . some good, but a lot of bad too. To sum things up, here are the major highlights:
1. Grandpa Lloyd died 8/23
2. School has started up again, including Richelle's student teaching
3. Richelle's mom had a heart attack Thursday (9/4) night . . . but she's okay
1. Grandpa's Funeral
Saturday, August 23rd, my dad called in the morning to deliver the sad news that Grandpa Lloyd had passed away. He'd been in poor health for awhile now, but it's never easy saying goodbye.
The funeral was held on Thursday, August 28th, in McCammon, Idaho. My parents drove down from northern Idaho, and Leslie, Karl & Christi, and Richelle and I drove up for the funeral.
It was a little sad, but it was good to see the family, and to remember Grandpa.
Karl and I were both pall bearers
Grandma during the internment
Grandma and Grandpa
Grandpa and Karl
Grandpa and his kids . . . Duane, Karen, Holly, Darla, Ron, Grandpa and MonaHere is Grandpa's obituary:
McCAMMON - Robert Dale Lloyd, 79, longtime resident of McCammon, passed away on August 23, 2008, at a local care center. He was born September 24, 1928, in Bancroft, Idaho, a son of John and Ruby Upchurch Lloyd. He grew up in the Inkom area, moving to Mc-Cammon in 1945.
While there he met and dated Ila Karlene Romriell and on June 1, 1946, they were married in McCammon at her parents' home. The marriage was solemnized on November 22, 1978, in the Ogden LDS Temple.
A job with Gardner Construction took them to Montpelier; he also worked for Idaho Portland Cement Co. (later Ash Grove Cement) in Inkom as a laborer, crane operator and then a kiln burner. Dale worked there for 42 years before retiring.
He loved hunting and fishing. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dale is survived by his wife, Karlene; four daughters, Ramona Kissell of McCammon, Darla (Merrill) Marley of Arimo, Holly (Steven) Tanner, Arimo, Karen (Robert) Pugh of Hampskad, N.C.; two sons, Ronald (Cheryl) Lloyd of McCammon, and Duane (Sharlene) Lloyd of Hayden Lake, Idaho; a sister, Leita (James) Hagler of Inkom, Idaho; 17 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Ruby Lloyd, a brother, Ralph Lloyd, and a grandson, John Kissell.
The Lloyd family expresses their deep appreciation to the staff of the Highland Hills Assisted Living as well as the Creekside Hospice for their loving care of our husband and father.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 28, 2008, at noon in the McCammon LDS Stake Chapel, Bishop Ivan Bullock officiating. Friends may visit with the Lloyd family on Wednesday, August 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Horsley's Marsh Valley Funeral Home, 570 N. Meadowview Drive, Arimo, and on Thursday at the church prior to services from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Burial will follow in the Norton Cemetery in McCammon.
As happens in the fall, Richelle and I are back in school, which is always a hard transition when you've taken off the summer. Of particular note, this is Richelle's last semester of school (Yeah!!!!), which also means she's starting her student teaching. She's teaching at Lincoln Elementary in Layton, where she's with a first and fourth grade class. I know it's been hard for her to start waking up early, but it's been fun to see her dress up all teacher like.
I'm also back in school. I was hoping on taking 3 classes this semester, but I found out the day before class started that I would have to be traveling to Chicago a lot over the next three months, so I had to rush around to get my schedule straightened out . . . now I'm just taking two classes, both of which are internet classes. Unfortunately, I missed a few assignments the first week because of the funeral, but now I'm pretty much back on track.
3. Kayla's Heart Attack
Nothing has come as a bigger shock lately than finding out that Richelle's mom had a heart attack this last Thursday night. Even the doctors were a little perplexed as to why . . . she's in great shape, and has none of the typical risk factors.
Thursday night she was driving home from Grandma Allen's house when she started to feel chest pains, and by the time she got home she said it felt like there was an elephant sitting on her chest. She came inside the door and just sat down on the floor and luckly Brigette happened to be coming up the stairs. Kayla had Brigette go get Lorin who gave her two asprin, and rushed her down to Lakeview Hospital. There they gave her nitroglycerin (and morphin for her pain) and started a battery of tests . . . but everything seemed to be fine. They almost released her then, but the doctor said he didn't feel right about something, and they transfered her to Intermountain Medical Center down in Salt Lake around 3am on Friday.
At some point, her bloodwork started to show an increased level of some enzyme which is often released during a heart attack, and the doctors decided they should keep her in observation as they ran more tests. Still, everything seemed to be fine until they took her in for an angiogram on Friday and found a small artery towards the bottom of the heart that had a blockage. The artery was particularly small (1.5 mm), and had a number of twists and turns that prevented them from clearing the blockage with a rotor-router type tool . . . they also don't make stints that small. They did try to use a balloon to expand the artery, but the procedure ended up being unsuccessful.
At that point they moved her into the ICU for recovery. Richelle stayed the night so that her dad could go home and get some sleep, shower up, and finish some homework he had due. Richelle said it wasn't much fun . . . they don't really have anywhere to sleep in the ICU, so she made a bed out of pillows, but since the nurses would come in every 20 minutes to check on Kayla, she didn't really get any sleep.
In the end, she ended up coming home today, after two more days of observation. Luckily, things weren't any worse. Apparently the doctors didn't really know what to tell her, since she really wasn't doing anything wrong health wise . . . they said it was just one of those strange genetic twists similar to how a totally healthy person could end up with leukemia. Still, we're all thankful that she's back home and doing much better.
