Jason and Stacy Clan: Gage's checkup and Tristen's fundraiser

Time to update
The Disney Dream is behind us and it's back to our cute little life.
The snow has melted and we back to school.
Had a great Thanksgiving holiday in Utah.
First we stopped in Boise for Sierra's stress test. They ran her on a treadmill to get her heart rate up, then did an echo on her heart. No great revelation, just confirmed some of the issues they are watching. She has a little 'non-conformity' on the right side of her heart. Basically her heart is not opening up like it should. This is probably the cause of the swelling, weight gain, and fatigue. Her feet are swollen each night and her face is swollen in the mornings. Not sure how this is going to play out, but it is driving me nuts to see her retaining fluids, Stacy is not crazy about it either.

Anyway....after the stress test / echo in Boise we went to Logan to spend time with Stacy's family. Great time with her family. We played basketball, shot guns, played pinochle, played night games, went shopping, ate plenty of good food, took the kids to the Jump Zone, went to the Preston light parade, slobbered over Ryan's bull elk mounts, and watched our beloved USU Aggies get butchered by BSU in football (that part was un-fun!)

Jojo, Megan, Lacey, Mya, and Sierra

Hunter and Mason

At the Preston light parade and fireworks

Megan and little Cooper (who LOVES Megan)

My wife at pinochle

It's a Merrill thing, (you wouldn't understand)

At the Jump Zone

On Thursday, Gage and I did a one day marathon trip to Calif for a pacemaker and echo checkup. We flew to Oakland, took the BART (subway), then the Caltrain, then took a bus to LPCH. It was a fun adventure for the two of us. We had a little time at the hospital to say hi to many good friends from the 'Lindsey' days. We swung through 3 West and Room 3241, then to the hospital school to see Kevin and the gang. Had lunch with Stephanie, Wyatt, and Tristen Thomas. Tristen is now 2 years old and has been waiting for a heart for 62 days. Tristen looks great and we hope she can stay healthy until the right heart is available. Had a nice visit with Liz Niccum and Mary Burge. We still have a good support system in Calif if (when) we return for the next adventure.

Gage felt pretty special. Leaving on the BART

Transfer at Balboa Station

The Caltrain at Millbrae

The bus in Palo Alto

The new LPCH under construction. This was a big hole in the ground 2 years ago.

Hospital school with Kevin and the gang.

Tristen, Wyatt and Mom, Stephanie.

Gage's tests showed no real change. His heart is still riding the pacemaker, he is in the 5-10% brackets for weight and height. He is still throwing random irregular heart beats. So they hooked him up to a 24 hour halter monitor to watch for crazy beats. I will FedEx the monitor back to California for evaluation. He is looking and acting great, so his next checkup will be in 6 months. Unfortunately, we talked more about Sierra than Gage. Lindsey was not even brought up.

The Green turtle on his belly reads the pacemaker.

Next 'scheduled' visit to Calif is for Lindsey and Sierra biopsies on January 14. Hopefully nothing else before then.

After the checkup, our good friends Bob and Kaye Paugh gave Gage and I a ride back to Oakland for our flight home. We finally got back to our home at 1:30am.

On Friday, Stacy and I went to the Festival of Trees at the Baker City Event Center. It was a fundraiser for the local hospital. It was a dress up dinner/auction/dance and Stacy was looking smokin hot! I can't believe I didn't take more pictures. Anyway.... it was fun night to get out.

Last of all, we had the chance to go to Adrian to a benefit dinner for our good friends Tristen Thomas. It was great event with tri-tip steak and a benefit auction. It was a great experience for our kids to be involved in.