Life is a Vapor...

Ok, bear with me, as this is not a cheery entry. I saw a sign in a yard in my brother's hometown with the statement listed in my title. How true this statement is and our family learned this reality this past weekend. Friday night, I received a call from my dad and from the tone of his voice, I knew something was wrong. I thought it was perhaps the phone call we have been waiting for regarding my aunt. She has a brain tumor and has not been well for sometime. But this was not the case. Dad told me that my 15 year old nephew had been lifeflighted to Lincoln as he was in a bad car wreck...what???? My head was spinning and I screamed out. Phil came running in from outside. I remember asking what happened but Dad didn't know any details. They were heading north. I asked if I should go but my mom said to wait until we heard more. Sobbing. I remember sobbing. This was my first nephew who I would watch on weekends. A great kid who never gets into trouble. What is going on? Why don't they call? I then received another call from my dad who told me that Richland had been in a bad car wreck and that his friend that was with him had passed away. I shrieked. Dad told me what hospital Richland was in and could I call family. I did. I talked with my aunt who told me that I should go on up...don't listen to anyone else. If I wanted to be there, I should go. I did. Suitcases were packed and we headed north. On the way, my dad called to let me know my nephew had been in critical condition but was now stable. He had burns as the pickup had caught on fire. OMG! This cannot be happening. We arrived and hugged my brother and his wife. They are a mess. There were only pieces of the story at this time. My parents meet me and fill me in on what they know. Richland at one point had broke down and said he killed his best friend and that he wished he had died. Oh no. Please don't feel that way. People were everywhere. Kids in football jerseys were there. Teachers. Friends of my brother's family. The support was overwhelming. Even the brother of the young man who died in the crash was there to let my nephew know that he is not to blame (my nephew was driving). Amazing. I went into the ICU to see Richland. There were blisters covering the back of his head, some on his face, hands, and feet. He was in a deep sleep due to the meds. His hair was singed in the back. We only stayed for a few minutes, then went back into the waiting room. I met people whose names I can't remember but all telling me what a good kid my nephew is. The time passed slowly and I ended staying in the waiting room all night with my parents, brother, his wife, and my sister. We slept little. By the next day, Richland was in and out due to the pain medication. He did get a shower and looked somewhat better. He talked very little. He slept a lot. By Saturday evening, the nurses got him up and he walked to the waiting room. He sat there a short while but his head and neck hurt so bad, he had to go back. I sat with him for a short while. Just Richland and me. We talked very little. I teased him about his new hairdo. I finally went to my brothers house to soak in a hot tub and then slept some. I washed towels and dishes to keep busy. My other nephew hung with us as he is best buddies with my son Collin. That helped him and my brother as he was worried about leaving Alex out. By Sunday, my nephew had improved so much that he was released. No broken bones, no stitches anywhere. He was so blessed. We found out that the pickup collided with another pickup in an intersection on a gravel road. There were no stop signs and the corn was so high, vision was impaired. We are not sure if there was any fault. My nephew could get into trouble with his license as he was only supposed to be driving to/from school events. He and his buddy were just tooling around waiting to take football pics. He wasn't driving fast and there were no drugs/alcohol involved. Thank God. The man from the other truck pulled my nephew out and they tried to pull out the other kid but couldn't due to the seat belt and the fire. If the truck had landed on its other side, my nephew would not be here.
The thoughts that continually run through my head are:
How will Richland live with this the rest of his life?
Will there be legal actions against him? if so, how will he cope?
How will other treat him, my bro/sis-in-law and his brother?
WHY? Especially when there are other kids whose parents let them drive all summer when they were not legal? My brother and his wife were very strict all summer and drove him to practices until he could drive himself when school started. Why do other drive reckless, drink, and so on and nothing happens?
Today is the young man's funeral. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. I can't even imagine what they are going through. My brother and his wife are going but were told to stay back to see how the other parents would react. They are going through the normal emotions...anger, why, denial...
Well, thank you for allowing me this time. I needed to purge. This shows us how "life is a vapor"...in a matter of seconds, it can be changed or gone.
BTW...today is my brother's birthday. He will be 42. His 40 birthday was spent in Kuwait. His 39th was in Iraq. My nephew's birthday will be the 19th. He will be 16 and legal to drive with a passenger.

Barns...

I am not sure why, but I love barns. I took pictures of barns while I was on home visits this week. Marge S., I hope you like these as I know you love barns also. As you can see, I played with the different effects. I would have loved to been able to get closer but: 1) I didn't have time 2) It was rainy and 3) I didn't want to get shot!

Congrats!

Well, congrats go out to Lacy...she finished college! She now has a degree in Merchandising/Interiors. She already is working on a design for the designer with whom she completed her internship with. I think she will do this on occasion for now until the baby gets here. After that, she may work part time. She fell the other day on a step stool and hit her stomach hard on her bathroom sink. She had an ultrasound which showed the baby is OK. The doctor told her to keep both feet on the floor. He confirmed she is having a girl! Momma is SO proud of you Lacy!

It is amazing to me when you reach a certain age, like 29, you start to have a different thought process. Material things don't have the same meaning. I have been purging at this house. I have tossed, gave away, and will sell things that I thought I never would get rid of. I figure if something has been in a box for years...why am I keeping it? Sure, I am keeping the mementos but it is the knick knacks that set around, collecting dust that I am tired of. Phillip and I have been cleaning this house for 2 weeks. I am tired of cleaning and using my vacation to do so. We are contemplating selling this house and finding something else that isn't so challenging. I can't take cleaning years of mess anymore. And boys, you are going to help keep what we have accomplished, clean! Period. I love to remodel and decorate but it is so hard to do this when you work 40 hrs/wk and live in the mess. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

The kids are all signed up for school. I am so ready for them to go. They need a routine.

Davin called me to let me know he has his classes lined out. He will be taking Philosophy of Law, International Law, and Art Appreciation. I think he mentioned something about theater. He is also going to learn more Spanish. The instructor who assisted him with his classes informed Davin that if he could speak Spanish, he would have an excellent edge.

Seth begins his Senior year. Senior pictures will be scheduled soon. He is unsure about his welding class he was going to take at the Vo-
Tech as the teacher quit at the last minute. I spoke with a friend of mine who works at the school. She said the school was going to hire someone part-time as soon as they could. We found out that Seth also has to attend a Senior Seminar at the end of each day. He will have to leave his Work Release job and go back to the school for 20 minutes. We are not impressed with this. The friend whom I spoke with about the welding class said she was not for this seminar at all. She said the class will teach the students about values...her thoughts were, now? Ditto for me. I also agreed with her that teachers shouldn't have to teach values but (as you teachers know) many parents don't instill values in their children. To make a student leave his work for this 20 minute class doesn't seem to encourage the value attendance at work. We will be looking more into this.

Tanner and Collin are doing good. They have a lawn mowing business. Yeah, it may be only 2 or 3 yards but I keep telling them that their business will build with their reputation. They even have business cards! I am proud that they are sticking with it...with a lot of persuasion. I try very hard to keep them thinking positive about things.

Leena's birthday went well. They went to the Omaha Zoo. She bought herself a watch with some of the birthday money she received. She told me she is working at Wal-Mart on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Her hours are from 10 am to 5 pm. I asked her what area she works in to which she reported the scrapbooking section! That's my girl! I told her to stock it well and Grammy would come to shop. She also stated that she gets to take her dog, Marley, on Fridays. What an imagination! Mark, does this sound like someone you know and love?

That's about it for the Rickabaughs for now.

Love you all,
Carla

Past, Present for our Future...

I took the picture located in the header of the two windmills while we were on a "Windmill Tour".

finally...an update

Ok, Mende, here is the update you scolded me about! We celebrated Leena's birthday on 7/18 at Famous Daves. Leena got to pick the restaurant. We met Lacy and Mat in St. Joe as we had Leena all last week. I included pics of the celebration and of Leena at the park. We enjoyed her so much and miss her already. She cried when we had to say goodbye and Grammie cried inside. Phil took the week off to spend time with Leena and had a blast. He is the greatest grandpa anyone could have. He bought a trail-a-bike that attaches to his bike so he and Leena could ride in the Hopkins Picnic Bike Ride. Tanner joined them. She learned to ride her bike w/o training wheels just before she came to our house. Phil and the kids went swimming a lot. We stayed at a cabin at Mozingo as Phil won a free night from the city. We had a lot of fun! I didn't get to be there as much as I had to work. The fun filled 24 hrs involved fishing, swimming, grilling out, and making s'mores. Mom, Dad, and Carson came to eat with us. The picture of Mat is...ummmmm...wierd...so I put it in twice! Just so you all will know what we live with!

Can you believe Leena will be 6 on 7/20? It doesn't seem possible that Leena, Bryli, and Riley will all be 6 soon! Mom was right, time flies even faster when you get older...even the ripe old age of "29".

Lacy will graduate in August. What a long road, but she made it. We are proud of her! The doctor told her she was going to have a girl but I want to wait to see what the next ultrasound reads. She wasn't very far along...they have been known to be wrong.

Davin is settled back in KC. We miss him. He is working at a pizza place and getting all lined up to attend UMKC. He is thinking about law...who knows! He got a 4.0 last semester at NWMSU! Proud of him, too!

Seth is working at Hy-Vee still and will be a senior this year! He isn't sure what he wants to do after graduating. He has toyed with the military but not for sure. Whatever he decides, we'll support him!

Tanner is going to be in 8th grade...the last year at Maryville Middle School. He and Collin are business partners in mowing lawns. They also still have their paper routes.

Collin will move on to 7th grade. He has been busy staying with Lacy and Davin this summer. We had Alex for a few days which was fun. He is such a ham!

Well...hope this helps, Mende, with the boredom of the birds!

Love you all!

Carla

Wildlife at MERIL

I have bird feeders outside my office window. Lately I have had visitors...cardinals, yellow finch, and finch with red/brown. We also had a baby bunny. I love watching them...yeah, I do work too!

Collin's birthday piks

My baby is now a teenager! I guess this means I really am 29 for sixteen years! Collin had some friends over and Tanner was here. Collin put the cake on his face as I told him that he did this when he turned 1.