Gregg & Kathleen Bowcock

Red Bull CORR Races!

2008-04-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again! My Cousin, Steve Barlow (Barlow Motorsports), has raced for Red Bull for years and back in 2003 he started racing the Championship Off Road Races (CORR). Last year when Gregg was still recovering we went to the races on the weekends. It was so nice to be able to be a part of the races, and it is always great to be with family! Steve did great in his Pro-4 as well Ricky Johnson, who now races for Steve in the Pro-2. They are both such a blast to watch. This weekend we had a lot of friends come and watch the races with us, including my mom and dad! So here is the best part, the pictures! Thanks Dad for the great shots!

The Great Spa Rolling

2008-04-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I went over to my parents house to hang out with my mom for a bit. It just so happened that I was there when Dad was moving the old Spa from the backyard to the front of the house. Don’t worry they are not trying to become the neighborhood entertainment. They decided to sell it once they saw how much it cost to keep it warm and how little they used it. Mom put it up on Craig’s list and sold it with in 30 minutes! Dad called a bunch of Men from the church to help him “roll” it out to the front where the new owners would be picking it up from.

Well there was a great turn out to the “Great Spa Rolling”! I had to park my truck all the way at the end of the street there were so many people there to help. It was not as big as a Barn Raising,But it sure was entertaining watch them roll that monster out to the front yard!
After all of that hard work, Dad and I went to the Gerry’s Blueberry Farm and did some berry picking! Yummy!! What a great end of an afternoon of hard work. (I worked hard to! I had to tell them all what to do!)

Go and pollinate my friends!

2008-04-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while meeting with a client we realized that our office was being visited my a swarm of bees! There was no way of getting out of the office with out walking though a frenzy of bees. We watched as a couple ran to their car from the restaurant next door. They ran to the passenger door, opened it and both crawled in as quickly as they could, keeping the bees from entering the car. It was sadly almost entertaining. We continued to watch as the bees started to congregate on the top of one of the trees in our parking lot.
Dad and I being the curious ones spend quite some time hanging out in the parking lot trying to get the best view of this growing "nest" of bees. Dad realized that he had some binoculars in the car, that was even better! My good friend and co worker Dawn had dad “walk” her to her car, she diffidently does not like bees.
It is funny what brings us entertainment at work. Sometimes it is someone who walks in the showroom with a wacky request, and sometimes it is a swarm of bees freaking everyone out in the busy parking lot. And yes, they are still there, hopefully not for long.

Good Times!

2008-04-07T14:05:00.001-07:00

This weekend Gregg and I were so excited to have our close friends the Freischlags come and stay with us for a few nights. Chris and Jillian lived here in Camarillo and recently moved to Sand Diego with the Navy. Chris and Jillian were our first good friends when Gregg and I moved back to Camarillo and started attending the church I grew up in. They have been such a blessing to us and always a Blast to hang out with. Chris and Gregg love to hang out making salsa, Steak, Chili, and lots of other manly food. Jillian is always a great friend to talk with, read a good magazine with, shop for great shoes, and she even teaches me to cook a good meal! Chris and Jillian have 2 kids, Simon and Karis. They are adorable and we love having them around. Although they now live “far” away we try to see each other as much as possible. We are loving having them here and will miss them even more when they leave. Thanks guys for being great friends, and we look forward to the Lord bringing you back to Camarillo some day soon!

(If you look at the post of Gregg going back to work, there is a picture of Gregg and Simon on his bike)

This is Gregg and Chris from last year. Jillan and I are both suckers for a man in uniform!

2008-04-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Norm And Debra!! Hope you both have a wonder ful day full of fun and a bit, or a lot,of romance! We Love you both!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2008-04-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma! Hope you have a wonderful day! You are one special Grandma and deserve the best!

I am going to be an Aunt! Again!

2008-03-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

That is right!!! Debra and Norm are expecting baby #2! And this one is due on my birthday, November 17th!!! Congratulations you two!!! Oh and Canaan!!!! Can't wait to meet the next loved little one!!! Check out their announcment on their blog! www.copelandramblings.com Love you guys!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Canaan!!

2008-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Dear Canaan! Happy Birthday to YOU! We love you Cannan boy!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Bristow!!

2008-03-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Bristow! We love you!!!

Bristow is our cuddle bug! We love her! Isn't she cute!!!

On the Road Again!

2008-02-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

We are back!!! And Gregg is back to work! As of Monday February 18th Gregg is officially back to work, and yes on the Motorcycle!!! He still has some recovery to get his muscles back to 100%, but he is BACK!!! Thank You Lord for saving my husband and getting him back to a job he loves! And yes, I too want him on the motorcycle!
(This photo is from a year ago)

Bummer!

2007-08-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well it is official, I have the flu. Not the best timing, but it is cute watching Gregg try to take care of me. Mom, Dad, and Christy helped us out today by driving us around and feeding us. Well trying to feed me. It is such a blessing that we now live near family. I can not imagine how hard this would have been if we were still in Santa Clarita. So please be in prayer for me. This is one of the most critical weeks at work and i have only been there so far this week for about 8 hours. It is always a bummer when you get a chance to stay at home and rest, but desperately want to be at work. I am so glad that I know God is in control of the office as well as out illnesses and injuries!
Well until later, Ta Ta For Now!
Kathleen

Staples are out!

2007-08-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today Gregg had his first doctor’s appointment. I was surprised to hear that Gregg was going to have his staples out! Only six days after surgery! The good news is that his guts did not fall out! :-P I will say that the incisions sure look better with out the staples in!
The Doctor was nice enough to tell Gregg and I exactly what he did in surgery. We were not sure how he got the bone needed from the hip for the femur. What we found out is that he keeps the contour of the hp by taking the bone from the "inside" of the hip. He takes strips of this second layer bone in the hip and pounds them into the femur break that is not healing. He also explains that the tools are quite crude looking, like what you would see an old wood worker would use to carve wood.
We will know in about 6 weeks if is looks like the bone is healing. Until then Gregg will have to keep off of his right leg completely. This means 6 more weeks of using crutches. But we are hopeful that after this Gregg will be back on the road to 100%.
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

Update on Gregg

2007-08-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Gregg had a bone graft sergury to help the largest break in his femure heal. The recovery time for this sergury is about 6-8 weeks. I was delightully supprised to see how well Gregg looked after undergoing a 2 houre procedure. I actually have never seen him look so good after a sergury, and there have been many. After only 2 nights in the hosital Gregg was sent home.
This recovery is going o be a hard one, but thankfully nothing like after the accedent. The really hard part of this recovery is that Gregg's hip had bone removed, and therefore the muscles have been heavely tramutised. Poor boy, you never realize how much you use those muscles. We are excited to see how quickly he will recover.
Thanks again to everyone who came by and bought us food and company! You are all such a blessing!

Wisdom Teeth- Gone!

2007-07-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

So I finally did it. I got my wisdom teeth removed, all 4! Monday was my surgery at the Oral Surgeon. Due to the schedule of this summer Gregg and I figured now was the time to get it done. It was just about what i thought it would be. I get really sick with anesthesia so... at least i was knocked out for most of Monday.
Here are a few of my favorite moments to laugh about:
1) I was not able to walk well after surgery so Gregg (2 broken legs) and Mom (Parkinson's causes her to trip on any bump) had to help me get into the house. From what mom says it sure was a site! Mom said it was like the blind leading the blind.
2) When a couple was about to get into the elevator with the nurse, mom and I, the decided to wait after seeing me dry heaving. They politely offered to wait. Mom said that i told them jokingly, "Hi nice to meet you (reaching out my hand to offer a hand shake and then pretending to dry heave)!" Mom said they all got a good laugh out of it.

Anyway, i just want to thank my wonderful husband for taking such good care of me, you are amazing. And Mom, thanks for checking up on me and getting me what ever i need from the grocery store! I love you guys!

PS- obviously I am not posting any pictures- but I am sure you can picture it. And yes they do call me "Cheeky"

Father's Day 2007!

2007-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures from this past Father's Day! We had a BBQ at our house after Church. Mom, Dad and Papa came over for a full day of good food naps and Movies! It doen't get much better!

"Help Me!" said the big bad bone.

2007-06-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Today was Gregg’s first appointment with his new doctor. Due to his insurance we had to change doctors from the one that first treated him for the breaks. Before we went in for the appointment we both focused on the fact that God is in control of who is Gregg’s Doctor. This really helps, especially when you feel like they do not care as much as you wish they would.
So the bottom line, the doctor is from God and Gregg does have to have a bone grafting surgery. This is when I really need Perspective on the situation. I had dreams of Gregg continuing on his journey with out any further complications, he has had enough to deal with. At least that is what my hart feels. Anyway back to the material facts. Gregg will have sugary in about 3-4 weeks from now. The recovery is 6-8 weeks to get back to where he is now. I am not caught up that much yet on what this procedure entails for Gregg but we are going to get set back a bit.
Please be praying specifically that Gregg and I will Honor the Lord through this. There are some issues we will be dealing with the immediate is the Workman’s Comp. They have to approve the treatment for Gregg. The thing we want the most is for them to approve a pain Management Doctor for Gregg. This surgery will have more pain management issues for Gregg because he is already on so many drugs. Then there is the timing. The sooner the better because Gregg only have a year to get back to work before they medically retire him. And then we have the Copeland’s coming this summer and we want to be up and “running” as much as possible while they are here for the month.
Thank you all for your support and taking time out of your day to check up on us and visit Gregg. We love you all.

Cuddle Puppies

2007-06-17T00:51:00.000-07:00

Our new puppy Bristow loves to cuddle with our dog Sydney. She's been a blast, but a good learning experiance for us all.

"Red Bull gives you Wings"... Gregg!

2007-06-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Christy’s 20th Birthday!!! We took here with us to Chula Visa to watch our Cousin race in the CORR Pro 4 races. He has a racing company “Barlow Racing”. He is the most winning person that Red Bull sponsors. He used to race the Baja races, but moved to CORR off road track racing because he kept winning the Baja.
Steve Barlow, my cousin, races the Pro-4 truck and then his new team mate races what Steve was racing. The Pro-2. We get to stay in the “Pit” in between races. That is where the RV’s, the Trailer, and the actual ‘Pit” where they repair the trucks after the races.
I used to watch Steve and Marie’s twin boys when they were 4 years old. They are now starting high School this next year. Bradley and Tyler love to play Nintendo Wii with Gregg. (Gregg brought it to play in the RV in between eating and the racesJ
This race was a lot of fun. We stayed in a Hotel and did some shopping and eating out to celebrate Christy’s Birthday. Also it was nice to see Steve make it on to the winners podium wit an amazing 3rd place win, even after getting a flat tire!
So there is lot’s more to share but I will leave it at that for now.

Norm and Debra on their way to Guinea!

2007-06-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

This is a post from Norm and Debra's Post! Please read!

and take a moment to read their blogg! - Kathleen

http://copelandramblings.com/

The past 24 hours have left me confused as to what the day and time really is but I’ll try my best to keep things straight. We boarded our flight at JFK for Conakry (with a brief planned layover in Brussels) around 5pm Monday evening and quickly got ourselves situated in our seats. The Lord even blessed us with an empty seat to put Canaan in, a couple was willing to switch with us. We waited anxiously for our flight to begin… waited some more until a few hours had gone by and we were informed that all flights out of JFK to Europe were grounded.

It didn’t even sound like we were going to be leaving that day but after some more waiting the weather apparently cleared and we were ready to take off. The only problem for us was that we were leaving three hours late and our layover in Brussels was only two hours long… the math wasn’t adding up.

Canaan did great on the flight, slept for much of it and wasn’t a bother to anyone. As we neared Belgium we were informed that most flights would have to be rescheduled. As we left the plane we were met by an American Airlines agent who was assigned to make sure that we were taken care of. We learned that the next flight from Brussels to Conakry isn’t until next Tuesday and that just doesn’t work for us. The plan ended up being that tonight we will stay in a hotel in Brussels and in the morning we will be driven to Paris, France and from there catch a flight with Air France to Conakry. American Airlines is taking care of all of that and have been really good to us so far.

So here we are, waiting it out in a hotel in Brussels, Canaan is exhausted but doing ok, we are trying to get his naps timed out so that the time change will be easier for him. Keep us in your prayers as we drive to Paris and get onto our flight to Conakry. It’s been a long few days for Canaan, we left Sunday morning from Shelburne, Ontario. Thanks everyone for your prayers and comments, they are a blessing and encouragement!

Surgery? Again??

2007-06-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another check up with Gregg’s Doctor who did his operations. Gregg had to have x-rays done right before the appointment so that the Doc could see how he was doing. Because Gregg is much more mobile then he was last month, the x-ray technicians were able to get views of the breaks that we have not seen before. Gregg and I were shocked at what we saw! His breaks are way worse then I thought before! He has a huge part of the femur that is a “butterfly” piece that was just separated from the rest of the breaks. It was long and skinny. I could not get over how bad it was. No wonder he was in so much pain!!!
The x-rays shows that the bones are healing, except for one bone break seemed to be running behind. It is the long pointy part of the “bitterly” piece. It is probably not healing as fast because when Gregg was hit, the bone was ripped off of the muscle. The Muscle is what brings blood supply to the bone so that it can grow.
So we have an appointment for 6 weeks from now to take another look at the healing. If the bone does not catch up and show good healing the Doctor said that Gregg may have to have a bone graph. This is common for such a traumatic injury like Greggs.
Please be praying that Gregg’s muscles will reach the bone and that it grows faster. Another surgery would be a set back for Gregg. BUT praise God, We know that God is in control and we can rest in that!

A lot has happened....

2007-05-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened since Gregg has come home form the hospital! I will not be able to update it all on this one post, but i think things are starting to slow down and now i will be able to start posting again. So the newest event in our "family" is the addition a puppy! She is a pit bull lab mix. She will look like Sydney's twin for sure! We have loved having her! Today a week ago we drove down to Hollywood to get her!

Also I am sure that you can see in the picture that Gregg has bleached his hair and grown some facial hair! He is defiantly enjoying his time off work, as much as he can! Gregg is starting to be able to walk with a cane for portions of the day! He loves not looking like such a gimp! :-) I think it is cute!

We have been really enjoying going to the races with friends. my second cousin Steve Barlow races Off Road track 4 wheel drive trucks. He races under his own racing company, Barlow Racing, and is sponsored by Red Bull energy drink. We have been to two races and are getting excited about the next one on the weekend of the 9Th and 10Th.

This holiday weekend we went to Hume Lake and stayed with a friend's family in their home. We had a blast and felt very relaxed! our Friend, Emily, has moved in with Gregg and I. She helps me keep up with the house. It is such a blessing. Gregg keeps us busy! Emily also just started working here at Showcase as the receptionist!

So that is all the updates i think anyone take in one post! So until a bit later! Thanks for reading!

X-RAYS

2007-04-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

LEFT ANKLE
LOWER FEMUR
LEFT ANKLE
MID RIGHT FEMUR
RIGHT HIP/UPPER FEMUR
MID RIGHT FEMUR
LOWER RIGHT FEMUR

HERE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MANY X-RAYS TAKEN WHILE GREGG WAS IN THE HOSPITAL.

Gregg is Home!!

2007-04-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

Pictures to come...

Gregg and I came home from the Hospital on Friday the 13th, just in time for a busy weekend. If you thought that Gregg would come home to rest and watch TV... you do not know Gregg. I was ready to come home and rest from all of the "resting" that we did at the hospital, but Gregg was ready to go! Friday we went to lunch then to the Outlets here in town. Gregg was excited to get a new surround sound system for the new TV that we are getting. So at about 4:00pm we got home to play darts and finally get into bed. But not for long! Gregg was ready to get all around the house and then play some more darts! :-)
Saturday morning we went to a friend, Cody's Fire Accadamy Graduation. then from there to Lunch at his parents house. I was ready to go home but Gregg was just getting started! We went to the Simi Valley Mall to check out some cool stuff and run into a few friends. Then it was to the house! But still Gregg was all over the house working on some computer stuff.
Sunday we went to Church and then to Costco area for an outing. After that a friend came over to help with computer trouble. i was able to work on laundry. We had one more outing before friends brought us dinner.
As you can see Gregg is doing great! The doctors put him back on stronger doses of his medications before sending him home. They found that as they started taking him off the medications that they got to a point where he was just not doing well. I was sooo thankful that they raised the amounts before sending him home, he was just not doing well at all with his Physical Therapy with the lower dose.
They did send us home with a Wheelchair, shower bench, walker, crutches, and other handy devises. Gregg starts Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy on Tuesday. From there we will find out how many days a week he will be going to the Therapists. Most likely 3-4 days a week. In the mean time they tell him to walk, it helps his range of motion and strength. Well he sure has been doing a lot of that!

Wondering what you can do to help Gregg's recovery? Call or come and visit! Gregg and I love to hear from or see all of you!

Thank you for your prayers and your support. We are truly blessed by all of you.

Update on Gregg and Friday the 13th

2007-04-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

So it is that time of the week. I am home for a shower and to do laundry! This is the best. I go home about every 3 days to get all cleaned up and ready to go for the rest of the week. Sydney is here with me. I picked her up from Mom and Dads to keep me company while I am here. Shel is so nice to have around!
OK so here is the deal with Gregg.... He is amazing! This man is so strong and determined. He is now walking with crutches... no more walker!!! He looks great! So far he is improving greatly every day! He is now able to get up and back in to bed with only minimal help from me. Thank the Lord they let me really take care of him. I am just another one of the girls! We are thankful for that. Gregg gets more showers now that i can do it. :-)
Gregg does have quite a bit of nerve damage on his right leg. This does not help things for him. It mostly effects his knee. This makes it difficult to know if he is walking correctly. With lots of time he should get more and more of the feeling back. They may possibly do a MRI to see if there is anything else causing the "wobbly" knee. They also are looking at taking out Gregg's staples in both legs tomorrow (the 5th)! We are hoping that they will take out the stitches in his face, they are driving him crazy.
As of today we were given a projected date of Friday the 13th for a go home goal. We are excited that it is when it is. Gregg is very thankful as am I for the great staff that is there at the hospital. Gregg has come up with the idea that we are on a Cruse... we just can't leave our room, but friends can come see us! So come see us!!!!!!
Thank you for all of your prayers,
Gregg and Kathleen Bowcock

Pictures of the Accident

2007-03-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Gregg's accident. The white car is the one that turned in front of him.