Death, The spoon, and The Crazy Girl.

Things are happening a feverish pace.  So much so, that keeping up with it is overwhelming.  We are all walking around in a daze and have become somewhat numb to the events happening around us. Some things are benign, some are scary, and some are hostile.

Things are beginning to disappear & then somehow show back up, but not in the original place.  We are now starting to see people, not real people mind you, but dead people.  We can sense them now and feel as if they are trying to communicate with us somehow.  Sometimes they make noise but most of them just give us the feeling they're just standing there...watching.

Londyn had left for college but was home for Thanksgiving.  It was nice to have her home and everyone was excited and happy.  However that mood was going to change.  I remember the day like it was yesterday.  I woke up and looked out the window and our horse Hannah was lying down.  I knew something was wrong because when I went outside and whistled for her she just laid there. She raised her head when I got to her.  I intermediately got her to her feet and started walking her but she continued to drop to the ground.  As much as I tried to keep her on her feet, she was determined to lay down.  I called the vet but in my heart I knew what was going to happened.  It was cold & sleeting when I made the decision to put her down.  We moved her to a place she liked and she went peacefully.  We covered her in a tarp until we could bury her.  I was heartbroken. We finally got to bury her a couple of months later.

One of our favorite pictures of Hannah before we had to put her down. It's only fitting that she be under a rainbow.

Even though she was gone, I could still feel her.  I knew that she was still there.  Her death opened another door and it was like spirits were lining up to pay their respects.  One evening while I was sitting on our back deck I saw someone standing over her grave.  I could see him clear as day and as I got closer to him, I yelled asking what he was doing here.  He was tall and lean wearing a western poncho with a brimmed hat.  He turned and calming said, "I am just paying my respects".  He walked toward the fence and then disappeared as he went through it.   I was horrified because once again I saw someone who wasn't real.  I knew that his present there was not a condolence visit.  I could sense his anger through his calmness.

Jennifer breeds dogs and is very good at what she does.  She has made a lot of friends doing what she does but none of them became close to us with the exception of one, Jackie.  Jackie was a wonderful person and she had a kind spirit.  We all loved her and our girls even called her aunt Jackie.  However she was fighting demons of her own.  She didn't have a lot of family support; a lazy daughter and a chronically unemployed husband.  Everyone in her family depended on her and sadly they took advantage of her kindness.  I recall one evening for no reason whatsoever, I become overwhelming sad.  I was to the point of tears.  I told Jennifer that I couldn't figure out why.  As the evening went on Jennifer began to smell a Rose perfume.  I didn't think much of it as I was still dealing with the sadness that had overtaking me.  When we woke the next morning, we heard the news.  Our dear friend Jackie and taken her own life the night before.  My sadness had coincided with her passing and the Rose perfume Jennifer had smelt...it was her favorite.  I had felt her pain all at once and the perfume told us she was there.  We took all of this as signs she came to us, the only place she felt loved and happy.

We were devastated at Jackie's passing.  We were angry about what she had been through but happy she was at some sort of peace.  We were happy that she was with us and strangely enough, we felt that she could help protect us.  However we couldn't sense her as much as the others.

All of this lead us to "the spoon" I had found in the yard.  It was dirty, covered in mud.  I took it inside thinking nothing much about it.  I figured it was just something that one of the kids had brought home from a friends house.  When I asked them, they knew nothing about it however.  No big deal I thought, just another spoon for us.  One day, Jennifer had put the spoon on the counter.  When she came back, it was gone.  While she was looking for it she asked me if I had put it somewhere.  Then all the sudden it was back; in it's original place.

The spoon started to "take trips" as we called it.  It would disappear and then return.  Sometimes in it's original place, sometimes we would find it somewhere else.   We originally thought one of the girls was just missing around and playing a prank but no one owned up to it.  So we decided to do a test.  Jennifer put it somewhere that only she knew about.  When she went back to check on it...gone! It would usually come back within a few minutes or a few hours however this time it was gone for much longer.  Then one night while Jennifer & Chloe were watching TV, the spoon came flying through the kitchen landing on the floor.   Now the spoon was returning via air mail.  It was like it was being thrown back at us.

Where The Spoon landing upon it's return one time.

It wouldn't always come back the way it left.  Here's a time it returned bent in half.

I know what you're thinking.  Why not just get rid of it?  Well, we tried but it just...kept...coming back.

The crazy lady who's been tormenting me had returned and although she could go anywhere she wanted, she started to hang out exclusively  in the back bedroom.   We could sense her in there.  It was like she was stalking whomever was in there.  She was still talking and she was getting angrier and angrier. Then she stopped talking altogether and began to only scream.  It was a scream like a crazy person...someone who was deranged & unstable.

I could never figure out what her attraction was to the back bedroom.  We would figure it out but it was a slow process. We didn't realize what was happening until it was almost too late.

She had an agenda and Heidi was at the top of it.

Talk to me...now!!!

Things started getting active...well, very active.  I was starting to hear a woman talking but apparently I was the only one who could.  She was crazy, excitable, and unstable.  Since no one else could hear her, I thought I was losing my mind.

I could hear her but I couldn't see her.  That just lead to more doubt as to what was happening.  I was beginning to get headaches, lacked focus, and started not to sleep well.  I would wake up several times during the night for no apparent reason.   She was taking me to the brink of exhaustion.

Most of the time she would just ramble; talking just to talk and not saying anything important or worthwhile enough to listen too.  However, there where times she would scream at me.  It was deafening and made my ears ring.  It felt like she was right on top of me.   She would scream "TALK TO ME!"  "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!?!.

Since no one else could hear her, I thought it was my imagination or worse some kind of mental disorder.  I was agitated on a daily basis and just couldn't focus any longer.  It was difficult to remain calm and my anxiety level was off the charts.  I didn't talk to anyone about it because I didn't want to be admitted to a mental hospital.  What was strange was I could only hear her when I was at home.

One night while laying in bed, she whispered, "why are you ignoring me?"  "Please tell me, I am without words and scared".  I felt that I should finally talk back and answered, "because I don't like you, you scare me and I want you to leave me alone."

All of the sudden, her screams and chatty behavior started to fade.  I could still hear her but she wasn't as loud.  I couldn't make out what she was saying anymore but I could tell that she was very angry.  Finally, I stopped hearing her altogether.   The voice stopped.

The experience of hearing her, and then it stopping after I focused on getting rid of it, made question my mental health.  I was still anxious, irritable, and exhausted.  It was hard to focus on my job and just on life in general.  Things I enjoyed doing I no longer enjoyed.  Either because I didn't have the energy to do them or just because I was in so much pain.

The pain started shortly after I got her to stop talking to me.  It started slowly but then escalated into a debilitating issue.  Every joint on my body hurt.  My fingers hurt so bad that I could barely type (I'm a recruiter so I make my living in front of a laptop), my neck hurt so bad that I could barely turn it, my back was in such pain that I could barely walk, sit down comfortably, or God forbid...sleep.   There were nights that I was in such pain that I prayed not to wake up.

There was no rhyme or reason for what was happening.  I was in decent shape and had no major health issues at all.  As I was trying to get comfortable one night, I heard her again, softly whispering in my ear.  "You can toss, you can turn, but you will never be comfortable again.  I will make you come to me. I can make it all stop.  All you have to do is come to me."   The bitch was back and was now attacking me!

Jennifer was getting frustrated with me because she wanted me to go to the doctor but I refused.  I began to self medicate myself...ice, Advil, trying to stretch out my joints and muscles, hell even alcohol.  All this only brought me temporary relief.  Finally, I had enough and broke down and went to the doctor.  I wouldn't tell him about the crazy chick but I would talk to him about my anxiety, pain, and inability to sleep.  After a half-ass examination and him telling me "well, welcome to old age.",  he put me on Zoloft and Meloxicam.  Despite me telling him all my aches and pains, especially my back, he only wanted to x-ray my little finger.  The visit was a waste of time and did nothing but frustrate me and drive me deeper into a state of hopelessness.

I started the medicine and the Zoloft helped somewhat and the Meloxicam didn't really help at all. I could hear her laughing quietly, like she had done something mischievous.  The last thing I heard her say to me before I finally was able to block her out was, "all the elixirs in the world will not help. I am your only remedy."

I was being attacked or going crazy.  Hard to tell which one but it felt like both.

Peaceful Illusion but Horrifying Reality

After the experience with the paranormal team, things seemed to calm down somewhat.  It also made me question myself.  I know that sounds crazy but after how rude and unprofessional they were, I began to question everything that had happened and was happening to us. Was it all in our minds, were we just paranoid, or were we just going crazy?

It didn't take long for those questions to be answered.

The calmness of our house was only an illusion.  Kind of like the calm before the storm.  It didn't take long for activity to really pick up and now it felt a little more sinister.  Gone were the days of just feeling scared and then getting over it a few days later.  We could feel the heaviness and our house was slipping into chaos.  Illness seemed to be a daily occurrence now.  Sleep was something that was a luxury instead of a necessity.  There was more arguing within the family.  It seemed as if there was something tearing us apart.

We had always saw shadow figures but now we were starting to see full blow figures who were attempting to communicate with us.  One time, Jennifer was in the kitchen and saw a figure of a man walking outside our house.  She could see him plain as day as he walked past window and window.   She naturally thought it was me.  Only one problem with that, I was inside.

After awhile, I started sleep writing again.  I was continuing to tell Charley Reynolds story however now it was one filled with sorrow and bitterness.  Through me, he was telling how the treatment of Native Americans was a travesty that would haunt our country for generations to come.  It would be a wound that would never truly heal.  The writings would always abruptly stop, sometimes in mid-sentence.  We would find hand written papers all over the over the house.  Then one day, the writings stopped altogether.  I admit that the writings fascinated me but they also scared me.  Would I act out an event from his life that would harm my family?  Looking back at it now, I think maybe I was beginning to control what was happening to me. Even though none of us felt threatened by the writings, it was best that they stopped.

I would usually take care of the horses at night to make sure they had everything they needed to get them through to the next morning.  One evening, I was in the barn and I was filling up water buckets, suddenly I heard a voice coming from the door.  "Hey, we were not done yet!".  I looked up and standing about 10 feet from me was a man!  He was short, clothes didn't fit him very well, and he looked disheveled.  His eyes were dark and I could somewhat see through him.  I was horrified! I didn't wait around to see what else he had to say.  I immediately ran back to the house as quickly as I could and I could hear the horse snorting in the background.  I was in a panic, I was having a hard time breathing, I couldn't get the words out about what I saw.   Jennifer was able to calm me down and I told her what I saw.   I knew it wasn't an actual person; it was something not of our world.

Jennifer and I went back to the barn.  The water was running and was spilling out or bucket, the lights were still on and everything seemed calm.  The horse was relaxed as if nothing had spooked her at all.  I, however, was not calm or relaxed.   What I saw really shook me up as this was the first time I actually saw someone (or something)

I had a hard time sleeping that night.  I felt as if there was someone there, watching me and waiting for me to fall asleep.  I felt as if there was someone outside staking us, just waiting for the opportunity to come inside.  I felt hopeless.   It's a terrible feeling when you feel you can't protect your family.

It felt like a door had been opened, well kicked in actually.  Our house was now being invaded.  We would see shadows and catch something moving out of the corner of our eyes.  Our lives had began to descend into a state of constant paranoia,  The slightest sound or unexplained movement would send us into a frenzy.

Even though seeing someone in the barn really shook me up, I continued to keep my evening schedule. Taking care of our horse was something I really enjoyed doing.  I just loved being around her as it made me feel calm and helped take my mind off what was happening in our house.  I went in the barn one evening and as I turned on the lights, I saw a man standing in the back doorway.  I could see him clear as day!  He was tall, dressed in clothes from the late 1800's and was wearing a wide brim hat.   He had his back to me and was looking out into the pasture.  I yelled, "what are doing here!?!"  I thought it was a real person, someone who was trespassing.  As he turned to look at me, I knew he wasn't a living person, his eyes were dark and face was pale.  All the sudden he just faded away.  I will never forget the look on his face.  It was one of violence and horror.  It was not a friendly look.  This guy wanted something and he would go through any means necessary to get what it was.

Emi was beginning to see people.  She was still young so the impression they made was not hostile, just unnerving.  Londyn was not feeling herself, she would not sleep and spent most of her time in her room.  Heidi was slowly beginning to change and she was starting to feel sick on a daily basis. Jennifer was beginning to have issues as well.   She had to have her gallbladder removed, her vitamin D level was dropping to a level that was so low that she had to put on a prescription supplement. Her hair was thinning and she was having stomach problems.  She was also having a hard time focusing and remembering things.  We spent a lot time in doctor offices, trying to find answers but nothing they did helped.  If they cured one thing, another thing would pop up.  The doctors had no explanation, no cure, and...no answers.

All this was the beginning of more terrifying things to follow.  The horrifying reality was that they wanted us and they weren't going to stop until they got what they wanted.

We work with The Dead Files & we're here to help..well sort of.

At this point in our saga, we realized we had a serious problem that is growing stronger with each passing day.  Jennifer and I decided it's was time to do something.   That meant putting ourselves out there to the paranormal world.  We were reluctant but understood we're dealing with something not of this world and we needed experts.

We decided our best course of action would be to contact The Dead Files.  We felt comfortable enough with the show and felt they wouldn't be like all the other ghost hunters or thrill seekers.  We needed answers and help; we needed to know what we were dealing with before it got really ugly.   The novelty of living in a "haunted house" had worn off.

Submitting our story was difficult because at the time, the Travel Channel didn't have a very good case submittal site for the show.  After searching the internet we finally found a Dead Files submittal page. We described our story in great detail and within a couple of days I got a call from someone.

She said she represented a local paranormal investigation team and was hired by the producers of The Dead Files to do "the preliminary investigation" (lie #1).  She claimed to be a psychic medium and had worked with Amy Allan in the past (lie #2).  I was reluctant to talk to her but did so anyway after she told me they had done a lot of these investigations because the show wants to know if a place is haunted or not, that way they didn't waste time and money investigating nothing.  Since I didn't understand how shows worked, I thought okay-seems reasonable.

We sent her some of the pictures we have (see Party Crashers) and the video of the toy.  We also told her everything that had been happening.  She began to ask me some off the wall questions.  What are my religious beliefs?  How often do you attend church?  Are you and the rest of your family baptized?  Do you consider yourself religious and do you pray?  Although I considered these questions kind of judgmental and inappropriate, I answered them anyway...because like I said, we had never done this before so we didn't know exactly how the show worked from a logistical standpoint.

They came out in early October.  They went over what they were going to do and what they were looking for.  Jennifer asks them specifically what they are going to do.  They told us they are only there to document and send their findings to The Dead Files (lie #3).  They had us sign releases and they begin setting up.

Their set up took about 1 1/2 hours.  Microphones, cameras, wires everywhere, and hand held digital recorders.  They seemed a little too carefree and cracking jokes, but again, I didn't know what to expect.  Half the team set up a base in the garage and the other half continued to set up inside the house.  During the house set up, there was an overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke.  It was like being in a smoking room, it was that bad.   None of us smoked and neither did anyone in the group so there was no reason for it to be there.

The psychic began to walk the house and she tells us the basement had a strong and dangerous feel to it.  She described it as demonic and angry.  So, of course the team wanted to investigate that first.

They asked me to go down into the basement with them.  It's myself and four members of the team. They begin asking questions-basic ones, nothing malicious.  I could sense a change in the air, it was thicker and it was getting a little harder to breathe.  After a while we head back upstairs.  They listen to the recordings...nothing.   The group leader ask us to go back down stairs and told the members to try and "draw it out."  I remember him specifically saying that because in my mind I questioned it.

As we are making our way back down into the basement, I can feel the pressure again.  My anxiety level was getting higher;  I felt tense and nervous.   They decided the best course of action was to sit in a circle on the floor!  I immediately asked if they thought this was the best thing to do as being on the floor made us vulnerable.  They assured me it would be fine and they did it all the time.  As we are sitting there in the dark, in a place I hate, the group member with the recorder starts asking questions in a demanding tone.  "Who are you?"  "Tell us your name!?!".  As she keeps asking questions, I feel a tug on the back of collar and I jump a bit.  I tell them something just grabbed me.  One of the members ask, "did you just do that?".  I then heard a voice behind me say "YES!" I felt a slap and cutting pain on the back of my neck.  I jumped up and ran to the stairs, one of the members practically tackles me before I can make it.  He shines a flashlight on the back neck and says 'we got scratches!'.  I break away from him, run up the stairs and out into the garage to Jennifer.

Apparently they didn't know the difference between simple scratches and gouge.  I three slashes on the back of my neck.  One of them was actually bleeding.  I was beyond terrified.  Nothing like this had happened before, I had never been attacked or hurt.   I was having a difficult time calming down and didn't want to go back into the house.  I also didn't want to talk to any of the group members.  I cannot pinpoint why but I had these feelings of angry and hostility toward them and they very strong feelings.

The activity in the house had gone to a new level.  A level of violence and lashing out.  It was now controlling emotions and capable of physically harming people.   They asked me if I would go back down to the basement but I refused.  Some group members, along with the psychic, decided to go back.  They came back up and the group leader asked the psychic if she felt anything.  She pulled him aside and I overheard her tell him something is down there and it's evil.  I could see the fear in her eyes.

I had finally calmed down. I had also worked up the courage to go back into the basement.  This decision of course excited the team and we made our way down.  This time the psychic joined us and was staying close to me.  As soon as we got down there, I felt my chest getting tight.  I could hear a member of the team saying "we commend you to come forward!  Show yourself!".  I started feeling worse and my head was spinning.  My chest was getting tighter and I felt panicked.  The psychic had her hand on my chest and she was praying.  Her hand felt as if it was burning through my chest.  The group members continued to bark out commends; demanding it to show it itself.   That was the last thing I remember...

I remember waking up on the floor and I thought I had passed out.   The team members where screaming and terrified but I felt calm and relaxed.  I got up and walked upstairs calmly despite the chaos around me.   Jennifer meant me upstairs in a panic.  She asked if I was okay and the other group members asked me the same thing.  I told them I felt fine.  Jennifer then told me I was picked straight up and thrown up against the wall!  She said they all saw it on the monitor.

The group leader decide he would personally go down and investigate with two other male members. After about 5 minutes, he radioed to the rest of the group.  "we're shutting it down, it's not safe here"
Jennifer and I were dumbfounded.  Jennifer told the group leader, "NO NO NO!  You're not just going to come in here, piss this thing off and leave!  We have to live here!".  They reluctantly agreed to do a cleansing and the psychic sages the house.  I thought to myself, "really, that's it?  That's all you do to cleanse?"  I felt she was doing it wrong but didn't understand how to do it myself so I falsely trusted her.   As we talked and asked questions on what should we do, the light above us got brighter and brighter.  The bulb then burst.  The psychic medium told us we should delete everything and burn any evidence we had as the spirits could be attached to those things.  We did so immediately but some of the things were saved in an automatic back up system we had.

Before they left they told us they would be in contact with us in a couple of weeks about what they found (lie #4).  They left faster than a criminal who just robbed a bank.

Jennifer finally called them because we hadn't heard from them at all.  They told her that they didn't find anything during their review and that the evidence was inconclusive! (lie #5) They said they deleted everything (lie #6).

A Message Jennifer got from the team leader via a team member.  The team leader refused to respond to our calls or message.

I reached out to the psychic via email since she was our original point of contact.  Her response to me was condescending & chastising.  She said we were to blame for our problems because she felt we were not religious and that we had not accepted Jesus into our lives.  She said our prays lacked soul and we let the evil into our house.  I asked her about the evidence being submitted to The Dead Files and she told me that they wouldn't be doing so. (lie #6).  That was the last I heard from her and the group.

After the cleansing, our house did feel calmer but that was nothing more than an illusion.  The group had unleashed the evil and turned it lose on us.  We were about to pay the price for their incompetence.

Losing Control & Hello Charley!

After the EVP's, things started happening on nearly a daily basis.  Jennifer would wake up with bruises that looked like someone had grabbed her, I started sleep writing-channeling an individual, my phone all the sudden would say I was in in Wyoming and all my location settings would reflect such and...things were starting to move on their own.   We are starting to lose control of our house.

Jennifer waking up with bruising was disturbing, mostly because the bruises were something that would have awakened her from her sleep.  One night, she woke in panic because something grabbed her legs, lifted them up, and then slammed them back down on the bed.  I also had a similar experience while sleeping as I felt someone grab my ankles and jerked me forward.  I was pulled down toward the bottom of the bed nearly a foot.

Bruising on Jennifer's Arm

Scratches on Jennifer's shoulder

Image in top right hand corner. We tried to duplicate it thinking it may be a reflection however nothing showed up in additional pictures.

Things were starting to move on their own.  One afternoon, I was working in the dining room (during the show it's the open bedroom) and a toy airplane from the girls bedroom zoomed by.  I put it back and told who was ever playing with it that it was okay.  A few moments later-zoom!  Although it was a toy, it scared me to death!  I did capture it on video but sadly don't have it anymore (more on that in a later blog)

We were starting to hear things.  Tapping & hearing things move.  We weren't sleeping and the girls were beginning to feel bad, nothing major-just under the weather type of stuff.   We would feel things lightly touching us.  We were tired, scared, and getting concerned for are safety.

It was at this time I started sleep walking and writing in my sleep.   I would get out of bed, eyes closed, grab a red pen (always red) & paper and start writing.  Jennifer would watch me and said I was writing fast and in cursive. After I was done, I would put the pen back and go back to bed.  When I woke the following morning, I had no clue what had happened.  I read what I wrote and it was fascinating.  It was like someone was telling a story through me.  Like they were writing their biography.  The first one was about 2 pages long and written in a style and fashion that I have never written in before.  Although I was intrigued by what I had done, I wasn't concerned.  I have always walked in my sleep and done things.  This wasn't anything new.  I dismissed it as just being tired and stressed.

Jennifer was more curious about the writings.  The story I was writing about was a man by the name of Charley Reynolds.   It was very detailed and he even used his nickname "Lonesome Charley" in describing himself.  Jennifer decided to do some research and my thoughts were "good luck, that's a common name".   After a little while Jennifer found something and it was exciting!  As it turned out there was someone named Charley Reynolds and he did have ties to our area.

Charley Reynolds A.K.A. "Lonesome Charlie Reynolds" A guide for the 7th Cavalry.

Charley Reynolds served as a scout and guide in the military in Kansas & Missouri.  He was killed in in June of 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn.  He was also a buffalo hunter and trader.   Charley was telling his story through me!  In multiple sleep walking/writing sessions, he described his life in great detail.  He was very Pro-Union and hated his nickname.  He talked about his first meeting with Custer, his time in the military, his political beliefs, and his adventures. He talked about his compassion for Native Americans and how he was disgusted by their treatment.   He describe the events leading up to the battle.  He knew what was to come and he felt it only fitting that he would die the way he did.

The events in our house are now become more and more prevalent.   We know now it beyond our control and we need he help-serious help.

Jennifer and I weighed our option.   We decide to find someone that will validate and help us get control back.

Now we just have to figure out who.