Eleven glorious days together and a teary goodbye.

There is not a whole lot to tell but lots of pictures that will pretty much tell the story for me. We had a really great time together. It was a relaxing environment, cool days, rainy days, and warm days so we enjoyed them all differently. Some of what we enjoyed: fishing, kayaking, swinging, airsoft, walks, chalk, legos, reading, games, movies, ALL THE THINGS!! 😄

The kids really impressed us with how they took the initiative to get their school work done in the mornings when they got up, often even before we were out of bed after nights without much sleep.

They played with each other sweetly. They took turns playing with Alex and making sure she wasn't alone much. Occasionally the older kids would be playing airsoft or something else with Brent and Alex would get sad. At one point when they were all running and playing and she couldn’t keep up she became sad and told Brent she was never going to be able to play again. The sad was short lived and she was back to playing with them in her wheelchair and laughing happily. We realize these are things she is going to struggle with at times and we are careful to validate her frustration or sadness but also to encourage her to keep on fighting like she always has and she will do so many things. We are always amazed by her and how strong she is but she is only six and dealing with big things.

It was sweet hearing the kids talking to friends or to each other about how happy they were to all be here together and how much fun they were having. Certainly we cannot wait to be together and home but it really was a precious time together. I cannot believe how quickly it went by. I really think I only blinked twice! Boone turned 4 years old last Tuesday and we celebrated him all week long. LaRue made him lots of cakes and and let Boone and Alex help with baking and decorating. She did a beautiful job with the cakes, as always.

For months Boone has been saying he wanted hopping games for his birthday. By this he means hobby horse races so that’s what we did and everyone participated. It was silly and fun. At first I carried Alex in the races and then she told us she wanted to race by herself. She put the horses reins in her mouth and crawled along dragging the horse. There are very few things she won’t try. We cooked hot dogs over the fire pit for dinner, watched the sun set, had cake and ice cream, and had our devotions and sang hymns around the fire.

Grandma and Pap Pap arrived on Friday evening. Having them in Texas with us was wonderful. Friday evening we had dinner, a karaoke night, and after littles went to bed we watched Temple Grandin together. It is a movie I had been wanting my older kids to see for a while but we hadn’t watched yet. Saturday was cool but sunny and we spent most of it outside together. That evening we had yet another birthday cake, more hot dogs on the fire, and fireside devotions. So much sweetness in this visit.

This morning was hard. Getting them up early and saying goodbye was not easy and tears were shed. The up side was that we were able to remind them that this separation would be much shorter than the last. Boone had been very clingy the entire weekend and making comments about wanting to stay with us and not going home. While we were out at the fire last night he came and climbed into my lap and with a hug said he was ready to go back to Grandmas house for a few more days. It was so good to hear because we could tell he was having a hard time with the idea. God has taken care of all of us and loved on us so well. We are thankful for all of these little answered prayers.

Today we kept Alex busy in Dallas with the park and walks and friends and tomorrow morning we have to be at Scottish Rite at 7:45 for her cast change procedure. While she is sedated they will also remove the stitches and cast her for her first prosthesis. She will not be ready to use it for several more months but it will be good to already have this part done. In the afternoon we have a couple appointments with doctors also. We are hopeful everything will go smoothly and she will not be too uncomfortable and we will be able to head home in a few days.

We will update again briefly after her procedure tomorrow and then again when we get home. Please pray for her appointments tomorrow, safe travels home, that she is comfortable during the 10 hour trip and for all of us as we adjust back in to life at home.