sickness, sister, storm, sadness,,,,

{our buddies from GA}

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”Eph. 3:20


The four words for the title of this blog have been our 5 days! Oh my goodness what a busy time it has been these last few days!
This past Thursday I woke up with a sore throat, stuffy nose, headache and sore muscles! I was thinking, no this cannot be happening to me right now! Well, it didn't get better until Monday morning! I had to spend the whole holiday weekend having sneeze attacks and feeling like crud! I couldn't even wear my contacts most of the time because my eyes would just burn...I took them off to take photos though!
Thursday evening Ben's sister and bro-in-law came in from PA! They were here to spend Christmas with us! What a priviledge it was to spend with them! We had a quick visit that night and then we all took off to get some rest!
Friday morning we all met back up at the rehab center to cheer Ben on in his therapies! He was walking so well!! Here is a lil video from the backside this time...





We hung out at Kessler the rest of the day and were just there for Ben! After he was done we all climbed in our swanky van and went out to dinner! All Ben had been talking about and wanting was enchiladas! So we found this quaint little Mexican restuarant in a neighboring town for dinner!! It was so much fun! They greeted us warmly as we entered through the back door! The other door had 7 steps up to it and this entry only one so we opted to sneek in the back door!! It was quite with Christmas music and we really had a good time! Back to Kessler we went to get Ben in bed...he was exausted but he told us he had a great time getting out and his food...cleared his plate!!

Christmas day!! What a fun day we had! No therapies for Ben and fun for us all! Again we met up at Kessler and swooped Ben into his chair and out the door! We were off to my hotel room for Christmas morning! Coffee in hand and Ben in a regular chair and not his wheelchair Matt, our bro-in-law read to us the Christmas story and it was just good to sit there and have it run through our ears and sink into our hearts!
Next it was opening our gifts! Of course ben got to go first! Last year he could barely open his gifts and this year he was tearing off the paper by the hand fulls! It was amazing to see....and brought tears to my eyes! He opened one gift and he said, "something from REI?" His eyes were huge and his hands hasty to open the box! You see...REI is his favorite store! "A North Face vest?" Was the next thing out of his voice! He went on to the next box and said after he took off the wrapping, "another one from REI?" Again big ole eyes with a slight smile! He was in heaven! Ben also got a shooting game from his sister! He was ready to do some damage with those things!
Following the gift opening Ben took a nap in my bed! He must have been so comfortable because when I went to get him up he was out of it! I knew we needed to get up and get going but I just couldn't wake him so I gave him a few more minutes!!
I finally woke him up and when I told him he needed to get up he gave me a loud, "NO!" Oh my! When I asked him why he said, "I am to comfortable!" I went on to tell him that we needed to get on the road to have Christmas dinner at Dante's mom's house! That got him moving!
We headed down the road for about 30 minutes and got to the home we needed to be at...without getting lost! They lifted Ben up two stairs...wheelchair and all and into the house!
What a wonderful family we got to be with! They accepted us, fed us like we had never eaten before, chatted with us and send us home with mass amounts of cookies, hats and scarfs! What a blessing it was for us and such a gracious invitation!
{my camera ran out of memory so Ben's sister will be sending them to me of our new friends!}

Sunday morning Ben's sister and husband had to leave...we were sad to see them go! They had to get going to get back to work in the morning and beat the storm aka blizzard!
Ummm, I have seen snow before but not this much before! Ok, well I have seen it but only on TV! It all started around 11am and didn't stop until the next day! The wind was howling up to 50 miles and hour and the snow was coming down by the buckets! I had to leave Kessler before 4 because I was warned that if I didn't leave then I would be staying the night at Kessler! I didn't like leaving Ben so early in the day but I knew that the wise decision would be to start making my way back!
Well, Monday I woke up to 2 feet of snow and the wind still howling! I got called at 6am by the fire department saying that if I wanted a drive in that they were on their way to get me! They wanted to get me to Ben before the crazy and yes they were CRAZY drivers came out! So, I was up and at em and on my way to Ben! Because of the snow many of the therapists were not able to get in to start therapy but they rescheduled Ben for the afternoon from 1-4pm! Yup, 3 straight hours of therapy! He did really well but was pooped out by the end! I spent the day with him and even got a nap in...still was not feeling good all day and it was much needed! The fire department gave me a ride back that evening and I was out!!





Tuesday, today was back to the normal schedule! The roads were clear so I was able to drive! Mountains of snow plowed roads were everywhere! Some towering 10 feet! My parents were to be flying in today! I knew that there were issues at the airports and thousands of flights were canceled going out...so here is the sadness! My parents had to cancel their whole trip coming out here! They got to SeaTac in Seattle because the airlines was not giving out any info except that it was delayed 20 min! Well, it ended up being canceled and when they went to get another flight on another day and possibly into another airport it was to no avail! No flights until next week!!
It was hard for me and I was sad but I am slowly getting used to the idea! Hopefully they will be able to make the trip out soon!
The rest of the week will be filled with rest and just being with Ben! He needs me around and I am so happy to be there with him!

and one more biking video...when you see him making a kissy face I had given him one behind the camera! This is all his super, powerful legs...no machine help!