Are We Having Fun Yet?

Another weekend in the hospital has come and gone. Every weekend we all tell ourselves that this is going to be the weekend. But, as you can see, this was not the weekend. It was, however, full of family and food. Would we have it any other way?

Actually, I should back up a bit and tell you what a normal week is like for Dad. During the week Dad gets daily morning visits from my sister Kelly. Her and Dad enjoy coffee and breakfast together before Kelly begins her day at work and Dad begins his day just hanging out. They have both begun to really look forward to that time together. I must say I am a little jealous of that time. Then around 2 Mom goes for her daily visit and stays until 4. I know Mom and Dad both wish she could stay longer but this schedule works out good because it keeps Mom and Kelly in somewhat of a normal routine. Then 1 or 2 nights a week my Aunt Marlene takes Dad dinner and they enjoy their quiet evening over a delicious meal. To top that off, my Grandma Ann stops by occasionally after her visits to the hospital. This is all in between his daily exercise and visiting with his neighbors. So, as you can see, the week is sometimes just as busy as the weekend.

So, back to this weekend. Saturday afternoon Danny, Steve and Randy spent the day working on the shipping container (Mom and Dad's somewhat unconventional but very cool living quarters). They are putting up beautiful wood walls in preparation of when Dad gets to come home. They worked hard and the place looked great when everyone left today. Victor spent the day napping with Aunt Kelly while Taylor and Mimi helped the boys work. Abby and I got to spend the evening with Papa. It was a terrific visit. We had Italian for dinner, played cards and snuggled. Janice stayed back in Bryan and baked and cooked tons of yummy stuff to share with everyone on Sunday.

On Sunday, Randy and Steve did some more work on the container while the Guindi Family went and visited with Papa again. Victor is still very skeptical of all of the machines and is sometimes scared to get near Papa. However, this time he seemed to be getting used to everything and even joined Abby and Papa for a few rounds of thumb war while laying in Papa's bed. That is progress. We then all met back at Kelly's for Danielle's 18th birthday party. The entire family was able to make it and it was nice seeing everyone. Finally, Janice and Randy took Mike dinner and some sweets. They even fixed the nurses up with some goodies too. Taylor is missing his Papa a lot so he joined Janice and Randy for their visit.

It is amazing how experiences like these can change your perspective on things. This has made the entire family realize how truly lucky we are to have such a strong and wonderful family. We have had experiences that would never have been possible without this little detour in our lives. Dad is on an adventure and we are all lucky enough to be on it with him. Thanks Dad for letting us be a part of this. We love you.