Tea with Grandma

Yesterday mom and I took Abigail to afternoon tea to meet with her best friend, her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. It was truly delightful...the tea was great, the food was fabulous, the company was spectacular...it was a great day!

In brief...

Just a quick word on Nick's recovery! I am continually amazed by the Greatness of our God. Hard to believe that yesterday marked 20 days since his terrible accident.

On Sunday, August 14th, Nick was released from Harborview Medical Center ~ YEAH! ~ and was admitted into a Nursing Home/Rehabilitation Center closer to his home!

On August 15th, Nick celebrated his 18th birthday.

Yesterday, Nick had a check-up appointment back at Harborview. His bones are healing nicely and they hope that by mid-September they can begin to allow him to apply light weight (stand-up) on his legs. Once that happens, they can begin therapy which will allow him to re-learn how to walk again. Not that he doesn't know how...but rather a process of teaching the muscles, nerves, tendons how to move again after lying dormant since August 3rd! Once he becomes steady on his feet/legs...he will be homeward bound! What a glorious day that will be!!!

All is well...

Princess had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa

and

All the boys (6 including Brian ~ Dalton, Tanner, Noah, AA and CB) and the Mommy had a blast at Whistler.

Let's see, the boys mountain biked, the mommy got a facial, the daddy went on an ATV tour, the boys mountain biked, the mommy and the daddy went for an afternoon stroll, did I mention the boys mountain biked?!

See for yourself.

Ready for a little R & R

It's that time again...R & R time ~ Yeah!
We are headed to Whistler, BC for the weekend and just a little bit excited about it too.

Little Miss Princess will be have a "Sleep-over" with Grandma and Grandpa and she's really looking forward to have the 'world revolve around her'. She's got a special bday party on Sunday that is always present on her mind, so even though I know she will miss us all (Daddy, Mommy, 3 brothers and 2 friends), she has party on the brain.

And with that...here's a little visual

 The Little Mermaid Princess

 I'm thinking she could be a Starbuck's promoter.

After all, who could resist buying a frappucino from this?

 Lovin' the brother

 Rockin' the bike at Grandma's.

I wouldn't be surprised if she has her training wheels removed by the time we get home. She loves her bike!

 The Mommy and her Princess

 Settling into her sleeping spot!

Quick update on Nick

On August 3rd, Nick endured a 7+ hour surgery to stabilize the injuries in his legs.

On August 5th, Nick endured a 6+ hour surgery to place rods in both the right and left femur.

On August 8th, Nick endured a 6 hour surgery (with 4+ hours in the recovery room) to fix the tibula/fibula on the lower left leg and to place a rod(pin) in his foot. He (at this point) is all done with surgeries. He was officially released from ICU after his surgery and is now on a general surgery recovery floor - a huge Praise!

He's been experiencing a 10/10 in pain over the past 24 hours and despair has started to set in. Continuing, without ceasing, to pray for Nick's healing and pain management!

Jeremiah 33:6

"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security."

In the blink of an eye!

No one knows the day or hour of the end of life.

Nor does one know the exact point when a life will forever be changed.

In the blink of an eye, on August 3rd, 1:08pm on a sunny Wednesday afternoon my life forever changed the moment I received a phone call from my 'natural' born son that his brother (adopted into our family many years ago) had been in a terrible car accident and was being air-lifted to Harborview Trauma Center!

Let me first introduce you to my 'son' Nick!

If just by chance you can't tell from this picture, Nick is one of the most honest, compassionate, loving, caring, funny, fun-loving, smart...(I could go on and on) young men I have ever known. Nick embodies life with such a positive, supportive, cheerful approach. He is extremely musical ~ playing piano, guitar, drums, vocals...and usually found using any one of these talents worshiping and praising God with such unabandon. Just in case you can't tell...I love Nick!!! 

No, I didn't give birth to him (I let his mommy take care of that one), but he burrowed a special place in my heart many years ago.

So...to preface, some of this information we know as fact and some of it has been told/gathered by others.

After spending an over-night with some youth kids from his church, Nick got into his car to head home. Along the route, he hit head-on a logging truck and landed in a ditch on the side of the road. His car at this point began to smoke (with/without flames??) and we've been told caught on fire. Witnesses did manage to put the flames out before it engulfed the car. The thought is that he fell asleep at the wheel as he had multiple late nights without much sleep prior to this morning. Sadly, the "police" have verbalized it was a 'texting while driving' due to phone records that showed a text came into his phone just prior to the accident. Though a witness at the house where he slept talked with him as he was walking out the door and Nick told him that his phone had died and he didn't have a charger in the car.

Nonetheless...the accident was horrible. It took the medics an hour to cut/pry him out of his car. He was then taken by life-flight to Harborview Trauma Center where the extent of his injuries first began to become present. 

What we know now is this:

compound fracture left femur

simple fractures right femur

left fibula and tibula broken

3 bones broken on the right foot

dislocated left pinky finger (though somehow this hand will need surgery)

fractured left pelvis

fractured left knee cap

very small laceration on the left kidney and liver

He underwent a 7.5 hour surgery last night/early morning this morning to stabilize the legs. He will have surgery tomorrow morning to put rods in both legs - not sure if that meant just the femur rods or down through the tibula/fibula too. He's on a ventilator to help with breathing and expel the fluid that has been building in his lungs.

Tanner, Noah and I had the privilege of seeing Nick this afternoon and having the opportunity to physically touch him and look into his eyes letting him know we were there and praying for him and loving him...probably one of the most emotional feelings and yet so good for all of our souls!

At this point...we are praying for Nick, one day at a time!

Did she really say THAT?

Last night's bedtime took a little bit longer than usual as Miss Abigail was not her 'normal' tired as she usually is. Therefore, the "requests" from her bed for anybody to come see her were in abundance (as were the trips to the bathroom :0) ).

So, during one of her 'bellows' she asked Tanner to come into her bedroom. I'm not sure why I am even the slightest bit surprised when it comes to conversations with Abigail!?

Here is the conversation that took place:

Abigail: Tanner, can you give me a hug good-night?

Tanner: Abigail, I already gave you a hug good-night, remember?

Abigail: Yeah {sigh}, but it was LAME!

Enough said!!!

Just can't resist this 'mermaid's' charm.