9/2 Update from Aaron

Hello All--

Well the Kards for Kari thing was fun for us.  One day we got 35 cards, which was well over half of all the mail for the floor!  I think we had 75 overall for the week, plus we'll probably get a few more tomorrow.  I think it was as much fun to just look and admire our huge stack of mail as it was to read them.  Yesterday I got made fun of by Kari’s therapists because so many of the cards had glitter (some in excessive amounts) that it got all over my clothes.  I told them that glitter is cool in Cali (.  I must admit though, that after reading a combination of about 1000 cards, emails and letters that “message fatigue” can set in from time to time, but Kari has never tired of reading them and they still bring her (and me too) just as much encouragement as they did a month and a half ago.

Kari was able to get up and do as much therapy as she has been since she got here.  She drove around a little and also did a 2 1/2 hour wean off the ventilator during both PT and OT.  Even so, the pain in her shoulders was still extreme and she felt dizzy being up and about so much.  I was very proud of the way she sort of powered through her activities today and pushed herself to get through a full 3 hours in her wheelchair.  Her breathing numbers looked good too.  Overall, the pain in her stomach was less today, although yesterday was very bad so we'll see if they've really got it under control or if it was just a good day.  It seems that we are back on track even if she's not feeling all that great.  Hopefully the long weekend will be a good time to rest, but pray that she doesn't tighten up too much without physical therapy sessions for three days.

We've had a lot of visitors too the last week.  Gene and Daleasha Hall from Oregon, Diana Temple from Illinois, my Dad, his wife Linda, and my brother Dan all left just a few days ago.  My mom is here for the next 5 days and my brother Bryan, his girlfriend Katie, and our friends Janeen and Jose Gutierrez are coming tomorrow.  It’s been a great help having everybody here and we look forward to seeing everybody else who's planning on coming to.  At last count, there are 36 people (all from out of state) that have or will come for multiple-night stays (many who have come 2 or more times) and probably also another 25 or so that have stopped by for a few hours on their way through town.  Kari is always elated to see people when they first get here, so I want to send a big thank you to all that have come.  Well, thanks for keeping up with us on the Blog and on the website, I always like to check how many hits the website has.  When you check here for updates, go through the website and click on the blog link, and that way the counter will get your hit (.  Anyways, in honor of the first week of middle school:

Omg, I’ll ttyl. G2g, so I’ll like cu soon or cul8r.  

ur my bff, right? –Aaron