The Longest Update Ever!

Hello everyone-
I hope if you’re reading this, you have a lot of time. This is going to be a long update.  So get comfortable and grab a cup of coffee- Happy reading!

COLORADO
I guess I should begin with our trip to CO in August.  It took us two days to drive to Colorado.  We stopped in Utah at Zion national Park for the first night.  When we got there we only had a couple of hours of daylight left.  We had never been there before and enjoy the time that we did have.  The next day we drove to Colorado and arrived at Craig hospital around midnight.  Our appointments began every morning at 10 a.m. and lasted  until the late afternoons.  I had a physical therapist and an occupational therapist that worked with me throughout the week.  They worked with me on range of motion and  sensory testing and different muscle tests.  They discovered that my range of motion and muscles had improved greatly since I left the hospital.  I also had physical examinations by the doctor and the nurses and was said to be very good health.  We also were able to spend some time with some of our friends while we were there.  It was so good to see all of the people that helped us through that time in our lives.  We left Craig Hospital on Thursday afternoon and headed home.  On the way home we stopped at Rocky Mountain national Park where we drove Trail Ridge Road.  This is a road that follows the very edge of a 12,000 foot mountain.  It was a little nerve-racking but very beautiful.  We enjoyed our trip to Colorado much more than the last time we were there!

AMY
We also were able to stop in Las Vegas before we came back to California.  The purpose of our brief visit to Las Vegas was not to get rich!  A few weeks before we went to Colorado I received an e-mail from a woman who had read about us in the newspaper.  Her daughter had been injured in a car accident in Las Vegas in May.  She also had become a quadriplegic.  The article was an encouragement to her as she was able to find our web site and read our story.  We decided to stop in Las Vegas to visit her daughter on our way home from Colorado.  It was such a blessing to be an encouragement to someone who understood and was going through what I had gone through.  We are still in contact with this woman and her daughter.  I will be linking her web site to our web site.  So please take some time to visit her web site and be an encouragement to her.  She is a 27-year-old mother of a nine-year-old.  She was living in Las Vegas and going to interior design school.  She is now stuck in Las Vegas in a hospital where she has been since May.  Insurance and financial concerns have kept her in the hospital as she has not even been to rehab yet.  She is originally from California very close to where we live.  And her family is desperately trying to get her back to California to rehab.  But the insurance laws are keeping her in Las Vegas where she has no family and no friends close by.  The only people she sees are on the weekends when her family visits.  She is very very lonely and discouraged.  Please please please keep her in your prayers and look at her web site.  Her name is Amy.  I know that so many of you were so generous and still are being generous for us financially.  If there is any way that you can find it in your budget Amy could really use some donations.  Most importantly please pray for her and her little girl Ashley.
Her website is:  www.freewebs.com/labagnara.
ILLINOIS
Just two weeks after we returned from Colorado it was a time to go to Illinois.  Aaron's best friend Rob was getting married to Allison on Labor Day weekend.  Aaron had the honor of being best man and I had the privilege of officiating the marriage ceremony.  Rob and Allison have been very dear friends to us this last year.  The wedding was beautiful and it was such a joy to celebrate their marriage that weekend.

The day after the wedding on Sunday we went to church in St. Charles.  Derin and Emily graciously allowed Aaron and I share that morning.  We talked about the accident and how much all of our family and friends were so supportive during that time.  We were able to share some of the lessons we have learned spiritually over the last year.  It was a great privilege to be in the presence of all those amazing people.  After church they had a great party for us.  I don't know how many people came during those four hours of the party.  But there were a lot!  The only a frustrating thing was that I wanted to sit down with every single person and have an individual conversation.  But there simply wasn’t time for that to happen.  The St. Charles Church is an amazing church.  If you are ever in the area or already live in the area and are not attending church you must stop by for a visit!

Of course while we were in Illinois we spent time with our family and loved every minute of it!  We miss everyone so much and wish we could see everyone more often.  Sarah was able to go to Illinois with us.  She was a tremendous help to Aaron as he was busy with the Rob and the guys.  So many of you have asked about Sarah and it was good to introduce her to so many of you.  She is a dear and wonderful friend and we love her very much.

LIFE
Now that we are back in California school has started and we are both buried in homework.  I started school about four weeks ago to finally finish my master's degree.  I am taking three classes and will graduate in December with my masters of divinity.  Aaron is driving me to school on Mondays for one of my classes and the other two classes I'm taking as independent studies.  Aaron is very busy with the school as well.  He is teaching two orchestra classes at the high school and also teaches his regular music classes at the middle school.  

IT’S A BOY!
And now for the most exciting news yet!  I have become an aunt and Aaron has become an uncle for the fourth time.  My sister Cyndi and her husband John are the proud new parents of Joshua Aaron Fusek.  He was born September 29 at 7:30 p.m. Pacific standard Time.  He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long.
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He is adorable!  As difficult as traveling is we are planning one more trip to Oregon over Thanksgiving so we can meet our nephew.  He’s worth it!

Well I think this update is long enough.  Thank you for always checking our web site for news.  The support that you all have given is tremendous.  I know that many people are still checking our web site because I watch the number of hits continue to grow every day.  Please leave comments!  We love to read them!

We love you all.  God bless you.