Hello All—
Well, it was a long trip back but we made it okay. The transfers from Kari’s wheelchair to the aisle chair to the plane seat and back were very hard, but we got them done. We got to the airport 2 ½ hours early and had just enough time to do everything, and after we landed it took us an hour to get off the plane, get back into the wheelchair and get situated. Sarah, who was driving our van back, hit some bad weather (and almost a few cars) and wasn’t going to be able to make it to the airport to pick us up as we had planned, and we left in the air without a ride home planned. Luckily, we got on the phone with some friends of ours and they called a wheelchair minivan to come pick us up. We had a little trouble locating the van and didn’t actually leave Orange County until almost 6:00. The traffic wasn’t that bad, but the whole day had been so long that Kari was totally exhausted by the time we got there and threw up just after we pulled up to the house we were staying at. She was fine, though, and we’ve spent the last few days just lounging around and recovering from the journey.
We are staying with the Logans, friends of ours from church and whose daughter Melissa is the one I have written about on the Blog before. It has been nice to stay with them—a good transition before home and a family that understands what it is like to go through this type of tragedy. We haven’t really done much except go to the church to get some stuff and to go and get ice cream and the break from the hospital schedule has been nice. The last two days, Kari has slept until noon :) I got a message from our apartment manager yesterday saying that we’d be able to move in on the 6th of January. Once I know for sure though, I’ll write here to give anybody that wants to help further details. Anyways, we are going to be at church tomorrow, (the address is the one on the donations page on the website) so I wanted to invite anybody that wanted to come to be there to. Church starts at 10:30, and people usually get there around 10:00 to have some snacks and talk before church.
We are so happy to be home. When we were driving around yesterday, Kari said “Man, I love California.” We just love the atmosphere, the land, the weather, and of course all of our friends here. It took us a while to get settled, but it truly feels like home here and we feel so great to be back. We look forward to seeing friends here we haven’t seen in so long and also want to thank the many that came from our old home and elsewhere across the country to come visit us in Colorado.
Happy New Year!
Aaron.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Leaving today!
Hello All—
I don’t have a ton of time to write, but I wanted to let everybody know that we’re leaving today from Craig at 11:30 and our flight leaves Denver for Orange County at 2:39, arriving at 4:00. I’m actually getting a little anxious about the whole trip, but know that people are praying for us will calm my nerves for sure. We had a little trouble getting our new van yesterday because the credit union that I was getting the loan from never told me that I needed to be a Colorado resident to get the loan, even though they knew I lived in California. But we had some amazing people that helped us and we got it last night. Sara (Thompson) left last night at 2:30am to drive it back, and two other men from our church left last night to drive my car back, so pray for their safety as well. Needless to say, we’re tired from being up late, but excited to go home. I’ll write again to let everybody know how it all went! God bless.
Aaron.
I don’t have a ton of time to write, but I wanted to let everybody know that we’re leaving today from Craig at 11:30 and our flight leaves Denver for Orange County at 2:39, arriving at 4:00. I’m actually getting a little anxious about the whole trip, but know that people are praying for us will calm my nerves for sure. We had a little trouble getting our new van yesterday because the credit union that I was getting the loan from never told me that I needed to be a Colorado resident to get the loan, even though they knew I lived in California. But we had some amazing people that helped us and we got it last night. Sara (Thompson) left last night at 2:30am to drive it back, and two other men from our church left last night to drive my car back, so pray for their safety as well. Needless to say, we’re tired from being up late, but excited to go home. I’ll write again to let everybody know how it all went! God bless.
Aaron.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Merry Christmas
Hello All—
First of all, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. (I think the law states that I must start this message by saying “Merry Christmas.” There is so much good news to report since I last wrote two weeks ago. First, thank you for all of the comments supporting us on the blog-25- it’s the most we’ve had in a while. I think I was feeling the same about the blog as I was about the hospital—it’s amazing how a few bad people can really change the atmosphere of a place. Over the last two weeks though, we’ve been able to focus on the people we normally work with and things we need to do to prepare to go home. In our last meeting with our team, it was very encouraging to hear all the good things they had to say.
I won’t go through all the details of what we’ve been doing for the past two weeks, but our major highlights include learning to use the bus system, going out to eat and going shopping, and taking a trip to the aquarium. We have also learned a lot about airline and car transfers and how to travel home, and we both feel comfortable in making the trip. It may not sound like much, but there were a few “adventures” in there. On our trip to the aquarium, Kari had to drive over a mile through snow covered sidewalks and over a bridge on a major street over a river. We also got stuck once at a restaurant because the route to the bus stop was covered in ice and snow. The people at Craig had to call a van to come pick us up and we didn’t get home until about two hours after we finished eating. Everything we do now is a new experience, and we’ve learned a lot just going out on our own. We also bought an accessible van yesterday (even though it won’t be delivered until Tuesday). The van that we were donated was having problems with the air suspension and it would have taken at least three weeks to get it fixed, so we decided that we really needed to buy one that we could trust. Anyways, the dealer was able to bring the van out so Kari could get in it, and we both liked it a lot. The one we are getting only has 9 miles on it, so we are exciting about getting our first new car! Sarah is out here now visiting, and she will drive it back, and two other people from Brookside are coming out to drive my car home.
We are flying home on Wednesday the 28th, and are frantically trying to get all the loose ends wrapped up before we leave. Our apartment won’t be ready until at least the 5th of January though, so we’ll be staying with friends from Brookside until we can move in. Even though we won’t be in our own place though, it’ll be great to be out of the hospital and back in California. We’re going to be at church on New Year’s Day. Even being only 3 days away, it is hard to think that we are actually going home. We are excited about it, but a little scared for sure.
Aaron.
First of all, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. (I think the law states that I must start this message by saying “Merry Christmas.” There is so much good news to report since I last wrote two weeks ago. First, thank you for all of the comments supporting us on the blog-25- it’s the most we’ve had in a while. I think I was feeling the same about the blog as I was about the hospital—it’s amazing how a few bad people can really change the atmosphere of a place. Over the last two weeks though, we’ve been able to focus on the people we normally work with and things we need to do to prepare to go home. In our last meeting with our team, it was very encouraging to hear all the good things they had to say.
I won’t go through all the details of what we’ve been doing for the past two weeks, but our major highlights include learning to use the bus system, going out to eat and going shopping, and taking a trip to the aquarium. We have also learned a lot about airline and car transfers and how to travel home, and we both feel comfortable in making the trip. It may not sound like much, but there were a few “adventures” in there. On our trip to the aquarium, Kari had to drive over a mile through snow covered sidewalks and over a bridge on a major street over a river. We also got stuck once at a restaurant because the route to the bus stop was covered in ice and snow. The people at Craig had to call a van to come pick us up and we didn’t get home until about two hours after we finished eating. Everything we do now is a new experience, and we’ve learned a lot just going out on our own. We also bought an accessible van yesterday (even though it won’t be delivered until Tuesday). The van that we were donated was having problems with the air suspension and it would have taken at least three weeks to get it fixed, so we decided that we really needed to buy one that we could trust. Anyways, the dealer was able to bring the van out so Kari could get in it, and we both liked it a lot. The one we are getting only has 9 miles on it, so we are exciting about getting our first new car! Sarah is out here now visiting, and she will drive it back, and two other people from Brookside are coming out to drive my car home.
We are flying home on Wednesday the 28th, and are frantically trying to get all the loose ends wrapped up before we leave. Our apartment won’t be ready until at least the 5th of January though, so we’ll be staying with friends from Brookside until we can move in. Even though we won’t be in our own place though, it’ll be great to be out of the hospital and back in California. We’re going to be at church on New Year’s Day. Even being only 3 days away, it is hard to think that we are actually going home. We are excited about it, but a little scared for sure.
Aaron.
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