Sunset.......and another day on the beach.....Sunset

 

Sunset pictures....

 

 

 

me and my honey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got up early and got Sam down to the beach

 

 

I love that he will now put his feet on the sand.  Look at that baby foot....

 

 

 

Happy boy

 

 

he walked all the way down the beach

 

 

 

he still fit into the water seat but he enjoyed being held in the water and he also played on the boogie board for awhile.

 

Sarah and Shad on the beach

 

 

 

 

she was very happy the brightness put her off for a little bit but she was ready to go in the water

 

 

 

 

 

daddy and his little boy

 

 

 

 

Jon and Shad

 

taken from our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOL yes I usually wear a hat.  I do not like my face to get sunburnt or the top of my head  Yes I am uncool...no I do not care.....

 

Look Steve is here

 

We were all out in the water and I see a big dark shape coming in.  I am NOT afraid of 'things in the water" but I was pretty sure it was a big stingray.  I have seen some huge ones in the Keys.  I start yelling "get out of the water NOW"  Jon saw it and he and Steve both thought "shark".....well it was a MANATEE...    It came right up to us.....  how precious...I'd never seen one out on the beach like that.  We were thrilled to see it.    Just wished I'd gotten a picture of it. 

 

I met a lady, my age from Russia, out in the water and we talked for a long time, until a school of fish was bumping into us and biting on us LOL   She is my age and her life experiences have been quite different than mine.  It was very interesting to talk with her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ON our way to eat we took this road LOL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then  a long walk on the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took this!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took all the pics unless I was in them.....

 

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Selah is doing good-she had a great day and her therapist was able to spend some extra time with her.

 

 

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Last year we spent the day with Sam & Sarah having doctor appointment.......

 

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Please continue to pray for Selah

tomorrow is her 9th birthday  

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a difference a year makes.....

 

 

 

 

 

As I continue to think of last year....   we got up early in West VA and stopped at a local dam.  Here is Sam on the path.

 

the bridge we drove over

 

my little ones.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of my kids....the last picture of all of them together before the accident

 

 

 

I had gotten these stickers in Mt Airy and put them on the van that morning.

 

 

 

 

We drove all the way to Rochester that day...as we were driving into Rochester, coming off one interstate and going onto another, there was a huge rainbow.  I tried to get a picture but failed.  It just made me so happy to see it.  We were so glad to make it to Rochester, to see our friends and to have Sam and Sarah checked out. 

 

Again it is just surreal to me still....I can remember driving into the city, so clearly with so much hope.....we had no idea....none.....

 

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We left for the beach today,  Before we left, Sarah had her Physical Therapy session and we left as our wonderful therapist was working with Selah.  Actually I was dreading leaving her but it was ok.  Her therapist talked about how Selah is so relaxed at home and how it represents security and no pain like the hospital.  That helped.  Our nurses are very supportive of our family and that is also a big help. 

 

We stopped for lunch and got to the resort early.  We are quite happy with it, right on the beach and the room is bigger than we thought it would be. 

 

 

here is lunch, everyone looked serious figuring out what to eat LOL

 

 

 

 

Sarah's shirt says "Little Miss Happy Happy Happy"  she is a happy girl  

 

 

 

Here is Sarah in her beach seat.  She LOVES the water.  We sat on the shore for awhile too and she actually played in the sand.  I love how she doesn't have a ton of things -textures - that bother her.  Sam had many.....

 

 

 

yep it looks just like the pictures

 

Shad worked hard on some sand castles...he wasn't so thrilled with the life vest I made him wear in the water but it made me much more secure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the view from our balcony

 

 

Sam decided lunch did him in and he took a long nap in our room.  We took turns staying with him.  He is happy just relaxing...he will be out tomorrow I'm sure.  That is the nice thing about staying over night and having a room the little ones can take naps in.

 

 

It's so odd to have so many different emotions rolling around inside....I feel thankful that Selah is stable right now...happy that she is content, happy to be with my other kids but still sad.... still in shock over this past year.  I still love the beach, nothing like the feeling of sand between my toes and the waves crashing.....  I realize things could be so much worse for us, we could have lost both children that day....Selah could be so much more worse than she is.... I try to remain grateful...it is hard. 

 

Thank you all for the very very kind comments posted, yesterday was very hard for me.  My emotions are up and down.... on the drive here, I was praying that God would have mercy on Selah and heal her and that next year we would all go on vacation together....that would be the most wonderful thing but I still will trust God no matter what. 

 

Awashed with memories......

Awashed with memories..... is that a word?  Awashed....I don't know but that how I feel today...memories are just washing over me.   I looked it up......
 a·wash  (-wsh, -wôsh)

adv.

1.

a. Washed by the sea.

b. Washing about.

2. In such a position or way as to be covered with or as if with water.

adj.

1. Level with or washed by waves.

2. Overflowing with or as if with water.

3. Floating on or as if on waves

Yep that is how I am feeling.....interesting that it is equated with water.....
I'm such an anniversary type of person, so my mind keeps going back hourly or even more often to this time last year....

We left home on Friday the 10th...famous last words as we are trying to get on the road and running late...."Jon don't go back for that...we'll only be gone a week"  Yes I said that, obviously I do not have any skills as a prophet!!!

We packed all the kids, in our new van headed up to New York on our first family trip with the girls.  We got off to a little late start.  I'm one of those persons who says "we are leaving at 8 am" and we DO or I yell!!!   We drove up 301 towards Jacksonville, our favorite little cut through and stopped at a road side stand to buy a few things for our favorite doctor.  The workers there loved my kids and gave us a big bottle of cane syrup.  I still have it ....   We drove around Jax, never ever dreaming we wouldn't be back to Florida till December and would end up in Jacksonville, a city I have an unusual distaste for....  (sorry to my Jax friends- you guys are awesome)

We drove and stopped and changed diapers....spent the night in Charlotte NC (remembered flying out of there going to go get our girls just months earlier)  Then on Saturday the 11th ( a year from today) we drove up to Mt Airy NC, Andy Griffin's home town and did a quick tour....could that really have been one year ago today?  We bought some things and ate lunch.... 

I didn't know that in days this picture would be all over the news.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have no earthly idea how much I wish I could go back to that day....  We were so happy, the trip had been easy, we were enjoying ourselves.  We are Andy Griffin Fans!  We bought the Mayberry Monopoly game to play...it has never been opened.... We have all the seasons of the show but  I've never watched it again, it just brings back too many memories that are like daggers in my heart.  Just driving by that exit on our way back to Florida in December caused me to sob uncontrollably....   I guess because it represents our last family day...before the accident. 

When we left Mayberry aka Mt Airy, we decided to try a different interstate than I-81 which we usually take just north of there, so we kept going up I-77 (I think)  We got in a traffic jam but we were listening to a funny CD we had bought and the kids were all happy....   Normally I get very annoyed by traffic jams but I was just so happy and we were all laughing, for once it didn't bother me at all. 

We drove up to Ripley WV (which our friends who were here last night HAD just moved from that very week last year)  and spent the night in a great hotel.  We went out to Outback that night and the manager noticed our family.  He had a family member who was special needs also.  He sent our server over to say our dinner was on the house and he sent us some gift certificates.  It was such a kind expression of love that I teared up. 

Our trip just seemed so blessed and peacefully.  I remember feeling like we were just in the palm of God's hand.  All summer I had battled with a fear that something was going to happen to one of my kids.  Several friends of friends had had terrible accidents and I knew of 3 or 4 deaths of children over last summer.  Steve was scheduled to go to Daytona Beach in July and I talked him out of it.  I didn't tell him why, of course, he would have thought I was "cuckoo"     But that seemed all behind us on the trip. 

We had everything ready for the little girls to start therapy as soon as we came back.  The boys were all ready for school to start....I had myriads of specialist's appointments scheduled for the girls for the fall....  We were looking forward to a quick trip up, good news for Sam and hopefully surgery on Sarah's eye....  I'm usually Ms Sensitive but nothing was on my radar, I was just completely happy.   There is always that little fear that something might go wrong with Sam's exam but he seemed fine, his eye looked good, so I wasn't really worried.  I was a bit concerned about whether Sarah would be eligible for the eye implant and if it would work but I felt like all of that would go smoothly....guess I was wrong there too. 

I left my house clean, I had gone grocery shopping right before we left so when we came home we wouldn't be out of everything....School clothes were ready.....everything was in place.....

Oh but our life was about to be turned upside down.......we were about to walk through the darkest valley of our life....

Hold your kids close...you never know what tomorrow might hold....Love them, take a zillion pictures and videos....kiss them....