Hanging Out

Katie and I spent last night with Mel and Court at their home in North Bend. I woke up early with a migraine, but knew I could stay in bed as long as I needed to because Katie would be well cared for until I felt better. Fortunately, Imitrex got rid of the migraine in only a couple of hours and I was feeling pretty good by mid-morning. Later we decided to take the kids out back to play so I grabbed my video camera. Here's what I got of Katie, Jack and Avery playing:

Move-In Day

Finally today, Betty moved in with us! Regina, Katie and I went over to Briarwood late this morning, where Betty has been living since we moved back to Seattle in October, packed up her things, said goodbye to all the wonderful folks there who took such good care of her and had her home in time for us to all have lunch together.

Betty's bedroom is upstairs, which means we had to figure out how to get her up to the second floor. We had a stair lift installed on Friday and here are pictures of Betty taking her first ride on it at bedtime tonight.

Vancouver 2010

We decided that since the Olympics are so close to us this year, we should at least drive up and look around, even if we don't have tickets for any events. So, that's what we did, just for the day.

Bathroom Remodel FINISHED!

Today, on the very same day the stair lift is being installed, the master bathroom remodel is also finished! We can now accomodate Regina's Mom in our house so she will move in on Sunday.

Bathroom Remodel Update

Progress continues on the bathroom remodel. In this picture, all the tile has been laid and all but the shower floor has been grouted. None of the fixtures are in place yet, but will be shortly. In the next couple of days the team will be installing the crown molding, painting the ceiling, re-installing the sinks and toilet, and installing the new glass partition that will separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom. This project could be done by the end of the week! If not, then definitely early next week. It'll be nice to be able to sleep in our bedroom again. It's been buried under plastic tarps for the last 2 weeks to prevent it from being covered in remodel dust, so we've had to sleep elsewhere.

click picture to enlarge

Katie Learns to Ski

For 5 weeks in January and February, Katie's school offers the option to sign up for ski lessons instead of PE class, so we asked Katie if she would like to give it a try. She expressed interest, so we signed her up. Beginning January 14, each Thursday, for 5 weeks, Katie joins her fellow Kindergartners and the First Graders at Snoqualmie for a day of ski lessons. Regina and I were there for the first lesson and again today for the third lesson. Today was an especially exciting day to be there because they got to ride the chair lift for the very first time! I caught it on video, of course. So, take a look, and get fired up for the Olympics!!!

Making Room For Betty

Okay, I'm incredibly overdue for an update so there's a lot to share. But first, let's recap, since it's been so long...

June 10, 2009, Regina's Mom, Betty suffered a massive stroke in her Virginia home. She lost use of her right side and spent the next three months in the hospital there. Labor day weekend, Matt and Edy helped Betty fly to Portland where she moved into a facility very near our apartment there. About a month later, Regina lost her job in Portland, so we all moved back up to Seattle. Regina, Katie and I moved back into our house, which thankfully never did sell and Betty moved into Briarwood in nearby Issaquah. We immediately began making plans to move Betty in with us eventually. Briarwood is truly a wonderful place and they take excellent care of her, but we just don't have the financial means for it! So, Regina and I are going to make adjustments in our home and in our lives to make room for Betty. We'll do whatever it takes. Currently, we are in the middle of preparations for bringing her home to live with us.

Betty's condition is such that she does not walk or stand anymore. She's wheelchair bound, so obviously that presents lots of challenges. Fortunately though, the world we live in today offers many accessibility solutions for wheelchair-bound folks. We are installing a Bruno Chair Lift so she can be gently lifted and lowered up and down the stairs. It'll be so nice that she can have access to the entire house, even the second story! Her bedroom will be the front room upstairs across the hall from Katie that I have been using as my office/sewing/craft room. I sold the huge custom wood desk we had in there and it was moved out last week. That whole transaction went way better than I expected! We now have all my stuff cleared out (minus a few boxes in the closet, which I'll get out later ~sigh~) and Regina's been busy putting away her Mom's clothes, putting up pictures, organizing jewelry and perfume, etc. We bought a floor lamp (LOVE this lamp!), dresser and a bench at IKEA, got a 32" flat screen at COSTCO, oh and a crazy "peacock chair" from Pier One that Regina absolutely fell in love with and simply had to have! We also put up curtains that coordinate nicely with the chair and also with the blue duvet cover we found. We seem to have a blue/brown theme going on. This is one of my favorite color combos, so I love it.

Another challenge will be showering Betty. We need a shower large enough to accomodate a shower chair for Betty to sit in and also a second person (Regina or me) to bathe her. So, it needs to be pretty big and it needs to have a hand-held showerhead. We realized though, as we brainstormed our options, that we really didn't want to end up with a bathroom that looked like a handicapped bathroom. Mostly because it would negatively impact resale value down the road. So, we've decided to go for a large, luxurious, "wow" shower that will enhance the house while also allowing accessibility for Betty and her chair. In addition to the hand-held shower head, we're also installing a stationary shower head on the other wall and on the ceiling will be a rain shower head! How cool is that?! We're also having a bench installed so you can sit to shave your legs or if you just get exhausted while showering and need to, I don't know, rest. And finally, we'll have built-in storage shelves for shampoo and stuff, in the corner, as well as soap dishes on the wall.

Here are a few pictures of the work so far:

click picture to to enlarge

Transportation is also an issue so we traded in our Jeep and Accord for a Honda Odyssey Mini-Van. We really felt it was necessary so we would have room for the wheel chair, portable ramp, and any other gadget we might need. And, most importantly, the mini van can be made wheelchair accessible, if we were to chose that option, and we have. We chose Absolute Mobility Center to install a Carony seat. They simply remove one of the mini-van's seats and put their's in its place. When you no longer need the Carony seat, you can have the original seat put back in.

Originally, we were really hoping to have everything ready for Betty to move in with us this weekend, January 30, but the chair lift and the bathroom won't be ready by then. So, we'll just have to postpone. You know, it just means she gets to enjoy a few more days of pampering at Briarwood! They are so sweet to her there.

Meanwhile, we'll enjoy a visit from Regina's sister, Sue who will fly in Thursday night from Philadelphia. I'm glad she'll have this time to spend with her Mom.

Scenic Road Trip to Leavenworth

Mom, Bonnie and I took advantage of another gorgeous day to drive through Stevens Pass to Leavenworth in the Cascade mountains. The trip was so incredibly scenic, but there are no places to pull over, so Mom and Bonnie were snapping pictures from the car, as we drove by.

~ Leavenworth ~

Kids (and adults) were having a blast sledding down this hill in the middle of town.
Made me wish we had brought our sled with us!
Oh well, next time I'll know to be prepared with sled in trunk.

Mt. Rainier Photo Op

Yay, sunshine and clear skies! Mom, Bonnie and I decided to take advantage of such a perfect day by taking pictures of this beautiful part of the country. We drove around searching for good views of Mt. Rainier. The trick was finding not only a good photo op, but also a place where we could safely pull over to get the shot. We finally found one!

Santa Came Through!

Santa was feeling generous this year and finally brought Katie the Jeep she has wanted since last Christmas! She was excited, but nervous about driving it the first time. However, it didn't take her long to get the hang of it. She drove down the street and picked up her friend who also seemed to enjoy the ride.

Happy 6th Birthday, Sweet Katie!

Six years ago, my baby girl was born,
promptly on her due date at 2:11am.
7lbs., 12 ozs., 19"
The best Christmas gift ever.
The best day of my life.

Her cake was shaped like a dog bone.

Garden d'Lights 2009

Regina, Katie, my Mom, my sister and I visited the Bellevue Botanical Garden to enjoy their beautiful holiday display of lights. It was spectacular, as always!

Decorating Cookies

Regina baked up some sugar cookies and my Mom made some butter cookies... um, too many, actually! And of course, they needed to be decorated. Katie, Regina and my Mom took on the task and did a delicious job!

It's a Party!

This year we decided to have a birthday party for Katie so she could invite her friends to celebrate with her. Because it's such a busy time of year anyway, we hesitated to add to the chaos, but in the end, we went ahead with it because Katie wanted it so badly. So, we held it at KidzBounce in Preston so the kids could bounce off the walls and get all of their wiggles out! Katie was thrilled!

Festival of Peace and Light

Katie's school presented an impressive holiday concert today. The kindergarten students sang Trotta Trotta Cavellino in Italian, Jingle Bells in Spanish, and Peace in 12 Languages. They held it at the BCC gym and it lasted about an hour. Here is a 2-minute video of Katie's participation:

DAY 6 - VA to WA

LONG day! 15 hours on the road, 845 miles. Park City, UT to Fall City, WA (home). While we slept last night, it snowed probably 3 or 4 inches, but it was a dry, powder that easily blew off the car. The drive today was difficult though. By the end of the day we were so tired of driving in snow/rain/sleet! Miraculously though, we could finally relax when it cleared up right around the WA state border.

DAY 5 - VA to WA

8 hours on the road, 504 miles. Estes Park, CO to Park City, UT. Tomorrow we hope to finish the trip in Seattle.

DAY 4 - VA to WA

9.5 hours on the road, 595 miles. Topeka, KS to Estes Park, CO. My sister, Bonnie is with me for the rest of the trip. We're staying tonight at the Stanley Hotel, which is a beautiful, 100-year-old, haunted hotel in the mountains with quite a haunted history. This hotel is where Stephen King stayed, in room 217, which is a haunted room, and he was inspired to write The Shining. Apparently, the strange things he wrote about in The Shining are based on personal experiences he had during his stay at the Stanley Hotel.