April 11, 2020

Easter week is a favorite at our house. We spend some time each night discussing what happened in the life of Christ on the following day- then we try to focus on it throughout the next day trying to follow His example. Easter Sunday is all about Him, but we do love to decorate eggs, and have baskets of goodies and the eggs to hunt for. We do that on Saturday. We left Shannon a basket on Monday when I went to do her laundry, filled with things she can use while she's in the hospital- all non-food items. She was disappointed that she can't have candy goodness, so I bought some for her to eat when she can. Today, we FaceTimed her while the kiddos searched for eggs, she helped look for the missing last egg. Then she watched us search for baskets, and I hid the one with her candy in it for her to search for. I scanned the room with my phone and she found it among the food items in the pantry. She was pretty happy to see the candy stash inside it that's waiting for her to eat it!

All the kids showed her their basket goodies, and she watched us all interact, tease, and be silly. Our daughter Rachael and her family are staying with us for a couple of weeks to help us finish part of the basement so Shannon has an accessible room and bathroom. There was a lot of aunt & uncles with nieces mischief happening. It was great to see Shannon smiling and laughing at the shenanigans going on.

Today Shannon sat in the power chair for quite a while, and wasn't very happy about it. She was feeling sore- I'm sure from all the exercise she did this week. She's getting weary of being alone, being away from family, having to deal with all of this. Because she doesn't have a grasp on time, forgets things easily, as well as not understanding her condition completely; she feels like this is a never ending sentence. She told me tonight that they keep telling her at the end of every week that she has to be there for 6 more weeks. It was so hard to tell her she's only been there for 1.5 weeks. I'm sure each day feels like a week.

I am so happy we have Sunday's, when we can take a break from the crazy that has become our week. We are truly looking forward to spending time with our other kids and including Shannon as much as we can in our day.

Shannon is feeling the lonely so much more right now, so please be sure to pray for her to be comforted and for her days to feel shorter. Pray for her lungs and the muscles that control them to continue to strengthen, for her spinal cord to heal, for her memory and understanding to continue to improve, and for her to have the strength and endurance to do all the therapies she needs this coming week. We love you all, and are so grateful for you. We are even more grateful for our loving Father in Heaven that has blessed us in so many ways these past several weeks; and especially our Savior. We pray for all of you and your families to be cared for and protected during this crazy time.

Have a wonderful Easter.

“You got the makings of greatness in you, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls” – Treasure Planet