Just wanted to give a couple of updates on what has been going on with Adam. He is doing great, so no worries! He went to Vanderbilt about a month ago and had a driving evaluation. They recommended that he start driving on post and around Clarksville on smaller roads and gradually progress to busier roads over the next two months, avoiding high traffic times, no night time driving, no highway driving and no driving in inclement weather. Pretty much what we expected they would say. Then he goes back for a second evaluation in a couple of months to see how he is doing and see if he can drive in more "advanced" conditions. When he went for his evaluation he had only driven about three times for maybe five minutes, on post where the speed limit is 25-35 mph. Before that he had not driven since December of 2008. He is doing really well with driving and hopefully this will eventually allow him some more independence!
Also, Adam's medical evaluation board has recently started. This probably does not mean much to those of you who are not in the military, but it is a long and cumbersome process that determines if you are "fit" or "not fit" to stay active duty and if you are not fit, then it determines your disability rating with the military. So the process has begun for Adam and we really have no idea how long it will take. But, we will definitely have many, many life changing decisions to make over the next few weeks and months so please keep us in your prayers that we will make the right decisions!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Family time
The day after we returned home from our ski trip to Whitefish, Adam left for Texas to visit his brother and family. Adam's brother Dan is active duty Army as well and was promoted to Colonel (yea Dan!!), so Adam went to Fort Hood, TX for the promotion and a visit. Dan and his wife, Tracy, have three children, Hannah, Wyatt and Jack. Maura, Adam and Dan's sister, also lives in Texas with her son, Mitch. Their mother, Elizabeth, was also visiting from Colorado for the promotion as well. Cohen and I did not go since Adam and I just returned from the ski trip and Adam's dad was coming to visit us the day after Adam returned from Texas.
I know I do not update very much on how Adam is doing anymore because it's really hard now to measure or put into words the progress he is making. However, one pretty significant task he was able to accomplish completely independently on this trip to Texas was flying by himself. This may not seem like a difficult task to most people, but it can be for someone with a brain injury like his, with his visual processing impairments. I never would have thought a year ago he would be able to check in on a computer, check his luggage, get in through security, find his way through the airport to the gate, have a layover (in Atlanta of all places) and make it to the next terminal/gate and find his luggage and his brother at the airport in TX all by himself, with no problems. I was a little nervous and very impressed, but of course it was no big deal to Adam ;)
Here is a picture of Adam and his brother at the promotion. The two small children are Dan's and the older child is Mitch.
The day after Adam returned from Texas, his dad arrived from Utah for a visit. Cohen had a great time with his Grandpa and by the end of the visit he wanted Grandpa to do everything for him instead of his mom or dad, like put on his jacket, pick him up, give him his milk or put on his shoes! I think that Grandpa and Cohen both enjoyed their time together!
I know I do not update very much on how Adam is doing anymore because it's really hard now to measure or put into words the progress he is making. However, one pretty significant task he was able to accomplish completely independently on this trip to Texas was flying by himself. This may not seem like a difficult task to most people, but it can be for someone with a brain injury like his, with his visual processing impairments. I never would have thought a year ago he would be able to check in on a computer, check his luggage, get in through security, find his way through the airport to the gate, have a layover (in Atlanta of all places) and make it to the next terminal/gate and find his luggage and his brother at the airport in TX all by himself, with no problems. I was a little nervous and very impressed, but of course it was no big deal to Adam ;)
Here is a picture of Adam and his brother at the promotion. The two small children are Dan's and the older child is Mitch.
The day after Adam returned from Texas, his dad arrived from Utah for a visit. Cohen had a great time with his Grandpa and by the end of the visit he wanted Grandpa to do everything for him instead of his mom or dad, like put on his jacket, pick him up, give him his milk or put on his shoes! I think that Grandpa and Cohen both enjoyed their time together!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Whitefish, Montana
Adam and I just returned from Whitefish, Montana earlier this week after going on an amazing ski trip with the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). The WWP (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) is a non-profit organization designed to provide many different services and opportunities to injured service members. It is a wonderful organization and we were lucky enough to get to take a trip with them to Montana. So I will just share a little about our trip....
We spent six days with six other wounded warriors (three of whom had spouses), three staff members from the WWP and many amazing volunteers from Whitefish and other places across the U.S. And everyone was so wonderful! All of the warriors and spouses had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The staff was awesome, so fun to be around and you can tell they all really love their jobs. And the people of Whitefish were so gracious, generous and just kindhearted people! There were so many people who went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful vacation and who thanked us for being there. It just made you never want to leave!
We participated in all kinds of fun activities on our trip. There were three days of skiing, a day for the Whitefish winter carnival and a day for dog sledding/snowmobiling. I was a little (or actually a lot) nervous about Adam skiing, but he did AMAZING!! Who would have thought a year ago that he would be snow skiing this year?! Not that I should be surprised since he has been able to do everything he's set his mind to since his injury (just like before). All of the warriors had their own ski instructor and Adam's instructor was great and ranked in the top 100 in the country. He is actually certified to teach the blind how to ski. Since Adam is "visually impaired", he wore a vest that said so the first day or so he skied. But at the end of the second day when the ski instructor, Link, and everyone else figured out that Adam was not having any problems seeing people, trees or anything else, Link decided Adam no longer needed the vest. Like I said, Adam did awesome skiing and surpassed me on the morning of the second day (which may not be saying a lot ;0).
Whitefish has a winter carnival every year where they have a penguin plunge (which raises money for the Special Olympics), a parade through downtown Whitefish and other fun local activities. Most of the warriors (including Adam) and staff, one of the wives and a lot of the local people from Whitefish participated in the penguin plunge. I backed out the morning of--thank goodness because it looked really cold! We were also a part of the parade that same day and had a great time participating in it.
On Sunday a group of us went dog sledding. Another group went snowmobiling but Adam and I had done that before and wanted to try something different. We were so glad we did because dog sledding was so much fun!! The man who owned the business has 109 dogs and they all LOVE to run and pull sleds. It was an hour long ride (about 11 1/2 miles) through a state park that he has a permit to sled through. What an awesome adventure!
The rest of the trip we spent having great lunches/dinners, doing some sight-seeing at Glacier National Park and doing some shopping in downtown Whitefish. We had a great week and have so many people to thank for making it happen. And now have lots of new friends! Here are some pictures from our week:
We spent six days with six other wounded warriors (three of whom had spouses), three staff members from the WWP and many amazing volunteers from Whitefish and other places across the U.S. And everyone was so wonderful! All of the warriors and spouses had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The staff was awesome, so fun to be around and you can tell they all really love their jobs. And the people of Whitefish were so gracious, generous and just kindhearted people! There were so many people who went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful vacation and who thanked us for being there. It just made you never want to leave!
We participated in all kinds of fun activities on our trip. There were three days of skiing, a day for the Whitefish winter carnival and a day for dog sledding/snowmobiling. I was a little (or actually a lot) nervous about Adam skiing, but he did AMAZING!! Who would have thought a year ago that he would be snow skiing this year?! Not that I should be surprised since he has been able to do everything he's set his mind to since his injury (just like before). All of the warriors had their own ski instructor and Adam's instructor was great and ranked in the top 100 in the country. He is actually certified to teach the blind how to ski. Since Adam is "visually impaired", he wore a vest that said so the first day or so he skied. But at the end of the second day when the ski instructor, Link, and everyone else figured out that Adam was not having any problems seeing people, trees or anything else, Link decided Adam no longer needed the vest. Like I said, Adam did awesome skiing and surpassed me on the morning of the second day (which may not be saying a lot ;0).
Whitefish has a winter carnival every year where they have a penguin plunge (which raises money for the Special Olympics), a parade through downtown Whitefish and other fun local activities. Most of the warriors (including Adam) and staff, one of the wives and a lot of the local people from Whitefish participated in the penguin plunge. I backed out the morning of--thank goodness because it looked really cold! We were also a part of the parade that same day and had a great time participating in it.
On Sunday a group of us went dog sledding. Another group went snowmobiling but Adam and I had done that before and wanted to try something different. We were so glad we did because dog sledding was so much fun!! The man who owned the business has 109 dogs and they all LOVE to run and pull sleds. It was an hour long ride (about 11 1/2 miles) through a state park that he has a permit to sled through. What an awesome adventure!
The rest of the trip we spent having great lunches/dinners, doing some sight-seeing at Glacier National Park and doing some shopping in downtown Whitefish. We had a great week and have so many people to thank for making it happen. And now have lots of new friends! Here are some pictures from our week:
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| Groomer ride up the mountain our first day in Whitefish |
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| View from top of the mounain |
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| After skiing |
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| Warriors and spouses after skiing |
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| Adam before the Penguin Plunge |
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| Adam, staff and other warriors with penguins before the plunge |
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| plunge "pool" |
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| Adam getting out of the COLD water! |
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| Before the parade |
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| Parade float |
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| Warriors at VFW after parade |
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| Dog sledding |
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| Dogs ready to go! |
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| Sledding! |
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| Superbowl party |
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| Downtown Whitefish |
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| Link (Adam's ski instructor), Adam and Larry (volunteer from Whitefish) |
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| Adam and JP, another warrior |
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| Last dinner |
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Oprah's, "The Bravest Families in America"
I'm not sure how many of you were able to see Oprah's show on January 27 titled, "The Bravest Families in America", but it was heart wrenching! I did not get to see it on air but watched parts of it online. The show discussed the visible and invisible wounds of war and showed several different amazing military families. It brought back many memories for me and made me so thankful for my wonderful husband and how amazingly well he has recovered from his injury! It also made me thankful for all the sacrifices that our military men and women and their families make everyday for our country. Just go to oprah.com and search for the show on January 27, 2011 if you are interested in watching.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Seattle
Adam and I took a trip to Seattle after the new year to visit some good friends from Adam's old unit, Dave and Megan Zientek. After the guys last deployment, the Zientek's moved duty stations to Fort Lewis which is outside of Seattle. Megan is from the Seattle area and loves it out there, understandably so because it is beautiful!! The Zientek's have a beautiful house outside of the city, away from the Army post and pretty much in the middle of nowhere! They are on a dirt road with lots of acres, beautiful trees and an amazing view of the valley and mountains. It is a view that you typically only see in pictures! We had a wonderful trip with them; spent some time relaxing and hanging out and also did the typical touristy thing in the city at Pike Place Market. One of my good friends from Atlanta, Anna, recently moved out to Seattle so we also had dinner with her and her fiance, Ben, one evening. Lots of fun with great friends! Here are a few pictures from our trip.
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| Dave and Adam |
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| Megan and Dave |
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The rest of our Christmas vacation...
Sorry it has taken a while for me to post again on the rest of our holidays--it seems like so long ago now! We had a great New Year's Eve and went to a concert with one of Adam's best friend's, Brian (who was in our wedding for those of you who may remember), and his girlfriend, Jessica. They came into town from Washington, D.C. to see Zac Brown Band and invited us to come along. Adam and I were super excited because we both love Zac Brown and, of course, always have a wonderful time with Brian and Jess whom we seldom get to see. The concert was awesome and we stayed out really late, at least late for Adam and me! We are use to going to bed pretty early and getting up pretty early as are most people who have toddlers. And everyone knows that children do not sleep late the next morning after their parents stay up late, in fact, they probably get up even earlier ;) I do not have any pictures of our New Year's Eve--not sure what we were thinking?!
We also had another fun night out with some friends the next night! Kind of sounding like we are back in college again going out two nights in a row! We have not done that in years. Anyway, Adam has stayed very good friends with all of his college buddies who are now all married with children. We all get together fairly often when we can, but always with our children who are all under the age of five. This means that we can NEVER finish any conversation without being interrupted, at least the women cannot (the men tend to go hide in another room, the basement or outside somewhere!). So we all decided to have an adult night out over the holidays: go to a nice dinner, go out afterwards and stay in a hotel in Buckhead. There were 19 of us including Adam and me and we all had a fabulous time!! Dinner was wonderful--lots of conversation to be had with no interruptions! We tend to act like kids at a middle school dance when we all get together with the guys in one room and the girls in another and this night was no different: the guys sat at one end of the table and the girls at the other end! Someone did take pictures of this night, I just do not have any of them.
We also had another fun night out with some friends the next night! Kind of sounding like we are back in college again going out two nights in a row! We have not done that in years. Anyway, Adam has stayed very good friends with all of his college buddies who are now all married with children. We all get together fairly often when we can, but always with our children who are all under the age of five. This means that we can NEVER finish any conversation without being interrupted, at least the women cannot (the men tend to go hide in another room, the basement or outside somewhere!). So we all decided to have an adult night out over the holidays: go to a nice dinner, go out afterwards and stay in a hotel in Buckhead. There were 19 of us including Adam and me and we all had a fabulous time!! Dinner was wonderful--lots of conversation to be had with no interruptions! We tend to act like kids at a middle school dance when we all get together with the guys in one room and the girls in another and this night was no different: the guys sat at one end of the table and the girls at the other end! Someone did take pictures of this night, I just do not have any of them.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Ball
Adam and I were invited to a military ball last Friday night and we had a great time! It was the Brigade ball of Adam's previous unit, the one he deployed with in 2008-2009 (seems like so long ago now!). Even though many of our friends have moved away from Ft Campbell to different places now since returning from the last deployment (which is how things go in the army world), some friends are still here and there were a lot of people that we knew and enjoyed socializing and spending time with at the ball. It was also a fun night out for Adam and me! Here are a couple of pictures of us dressed up.
This unit will be deploying again soon so please keep them and their families in your prayers during this next year!
This unit will be deploying again soon so please keep them and their families in your prayers during this next year!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Calloway Gardens
After Christmas we took a trip down to Calloway Gardens to see the light show with some friends. Calloway is a resort about an hour south of Atlanta with gardens, golf, tennis, and all kinds of amenities. We just went to spend time with great friends and for our little ones to see the light show, which is a very popular thing to do at Christmas time around the Atlanta area. We went with our friends Wes and Maggie Muschara and their two children, Colt and Marley, and Ben and Courtney Thomas (who planned the trip--thanks guys!) and their two children, Caroline and Alley. We stayed in one of Calloway's villas which had three very large master suites for each of the three families--it worked out great! The options for viewing the lights are riding in your own vehicle or riding on a trolley, which is open air. Of course we wanted to do the trolley so we could all be together and take in the whole experience. However when we booked the villa, which included the trolley ride, weeks before the trip we had no idea that it would snow on Christmas and be in the 20's that night! So, we just layered clothes on the kiddos and wrapped up in blankets for the trolley ride. All the kids loved the light show and not one of them complained the entire time about being cold--and it was about a 60 minute ride. I think the adults were colder than the kids by the time we got back to the villa! We all had such a good time with great, great friends and the little ones just loved playing together! We only took pictures of the kids, which is how it usually works these days :)
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| Caroline, Colt, Alley, Cohen and Marley |
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Our Christmas Vacation
We had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year! We spent about two and a half weeks away from home visiting family and friends and had such a fabulous time with everyone. We were at my parents house in Jonesboro, just outside of Atlanta, most of the time but took a couple of short trips over the course of the two weeks. I will try and fill everyone in on all of the details but it will probably take me a few blog entries to catch up...
Christmas morning was great with Cohen opening his presents and playing with all of his toys. He loved tearing the paper and pulling out the tissue and then of course spending all of ten seconds playing with a toy before being distracted by something else! His attention span is still quite short and he is a very busy little boy! He did get his very own little chair for Christmas from his "Mimi" and "Pops" (my parents) and that is about the only time he will sit still.
We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family on Christmas day, which is our tradition, although, we usually have Christmas at my grandparent's house. However, this year we were not able to because my Grandmother fell and broke her hip about six weeks ago. She is currently in a rehabilitation center now and is doing great! So instead of her cooking Christmas dinner this year, my mom, my Aunt Jan and I cooked dinner and had everyone at my parent's house. My dad went and picked up my Grandfather from his house and my Grandmother from the rehab center and we all celebrated Christmas together. It turned out great except our night was cut a little short because of the snow. How crazy that it snowed in Atlanta on Christmas?! That never happens! Although it was beautiful to have a white Christmas! Because our night was cut short I was not able to get many pictures but here are a few from our Christmas.
The Sunday after Christmas we celebrated with my mom's side of the family at my Aunt Judy's house up in Cobb county on the northwest side of Atlanta. It was definitely a much different Christmas this year since it was the first without Pop as he recently passed away before Thanksgiving. Even though we all know he is in a much better place now, the holidays can especially be difficult as everyone knows who has lost a loved one. Despite being without Pop, the family really enjoyed spending time together as we don't often get to see each other. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas.
Christmas morning was great with Cohen opening his presents and playing with all of his toys. He loved tearing the paper and pulling out the tissue and then of course spending all of ten seconds playing with a toy before being distracted by something else! His attention span is still quite short and he is a very busy little boy! He did get his very own little chair for Christmas from his "Mimi" and "Pops" (my parents) and that is about the only time he will sit still.
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| Cohen sitting in his new chair on Christmas morning |
We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family on Christmas day, which is our tradition, although, we usually have Christmas at my grandparent's house. However, this year we were not able to because my Grandmother fell and broke her hip about six weeks ago. She is currently in a rehabilitation center now and is doing great! So instead of her cooking Christmas dinner this year, my mom, my Aunt Jan and I cooked dinner and had everyone at my parent's house. My dad went and picked up my Grandfather from his house and my Grandmother from the rehab center and we all celebrated Christmas together. It turned out great except our night was cut a little short because of the snow. How crazy that it snowed in Atlanta on Christmas?! That never happens! Although it was beautiful to have a white Christmas! Because our night was cut short I was not able to get many pictures but here are a few from our Christmas.
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| Aunt Jan and Cohen opening a gift |
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| Adam and Ben |
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| Lorra, my cousin, and Carol, my mom or "Mimi" |
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| Lorra, her husband Ben, and their children Olsen and Benjamin |
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| Lorra and me |
The Sunday after Christmas we celebrated with my mom's side of the family at my Aunt Judy's house up in Cobb county on the northwest side of Atlanta. It was definitely a much different Christmas this year since it was the first without Pop as he recently passed away before Thanksgiving. Even though we all know he is in a much better place now, the holidays can especially be difficult as everyone knows who has lost a loved one. Despite being without Pop, the family really enjoyed spending time together as we don't often get to see each other. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas.
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| my cousin, Todd, and Cohen |
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Santa
Adam and I took Cohen to see Santa a couple of weeks ago. It was an experience much like last year where the second we started walking toward Santa, Cohen started screaming. We were eventually able to get Cohen to sit next to Santa, not on his lap and probably not even touching him, with me sitting off to the side of Santa just out of the way of the camera. This is the wonderful picture that came of our Santa experience ;)
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