Slip and Slide

To say that Kim is doing well is an understatement. I'll just post a video of her sliding down the hill behind the house on Mother's Day weekend. Check it out. It's not Doctor approved but it sure was fun, thanks to Aaron and James for the creativity. lol

Vegas & back

If anyone out there is still reading, the bride and I just got from Las Vegas. Wockhardt Hospital contacted us and asked her to come and speak on their behalf on "the patient experience. Just about anytime someone wants to pay for you to take a trip somewhere, do it. We arrived early on Friday, rented a car, stopped at Walmart for food, drinks, snacks and a styrofoam icechest and headed away from Vegas. After WM, we went and toured Hoover Dam. I'd always wanted to see it and it is worthwhile to see. We took the extended tour which takes you to the power plant and deep within some of the tunnels in the dam. We navigated an "inspection tunnel" deep inside the dam to look out on the river below. Very cool and to think that it was all built in the early 1930's. From there we headed to points south down the Colorado river, through Kingman. Its all desert mountains except for right on the river. Hot and dry and there's nothing really green except for cactus, mesquite and stuff that's by the water. We stayed the night by another lake on the Colo river in Lake Havasu City, AZ. http://www.golakehavasu.com/

On Sat we drove farther down the river and found a nice place and spent the afternoon at La Paz County state park watching folks boat, jetski, and play in the 55 degree water. I got in the water but just briefly to cool down and I mean cool. We both got sunburned but had a great time, picnicing and relaxing.

We drove on further south and made a Uturn around the river at Parker, AZ, and drove the edge of the Mohave desert on the other side of the river, up through Needles, CA, through Bullhead City, Laughlin, again on the river, and eventually back to Henderson, outside of Vegas for the night so we could pick Jared up at the airport on Sunday. We found a nice church there, about 75 folks, in Henderson, picked up Jared, checked into the hotel after touring around and seeing some of the sights. We rested a bit in the afternoon, then went out to see The Blue Man Group show which we all enjoyed a lot.

Monday I spent with the bride and her speaking at the Medical conference. She and another patient from near Reno both spoke on their patient experience at Wockhardt. The other lady had just gotten back from climbing Mt Kiliminjaro. Went back out to Hoover Dam on Monday afternoon cause Jared wanted to go, then back to Vegas and a little more sight seeing that night. J visited some tatoo shop in the Palms, no he didn't get a tat, then to the Hard Rock for a cup. (he's got lots of Hard Rock cups) We all turned in relatively early LV time and left for the airport at 5:30 am on Tuesday. Truth is LVegas is not really our kind of town, neat to see but I didn't gamble one penny and the shows are pricey. It's ok with me if I never leave another dollar in Vegas, but lots of other people certainly are.

latr, de

STB Saturday night video

Here's a link to Forrests sisters myspace. She posted a video, looks like from a regular camera, of one of the STB new songs, "Give It Away." Not too bad. It was Saturday night in Tomball.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=33192093

Another First

I've been thinking for days/weeks that I really should blog. I realize you don't keep readers if you don't write on the blog. You may not keep them anyway! lol Blame it on spring...yeah, that's the ticket...or on the Rockets...yeah...no...Astros...better now...helping A&A paint and move...that's done...the quartet...well, we have sang a couple of times recently and practice weekly...nah...the internet has been out...nope...computer malfunctioned...thats lame and untrue...truth is there's really no excuse.

I guess I just figured to blog at least as often as my lovely daughter and to stay ahead of my oldest son...ha! that won't be hard. If you haven't looked at the pics of my favorite grandson on his mom's blog...do it now! Forget this old man and his seldom written blog...check out my handsome...smart...personality filled grandson...Noah.

Did have a first this past Saturday though. The STB quartet sang and the Spring Creek church of Christ grand opening of their new building. Made the drive up there...hung out for awhile. We do a lot of that. Saw one of the kids friends from way back...a sweet girl named Avery. Another group was there singing...The Joy Singers out of Bay City. We sang with them last week...a really nice group of folks. Anyway, they sang...we took a brief break...then we sang our latest program with four new songs...thank goodness for new songs.

After we were done singing we try to visit and talk with folks for a few minutes...then its time to break down the equipment and hit the road. It takes a lot more effort than you realize to deal with the sound equipment...anyway we're breaking stuff down and hauling it outside when a couple of folks walk up with our CD and ask for my autograph.

I can't ever recall that happening before even when I was singing with the School of Preaching quartet back in the late 80's. Maybe it did and I can't recall. Actually I think I ended up signing three different CD's before the night was over. Kinda weird...pretty cool though...fun. They didn't just want mine by the way...they wanted the whole group to sign.

Well, that's all for now. I finally got a facebook account. Enjoying finding my way around on that site.

For those checking on Kim. She's doing better all the time. She rode the stationary bike three times last week 20-30 minutes. Pretty amazing. Praise God.

C ya,
de

Greetings!

Greetings bloggers or at least blog readers, ye who spend an inoridnate amount of time surfing for something interesting to do or to read. I recommend moving on to the next stop because this is not all that interesting. In fact, the bride and I are becoming quite normal again, as much as we ever were "normal." We're doing things we haven't done in years and not really thinking about it too much. You probably don't think about it all that much but the bride is again cooking, cleaning, laundry, even getting her own gas and going to get her car inspected. I know it all sounds very normal for the spouse to do that stuff but my sweet bride hasn't been physcially able to do that in well....years. I'm not sure how many but several, it just hurt too much to move around.

We went to Houston on Friday, visited someone in the hospital at St Lukes, then on to Reliant to the NCAA BB games. We parked, we walked, did stairs, and walked and walked, like normal folks do and don't think much about it. For years we haven't been able to do that kind of stuff but now, we can do it. Praise God. I got my wife back! I'll probably begin sometime to take it for granted again but I'm not sure when. Mostly I just walk, hold her hand, and periodically smile and enjoy her ability to keep up with me.

Oh yeah, Wockhardt Hospital in India contacted us and want mom to come to Vegas to speak for some kind of medical seminar in May. Their International Relations person has 30 minutes and wants mom to speak for 10. They're going to pay our way. Very cool indeed.

Here's a link to the thing she's speaking at. Scroll down and see Pradeep from Wockhardt in Mumbai. She's taking some of his 30 minutes.

http://www.consumerhealthworld.com/medtours08/progmonday.aspx?day=Monday

Welp, got jury duty today. Onward to do my civic duty.

cu down the road,
de

Quickblog

Hello there,

Just a quickblog to update you on the bride and I and our goings on. I preached on Sunday, went home, loaded up my Silverado truck with a bunch of tools, the bride, and the dog. We dropped the bride at the airport and headed to Forney, TX. We spent the week there helping the middle son and his wife get there newly purchased house ready for move in, or at least a bit closer. Worked all or part of 7 straight days with help from everyone, uncle J, great grandpa Poppie, Art, Madison, Debra, and of course A & A. There was plumbing, painting, light fixtures, painting, flooring and more painting to do. Here's a few pics from the week. Didn't have time to take too many but its looking good. My favorites are obviously of Noah sitting on his back patio, feet in the grass, just enjoying it. He sat there for several minutes just taking it all in. Oh yeah, Kim flew in on Thursday and worked like a champ the whole time she was there, painting, cleaning, did I mention painting? She wouldn't have been able to do any of it just a few months ago and now she's sore just like the rest of us. What a blessing she is!

de & ke


paint the trim Allison..................love the porch dad!

enjoy the outside.............& inspect the grass

pull the grass Noah................paint the wall dad!

show off the new floor.................... enjoy the floor

survey the living room....................paint the kitchen

install the lights

Election Over! Amen

Greetings from a bright, beautiful, sunny 70 degree day here in Houston. Not a cloud in the sky, neither is there one political campaign ad on the TV! Hallelujah. It's finally over, for awhile anyway.

Not much else to say today. Brides off to San Diego. Thought I might get to go but I'm headed to Forney instead. Yes, you heard right, the big town of Forney, TX. Seriously, A&A are supposed to close on their house on Friday. If all goes well come Sunday, I'll load the truck up with tools of all kinds and head up there for a week to paint, plumb, sand, well, you get the idea. There's lots to do and I'm going to spend a week helping them do it.

I honestly can't wait cause its stuff I love to do. Kim will fly in to DFW on Thursday and spend the rest of the weekend doing the same or keeping Noah while others do...or whatever.

Funny below.

I had a friend who tried this, God rest his soul.

A dog is truly a man's best friend!
If you don't believe it, just try this...
Put your dog and your wife in the trunk of the car for an hour.
When you open the trunk, look to see who is really happy to see you!

cya down the road,



de

Kidstuff!!

Thought I'd take a few lines to fill you loyal readers (both of you) in on some things you probably already know. Our oldest Kami, living in Cooperstown, NY, is still there, freezing her you know what this time of the year. Once in awhile she sends me a pic message with either massive amounts of snow or the temp from the weather channel of like -10 degrees or something. Honestly, even though we miss her and James being closer, we couldn't be prouder of them. He's doing a fantastic work at the Baseball Hall of Fame under what has been difficult circumstances as of late. She's a nanny, a very good one I'm sure, and is taking more and more photos and getting better all the time. If you haven't checked out her blog and some of her pics you can do so with the link on the sidebar here. Not to mention her hub is preaching full-time at the church there in C-town. It's a real mission point for sure and I know they work hard in that respect to help build up the church there.

The middle one Aaron, Allison, and grandson Noah live in Garland. Aaron's working at an outfit called Dental One. People ask me what he does and I'm honestly not sure I can tell you. He started in marketing, went to payroll, and been promoted to a new job in January. I'm fairly certain he's in charge of a bunch of Dental practices in Colorado, one of the company's most produtive areas. The exciting news for them is that they are waiting to close on a house they are trying to buy in Forney, Tx. Lord willing by next weekend they may close. It's not "ready to move in" yet so they need to repair a few minor things, paint, and replace some flooring but, its only 5 years old and a really nice house in a new subdivision. We couldn't be more excited for them. I don't think they expected to buy this soon, but hey, its a buyers market and the thing just opened up for them. You can also check out Allison's blog on the sidebar for updates on their family.

The youngest Jared is taking a temporary hiatus from ACU and has just begun training at Best Buy. It's really one of the few spots he's always wanted to work, selling electronix, videos, big screens and the like. He's had a rough past couple of weeks with the death of a very close friend and most recently strep-throat. But he's recouping now, will finish he training phase soon at BB and get the coveted BB blue shirt. If anybody could enjoy that kind of work and do really well at it, its Jared. He's a great people person and is really into the latest technology.

Well, that's a brief update on the kids. We rite proud of them all and how they are doing.

Cya, de

A Whole New World

It seems like all I've blogged about for the past 6 months has been my beautiful bride. To tell you the truth she's been the focus of most of my time, regular and spare time. Who really has "spare time" like you keep it in your trunk or something and get it out when you have a flat. Sorry, I hope none of you know, alltho some do, just how difficult it can be when your best friend is suffering and there seems to be no relief in sight. Yes, we adjusted in many ways but still to see them suffering so, it stinks.

Well all that's changed now. Suffice it to say, she sleeps, she eats, she walks! All those things are actually recent occurences at our house. You mean she didn't sleep or eat or walk, well not very well or for very long? There were other limitations but she made me promise I'd keep those to myself. Love you, dear! For nearabout 10 years, she didn't sleep for more than say 4 hours on lots of nights. Now she can lay horizontal, eyes closed for 8/9 hours. Sometimes I have to wake just to make sure its still her and she's not dead or something. lol

She told me just today, how exciting it is now to walk along with people, normal like, to keep up and not get tired so fast. Of course part of that involves her work, being around school buildings and airports and hotels and lots of walking. The thrilling part is, she's doing all that and enjoying it, pain free. It's a whole new girl I'm living with now.

Happy Valentine's Day all,
de

Something New Almost Every Day

Every day now I realize I'm now living with a whole new person. After 28 years of marriage that's an experience. I guess I didn't realize just how much our lives had changed over the past 4 or 5 years with Kim's health getting worse and worse. Well, all that's changed now that we finally found out the problem, made the trek to India, and she's recovering so well. She left Sunday for a weeks work in Kansas and didn't take her walker. That was a first for I imagine 9 months or more. After the surgery it was a real help to her recovery and comfort when she walked through airports and around schools and such. This time no walker. She's doing just great too, even in the ice and snow they got in Kansas last night.

Another new experience happened when we went to the store one evening recently. We stopped at the store to pick up a few things and she went in with me. That may seem normal for you but she hasn't been able to do that comfortably in at least a couple of years. It just hurt too much to get out, walk around, and to get back in the store. She also went shopping by herself and walked all around mall. Pretty scary if you ask me. Haven't had to worry about that in several years. She just couldn't do it but now she can. All those little things we each do every day and pretty much take for granted, we're enjoying the simple pleasures of normal life again.

If we could just both shake the winter "crud" we've both had for almost two weeks. Maybe soon.

By the way, in your prayers remember Jared and his friends at ACU. A close friend named Zack took his own life on Sunday night. He'd been at Jareds' apartment just a day or two before. Services are tomorrow in Ft. Worth. Aaron and Allison are trying to buy a house in Forney so check Allison's blog for more info.

I promise to post some pics as soon as I find that cable that hooks my camera up to the computer. It seems to have gone missing since Christmas.

Thanks for reading,
de

Something very cool

Yesterday afternoon something very cool happened at the office. I walked from my office to Darla's office I heard a familiar voice, it was Kim. That's a little unusual as she doesn't spend too much time around the church office but she was off this week so there she was. The cool part was how she got there. It was pretty yesterday afternoon, a bright sunny 72 degrees or so, so she walked! She walked from our house to the church office. It's right at 8/10s of a mile. She was a bit winded and sat for a few minutes but made it almost a mile. Very cool indeed. Then after we got home I asked her if she wanted to go to the gym (24 hour fitness) and spend some time in the pool and such so she did. I worked out for awhile and caught up to her in the pool doing exercises. When I left the house this am she hadn't made it out of bed yet but she is really making big strides these days. We're just now 90 days from her last surgery so its really cool to see her progress. I praise God every single day she gets better and isn't in that terrible pain.

Long time no blog!

Well, its not really been that long since I blogged. Thought I'd update you and give you something cool to see. Kim finally appears on the Wockhardt Hospital website and and youtube.com with her interview from the side of the hospital bed while we were there. Pretty cool I thought but she wasn't too fond of it when she saw it.

Here's the links. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS8D9D3n44o

http://www.wockhardthospitals.net/testimonial/kim_ellis.htm

They are both the same video. Enjoy! I promise to take some video of Kim tomorrow and post on the blog so you can see her progress and praise God with us.

de

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I'm glad to hear that some companies haven't shy'd away from saying "Merry Christmas" in their ads. It really doesn't make me much difference because we didn't buy much in way of Christmas presents this year. I guess we contributed to the poor economic showing by not buying much at all. Here's what we got for Christmast this year.

#1 Kim and I took the trip of life time to Mumbai, India.

#2 Kim got two newly resurfaced hips!

#3 We survived the whole ordeal! Hallelujah.

#4 I got to see my wife's face painfree for the first time in years.

#5 We took our kids on a cruise for Christmas. (something we had planned and paid for back in March not knowing what was coming in October & November.) We spent a record low on excursions and extras on board.

#6 We got to spend an entire week with our grandson Noah and he really got to know us for the first time. He says Papa pretty good now. He hasn't gotten Mimi out yet but its coming.

#7 Kim walked on the beach in Jamaica and got into the ocean for the first time in 3 years or so. It was very cool.

#8 We dove with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman. Always awesome.

#9 We did buy the kids all a digital picture frame and filled them with pics from home and family.

#10 We get to help celebrate Kim's dads 80th birthday in Muskogee, Ok on Saturday.

It has certainly been an eventful and blessed year for the Ellis household and all in all we took a different tack on Christmas, just being together and spending time was most of what we did. It was as good as I recall. Kim continues to get slowly better all the time. She did an amazing amount of walking on the cruise, all over the ship, off at all three stops, and back home. It was pretty tiring but she did just great. On Sunday back at home as folks were leaving the house, someone noticed she was outside in the driveway, giving hugs, saying goodbye, without her walker, the cane, or anything. She had forgotten to use it on the way out the door. Need I say more. What a memorable year it has been. We thank the Lord for every moment of it.

Happy New Year, for 2008!

Busy, busy days!

Things are back to virtually subnormal at d & k's house. If we both didn't have our India experience in the back of our minds, we'd think we'd gone back many months. Yesterday was a fairly normal day. We got up early, sniffed to see if I'd fixed the coffee the night before, I had. We got dressed for worship as we do every Sunday, joined a good crowd for worship and an ok sermon. I'm just not sure about our preacher! We then went home, changed clothes and headed for the Texans game with some anxiety about how Kim would make it all.

We parked in the green lot, handicapped slot still, and made our way up and over Kirby. It's probably 20 steps up to the ramp, up and over and maybe 30-40 steps down to the Reliant area. Then its a fair walk to the gate, thru the line, and up to the elevator. We're still not all the way back but who would be this soon? She walked all the way to our section, and determined to sit in our seats, left the walker up with the handicapped folks at the top. It was exciting to see her determination to make it down 40 more steps. And what a game she saw, the Texans soundly beating playoff bound Tampa Bay! It was fun. Then we did the whole thing in reverse, back up and out, over Kirby, to the truck. She was breathing pretty hard by the time we were walking over Kirby but not hurting, just out of breath.

Then our Life group came over for Christmas eating, singing, and some carolling near our house. We started with Lynne's in-laws who live half a block away, then back to some folks right across the street. We might have gone longer if it wasnt' so warm and the mosquitoes weren't so bad. I wore shorts and got eaten on pretty good, but it was really enjoyable. Guess I should've taken some pics of it all so I could show but I didn't. We had a great time singing and being together. Our group really loves to sing together and I think the neighbors enjoyed it. And Kim did great. I thought I might have to get a rope to hoist her up the stairs last night but she made it fine.

It may take her awhile to get going this am but she's doing fantastic. We praise God for such success and progress thusfar. We keep praying and thanking Him for everything. This already has been a blessed holiday season and we plan to enjoy it immensely.

ttyl, de

Kim Back at Work!

As some of you already know and for those who don't Kim went back to work this past week. It probably would've been good if she could've had another week but these were on her schedule so she took off. I dropped her at IAH on Sunday and she was off to work for 5 full days. It certainly would've been preferable to work maybe 2 or 3 days but the days were contracted so off she went, two days in Kansas and now in her 3rd day in Wyoming. It's been a bit of a struggle for me because I'd been by her side for 6 weeks seeing to her and trying to take care of her every need. I have talked to her every day and she's reporting as of Thursday night that she's definitely tired from all the work but doing quite well. Travel in itself is hard, sleeping in motel rooms, in a different bed, being in different time zones, but she's holding up well. I think the high in Wyoming may have hit 27 degrees so that makes it work as well. She's able to walk now, still with her walker as the Dr ordered, but walking quite a lot. (Can't drive yet) She's standing to do her presentations on those days, not all day, but standing pain-free. I'm amazed at her determination and spirit. Her muscles are still adjusting and from time to time not very happy with it all but that's expected and part of her recovery.

Lord willing and the snow don't rise too much in Denver she'll arrive tonight around 10 pm. The good news is she only has a couple of days next week and so she can recoup from this trip a bit longer than her normal weekend turnaround. I will try to take and post some video this weekend so you can see how she's doing. Gotta plant some pansies too. Keep praying for a full recovery. I dreamed one night this week that we went hiking together. It was sweet and she hiked all around. Dreams are great sometimes. I look forward to this one becoming a reality someday. Sometimes this whole experience now seems like a dream. It's not though, its an answer to a 1000 prayers. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. He has blessed us and continues to do so.

thanks for reading, de

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for checking in at the Ellis house this Thanksgiving weekend. By the hit counter's numbers quite a few are still checking in to see how we are doing and we appreciate it. It's either that or you just have enough to do, lol! Seriously, there's so much for us to be thankful for this holiday weekend. Here's just a few from my list:

Thanks to the Lord for answering so many of our prayers. Kim and I were riding to Sonic yesterday so I could cook dinner and recalling just some of our experiences since a month ago. Yes, we really did fly to India and she got two new hips at the hospital there. It's still pretty hard to believe now that we're home, safe, and blessed so much. Prayers have gone up from literally all over the world for Kim and I. There's just no substitute for the strength and comfort the Lord has given because of your prayers.

Thanks to so many of you for being there for us during this time. There's been so many expressions of love, prayer, support, encouragement, email, phone calls, blog comments, cards, food, and so much more, we just can't imagine having gone through it without you.

Thanks to Kim for entertaining my wild thought so she might get better. Yes, this was pretty much my idea from the start. Many have thought us crazy and yes, we have thought the same. She was onboard from the beginning and I didn't force her to go or anything, but her strength, perseverance, and faith continually inspires me. No one can really imagine what all she's been through for so long, especially over the past month. Thank you dear. I love you.

Thanks for so many little things this year. I'm grateful I can now drink the water again, rinse my toothbrush under the faucet, and wash my mouth with it. For a month it was all bottled water for everything. Thanks for some sanity and order on the roads when I drive. I may change my mind over the weekend but I'm thankful for stoplights, stop signs, good pavement, and little to no honking. lol I'm thankful for clean air. Yes, we live in Baytown and there's lot of concerns about it but its the cleanest air you've ever experienced compared to Mumbai. The worst NOX day you can ever imagine in Houston was cleaner by volumes than the best day in Mumbai. I suspect its better during the rainy season but it was not something I'd want to live with for very long. I could go on with a long list but that's enough.

Thanks to some of the really bright spots on the blog over this past month that really kept us going. Thanks to all the children who kept up and commented. I know your folks helped you but it really was special to both Kim and I. Thanks to our Aaron, Allison, Kami, James, Jared, Noah, and the rest of our families who were really brave and prayerful for us. I know they probably thought we were completely out of our minds but they never expressed it and kept up the faith for us. Thanks to both our parents who supported us in every way. Thanks to everyone for your humor. Laughter is truly medicine and we laughed out loud so many times for the funny things that you said. It really made us feel so much closer than 10,000 miles from home. Lastly, thanks to several who came close and shared in our journey. We got to know several of you in ways we never had before nor probably would have if not for this experience. That is special to us. Each one of you has been a blessing to us and we thank the Lord for each one and pray he blesses you. Say a special prayer of thanks for us this weekend. We can't say it enough, thank you Jesus!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend, from us to you!

love, de & ke

Oh, yeah, Kim's doing great and continues to work hard. She'll be good as new I think by the first of the year!

Plugging Along Back in Texas

Not much new here in H-town. We're back at home and trying our best to recover from our adventure. Virtually all of our international trips seem kind of like a dream after you get home, like, were we really in those places? It seems so far away but it certainly was real. I was especially glad we didn't try to make the trip to Delhi as the Taj Mahal was shut down to visitors for a few days because of the unrest in near by Pakistan and because it would've been additional strain on Kim. She continues to recover nicely here at home. We're trying our best to stay up with the exercises as that is what will help her continue to a full recovery but the first few days have been challenging. Our sleep patterns are off, night to day and such plus we're adjusting back to my cooking. Fortunately, friends from church have also brought some food by the house which is really nice. Kim got out and attended a sorority meeting yesterday for about an hour. (with her driver of course) It's an ordeal for her right now just to do all those normal things, showering, getting dressed, riding, getting in and out and she was tired after we got home but she's doing great and working hard. Her leg muscles are still not very happy with all the changes and exercises and her right leg is still behind the left as the left side was operated on first. We're going to try to go to the Ganders playoff game tonight if she feels up to it. We were fairly certain they'd not still be playing but they are. Don't know much else for now except that we're blessed more than we deserve. We are looking for each day to be better than the previous one. Maybe today or tomorrow I'll take some video of her walking and post it.

Thanks for still reading,

de & ke

Wakin up to reality!

We're home and there's certainly no place like it. After a long, long trip we made it. Several folks checked in to see if everything was ok since I was off the blog for 2 days. We were both ready to make the trip and called to see if we could catch a seat two days earlier than planned and Continental said yes, so we bugged out. It took us 48 hours to get here and we managed to meet Jared who had gone to see his best friend Brian Johnson play football in Salt Lake City. He had no idea we would be meeting him at the gate in Houston and we were so grateful to see him. He came home for a few hours and a bite of El-Toro and I took him back to catch his 9pm flight back to ACU. We took a nap in the afternoon before that and managed to stay awake until almost 11 to try to get back to Texas time. Kim managed the 13 steps up to our bedroom and slept in her own bed, her bed, her pillow, her dog, yes, her husband, and we both slept much of the night. It was sweet.

Today we woke up to a good bit of reality. We both felt as though we'd been run over by a huge truck or a 777 airplane or at least I did. I know if I felt that way Kim must've felt it even more. There's so much to do now that it could be a tad bit overwhelming. Our baggage is scattered prett much everywhere. There's loads of laundry to do, the house to get situated, the yard mowed, the mail gone through, well you get the idea. Paul Schultz house sat for us while we were gone and we can't say how much we appreciate him looking after things. We began today, after a good cup of Stagecoach coffee, Yeah!, with Kim's exercises. For the trip there wasn't a lot of occasion to do all her exercises so today we start again, ouch! She was stiff and sore and we both realized that there is still such a long way to go but she's doing terrific! She's working very hard and making slow but steady progress. Physical therapy is not my profession and it would probably be helpful to have someone else push her and we'll get to that in a few days but for now, I'm the guy for the job. Bottom line is, therapy hurts but its the path to her recovery. Coming home early gives us a couple of extra days to get everything somewhat back to normal.

The reality of today is, we're so blessed its impossible to describe. God has answered our prayers and given us a safe travels, two successful surgeries, some good recovery time, and now safe trip back home. That part of our journey is behind us. Neither of us will ever be the same folks who left. Hopefully we'll be even better, more sympathetic, more Christlike, more thankful, more bold people who can testify to the goodness of Him who loves and provides for us. The ultimate reality is that He loves all people and wants to bless us. Sometimes we have to look around for it but its always there, often in people and in places we don't expect. Many of you have been that to us. Many, many good, kind, and caring people in India were his blessing to us as well. We thank Him for each one.

Blogging again soon, de & ke

Home Sweet Home!

We're at home in Baytown. Some 48 hours ago we got up in Goa, India and began to make our way home. Three flights and more than 20 hours of flight time later and we arrived back on Burnet Drive in Baytown. There's more to say but for now that's enough. We're about to lay down for a nap to get us through until hopefully regular sleep time here in Texas. I'll blog more later but for now, we're home. Kim made the trip just fine, not totally uneventfully but we made all our flights and we're glad to be back in the good ole US of A. We did manage to make a quick stop to El-Toro for some lunch before our nap. Thanks for keeping up with us and most of all for praying for us. More updates to come.

love, de & ke

Some New Pics of Goa

Not much new and exciting to report today. While there is a lot to see and do the reason we're here is to continue Kim's physical therapy. That makes me the bad guy some of the time. Jane reports that Brad Wims has called them "physical terrorists" living proof that no pain, no gain is the reality when it comes to therapy. Our instructions, yes they have pictures for me, include about 6-8 exercises which she is supposed to do hourly, then another set we add and do three times a day. It doesn't really leave a lot of time for siteseeing and such, maybe next time.

We did get a car today for about an hour and half and have him drive us to see Panaji, the main city near here. We had him stop while Kim stayed in the car so I could snap a few photos. The city was first discovered, inhabited, and ruled by the Portuguese about the same time Columbus came to America. They ruled for more than 450 years. A good bit of the old architechture still exists and they are trying to slowly save it and restore it.

Here's a few pics of Goa and a couple of others. Counting the days now.

de & ke

Local book store............overlooking the city

Downtown church

city street, temple on the hill and from behind

More local street scenes

Bombay High Court Building

Outside this morning.