Thankful

I love thanksgiving. It's basically Christmas without the gifts. We get together and spend time with our family and extended family. We eat yummy food. We think about others. We reach out and help others. We express gratitude and think of things we're grateful for. And there are NO gifts. It's the BEST! This year, when I'm asked to say what I'm grateful for, I'm going to say, "I am grateful for the PEACE that comes amidst trials because of the comforting spirit of Christ and for the faith and trust I have in the Savior that HE IS and WILL DO all that He says He will." I feel grateful that I have been able to draw on my faith and that I have found such strength and comfort in it. I'm thankful I have a believing heart. 

Last night, as I was putting Porter to bed, he said, "I don't thank you enough." I responded, "I know you're thankful...But it would be nice to hear more often." He smirked and said, "No thanks." hahahaha. I know he's grateful and I know it's hard to say thank you for everything that we do for him. He'd be saying it all day long. 

Paul had a couple of weeks off at work and so we switched places and he went to Salt Lake with Porter and I stayed home with Sawyer. It took me a few days to unwind and process. I needed a break. I needed some time to think and be apart from the situation so I could see where we are in it all. I spent lots of time walking the hills of Pocatello and visiting with friends. It was good therapy to be with my people and do whatever the heck I wanted to do. I also got a lot of organizing done on the house that has been in disarray. It is slowly coming together. 

Paul planned some good activities with Porter while he was down there. They went to the movies, to a Jazz game, to get sushi, to see friends, had friends over. He always makes things more fun. Porter likes spending time with Paul. I'm glad they could have that time together.

Porter has started doing some pool therapy. We are excited about it. The buoyancy is great and allows his body to be stretched and moved in ways it isn't otherwise. It gives him more freedom of movement. Also, the water resistance is good for strengthening. Porter said it felt weird to be in the water and that he really liked it. He didn't seem to have any PTSD about it which I was glad about. 

He has also tried out the driving simulator. That is something that he'll need to spend quite a bit of time on practicing and becoming familiar with the adaptive equipment. Random fact, our neighbor across the street from us in Cottonwood Heights invented and built the actual simulator. Pretty cool. It's such a great program they have to get people like Porter back to driving. I think that really interests Porter. He talks about what kind of car he wants to get adapted. He is talking big right now (Lamborghini). It'll take some time to learn and practice, so I'll let him keep dreaming. 

Porter has been struggling with acne. We have tried all sorts of things - from his washing regimens to moisturizers to medications and everything in between. It seems to improve for a month and then gets bad again. I know it is a source of insecurity for him, understandably, and he really expressed a strong desire to fix it. So, after talking to our dermatologist, we decided to try him on Accutane. I have been resisting because I worry about his skin anyway. It has been a concern since his accident because his skin is different. I worry about getting sores or chaffing. I have tried to research quadrapeligic's on accutane, but haven't found anything that is very helpful. People reassure me it will be okay and I hope it is. I would love for him to not have to worry about his skin and feel self conscious. Maybe I should be the one to document and be a resource for others about it. 

SInce we are getting personal here - might as well put it all out there. For a few months, we have been talking to Porter's urologist about getting botox injections in his bladder. We wanted to try him on some medications first and see how he did. He has done great, but he has required 2 medications to keep him from leaking. One of which, is not good to be on long-term. Also, Porter has gotten a few UTI's in the last few months. This is typical for people that are having to catheterize. But, we don't want him to have to be dealing with UTI's and being on antiiotics and so we decided Botox would be a good solution for Porter. He has a spastic bladder and the doctor said this would be the best option for him. It lasts anywhere from 3-6 months. He had that procedure yesterday. It was just done in the clinic and went fairly quickly. I was able to be in the room and watch exactly what she was doing inside of him because it was up on a screen. It's unbelievable to me that they can do that and that I can watch them do it because of the tiny camera up inside of him. Modern medicine is amazing. He did great and so we will see, in the next couple of weeks how that plays out. 

Porter has done some fun extra curricular things recently. He went the girls basketball games, JV and Varsity. He went to his cousin, Caleb's, play at the elementary school and also to his cousin, Tess' play, at the High School. Both fabulous productions. Porter has also been playing chess with his Papa every week. And has even beat him a few times. He played Bunco with some cousins and would slam his fists on the card table to make the dice bounce for his turn. I love it. He is as well-rounded as ever.

We had a wonderful thanksgiving celebration with Paul's family last weekend. There was lots of yummy food, a walk/stroll to the temple, and we tied blankets for a children's charity. We sure feel so much love and support from our families. We are beyond blessed with so many people to love us and help us. We are grateful for the time we are able to spend with them. 

We spent the day with my family today, on Thanksgiving. It was awesomel to be with so many of my siblings and their families. We are getting to be so many people, we have to reserve the church, and there were only 50 of the 80 of us. (Or somewhere close to that) We had good food and some quality talk time. What a blessing family is. Hyrum got to call us and say hello. He looks so good and he made it a point to tell Porter how grateful he was for him and how much he has taught him. It was sweet. I think all of us consider Porter to be at the top of our gratitude lists this year. We are grateful for his strength, his attitude, his perspective, his humor, his humility, and his SISU! I am grateful for these good kids of mine that have rallied around each other and how they have each played an important role in our family the last 6 months. We need each other and pullin together we can figure it out.