Scattered Thoughts . . .

A  couple of nights ago, we attended Ellie's first Christmas concert and it was a nice night.   After the concert, we walked in a Parade of Light...  the kids made lanterns and we walked through town behind a SD Ireland concrete truck covered in Christmas lights  (quite erroneously and far too commonly referred to as a 'cee-ment truck'...  the civil engineer side of me must point out that ' concrete  truck' is the correct term) .  Ellie had surgery on her foot recently and was in a boot so, consequently, we lagged behind significantly in this parade through the streets.  Fortunately, a police car stayed behind us the whole way to keep traffic from hitting us. After a night of music, Sheila and I stopped at The Whip at The Green Mountain Inn in Stowe for dinner.  We made it there just before closing.  Actually, they were cleaning up and closing before we even left the restaurant.  Dinner was delicious though!  We reall...

W e celebrated two birthdays yesterday.  Sheila and Ellie share the same birthday so Sheila took the day off from work so we could celebrate together.   Ellie didn't know that we would be spending her birthday with her so Sheila, Will (Pop) and I surprised Ellie by showing up at Echo science and nature museum on the Burlington waterfront.  Whitney simply told Ellie that they were going on a birthday adventure.  When Ellie and Whitney walked into the museum, Ellie immediately saw us in the lobby and greeted us with a big smile on her face.   Gee had previously purchased a "5th Birthday" tiara and a sash and it was gift-wrapped for Ellie to open when she arrived at the museum.  Before we left the lobby, Ellie had opened this first gift and put on her tiara and sash.  Everywhere we went, people wished Ellie a happy birthday and commented on her tiara! In this next photo, you can see that Ellie was pleasantly surprised by finding us waiting for h...

It was our second sunny day in a row today! First thing this morning, we headed up to the hospital to see our warrior princess and her parents in their new PICU room overlooking Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. We picked up some coffee and breakfast for ourselves as well as for Whitney and Wayne and continued on to the hospital.  We were fortunate this morning to have arrived early enough to meet with the team of doctors. Although Ellie had a nice burst of energy and consciousness yesterday and seemed to have a great day (albeit with some visible pain)... which was perhaps the most "normal" day for her since being in the PICU... she had a rough and rather dangerous night through the night. Naturally, the doctors addressed this while also showing concern about her continuing struggles and evolving problems. Ironically, Ellie was awake during this doctor visit and seemed to be listening intently as the doctors talked and carefully examined little Ellie.  Ellie r...

When we awoke this morning, the sky was a crystal clear blue and the sun was shining brightly! We hadn't seen this in weeks! The day was off to a good start for a change.  We immediately headed toward the hospital again to visit with Whitney, Wayne, and Ellie, our little warrior princess.  When we arrived at the quiet, empty hospital it was early Saturday morning so the hospital was eerily quiet. We made our way to the PICU which is in the opposite corner of the hospital from the main entrance.  As we approached Ellie's room, we could see the door was open with no commotion in the area around her room... a good sign...  We stepped into the room and it was relatively quiet other than the warning tones and beeps indicating relatively minor issues... the tones and beeps cutting through the silence. Mom was sitting on her bed in the corner of the room, dad was still sleeping, and Ellie seemed to be resting quietly but breathing deeply... The nurses are in t...