Christmas weekend 2009

So another holiday season has come and gone. What a busy time of the year it has been! I can't believe that the end of the year is here on Thursday!

We had such a wonderful time at Christmas with Brian's family. Jessie came with us to celebrate Christmas with everyone and it was great. Everyone helped to get Jessie in and out of the house to the car. It really meant a lot to me and to Jessie to have everyone help us out with her getting around the house! I cannot say enough for the love and gratitude that I have for my extended family. Always so kind and willing to help; that is what family is all about!

Jessie and I come from a small family, just our parents and us two girls. We have always been close and have learned to help each other out with everything. And to be part of the Atkins family and to see the same love and helpfulness is just a blessing to us! I am so blessed to have them all as my family and I hope someday we will be able to return the favor!

The best part of Christmas (at least for me) was watching Cecilia open her present and to play with it. She is able to walk a bit now, which is just amazing for me! Babies just progress so fast! In a blink of an eye, she walking and talking is just down the road I am sure. I feel the Christmas spirit is best seen in little children - to see the innocent joy and happiness they have from everything, not just the presents but the wrapping paper, the boxes and everything! It is like me going to Disneyworld and watching the kids see the various parades or just running into their favorite characters. It will never get old for me to see the sheer joy and excitement in their little faces. It is definitely a magical place if not just for the fact that we all - adults and children - can experience that innocent joy all over again!

On Sunday, Brian, Jessie, Lacey, Yuta and I went to the the movies to see Sherlock Holmes. It was a good movie and this time around the trip to the movie theatre went better than last time. A few weeks back Jessie and Lacey went to see the Twilight movie at the Sparks theatre and had such a hassle getting around with the wheelchair. This time around, we went to Riverside and Brian was there to push Jessie up and down the ramps. That is a lot of work! Anyways, we had a good time besides the large crowd there watching the movie. If you know me, I don't like to go to the movies, especially on opening weekend. I have to REALLY want to see the movie to go. So needless to say, I really wanted to see this movie. It was great and I would recommend seeing it. They definitely left it open for a sequel. After the movies we all went to El Pollo Loco for dinner. It was nice to have Jessie get out and about with the wheelchair. For me, it is intimidating to take the wheelchair everywhere and I am sure Jessie feels like it is a hassle to get around. But so many places are ADA and she can get around without much issues so it was nice to have that option. Our house is not ADA so that makes it a pain for her to get around, especially getting into the bathroom (that's another story). After dinner we made it home and Jessie was able to get in the house without any issues! She is getting her legs stronger everyday and I am hoping that by the end of January she can graduate back to the cane. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

No word yet on the radiation schedule for Jessie. We thought we would get the schedule last week but Dr Dardick is out of the office on vacation so until he gets back and gets the big old machine calibrated, we won't have a schedule for treatment. Once we get the schedule, we should be good to go! Will keep you all posted in 2010 :)