- On June 8th, we moved from Shawnee, KS to Manhattan, KS ending our 18+ months of living apart. No more Skype conversations with my family, no more unreasonably early Monday morning drives, not as many fast food meals, and tons more time to laugh with my family and reconnect with them all!
- Elise made numerous trips to the ER (four I think). Our first trip to the Manhattan ER was only on our second full day of living here! She had stitches in her chin three times and a terrible looking bone bruise on her ankle. As always, she is a trooper though. We have begun to familiarize ourselves with the ER staff at our new hospital. They will get to know us well! They took us in stride and treated her very well.
- I worked a conference in Philadelphia for a week right after we moved to Manhattan. It was a difficult time to be gone, but a great conference nonetheless. I left a house full of boxes that needed unpacked to go to a hotel full of boxes that needed unpacked for the conference. By the time I came home, I really didn't want to see any boxes again. Sadly, many of them are still in their original landing spot from the day we moved in! We are working on that (sort of).
- Elise went to Camp Hope for the third straight year. Because of her rough sleeping history, Kelly went along and kept Elise at a hotel for a few nights while she went to camp during the day. I think Kelly enjoyed the alone time during the day. Elise always loves being at camp. Abby enjoyed the time away as well as she was the center of attention with Uncle Don and Aunt Tammy for several days.
- We took about a 10 day vacation to northern Michigan. This was shortly after I returned from Philadelphia. No need to get used to sleeping in my own bed too early! We enjoyed the cool temperatures, time with Kelly's family (they all ended up at the cabin on the 4th of July), and spending time on the boat. It was a great way for our family to begin reconnecting after being apart. I really enjoyed that time and I think it helped us as a family immensely.
- After two full weeks of sleeping at home, I went back out on the road to a conference in Las Vegas. This was one of the best conferences I ever attended. This was the annual conference for Meeting Planners International. Lets just say that a conference for planners, by planners, with nearly unlimited resources, was way over the top! Live performances by Billy Idol and Dierks Bentley, a night of poker with several of the pros from the World Series of Poker, unbelievable sessions by some of the most respected people in the profession, in a city that is known for doing everything over the top. It was exactly that. I had some interesting experiences while I was there. I am hopeful they will be fodder for future blog posts in the near future.
As you can see, there has been a lot of activity and a lot of change in our lives since I last posted. We are hopeful that it is all for the good. We look forward to the new routines ahead. Even a year ago we began wondering out loud if Kelly would ever really be able to go back to work again with the many issues that Elise was having. Each year has shown us slow and steady progress with Elise and the time has come to shift some of our attention back to ourselves and each other. We are fortunate to not be faced with continuous doctor appointments, hospital stays, and ER visits. Who would have thought 4 ER visits in 2+ months was progress!?!?! We are thankful to the many people that helped us move (both in KC and in Manhattan), the many people that have watched our girls and helped us along the way during this several month transition, and for the many people that have and continue to pray for our family. It is all appreciated!
