Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since we last posted. It's been a VERY busy time for us and we are still in the midst of a lot of changes and renovations and rehab and work and ....just a busy time!

As many of you know, Kyle left for the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, VA, just outside of Staunton, VA on January 4th. He is in the inpatient rehab therapy facility and works with their Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Vocational Rehabilitation area. He is there Monday through Friday and then home on the weekends. When he first entered, a long list of goals were set for him such as being able to transfer from the wheelchair to the bed, chairs, and car, being able to work in the kitchen, do laundry, clean -yes clean-, dress, all these wonderful things that those of us not in a wheelchair and that have use of all our limbs take for granted....he works very hard to achieve these goals and is doing a tremendous job.

It was a little rocky at first, but Kyle has developed great working relationships with his PT and OT staff and has been able to reach most of the goals that have been set for him! He is now able to do so many things on his own or with minimal assistance and we expect Kyle him permanently by March 5th!

The week of Feb 22nd, Kyle will start the Vocational Rehab part of his stay, where they will work closely with him to determine what skills he does best to get him ready for the working world. He hopes to go back to work part-time at Wegmans when he comes home and they will get him ready for that! Things like handling money, operating a computerized cash register...all those things. Then, they will focus in on the skills he does best and might want to carry over for a more permanent job in his future...He's not quite sure what he really wants to do as a career, so this program may help him come up with a list of things he can do really well and then he can work from there.

We are busy working on the basement, or his "Man-Cave" to have ready for him when he comes home. We have been very blessed to have some wonderful friends in the construction business who have volunteered their time and talents, especially with the very difficult bathroom set up we've had to build. We can't thank them enough for all they've done! The basement won't quite be finished when Kyle comes home but when it's done, we will be holding a "Welcome Home" party for all Kyle's friends and our family! We'll be sure and let you know when that will be. We've been faced with snowstorms just about every weekend since early January that has pushed our renovation schedule back at least a month..what a pain this snow has been!

Kyle is also very blessed to have some wonderful people that held a fundraiser for his medical fund. The Falls Run Players, a group of very talented people in the Falls Run community in Stafford, held a weekend of skits and plays for audiences the weekend of January 13th. Kyle was home that weekend and we were invited to come and see their performance! What a wonderful evening! So many thanks to Jodi Trzyna for organizing this event and to all the performers! Kyle was just overwhelmed with appreciation for what everyone did for him and they were able to raise over $2000 for his fund! It's just so touching that people who had never met Kyle have done so much to help him...we could never thank them enough. We hope now that these friends will stay in our lives for a long time!!!

Kyle faces new challenges every day and he has had wonderful direction from great professionals who have taught him how to approach these challenges. He does a great job trying to become more independent and rely less on people to help him. He will always need some element of help, but he try's very hard to minimize that. We're very proud of him and what he has been able to accomplish since he was released from Mary Washington in August. We hope to be able to continue to find programs for him that will help him continue to learn independence and skills.

Thank you again to everyone that has written, called, stopped by and to say hello to Kyle or just give words of encouragement and support. We all appreciate it so much!

More soon - I promise!