Day Twenty-five - Wednesday

December 15, 2010- For those of you die-hard fans that are still reading now that you know Brandon is coming home, (see yesterday's blog) please don't go quite yet.  I have a little unfinished business to address.  We have witnessed so many acts of kindness throughout the last 3 weeks and I know many of them will probably not get the recognition they deserve, and I also realize that there are several people that we are related to or that are in our ward that should have a street or a building somewhere named after them because of their kindness.  But a couple of things have happened in just the last couple of days that I'd like to share.

I walked into Adventure land Academy the other day and was brought to tears when I saw what Rosanne was doing for Brandon and Kassi.  She has a table set up and is selling little T-shirts, magnetic boards and several other items that she's made and is then donating the money to Brandon and Kassi.  This is the same cute girl that stayed with Kassi in the hospital that first night after the accident and gently combed the glass out of Kassi's hair.  We sure love her!

I got a phone call from the Hurricane Fire Dept. wanting to do something, so I let them come over on Saturday and help me prune the bushes in the yard in preparation for Christmas lights.  As many of you know, our yard is very daunting and it could easily consume any free-time we have.  They worked for several hours cutting, raking and even planting.  I hope they weren't as sore as I was the next day.  Thank you so much for your help!

The next day, Tom's sister, Kathy, and her hubby and their son and daughter-in-law, Chad & Becky, came and put up our Christmas lights in our freshly groomed yard.  They are beautiful and really helped to cheer us up!  Thanks guys!

I was dropping off something to the Bishop in our ward the other night and he invited me to come in.  We talked for a few minutes and then he handed me an envelope and told me that someone in our ward had asked that it be given to Brandon and Kassi anonymously.  Now to me, there are two types of gifts, monetary and physical.  Both of which require time and sometimes great sacrifice, especially during the Christmas Season when "time and money" are at a scarcity.  So, thank you, our little anonymous giver!  The monetary donations have helped out some with fuel expenses driving back and forth to the hospital and meals, but most of it has been set aside until we know where we stand after all of the bills have come in.  Last we checked, we had recieved about 1/2 of the bills for Brandon's first week and it was averaging around 10K/day with many more bills still to come.  We'll better know where we stand after we find out if they qualify for Medicaid.

When I was up on Sunday, Brandon was working on making a knit cap on one of the looms he was given.  He said he's going to start up a new business called "Handicapped Hats" to help pay for his bills.  Then he paused and added, "I'm going to have to make A LOT of hats!!"  (What a great kid!)  But then it was right after that, that he heard me say to his grandpa K, "He's right here, do you want to talk to him?"  And then when I looked down, he was pretending to be asleep.  (He was just kidding, of course.)

I also received a visit from our ward Relief Society Presidency yesterday.  They came by to see how we were doing and asked if there was anything they could do.  These ladies are the epitome of charity and kindness!  I know they would have done absolutely anything I would have asked, but the best gift was just getting a hug from each of them!  Even though many of you are going through some tough problems of your own right now, you still take the time to help and comfort others.  What great examples you are to us.

Now, for all of you kids out there that are reading this blog with your parents, if you've learned one thing, it's to wear your seat belt, right?  However, many of you don't know that I have a little brother that was hit by a car at age eight while riding his bike.  If he had been wearing a helmet, he probably would have only ended up with a broken femur.  Because he wasn't wearing a helmet, he ended up in a coma for 6 weeks and a very long rehabilitation.  Even Brandon told me just the other night that he and Kassi are going to start wearing helmets even when they drive.  (He said Branson won't have to because he'll be in his car seat.)  I just hope that all of you will "Be Smart" in everything you do.  Don't do stupid things and always play it safe!  We love you and wouldn't want any of you getting injured, especially unnecessarily.

Thanks again to everyone for all you've done!  Hopefully your spirits and testimonies have been strengthened, as have ours.  If our readers haven't been reading the comments on the blog, I encourage you to do so.  Many of them are very uplifting and inspirational.  Thank you to all who've left wonderful messages!  They've really helped us.

There is a song I listen to quite often by Delta Goodrem that I'd like to share.  She is an amazing story of courage and endurance.  You can google her story, I'm sure.  Here is the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkncYRrH6Sc&feature=email

Love to all!  

-Leanne