Christmas 2009

I thought I'd upload video on this site so you can all see the ongoings of the family. Specifically the Georgia Clarkes ;) I've also got bonus clip at Leisha's house if ya hold on that long.

I hope all is well!!!!

The Founding Fathers

Friday we drove around the Gettysburg battlefield listening to an audio retracing the soldiers steps. There were 170,000 men who fought in this three day battle, and by the weeks end 50,000 had been killed. Most of the fighting done was head to head, rifle to rifle, man to man. Many times when they would run out of ammunition they would raid the dead for more bullets to just sustain through the fight. The men who fought in these battles were sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers--- some who were fighting against their own brothers, and friends. I am not sure the average age but I imagine many of them were in their early twenties. The narrator would say "if you were standing here 140 years ago a band of confederates would be rushing at you with muskets and cannons." So as we sat in our car listening to the sounds of rifles, cannons and the cries of men-- I imagined what they must have felt charging enemy lines. Many knowing that they would not live through the day. But they still rushed to the fight. The kept moving. They didn't retreat. In the face of carnage they still fought.

We've gained amazing insight into our country's beginings this past week. Will and I visited the Lincoln memorial and saw the bigger than life statue of Lincoln. The president who led our divided country through the civil war. We then stood in the place Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech "I have a dream." We also rode to the top of the Washington Monument and looked from one side of city to another-- the Capital, the White House, the Lincoln memorial, the Jefferson Memorial (see picture above). We also visited the Library of Congress --- symbolizing our nation's earliest ideals that knowledge was power and the more one could get knowledge the more "free" they could become. The last day in Washington DC we visited the Holocaust Museum -- and while it did not have a lot to do with our nations history -- it served as another unique experience and insight into Hitler's prison term where he came up with his vision of "purifying his country" by getting rid of the Jews. With his plan in tack he rose to power through the power of media, appealing to the common people.

While this last week was phenomenal we're grateful to be back "home" relaxing with Will's sister Lizzie and Micah (see picture below). Family is chicken soup to the soul-- and like our other family visit we are eating fabulously and enjoying the presence of beautiful children and refined company. Meanwhile, we're slowing figuring out next steps. We're thinking we'll try to get me a full time job and Will a couple part time jobs while he studies for the Step three this next year. The part time jobs could be fairly simple jobs in hospitals and or community colleges teaching medical terminology.

So the following pictures are picture of a New York ward house, Oliver our new nephew, Will and I at Lizzie's place, a session at the Washington DC temple, a picture of our travels to New York where we barely escaped the jaws of one of the east coast floods, our visits to the national monuments, etc...










And a bonus video for the Blackhursts of Simon counting to a hundred ;)

Dealing with Disappointment

I haven't always been good at dealing with disappointment. In fact in the past I have failed miserably at it ;) This week has continued to be a week full of disappointments. OSU won't admit us into another 4th year of medical school, they basically said the same thing Will's residency said-- that they are not equipped to "rehabilitate" someone like Will. When we took the route of trying to find a residency that would take us -- our Ohio connections (Dr. Glascow) strongly discouraged it and said she would write a letter but thought the decision would be premature.

Now I'll back up and try to answer more questions-- so Jon B. doesn't feel left out this time ;) First off we'll let you know the remaining "stroke deficits" that are keeping Will from progressing in the professional world-- He looks tired and people take this as he is not interested. He has a slower processing speed-- that accounted for doing poorly on a medical exam in Ohio. And lastly the application of the knowledge is still recovering I'm guess because he doesn't have all his memory connections back so piecing the puzzle back together without all the pieces is too much to ask. We're confident Will is still recovering we continue to see progress in theses areas, however, for now, our world is still on hold. We'll probably be living in our Bountiful Condo for the next year and taking prep classes for Step Three (if Will passes the boards before even doing the first year of residency I'm sure they'll let him back into a residency next year). Meanwhile we're looking at possible service/medical opportunities in South America and we're both looking for jobs in Utah.

To end with, this time around the disappointment has not been so devastating-- One day I said to Will "I'm not going to mess up my make up - so no crying today. " Then a few days later when Will sensed I was getting upset and he said to me-- "don't mess up your makeup." We're learning to laugh at ourselves and we're really enjoying our time together. On top of this we feel your prayers and know that the faith of family and friends is holding us up right now.

ps As for our current travel plans, we're leaving Georgia tomorrow and going to stay with a friend in Washington DC Tuesday and Wednesday then we're going to stay with some other friends in Pennsylvania Thursday and Friday then We'll be off to New York on Saturday to stay with Lizzie for a week. Then we'll head back to Ohio to have Thanksgiving with Jon B and Peter's Family.

pps the Below pictures are our travels to Georgia, Will in front of the hospital in Kentucky were he was born, our beautiful ride through Tennessee's country roads and our fun times with the Peter Clarke Family in Georgia.








You need to know there were no animals harmed in the filming of the below clip. Also if you have a weak stomach you may not want to watch this one due to the excessive amount of animal saliva seen in the clip (see the pleasant video I posted on http://willsrecovery.blogspot.com instead )-- If you're brave enough however just know none of us saw the signs that said "keep your windows rolled up halfway" until the end of the tour -- Jessica Peter and poor Bailee baby practically had buffalo, long horns, deer, and zebra right on top of their laps. On top of the animals trying to get in the car we had an animal of our own inside the car. Throughout the safari trip Logan opened the van door with a herd of animals outside of it, he also almost crawled out the window a few times and he had one of my camera lenses hanging out the car to hand to one of the animals.

La Battalla

At the end of each day growing up, my dad would have us talk about our "three happies and three sads" we generally opted to start with our sads so we could end the night on a good note. So in line with tradition I'm going to start with some "sads" and then move to the happies. I feel like a young mother must feel when her son comes home from his third day of school and tells her "mom the kids are making fun of me" And he begins to realize he is different. Not that Will is being made fun of but some of his deficits were pointed out to him last week and it was not easy to hear. I realize too much fear in the face of criticism can cripple us, so I'm praying for bravery this next week. We have had very little communication with the hospital as far as what they are thinking about a return to residency for Will, but I imagine that dialogue will come. We still don't know if we are going to stay after this week, for the next two weeks, but are hopeful this will be the case. In the meantime we were surprised to find out Will is going to be scheduled for a "on call" 30 hour shift this week, any day of his choosing. I think he will choose Thursday. Meaning he'll leave for work Thursday at 7 am and come home the next day at 1 pm.


Now onto the happies, for we've had plenty of them. Friday night we went to the ward halloween party here and Saturday my husband took me on what I think I could call the best date I have ever had. He took me on a ride in Ohio's country side. To begin the trip we crossed through Columbus. I finally captured a shot of a totally foreign custom here. People park in the road. Look closely at the picture above. Though the cars may appear to be moving in their lane, they are not. They are actually parked in the lane. This is totally legal here-- It's crazy I tell you! Next we stopped in front of an elementary in downtown Columbus. Have you ever seen a more luxurious elementary in your life??? (below)


Once we got out of the city I began to feel like "Anne of Green Gables" must have felt entering Avonlea for the first time (I know all you girls will get this parallel, but for you boys-- that means it is beautiful here). I've posted some of the shots I took along the drive.





Once we hit Circleville Will was reminded of a Pumpkin festival going on there. We promptly made our way downtown and attended the biggest "street festival" I've ever been to. There were greasy fast food stands lined up for five blocks straight, mingled with a few rides and crafts. We wandered around until we decided on the below healthy cuisine. I had a funnel cake and Will had a fried something sandwich.

Of course it could not be a pumpkin festival without lots of pumpkins, and princesses (I think the town decided on the princesses part because Pumpkin and Princess both start with "P") Anywho, I've posted some pumpkins pictures and me enjoying the evening parade--Every other float was filled with princesses! They were everywhere--my nieces would have loved it!!!!


Well I'm sure this entry is long enough. I'll keep you updated on our progress here and any news we hear from Riverside Hospital. We love you all and think of you often. O one last thing I'm finally starting my photography business I just bought my domain www.summerimage.com check it out (but don't look to closely at the design Micah.... I'm still working on that ;)

p.s. Have you ever had a deep fried Oreo before? Will and I have ;)

Will's First Day

Things in Ohio are going well. We've seen a lot of Will's friends since we've been back and his old bishop. Many of them have been amazed to see Will doing so well. A friend of Will's Chad, a nuerologist who just finished residency, jaw dropped when he saw Will. Chad just looked at Will for a long time in a sort of unbelief at how much better Will was doing. He said "I think a lot of people didn't ever expect to see you here again." He bombarded Will with questions and said -- Wow you're the old Will for sure. We have had other similar reactions but this one was my favorite. I wish I could have seen Will reacquainting with nurses and doctors at the hospital I hear that has been pretty fun as well. So many people so glad to see Will. One nurse stopped Will in the middle of the hall and said I know you....the two enjoyed a fun reunion and she was amazed that Will had returned and with a wife none the less ;)

Well you should all know Christmas will come twice this year for us. Once last Friday and once sometime the end of December. Friday we picked up Will's old stuff at the home it was kept. Since Will had forgotten about some of the newer possessions he had we both enjoyed discovering what was in storage. First off we are the proud owners of a tent! Yipeee!!! We've also got a blow up mattress pad, a beautiful dresser, a bookshelf, office chair and lots and lots and lots of books that have something to do with medicine-- imagine that.

For the rest of news there are not a lot of job prospects for me yet but I am holding back on calling around for references before I find out how things go with Will. Meanwhile, Will liked his first day at Riverside I even sat outside all afternoon so I could catch the moment he came home...

O-Hi-All

We're finally here! I'll give you a download of the trip and new place in just a few sentences.... for you'll see that most of the anticipated blog "viewing" time will be used up in the short videos I created. So here's the goods. Somewhere between Utah and Ohio the sky started getting bigger. There were more clouds and more trees. Less mountains to clog up the sky. It is both great and miserable. I miss my mountains but love the trees here.

Next our "Dueno" AKA Landlord is a very nice older gentleman that loves to share his food with us. I like him already ;) OK one last story before the videos begin..... Will and I did not go to Mt. Rushmore or Nauvoo. I had a bad cold and Will was exhibiting signs of that same cold. We wanted to rush to Columbus in time to "recoup" before the rotation. Within hours of leaving Utah my cold began to subside and Will's has yet to manifest. I know the Lord is preparing the way for us and Will and I are so grateful for the opportunity we have been given here in Ohio!

ps the above pictures were on our run.... Will in front of one of the HUGE homes in our neighbor hood. Will in front of the river and running trail next to his old place of residence (I love it and plan to jog here often). And lastly Will in front of the place he lived when he had the stroke.