the heroic details

We pulled out of our driveway at 3:30am to begin our trip.  Within 5 minutes, an excited Elijah asked, "Are we in California yet!?"    In the first day alone, we drove 800 miles and were travelling for about 18 hours.  Today we're spending the day at my cousin's house in Forest Ranch, CA.  There is snow on the ground and I am writing on my laptop in between a cozy fire and a bright Christmas tree, inside their gorgeous house in the woods.  Basically, a pretty lovely break from the road. Our first stop was in Eugene, OR which had been freshly covered in snow.  The drive was a little slow due to cold temperatures and the threat of ice on the roads.  We took it easy and enjoyed the view of the snow covered pines. We didn't stop again until Grants Pass where we made the kids lunch (we packed a cooler full of food.)  Then it was straight on to Crescent City to see the Redwoods.  Once we left Oregon and entered California, we had a lot more sunshine

I have never blogged extensively (or even kept much of a written log at all, really) of everything we've experienced with our daughter, Anja.  I would venture to guess that most people don't know exactly everything we've been through, only if they knew us from the beginning do they understand the truly remarkable progress (and almost miraculous, really) improvements she's made. I've learned a tremendously lot about life, and love, and parenting, in just these few short years since God blessed us with Anja.  You never dream that you would ever be able to change an infant's trach, or learn the mechanics of a ventilator, or connect a tube to your daughter's stomach and set a pump to deliver drops of formula into her belly all night.  You can't fathom it until you do it.  And when you do it, it's not because you're special or amazing or different from your typical parent, it's just because you love your child.  That's all.  You will go to t