November 26, 2014

Today was a nice crazy kind'a day, where we got up early and played around with the girls for awhile and then we all got ready to go have a family picture taken, for Christmas Cards (we hope to send some out this year). Everything was going great until we attempted to get into the van - the new van. I had extended the lift, and since there really wasn't any easy place to do it, I extended it over the curb, across a small section of grass. No problem so far... Everyone got into the van, and then I went to stow the lift and that's where the challenge came in. With the extra weight of everyone in the van, plus the weight of the power chair it apparently lowered the van enough that the ramp would not move from the down position. That is, it would not retract. I attempted to get enough leverage to "lift" the van a little and get the ramp moving, but apparently it was too late. The ramp was down too far.

Fortunately, our neighbor, Paris (also a Marine), had just gotten home from his shift (possibly on his lunch break) and I was able to ask him for some assistance. He was able to sufficiently lift the ramp and it started to move and retract. I thought it pinched his fingers some, when he did it, but he was alright and we were on our way. It did delay us about 20 minutes, but the folks at the Picture People were kind enough to save our place, and we got right in. They were pretty busy too. The shoot took place; the girls were great; and, we now have some very nice pictures.

After that we came home and got the girls over to their mom's place. They will be having Thanksgiving with her this year, and so they won't be heading up to Los Angeles with us. Jason was able to get back down on the bed and relaxed and Linda and I went to a movie (we needed some time for just  the two of us - it wasn't much, but it was a nice break). We say the new Hunger Games movie, and I have to admit I was pretty ignorant of the story line. Linda, on the other hand knew what was going on, and filled me in, whenever I had a question. The movie jumped a bit for me, but I think that was because of my lack of knowledge. Still, it was enjoyable.

The rest of the evening was spent putting things together for our trip tomorrow, and making some updates on the various means of communication (Face Book, email, my blog...). I also have a few pictures from the Gary Sinise Golfing event, so I'm putting them on tonight. We will be leaving early tomorrow morning, in the hope that we can avoid some of the traffic, so please pray for us. Thank you, for all the continued support and prayer. Take care and stay positive.