A great July 31st!

Ok so I left off last time with me heading back to the hospital and awaiting the girls to visit Ray....He had asked about them continually and was ready for some loving! They did come (Thanks Papa and Great Grandma for bringing them!) and they were full of chit chat!!! And yes we did do our usually ice-cream run...but the surprise this time....Ray loaded into a wheel chair for his second adventure to the cafeteria in one day!!! WTG honey!!! We had a lot of fun! And we ate backwards...had ice-cream then the girls said they were hungry...so THEN we had dinner...Ray was alert and chatting and we had the great company of his nephew Dustin (Thanks Dustin it was a fun eve!) The girls had what they call the yummiest bacon, scrambled eggs and toast! They ate about half of the huge order then Ray finished off every bite!!! After that we headed back upstairs....met his family in the hall and said our good nights and settled in for the night....it was about the same as the night before but with a little more up and down because he could now go INTO the bathroom!!! The next morning we had a quite a surprise....Dr. Scott came bright and early and gave us the run down that things looked good......He was going to give Ray one last transfusion to "fill him to the gills" and also called it "added insurance" just to give him a head start for home....yep that is right....HOME!! A day or two earlier then we expected!!! Ray was anxious over this but after talking a while with Dr. Scott then we got a visit from Dr. Ott and he concurred Ray was at peace with it an happy! So since we had seen both Dr's and had to wait for the transfusion I headed home to check out the fund raising yard sale. I came home the back way then walked through the side yard....(now remember I had seen pictures and they kept telling me they didn't do the sale just BOY WERE THEY RIGHT!!) I was overwhelmed with emotion as I opened my gate to see the great expanse of things too sell!!! It stretched the length of the common area and those of you who know our rectangle now that is a HUGE space!!!! I was in tears as I moved from one person to another....all those who had worked all week and then the night before till midnight pricing and setting up....THEN getting up at 430 am to meet eager crowds that arrived at 630am!!! There was so much going on!!! Booth of goodies! Booth of snow-cones! Booth of face painting! Booth of yummy lemon water!!! Booth of crafts! You name we had it.....it was like a rectangle department store! I am so glad I took the time leave the hospital to come and feel the love and strength of this event!!!!! I saw people I haven't seen in years/decades supporting me. People I had no idea who they were....my dear family that worked hard right along with all those (my chosen family members) who coordinating this event.....it was amazing!!! Two people that I know of (don't know who either of them are) bought a 15 cent lemon water with a $100 bill and didn't want change.....to another who bought about $6 dollars worth of baked goods with $100 bill and didn't want change...and everyone seemed to do that.....buy something worth 6 or 7 dollars pay for it with a $20 and donated the change! It was so amazing!!! I stayed for a couple of hours then headed back to the hospital. Ray was just barely getting the transfusion underway....and it takes about 3 hours...also that day Ray had a really solid 2 1/2 hours of DEEP sleep.....when he woke up he asked why he wasn't home and I told him that he had to show he was able to remain somewhat alert.....after hearing that he worked hard on doing just that and soon we were out the door about 6:00pm ish....As we headed home he mentioned he wanted to stop out front and chat with a few of the neighbors to thank them for all they did at the yard sale. As we got there I did think it weird that everyone was wanting to know an approximate time! (so unlike them!) but as we arrived we had the Wood's, Doane's, Noice's, Reudeter's, Preston's and my Sister and kids (a handful of those who worked hard to pull this off) they were there to get their hugs from us...then in the sweetest/funniest way they wanted us to guess how much the day earned.....Ray and I gave our guesses....after that all the ladies held up their hands in order with a number each to indicate the total!! They were worried about Ray falling over but it turned out it was me! In our wildest dreams we never could have imagined the total!!!!! Tears flowed freely!!! (I want you all to know it was tears of joy this time!!) :o) This was a HUGE success. It would not have been possible without the hard work and pre-planning of The Wood's and Doane's the eagerness of the Reudter's, Noice's, and Preston's to help.....Deb, Latisha, Kristy, My Sister Amanda, Heather, Loren, Nathan, Mark, Mike, Jamy, My Dad, My Mom,KM, Ronnie.......well you get the picture! ALL of you who helped!!! Also the community and friends (some who came from miles away) to buy, donate and support us! You all made this a huge success! It truly was an event blessed on by Heavenly Father and truly showed Christ like love!!! We are always going to have you in our hearts and prayers! Thank you! Thank You! Thank you!! We got our girls home and we were all under the same roof and loving just sitting with each other! We all ended up in bed early....all of us asleep before 10pm!! It was an ok night....pain and sleep repeated throughout the night but we made it! On to recovery!! Thanks again all for those who helped, silently in prayer, phone calls, letters, cards, you name it we have had it! We are glad to be home but want to stress that we are not having visitors. Ray needs to be able to sleep on demand and not feel like he has to entertain or try and stay awake for the sake of visiting. It is draining on both of us! Love to you all!!!