December – A time of Celebration

Let the festivities begin… December has always been a month of celebration and this year is no different than any other… although there have been moments where the last thing we wanted to do was celebrate. 

Multiple times this month we had to meet up with Matthew’s lawyers for the case against L&I and the employers.  We officially had court on Thursday afternoon. The goal is to show by medical evidence that the infections are related to the industrial injury and should be thus covered under the case and subsequent amputation as well.  This will help get the multiple hospital stays from the past couple years covered and hopefully future costs for prosthesis.  We are also hoping to get counseling and retraining so Matthew can get back to work.  After months of stressing and waiting as things were delayed we finally had our day in court.  We feel that our case is strong and that our testimony went well.  Unfortunately the L&I Doctors don’t testify until February so we may have a couple months of waiting before we know anything. 

There have been moments of joy in December as well.  Last weekend we were able to celebrate Christmas with some very close family friends… though technically it was a birthday party for our friend Bev we also exchanged Christmas gifts.  Wes and Pam became a part of our “family” this past year and we appreciate the mutual support and encouragement we've been able to give to one another.  Of course Shane enjoys hanging out with their boys since they are close to his age.  After exchanging gifts we went out to lunch at the Olive Garden. 

Shane with the Richards... 

We then went to my Parent’s for the remainder of the weekend.  Shane had lots of homework so he has been spending a lot of his time playing catch up but we made sure he had moments of free time.  On Sunday, he went out for lunch with Pastor Ben to catch up and that night my Dad dropped him off for youth group since Matthew was asleep and I was busy making freezer meals with my sister.  My nieces got into the Holiday spirit by decorating Ginger Bread Cookies too. 

Decorating their Ginger Bread Men

Amanda has finally warmed up to Uncle Matthew...

Both girls are attached to him constantly..!

My niece just had to cuddle with Uncle Matthew while he slept..!

Other than working the rest of my time has been getting my house prepared for company.  One of my best friends from Argentina is coming into town with her husband.  Matthew and Shane were a huge help in getting the house ready especially since I was sick in bed all day towards the end of the week.  But now the house is ready, we packed up and headed over to my parents for the Holidays, and I just have to wait until tomorrow for Natalia and Mirko to arrive.  Today I have been planning a tentative schedule for their trip and let me tell you I am super excited for them to arrive.