Giving Thanks (where I actually GET something from that phrase :)

As a thank you for traveling to Texas with my mom and helping at an ICES day of sharing in San Antonio and helping set up/tear down for a class in Austin, my mom gave my sister and me a Silhouette!  I have been hearing her talk about all she is doing with hers now and I can hardly wait to try it out!  She's also giving us a printer that can print on gum paste...this is going to change (yet again) the way I decorate cakes!
Now, a simple "Thanks for a fun trip girls, hope you liked the free breakfasts at Hampton Inn" would have been enough of a thanks for me, so this was a really fun surprise to get!  Thank you Mama.

In other news, Bart is doing great walking around...he hasn't even used a walker today, though he is no where near 100% stable or "normal" (but really, was he ever really "normal"?).  He had physical therapy tomorrow morning so they can assess him and see where he is.  Today he went swimming at Ms. Ruthie's house and did great, though he said it felt like he was a dead man in the water.  That didn't stop him from (only once) climbing precariously onto the diving board and doing a scary jump.  Seriously...he can hardly feel his legs/feet, I don't think doing tricks to impress the boys is really most important right now :).    This is probably my favorite picture from the 3rd of July...Bart, ever the fireworks junkie, lighting sparklers for the boys :)  My dad helped light most of them, but he was out there with his walker, being a big part of the fun.
Thank you for the many prayers, comments, emails, and bits of encouragement.  I know our prayers have helped Bart get to this point at this speed.  Hopefully with the therapy, steroids he received in the hospital, and a regimen of Betaseron, he will continue to be an able bodied husband and father. 
I taught the younger children in primary Sunday and our lesson was on saying "THANK YOU".  So, to my mama and all of you...THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!  YOU ARE AWESOME.