They made it safe!

I spoke with my mom tonight. They made it safe to Turks and Caicos! Good to know!

And they are off!

Just dropped Mom and Bruce off at the airport in Miami! Made it with 3 minutes to spare. They are headed on their next leg of the journey. I'm ready for a nap! Whew!

Thanks to Mom as Bruce for a wonderful vacation! We all had an awesome time here! Sad to see the warm sunshine go, happy to see my dog!

Naples Vacation Days 3 - 5 or so.....

Corbin, Connie and Kenz in the pool

Corbin getting ready to hunt for shells

Bru watching everyone look for shells

Dan and connie on the boat at take off

Capt. Mckenzie

We are having this flounder for dinner, thanks Kenz

Connie and Dan enjoying the sunset

Sunset

Mom claims there aren't enough pics of her

Mom and Bru at Sunset

another sunset shot

Bru playing with the kids in the pool

This dolphin swam under our boat for awhile, it was very cool. Saw a pod of 10 feeding under the Santibel Island bridge too!

Having a great time in Naples, Florida.  Tuesday the kids all went to Ft. Myers and Bruce and I had a great day just hanging by the pool at the house.  Wednesday, we spent the day at the house as well with the family.  Yesterday was also awesome.  We chartered a private yacht and spent the entire day on the Gulf. We saw dolphins, did some fishing and watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico.We found horseshoe crab shells, starfish and a lot of shells. Kenzie caught a flounder while we were fishing.  It was an absolutely great day for all.  Today is a kick back day at the house. The kids went shopping and we are trying to eat up all the rest of the food! Enjoy the pictures.

Blogger via Xoom

Just checking to see if this works

Day 2 Naples Family Vacation

So, Day 2 involved beachin' it and having some New York Strip Steak! We started the day off with some cleaning and grocery shopping. We finally made it to the beach, we were the whitest people in the state! We stuck out, it was blinding! Maddie found an awesome shell, right away. We are still waiting for the snail to die! Mom claims it's going to stink......A little bleach should do the trick....... It was a good ole fashion family beach day. The Bru-Man got to put his feet in the Gulf, and then a snooze on the beach, well kinda....ahhhhhhhh life is good. I think we finally have our sleep schedule under control................we all fell asleep at 6:00 lastnight. Mom saw my light on at 12:30 and texted an IT fix request...,. hence me posting to the blog tonight. We have some great pics for you, we did catch a gecko named Guss (thanks to the Bru-Man, I think Guss drown in the pool) oh well, just a gecko! We'll get another one!

 Bru - that's not your hat!

ahhhh, the ocean!

babe, your belly is the best place to see shells!

you would think they are related!

CHEESE!

Axel, put the aviators down! RIGHT NOW!

Our First Day!

Dan playing with the fountains :)

Brampa and Madeline

Con, Nathan, and Dan on the lanai

Kenzie workin on her strokes :))

Brampa getting TLC from the Cabana Team!

Enjoying the company.....and the sun!!

Connie sportin' Kenzie's boa she packed.  Huh?

Mitch enjoying the pool!

Chef Dan and Sou Chef Maddie makin' juicy loosies!  TOTALLY AWESOME!!  YUM!

Connie attacks the gang.  (Theme to Jaws) LOL

Jake the Snake just chillin  :)

We Made It!

So we finally made it to Naples, Florida!!  Wasn't sure we were going to make it out of Kent County Int'l Airport after the de-icers worked their way around the plane 3, yes 3, times!!! BUT, we finally did, an hour and a half behind schedule.  We made it to Ft. Lauderdale by 10 p.m.  Got our rental cars, Connie driving one, Dan driving the other.  Dan got lost, so funny, leaving the airport, so we had to track him down and Connie, in her tech savvy world she lives in, along with Mitch and Nathan, navigated them to where we had pulled off the highway and met up with them :)  We were all laughing when we met up at a gas station off I-75, and Bruce affectionately called Dan and company "Boneheads"!!  Needless to say, we didn't end up even getting to the cottage until 1a.m., but we're all here, safe and sound, albeit extremely exhausted.  Bruce fared pretty well on the plane but had some trouble upon standing, so he had to pretty much stay in his seat on the plane (due to swelling of his brain) but he is fine now.  Still sleeping (along with everyone else but me, I might add  LOL)  Bruce is very pleased to be here but the trip wiped him out and he is resting comfortably as I type this.  I watched the sun come up, in shorts and a t-shirt (sorry, HAD to rub it in a wee bit) and we'll be off and running to the beach, I'm sure, as soon as all the sleepy heads wake up!  We are in a beautiful home in South Naples, with everything within walking distance.  We'll be posting soon, rest assured, with pictures to share.  Luv to all! - Val

IT help.....connie to the rescue!

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon with the parental units (not sure they like being referred to as, oh well). Did some IT stuff for them, sometimes I wonder why we need it anyway. As I type a blog post from my iPhone, guess its a necessity now. Bruce checked some of his email today, which was really cool. He also played Angry Birds on the Zoom tablet for the first time! It's a Rissi favorite. He even sent an email to himself of some stuff. He is talking more often. Certainly more spontaneous! Showed his jam video and let him read all the birthday wishes on his Facebook. So I guess Bru had a pretty IT heavy day today too! Almost ready for vacation! For those of you follow the blog, I know my Mom sent some of you a message for an email so she can stay in contact! Please look for that email I know I'm ready for vacation! That's for sure! Off to get the girls from school and finish packing!

The Bru-Man Jams!

After many hours of tricking my iPhone into loading this video back onto it.....I FINALLY GOT IT TO POST! thanks to Rachel Vivian and her girls, they had a good time too. We all did. Enjoy

An Update for All

I simply cannot tell you all how excited we are with Bruce's success with increasing his motor functions.  The man is on a mission here!!!  He is walking up/down stairs by himself, riding on the recumbent bicycle daily for at least 20 minutes (plus a 5-minute cool-down he insisted upon), walking as much as he can, dressing as independently as he can, and standing way more often than before.  Speech is still fragmented BUT he is happy, laughing, and adding spontaneous comments here and there.

Last night we had our daughter's best friend from high school, Rachael, and her 3 daughters, visit.  Absolutely adorable girls!!  Bruce decided he wanted to play his drums, so we turned up the music for him in the music room,  I pulled out percussion instruments, and all the girls and I (along with Carson, Connie's pseudo daughter) sat down on the floor watching Bruce play while we played along with him.  It was a very precious time for all of us, especially Bruce, who had a big grin on his face!!  Blessed to see him so engaged.  He kept the beat to the songs very well.  Music, as Bruce and I always said, soothes the savage beastie babies!  LOL!   Our granddaughters, Kenz and Maddie, were so happy to see Brampa.....well, so like Brampa  :)  Ahhh, all the memories we are making.

We will be flying to Florida this coming Friday, January 20th, to Ft. Lauderdale and then driving to Naples to stay for a week with all the kids/grandchildren. What a blessing that is!!!  Then Bruce and I will continue our journey to the Turks and Caicos, Middle Caicos, on Jan. 27 and staying for a week, possibly longer depending on how well he handles all of it.

I will let everyone know when we return so we can resume our visits from so many wonderful people :)  Bruce SO appreciates seeing friends/family as often as possible.  I believe that is also one of his major missions in life!!  So I will leave you for now and keep you posted as well as I can.  I will have my Internet connections in Turks and Caicos and I definitely plan to post/add photos while we are there so you can at least visit our paradise vicariously :)  LOVE TO ALL!!

Photos of Bruce's Christmas and Birthday

What a day! Had a great walk with Bruce this afternoon!

Today was a great day! spent the later morning and early afternoon at the house. Was so shocked to see Bru-man walking on his own from the bathroom to the living room! He came and helped me look at flights and rentals in Naples, FL! We are going to Florida as a family, thanks Mom and Bruce for inviting us. Given all that has taken place! A vacation is certainly in order. We are staying at the Mermaid Cottage in Naples, google it, it's gorgeous! Thanks the the owners, a cancer survivor, they made it affordable. We are leaving next week Friday! Woo Hoo! Then Mom and Bruce are off to the Turks and Caicos for a final visit to that special place! Bruce walked about a half a mile this afternoon in the beautiful weather with me. He thought he was superman and bounded down the steps outside, tripped but we made it. Apparently all that hurt was his butt! He really did awesome. I just can't believe how well he is walking right now! So independent!

Amazing Progress! Bruce Walks!

Maybe it's the warm weather, maybe it's the thought of Florida with the family and some special time with my Mom in the Turks and Caicos Islands, maybe its just that he's sick of using a walker.....whatever the motivation, we will take it! It's pretty amazing.  What a motivation! 

Telephone Conversation

Good morning all, I was pleasantly surprised when I called the house on Sunday morning...... Bruce talked to me on the phone!!! It was awesome, at first I thought it was Jacob pulling my leg, but it actually was Bruce. I about fell off my chair to say the least, we had a nice little chat. Still have to remember not to throw too many questions at once at him. I asked if he wanted a chocolate malt on Tuesday when I came out and he answered Yes, from the Lobbyside? What a wonderful experience it was. We will have to try it out with others.
It came to Val during the night Saturday & when I called she thought what the heck, let's see if it works and it did! Yea Bruce!
Bruce has continued to make great strides this last week. Talking more for one thing and he is up and using a cane at times. When he gets tuckered out he uses the walker. He has been on his recumbent bike quite a bit and striving to get stronger for their trip.
Change of plans in the vacation due to the fact it takes too long to get passports for all and don't want to put off the trip any longer. They will be going to Bonita Springs later this month, the whole family and if Bruce does well, he & Val will go to Turks for a week after that.
I believe that is why Bruce is doing so well this week, he really wants to go on the trip & working very hard to acheive his goals. GO BRUCE!!!!

New Author

Hi all, Con has set me up as an author on the blog also. Between the 3 of us we will try to update every other day or so.
Please keep in mind that Bruce has requested visits from any and all.
You can give me a call on my cell or home telephone, if I don't answer, please leave me a message as I may be at work or don't have good cell phone coverage!
Cell: 231.740.2316, Home: 616.847.1340
I will be keeping a schedule on me for visitation & helping out at the Rissi household, so please feel free to give me a call.
We greatly appreciate all the outpouring of support & help during this most difficult time.

Bruce had a great day yesterday, he walked into his Dr. appt. with his walker inplace of a wheelchair and was able to see Madeline before her surgery & told her " I love you".
He also visited with the re-hab nurses and showed off his progress tooling around the floor. They were all very happy to see his improvement.
He truly had a great team up there and we will be forever grateful for them as they taught us many things and coached us thru some very difficult transitions. Thanks team for all your help!!!
He has been verbalizing a little more this past week which is great as we all miss his laughter & humor!

OUR PLAN FOR 2012!!

I want to start by saying thank you to all the well wishes, prayers, thoughts, and acts of kindness through the holidays from various people. Our family spent the holidays together very peacefully, which was very much needed after learning of Bruce's brain cancer on November 9, 2011 and dealing with the brain tumor removal, ICU, rehab unit and eventual return to home for Bruce. It has been a very challenging time in our household but now that the holidays are over, we are getting into a routine and life is becoming as "normal" as we can make it for all involved.

To let you know what's been happening, Bruce/I have had oncology appointments and a neurosurgeon appointment last week. We had a family meeting on January 2, 2012, to discuss and announce to our families what Bruce has decided in terms of treatment in the future and what our plans will be from this point forward. Bruce has opted to not have chemotherapy/radiation at this point in time. As his wife, I will respect his wishes. We have a goal to travel as soon as we can (target date, our anniversary, May 25) to the Turks and Caicos Islands (where we have enjoyed many vacations over the years) and will do everything necessary in order to accomplish this goal. Our goal since learning of this brain cancer has been to allow and provide for the best quality of life experience that Bruce can attain, and we are making great strides in that direction. He is becoming more and more mobile (although not on his own yet without at least a set of hands to help him), and his speech has become a bit more improved, even some added spontaneous comments by Bruce when talking with him, but we have a long, difficult road in those realms. Bruce continues to receive speech, occupational, and physical therapy in-home, and we will concentrate on his becoming as independent as possible to achieve the goals we have decided on. Bruce would LOVE to have visitors come to the house to see him, and often. So I am sending an invitation to all to come and chat with Bruce, hold his hand, hug/kiss him, or just make him smile. That is a gift that Bruce would like to receive. I have delegated my sister, Diane, to organize and schedule a visiting schedule. Please feel free to contact her on her cell number, 231.740.2316 OR her home number, 616.847.1340 to set something up for visits. Our house is ready to warmly accept any and all who wish to enter :) We sincerely love all of you and hope to see you in the very near future. Bruce and Val