Visiting Trav's "World"

Last week Grandmother, Aunt Michelle,

the STORM and I all loaded up to go

see THE SuPeRMaN

at CNS in Dallas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Apparently someone had asked the director

if "all those kids" would be coming back

to visit Travis.  We just had to send

these pics to Lynna to ask her if she 

had heard from the director yet;)

We aren't called "The STORM" for nothin;)

It was awesome to see so many familiar
faces of therapists and workers at CNS.
It was even better to see how Travis
is so loved there.  Everywhere he went,
patients and workers were saying hi to him.
You just can't help but be drawn to him.

Of course he was working so hard!!!

He's amazing. 

While we were in the Big City,

we had to stop by and order

Walker a new Nike shirt ~

with Johnny's #2. 

Sister with the photo bomb credit;)

Unfortunately Johnny made some more

bad decisions, and I'm not 

letting Walker have the shirt:( 

Johnny needs Jesus!  So, we are praying

for him and reconsidering wearing his shirt;)

While Travis was finishing with therapy

that we couldn't be a part of, 

we checked into the hotel.  

Michelle and I were CRaCKiNG up

because our luggage kept falling.

I was missing Troy;)

We had to send Daddy lots of selfies;)

Then we swam...

                       with JAWS.

We love having Aunt Michelle with us:)

Huds kept telling us he was the lifeguard!  :)

I went to go get Trav while they kept swimming!

I love every minute spent with this guy!!!

We went to eat and obviously the 

STORM had fun!  ;)

Grandmother had us RoLLiNG!!!

When I was taking this picture,

she asked me if I was taking a selfie? ;)

So, Trav gave her another lesson on a selfie! 

"LOL" as Grandmother would say! 

Talk about selfies, my kids

have them DoWN!!!!!!!!

 

Travis with his two favorite Aunts;)

 

SeRiouSLY?!??!!!! ;)

After we left the restaurant, we 

decided to find a park (we were

in the area where I used to live when

I lived in the Big City).....

well, we ended up INSIDE the 

DFW airport and I had to pay 

to get us OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the time we found our way

back, it was dark and we couldn't

decide what to do.  

Walker kept begging for us to 

stop, so he could do the "gorilla" for us.

Finally just to keep him quiet,

I stopped in the mall parking lot

and let him.  We had NO idea 

what the "gorilla" was, but he 

got out of the car and ran around

it like he was a gorilla.  

NONE of us could contain

ourselves!  It was a RIOT!!!

Of course Hadlee just had to join him!

Then it led into them doing
"Boom Boom Power" 

for us!!!!!!!!!!

Followed by Hudson jumping out 

of the car to do the "gorilla", too!!!

There he goes, just like his Bubba!  ;)

Brought back such funny memories

from a time we brought all the kids

(when Hadlee was a BABY)

to Dallas and Travis and Macy

were goofing off in this very parking

lot making us all laugh!!!

We were exhausted by the time

we made it back to the hotel from

getting lost and laughing so hard all night!

The next day, we visited Travis some more

and Lynna joined us!  It was so fun to

all be together!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to schedule this trip around

Walker's football practices.  

The day before we left, one of his

got cancelled and rescheduled for

the day we were leaving.  

Troy and I both told Walker that it

was his decision and that

we understood his decision EITHER way

(missing practice is a big deal).

 Without hesitation when I asked him,

he said, "I want to go see Travis"!!!

Melt my heart:)

May God bless Travis and Lynna

abundantly.  I pray for this every 

single day...that God would 

bring something along to truly help them. 

They are BOTH such fun and beautiful

people...leading very difficult lives. 

The STORM leaving their mark

in the Big City..........
had to leave a Superman "S"!!!

We did have to make one stop on the

way home to get Hadlee some shoes.

We saw Macy's which made us 

miss our Macy Girl!!!!!!!!!! :)

Riding back home selfie;)

There are so many “other” worlds within this world.  I know of people fighting cancer, dealing with heartbreaking illnesses for their children, even people on the brink of their child going to Heaven…and many other “worlds” that I hope I don’t ever have to really know.  Life can be so, so hard.  This weekend I was yet again reminded first hand of the “world” we were introduced to four years ago when Travis was in his accident.  It’s a world of people dealing with brain injuries and it’s sad.  Very, very sad.  Some are there from strokes, some from freak accidents, some who made a bad decision that resulted in a terrible situation…and no telling what else.  How they ended up in this “world” doesn’t matter at all and any one of us could end up there.  It’s a world of people who were once completely normal…many who probably didn’t have a care in the world before their accident, but now they are fighting with everything they have to regain their lives.  They are at all different levels…some with families to support them…some all alone…some with hope…some without.  Some don’t have their minds anymore, some can’t talk, some are horribly scarred, some can’t eat, some are like a toddler in an adult body, some will be in a wheel chair forever, some can’t control their emotions, some can’t remember short term things, some can’t even hold their head up, and the list goes on and on.  One of the most difficult parts about this world is the unknown.  There’s so much unknown … nobody can tell these people where or how they will end up … or when they will reach their best recovery.  I can’t imagine even though I am seeing this world through someone that I love so very, very much.  It’s a heartbreaking world and the ONLY way to survive it is with God, and in our case…also our family and LoTS of laughter!  Travis has a TOUGH life, but he’s such a fighter and although we were once given NO hope for him…he has come SO far!!!  He would still give anything to eat, talk and walk unassisted (and we’d give anything, too), but we are so thankful for how far he has come…and that there’s still hope for him ~ many of the patients I saw that weekend aren’t that fortunate.  This weekend left me SO THaNKFuL for my Travis, for my family, for my sweet children who are seeing this particular “world” and learning from it, and for all the support we have.  Also, this weekend has left me more prayerful than EVER for so many having to live in these different “worlds” that are around us.