Some Recent Quality Family Time

Kelly dropped into Utah at the beginning of June on her way to a conference in Vancouver. It was great to see her. Karen timed a trip out here so she could see her. The only siblings who weren't here were Kris and Derek. We had a BBQ at mom and dad's and had a great time. She was only here for about 24 hours. It was so fun to see her and to be together.

Karen and I picked up Kelly at the airport

Jenny and I enjoyed bakery cake

Sisters: me, Karen, Jenny, Kelly, an Debbie

This was all on Sunday. On Tuesday we got a horrible text from Kelly. She had a biking accident in Vancouver. She was riding a bike down a hill and a pedestrian walked in front of her. To miss hitting the pedestrian, she swerved and ended up falling over her handle bars. She broke her jaw in 3 places and broke a front tooth. Now we realize she was lucky it wasn't worse. Luckily a colleague, Nick, was with her. He went with her to the hospital where they determined Kelly should fly home immediately. He flew with her, holding her hand and telling her stories of his growing up around the world, as his dad worked for the state department. Kelly got back to North Carolina on Wednesday and had surgery on Thursday. It took 7 hours to put her mouth back together.

I woke up Friday with the strongest impression that I had to get out there to help. Turns out Jenny and Kristen felt the same way. Jen was able to make arrangements to get out there when Ben's mom left. His mom, Jane, was in North Carolina with the kids when the accident happened so she extended her stay. I had plans to go to California with mom right when the semester ended. I reached out to my siblings and everyone chipped in to help me change my ticket from Oakland to Raleigh/Durham. It cost about $300 to change the ticket, but we got it worked out. Jenny also gave me some cash to help with my week there. After she spent a week there, she realized I would incur some expenses. The cash really helped.

My flight to N.C. was seriously delayed, so I got $200 credit with Southwest Airlines. Jen and I will use it later for a nice little escape to California. I got to Bryner's around 1:00 am on Sunday. Ben picked me up at the airport. He'd been awake for 24 hours. He was completing his fellowship in Cardio thoracic surgery at Duke. This makes 10 years POST medical school training for the Bryner family. What an accomplishment.

Sunday I took the kids to the grocery store to pick up some food. Kelly rested. She looks good. She had paralysis on the right side of her face due to her nerve being stretched during the surgery. her feeling is starting to come back and she should have full movement. We also went to Duke Gardens. That was beautiful. We talked about all the languages that members of the Hunter family speak.

Each night I was there, Kelly and I would pow wow in her room and talk about the next day's schedule. I took the boys to an interactive science place. I took Eve to and from swimming lessons more than once. Eve and I got BBQ. Portia is vegetarian and the boys are too picky to waste good food on them. I took the boys to a park while Portia went to an orthodontist appointment with Kelly. I took Kelly to her endodontist appointment. She was really nervous about that. I got to go in the exam room with her and held her hand while the doctor looked at her mouth and they made a plan for treatment. Kelly got the green light to go to Michigan for the summer. She will continue her recovery with a doctor they know in Ann Arbor. In fact, she's already met with him and things look good. Surgery this week to take the wires out of her mouth and put in an implant to replace the front tooth she'll lose. Poor thing.

Kelly had her jaw wired and had little mobility due to rubber bands. One night a rubber band came off and I had to replace it. That was hilarious because she handed me some medical device to use as if I knew what I was doing. Ben usually took care of that, but he wasn't home. Portia held a cell phone flashlight while I did the band. We made a great team.

I helped Portia finish a dress that her grandma Jane had helped her start. The babysitter Dora took the boys for a couple of afternoons to give us all a bit of a break. We made an apple pie. We watched movies. We snuggled at night. We went swimming and had a bbq at their friends' house. We also decorated the house for Ben's LAST day of his fellowship. On Friday, he was officially done with training. I left on Saturday and we kept saying how awesome Saturday would be because they couldn't call him into work. He was on vacation and he was a real doctor now. They are amazing. That family has sacrificed tons so Ben could specialize and be there to help people, much like the specialists who are helping Kelly. It's a crazy thing. All of these doctors could have easily said it's too much work. I don't want to do this anymore. Thank goodness they didn't quit. We all need them.

This week was such a great opportunity to get to know all these kiddos much better. I also had great talks with Kelly and Ben. Kelly and I watched Netflix shows together and kept up on her meds. I brought her lots of milk and protein drinks. She's still on a liquid diet. Poor thing. She'll get there. She's strong. She's Kelly Hunter.

Jude, age 7, and I snuggling

Kelly and me at their friends' pool

Theo (age 6) and me at the pool

Jude and Theo at a park we went to

Jude, me and Portia at Duke chapel

Duke Chapel on campus

Eve, age 15, and Portia, age 12

My cute Theo

Jude and Theo at the mall. We had a blast in this toy store.

my BBQ

Eve's BBQ

Portia's completed dress

Theo in my glasses

Jude in my glasses

Look what the kids did for their dad

He's home

In preparation for their exodus to Michigan, Portia and I cleaned the fridge, freezer, and pantry

Me and Jude

Me and Theo

Me and Portia

Me and Eve