Great Weekend!

Collin had an awesome weekend!

On Friday, he got to go to his school Christmas Party. On Friday evening, he got to go with his siblings and his Grandmother and Grandfather Wilson to pick out their Christmas tree. At first, they were worried because the store did not have many trees left and most of them were pretty scraggly. Grandmother told them that she promised they would wait until Collin was home to pick out the tree, no matter what. Luckily, they found a decent tree hiding in a corner, which they took home and decorated.

On Saturday, Collin and his family went to the graduation ceremony for the latest class of kids to go through the program where Heath works. The kids were pretty excited because they got to see Governor Daniels. They were surprised to learn that he is not very tall!

After that, Collin got to come to my house (Aunt Sissy).  We hung out for awhile at my house, and then we went over to Guitar Center to meet Aaron (my boyfriend). Collin was so excited because he got to ride in my friend Karen's "Slugbug" as Collin called it - her VW Bug automobile - on the way to Guitar Center. Karen promised him that he can ride in it with the convertible top down come summer. He was pretty psyched.

At Guitar Center, Collin had an amazing time looking at all the different types of instruments they have there. He got to play on an electronic drum kit with Aaron, which I think he thought was kind of boring. I told him that he could come play on Aaron's full kit where he can bang around as hard as he wants. Guitar Center doesn't let kids play on the full kits, only the electronic ones. Next, Aaron showed Collin how to play a guitar. He thought that was the coolest thing ever. He wants a child size camouflage guitar and amp now!!

After playing at Guitar Center, we went to Incredible Pizza Company. He ate quite a bit there, at least for Collin. He ate about a cup of sliced peaches, four ounces of gelatin, a bite of ice cream, a bite of mac and cheese, and two small pieces of pizza. This was over a four hour period though. We played mini golf, mini bowling, arcade games, bumper cars, and more. I waited until the end of the night to do the go-karts because I wanted to try to do the go-karts without anyone else on the track. This is because the last time I was there with Kasey and Zack, there were some kids that seemed to enjoy crashing into other kids purposefully, and their parents encouraged this bad behavior - and the employees would just punish the whole group for it! I didn't want someone to crash into Collin and cause him pain.

Luckily, by the time we did the go-karts, we were the only ones doing it. Collin was pretty upset that he was not allowed to drive a go-kart - he could only ride in one that I drove. So, there was only two karts on the track: Aaron and us. It was pretty fun because we didn't have to worry about anyone else. To cheer Collin up, I had him make a video of the race from "his point of view." He thought that was pretty cool. Of course, we won first place!

After an exhausting day, Collin slept over at my house. He did really well and the next day, he was chowing down on some Doritos and watching TV when his mom came to pick him up. I was surprised that he wasn't more sore or grumpy from such a big day.

Later on Sunday, Heath's parents (Gramps and Grams Simon) came by for a visit. They are from Missouri. Please keep Collin's Gramps and Grams Simon in your prayers because Gramps Simon must have a surgery on his knee this week to fix a messed up bone and totally replace his knee. The kids were pretty excited for this visit because they got to have their Christmas with Gramps and Grams, which of course results in presents!! : )

The nurse came to check on Collin on Monday morning, and was very pleased with his progress. So far, Collin is doing really well. He is still struggling with diarrhea and pain, but both are being controlled pretty well by medications. Collin is really excited about Christmas, as are the other two children. We are all pretty happy that Collin is in relatively good health right now, so we hope he will be home for Christmas!!

Collin and his family would like to thank the anonymous donor who sent them a wonderful Christmas Card and a gift card to Wal-Mart. It was very kind of you and we would like you to know how much we appreciate it! Thank you!

Also, Collin and his family would like to send out an enormous thank you to Union Elementary School's  faculty, staff and PTO for their generous gift!!!! Words do not express how much we appreciate your support and kindness during this very difficult time. Thank you so much!!! We love you all!

That is all we have for now. We will post more asap. Thank you for your continued support and love!!! Merry Christmas to you all!