Monday, July 16, 2012

Let's Celebrate

I'm Back- and in Celebration to my return to BLOGGING- I am doing a give away- I have a box- USPS Medium Flat rate box filled with goodies- that I will be shipping to one lucky person!  How can you win this AWESOME gift?  Leave me a comment on what your favorite vacation spot has been and why.... I will explain later as to my reason in asking you. 
Now, on to updating you on the life of the Goossens from Las Vegas.   So much has been going on that I wanted to slow down and let you all know that I miss keeping you all up do date with our lives.
The year started out on a rather down note.  Paul tore his ACL in December playing on a soccer league.  He hobbled around for a few months- thinking it was just a mere sprain.  On one Sunday in March, a dear friend of ours, who is a doctor, pulled us aside after church and told us that he was taking note of Paul and his walking and that he strongly suggested that he see a doctor.  Our biggest dilemma was that Paul did not have insurance (due to missing the cut-off date for signing up at work). We went home a little discouraged, since we truly thought it was just a sprain.  I immediately signed him up for insurance through my office- taking a chance that they would surcharge him or even decline him since he was without insurance. I  explained to the underwriter that he was only out of insurance for 3 months and that he missed the cut off date to renew.  God intervened- He was approved at the standard rate- no surcharge whatsoever.  The day he got approved we went to Urgent Care to get a diagnosis.  The doctor who saw him referred him immediately to get an MRI.  After the MRI and meeting with the specialist we found out he did indeed tear his ACL and would need to replace the ACL.  He went for surgery on April 30th.  The weeks after that were a real struggle.  He was bed bound for a complete week. He barely slept, needed 24 hour care.  I was physically exhausted and can't imagine this time without my sister.  She was a TREMENDOUS help to me.  We made a makeshift hospital room in Lizzie's room.  And every 2-3 hours we changed ice, fed, administered medicine and cared for my beloved.  He was a good sport through it all. 
As of today, he is still on the mend.  He still has pain when walking, which is starting to give me some concern, but he has been told by the doctor and the physical therapy doctor that knees take a while to heal and that his knee is at the weakest point right now because the graft is trying to incorporate to his bone.  We have days when he is very discouraged... but over all he is SLOWLY recovering. 
In June we did go on our family vacation.  We (my side of the family) enjoy going on cruises and we all wanted to go to Alaska on a cruise together. We planned it 12 months in advance... and on June 5 we sailed out of Seattle.  We had a wonderful time together visiting beautiful Alaska. 
Church has been great!  We have been so busy between missions teams visiting.  We had a group of 40 last week and they were a real blessing to us.  They handed out over 36,000 pamphlets for our church!  What a Blessing!
And last but not least- My niece and sister in law came out to visit for a week- We made lots of memories!
Below are some recap pictures of our busy lives!


This is a picture that Rachel took while she was visiting.. She loves to take pictures!



Here is the picture of Paul at the hospital waiting for surgery.



Paul's leg after surgery.  He wore that brace for 4 weeks.


Here is a picture of Rachel and Lizzie in Seattle... Aren't they beautiful ladies!


One of the many waterfalls in Alaska.  We saw so many of them! It was truly a BEAUTIFUL trip!

Okay, enough for today!  Don't forget to leave a comment so that you can be entered into the drawing for a box of goodies... I will reveal the box and goodies once I announce the winner!  I will take comments until Thursday night.  The drawing will be on Friday- I will post the winner along with a picture of the box of goodies.

Its good to be back to blogging!

Blessings,
Vegas Girl!

19 comments:

Linda said...

Oh, it is so good to have you back! I've missed reading about you and your lives. I see I have to sign in again, so I'll leave another comment in a minute!

Linda said...

I hate it when I have to sign in again. Oh well, I'm still glad Paul is on the mend, and that you had a good time on your vacation.

I think my favorite vacation has been to our nation's capital. I love DC, and all the beautiful monuments. There is so much history there. We've been there a number of times, but probably won't go back because all the family is gone, now.

Christie said...

Life HAS been busy for yall! I'm constantly amazed that we are so blessed to have been called and saved by such a great God! My favorite vacation spot so far would be Lake Thun in Switzerland... absolutely breathtaking!

Anonymous said...

Favorite vacation was to beauiful Homer Alaska! Sledding on a glacier in August, snag fishing on the spit (where if you were unlucky enough you could loose an eye!), clamming with friends, tennis at midnight and it was still light outside, camping in a tent only to find a moose outside! It was beautiful!!!!

Glad you are back!!! ~Rebecca

Melissa said...

This is so fun to read, Kathy! My favorite vacation spot is Fripp Island, SC where we get to spend a true vacation. No schedule--just relaxing, swimming, reading, and, of course, eating. =)

Jenna said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Paul! I wondered what was going on whenever I saw your FB updates. Thank goodness for your sister to be there to help. I havent been on a cruise and would love to go on one. Sounds relaxing! Maybe you could give me some tips on cruises! I don't get to travel much but I went to NY in high school and loved it! Broadway shows are amazing.

Elizabeth said...

My favorite vacation spot is a cruise! Anywhere really, but my fav was the mederteranian one last year! Love you Kathy. We miss y'all so much, Elizabeth

Elizabeth said...

LOVE YOU and MISS Y"ALL

Lhoyt said...

It is practically impossible to choose my favorite vacation spot. However,I would have to say that the family chalet in Santa Rosa de Calamuchita is the one that is closest to my heart because of the quiet (all you can hear most of the day is the birds singing, except at siesta time when the parakeets get raucous), the beauty of the mountain river very close to the house and the wonderful memories we have from there.

Anonymous said...

I would say that my favorite vacation spot was Venice, Italy. Just walking around the city, over all the bridges was breathtaking. We even rode on a gondola. A close second is Croatia- all islands and no beach. -Pam

Anonymous said...

So glad you are back to blogging. I missed your entries. Thanks for taking such good care of my boy when he was laid up after his knee surgery. It is hard to choose a favorite vacation, but one that stands out to me is the one we took during winter vacation to Cordoba when our boys were just kids. It was so cold, but we did some fun things and made real special memories. Mom G.

Rosalyn said...

My favorite place is Naples, Florida.
Many years Philip and I would drive over there for our anniversary and we always enjoyed driving around looking at the houses. It was so peaceful there.

~*~ Allison ~*~ said...

Even though I am currently having a great time on vacation, I will say that Martha's Vineyard, MA is my all time favorite vacation spot.
We used to go there when I was a kid. It's one of the only positive memories that I have from my childhood.

riTa Koch said...

I've really enjoyed reading your recap of the year.
I am having trouble, however, with deciding on a favorite vacation, maybe I've had too many! I will mention our family vacations on a house boat on Lake of the Woods in Canada--14,000 mostly uninhabited islands. We could dock at a different island every night. We saw wonderful wildlife, were cut off from civilization--a great way to restore your soul. Great family memories.

Kim said...

So glad you're back to blogging Kathy!
Have kept up with what's going on (somewhat) via other family members.

We'll be praying for Paul, for a full recovery and release from the ongoing pain.

Excited for you, in regards to next year's anniversary trip! Sounds like a fabulous cruise, made all the more special because of the occasion :)

We don't really take vacations so can't contribute a favorite place. Have some dreams though :)

Rosalyn said...

From Rachel:
I think that my favorite is Alaska. All the snow and the mountains. My favorite part about Alaska I think would be the sunshine glowing on the snow on the mountains. Such a beautiful sight.

Tesa said...

Welcome back to blogging!
When I was growing up we always took 2 weeks vacation to the UP of Michigan. My dad grew up there. It is so peaceful and pretty and not commercialized...I still love it there. Phil and I took our honeymoon up that way, too...so many good memories!

Judy said...

It was good hearing from you again. I miss reading all the excitement in Vegas. My favorite vacation spot is Myrtle Beach--that's because I'm on vacation 12 months every year. No seriously-- my favorite vacation was when we took our road trip from Georgia to Las Vegas. That was fantastic. It was nice to spend that time with my sister and two favorite nieces. We sure did have a blast.

Anonymous said...

Can't believe you blog too! ;-) My favorite vacations have always dealt with the water and the sun. ;-) Vacation sounds good about now... ;-) Love ya!

--Tammi