July 18th, 2011 Happy Anniversary Josh and Lindsey!

Hello Everyone.

Well my promise to do better on the updates didn't pan out too well.  Sorry about that.  I know everyone is interested in what's happening and 2 weeks is much too long (ok, it's been 3).  Yikes. 

The reason I haven't sent out more regular updates is that things are pretty status quo, however, I will tell you that we had a remarkable day with Josh and Lindsey on the 4th of July.  As I tell you the events of the day, keep in mind that she is mostly in her bed for the majority of the day.  Each day she had small seizure activity or tremors that prevent her from swallowing and she is generally very tired, however, she really wanted to see the balloon launch in Provo early in the morning, so we made our plans.

At 5a, Mark and I were up and going, out the door and over to Lindsey's parents by 5:30a.  (not just us but the boys as well!)  Lindsey and Josh were up and getting ready, she was excited to be able to go.  We loaded her up and made our way to Provo.  We arrived just as they were beginning the flag raising ceremony.  This was a large US flag attached to the Alexanders red, white, and blue balloon and the entire gathering repeated the pledge of allegiance with the announcer and then played the Star Spangled Banner.  It was awesome.  All of the balloons began to inflate and they even had Darth Vader head (haha) which was a massive 86' across and a price tag of $500,000.  Most of the balloons were inflated and ready to take off when a pretty stiff wind came and the launch was cancelled.  It was a little disappointing but still it was a fun time for our family to be together.  Matt, Jenny and their 2 boys along with Mitch, Mike, and us all spent a beautiful morning together in the midst of these awesome balloons and field of color.  (ok, that's the Mom version)  The boys were a bit disappointed but not to fear as the Karrs tend to make their own entertainment.  Pretty soon we had made our way to the parking lot where our vehicles were and Mike (with Jaxson in the stroller) and Matt (with Logan in a stroller) began to do stroller races.  We were all laughing and having a great time.  I'm not sure who won but it was close!  I thought for sure by this point that Lindsey would have wanted to go home and rest but she was still going strong so we headed out to breakfast.  Her appetite is healthy and it took a couple of hours but we had a great meal and she did really, really well.  Afterwards, yes, by then she was ready for a nap (we all were ;) and later we all went and watched Josh and his Dad fly their RC planes.  A bit more rest and she was ready for fireworks!!  We parked in the church parking lot and had a perfect view.  It was a magical day and the best part is that she had absolutely no tremors or seizure activity the entire day.  It was a bit of a miracle in itself.





Since that day Lindsey has had her ups and downs.  My daughter Jessica spoke with Lindsey while she was in the hospital this last time and then spoke to her again recently.  She said she couldn't believe how much better she now sounded!  On the phone that day, you'd never know.  A girl stopped me in church yesterday and she had stopped and spoken to Josh and Lindsey a few weeks ago and  said she couldn't believe that after spending a few minutes with them she walked away feeling happy and joyful and she had expected to be full of sadness at their situation but they gave her a huge dose of happiness instead.  Isn't that truly incredible?

Today, July 18th, is Josh and Lindsey's 3rd Anniversary.  Unfortunately, Lindsey is having a down day and is extremely tired and not too aware that it is actually their special day but Josh still took the day off to be with her.  He made her favorite food of all time, french fries, for lunch.  Honestly, that girl could eat french fries for breakfast. lunch, and dinner!!  And she loves fry sauce!  She will even eat it on brocolli.  Crazy and fun.  Their love shows through everything else that is happening.  Josh is strong, a little sadder, but I think not as full of anxiety, which is a blessing.  If you'd like to shoot them a "Happy Anniversary" note, I know they would love it.  If you are on FB drop them a line on their pages, Josh Karr or Lindsey Kae Robinson Karr.  You do not have to be on their list of friends to drop a note.  Otherwise go to the blog http://www.forlindsey.blogspot.com/ or even better to the website of http://www.livingthroughlaughter.com/  The website has much more information on it than the blog but whichever you are comfortable with.


Don't forget to still offer prayers, or send positive energy to Lindsey at 5:55.  Thank you one and all for all the notes, love, and encouragement.  There are people I knew very little at the beginning of this journey which began a year ago, who are now some of my greatest sources of peace.  Friends and family, you are loved.

With love,
Julie