Michelle talked to the kids and prepared them for the visit. She explained to them that Papa would have something connected to his arm for medicine (the IV) so that he could get better. She told them that he would have a scratch on his head. She told them that Papa might cry a little bit but that it would be happy tears because he was so glad to see them.
The visit was amazing. The kids were so happy to see Bryan and vice versa. The kids checked everything out and asked lots of questions. They found it quite interesting when the nurse came to take Bryan’s blood pressure and give him some more medication. Breanna was the most clingy to Bryan and wanted to sit on his lap almost the whole time. Zachary was just a cool dude (sunglasses and all) the whole time acting as though nothing really fazed him. Cassandra was the most interested in Bryan’s incision. She kept pointing to it and asking him if she could see it again. Samantha was very serious at first just kind of looking at Bryan and then she totally gave him lots of smiles and giggles and showed off how good she’s gotten at walking over the past two weeks. Bryan kept commenting on how much she’s grown. I have to say though that my favourite part of the visit was when three-year-old Cassandra blurted out, “we have a broken Papa!” Good thing Bryan has a sense of humour!
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the visit (posted with permission from Bryan).
Oh and just to give you a quick update on Bryan (minor detail after the family visit), he had a pretty good sleep last night - only waking up to go to the bathroom and for a new IV. His pain was quite severe this morning but by this afternoon it seemed to be better controlled. His blood pressure was low this morning so he's been put back on some IV medication to help that. It needs to stay above a certain level to help decrease the risk of vasospasm.
We're so thankful that Bryan had another fairly good day . . . and made even better by the visit from his kids. What a blessing that they were finally able to get together and that the visit went so well. Please continue to pray for healing for Bryan so that he can come home and see his kids every day!
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53 Response to Family Reunion
So great to hear that your family was reunited today. I cannot imagine how great that must have felt for all of you. We are still keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers. God is doing some amazing work here and He is not done! Thanks for the pictures and the great updates. Take care and praying for a great sleep again for everyone!
Mel, Kev, Seth and Owen
Your smiles say it all. :)
Praise God for a great day for your little family! A golden nugget to keep treasured on this journey. Praying for a good, restful sleep for everyone.
Love Mike and Dina
what a wonderful day! so glad that you were all able to connect as a family again :o) Seeing your smiles from ear to ear is such a blessing!
Praying for continued rest and many more family days!!
Pete and Teresa
Awesome news! Glad to hear that you were able to spend some time as a family! Like the other messages say...the smiles say it all!! Thanks for sharing the photos!
Love Paul, Lisa and AJ xo
What a day for you Bryan! That goes for you too Michelle!! What a joy it must have been to have your family united again. Awesome - we are so happy for all of you! Bryan, we think of you constantly through out the day, and many prayers are said daily for you. You are an incredible guy - you have touched alot of hearts obviously! We thank God for you and for healing you thus far. We pray that He will continue to do so, that you will be pain free soon and that you will be with your family at home very soon. Have a good and restful sleep.
John, Christine, John & Chantelle
Words cannot express the joy and thankfulness we feel. Can't even imagine how great it must have been for you. Thank you Lord for once again being faithful and giving all of us another of your miracles to witness.
Continuing to pray for all of you.
Lizette
Excellent news! Great to hear the kids could come to see you. Leave it to Cassandra to cut to the chase! Our kids think and pray for you every day. May you feel God's hand in all that is being done for you and may the Lord surround you and Michelle and the kids with His loving care and bring you home. Hope to see you soon.
Seeya
Wayne
What a wonderful day for the family.
The pictures said it all.Hopefully soon you will be home with your family.There is a lot of prayer going up for you all.
Love and prayers,
Uncle Andy and Aunt Margaret.
Oh, so good to see photos! So beautiful. Yes, we'll keep praying that you can go home soon, Bryan.
Thank you so much Bryan and Mickelle for sharing these pictures with all of us. The family "portrait" is sooooo beautiful!! We share in your joy of the occasion. May God continue to surround you ALL in his loving arms, as you continue on your journey to renewed health. Praying you keep peace and hope in your hearts with each new day. Indeed, the smiles we see, say it all. God Bless.
Love Aunt Nell.
PS. Ever have nightmares about me?? That would be enough to keep anyone awake!! Luv U, Luv me. nn :O)
Tears of joy here! What an amazing day you all had. A day you will never forget.
Bryan...you need a hair cut! (just kidding).
We'll continue to pray for as long as this takes.
Love,
Jon and Nadine
Those pictures warm my heart!!! Judi, Rob and the boys
Can't imagine anyone could view this update and beautiful photos and not be spilling out tears. How touching! xo
Sherri
beautiful. Thank you for sharing. God is so good
vos-tiebk
So nice to see you all smiling. Stay strong.
Awww, those pictures say it all! I'm so glad that you were able to see the family and I'm sure they were happy to see you too. Glenn and I have been praying for you and for Michelle and the kids. Keep getting better; can't wait to hear that wonderful sense of humour of yours!
Lori-Anne & Glenn
Tears of Joy welled up in my eyes when I opened up your blog this morning :) Your family reunion picture is very moving. We are so thankful that your kids could see their Papa; that is definitely an answer to prayer. You guys look so happy; our kids saw your pics before they left for school and they were happy for your family.
We will all keep praying for continued healing and for God to keep all of you close to Him. Thank you for sharing this awesome news!
Wow!! Only a few tears....We pray for all of you every day. It is nice to see your prayers come true. How wonderful it was for you to share such a special moment. Keep fighting :)
Thank you.
Love,
Lisa, Gary and Jorja Smith(Jelsma)
Thank you for sharing these great pictures! Love them and everyones smiles! So happy that this reunion could take place.
We continue to pray for strength for each new day, peace, and patience. May you feel everyones' prayers carrying you thru this time.
Brian and Ellen
Thank you for the pictures!! Tears of Joy here to see you guys and the kids! Keep strong!!
Mike and Leanne oxox
Love the dress Bryan. Those purple flowers really pull out your colours! I can just see the B&M logo on it now...
Terry
Hooray!! Praise God :) That's an awesome family picture.
Phil & Jess
Beautiful...Our God is an awesome God!!!!
Rick,Melinda & Boys
So very beautiful!! Having hugs from all your beautiful children will give you even more strength as you recover!! Hoping you are feeling a little more at peace. Still praying for your full recovery and that there will be many more visits from the little ones until you are home to stay! Be strong and keep smiling Bryan!!
<3 Jen Vespa and family
So happy that this day has FINALLY come!
It's been great spending so much extra time with you and your kids......but let's just go on a vacation together next time we need to do some bonding O.K.?
Love you all,
Steve, Melanie & girls
Awesome pics!
Wishing you continued strength, peace and SMILES :)
love Floyd, Carolyn & the boys
Thank you so much for sharing such poignant pictures, the smiles on all of your faces says it all! So good to see you Bryan, you look good! I was trying to figure out what looked different......the hair! You are thought of and prayed over so many times in our day.
Dirk & Brenda
Hey Bryan and Michelle ~
So glad to hear that you were able to be together as a family once again - awesome! We are praying for your healing and rest daily Bryan and also for patience and rich rest for you Michelle. Our prayer for your children remains for peace and comfort for their hearts and minds.
Ron and Rachel VandenBurg
What an encouraging post & to see your family! Bryan you look really good! Hoping and praying for you & your family & your health. I'm sure it was difficult to be apart for so long. Thanks for sharing the pics! D
Hi Bryan and Michelle,how wonderful to see you
all together again after these agonizing weeks.We have been so much in prayer for all of you and will continue to pray for complete
healing,may God indeed be your refuge and strength,love, Jerry and Janine Lock.
It is absolutely wonderful to see all of the smiles in those pictures. As someone commented earlier, they are so inspiring and a reminder that God is good. May you and your family continue to be blessed in the days to come and our family will continue to pray for healing.
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Praising God for your continued progress and asking Him for continued healing. Thanks for posting the pictures... wonderful to read and see that the visit happened and went so well. :o)
Martin & AJ
Josh, Kara, Jana & Aaron.
Wonderful pictures, thanks for sharing! It is awesome to see your family together and to see those big smiles. We will pray for continued healing so you all can be home together very soon.
Glad you all got to be together again. This will certainly be the best medicine for Bryan and aid in his recovery.
The last photo is the most beautiful family photo of all. It exudes beauty and strength.
You all remain in our prayers and we wish you strength on this continuing journey Bryan and Michelle.
Kim and Harry Blyleven
What beautiful and precious moments captured in these pictures, praise God. Thinking of you all and praying........
Susan & Rob Huckins
Emily, Cassandra & William :)
We've been praying for this to be a possibility! How beautiful to see the happy smiles on a family back together after too long.
We will keep praying! For healing for you, Bryan, and a respite from the pain. For strength for you, Michelle, as you are needed in 2 places at once. For peace and patience for the kids, who miss their Daddy so much. May God continue to be so close to you all.
Marcia, Chris, Rebekah, Lucas and Olivia Mantel
Those pictures brought tears to my eyes! So glad the kids could see their papa! We will continue to pray for healing and that you will be back together at home soon:)
Love,
Kristen
Great Pictures. Thanks for sharing. We will keep praying for your continued healing and strength. And.... Bryan try to be nice to the Nurses.....we can just imagine you back to your old self and giving them a hard time :-)
Chris + Michelle DeWeerd
Scott, Rachel & Mike
Dear Bryan and Michelle - once again we have seen that God hears and answers prayers! What an awesome family shot....very precious.
We continue to pray that soon you will be home with your family again Bryan. Keep smiling!
Blessings and love,
Joe & Margaret
Ellen, Casandra and Zachs Sunday school teacher, came home and was thrilled to report there were pictures and a postive blog! We were thrilled to see it and to see the how thrilled everyone was to be back together again! You have an amazing family.
We look forward to more images of God's goodness on your journey.
Pete and Joyce and kids
Hi Bryan. Trish told us you were in the hospital and a few of the details .Lisa Tieren and I hope you get better soon.We pray often that you will recover completely.Michelle if you need any help please call (705)385-1088.With Bryan not working I'm sure there is a NEED.We would be honoured to help.Honestly ,we feel so helpless and need to do something .I'd also kinda want to give you a hug Bryan;just a short one though.
Our thoughts and prayers are for your entire family Love Geoff,Lisa and Tieren
Hi Bryan We wanted to let you know we pray and think of you often. When we looked at the blog Gary said " I think this is the first time I have ever seen Bryan with hair ". We are hoping you have a speedy recovery. Michelle please call if there is anything we can do to help you we are just around the corner. We are thankful for our Lords many blessings in your journey. Gary & Denise Soeting and girls
Hi Bryan and Michelle! Thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures! Bryan, your love for your children was so evident in the way you hugged them - tears on our end, for sure! We are so happy to hear that you were reunited with your children. Daniel told us that Zachary's dad is starting to get better (that's what Zachary told him today at school). You continue to be in our thoughts and prayers!
Love, Henry and Julie, Daniel, Helena, and Nathan
Thanks for the hard work updating this blog, what a great report today! So glad the reunion was a success, how emotional for you all, I can imagine how hard this is on the kids. It is nice to see you all smiling in the pictures!! Hang in there and stay strong we are praying for you! God is good and He will take care of you! All the best to you all! Kelly Bill
Bryan & Michelle!
Thank-you for sharing those beautiful reunion pictures :) Your kids are beautiful....This is really an exciting update, because I didn't even know you had FOUR little Zandstras running around!
Wow, what an answer to prayer. We will continue to pray for relief from pain & further healing.
love Sharon & Gerald Kodde
Hi Bryan and Michelle. What a blessing to see those pictures and to know that you were finally able to be together as a family after such a long time. My thoughts and prayers have been with you and your family during this difficult time. I am so thankful that God is restoring your health, and that hopefully soon you can go home and be with your family all the time! With much love, Marlene Knevel and family.
We are so glad that you got to see the kids today,Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
We are so happy for the family to have spent such a special day together. Wishing you many more of these moments soon. Love you all.
Kevin Julie & Mya Plas
So happy that everyone could be together once again. So, that's what you and the family look like! It's been a few years! We're continuing with our prayers and we know that God hears each one of them.
love,
John & Bev Z and family
just had to do it....#50
Priceless!!! Keep smiling Bryan...we continue to pray :)
love
the Vaanderings
so thats what u look like with hair
ben lammers
It's wonderful to hear that each day seems to be better than the one before Bryan. You and your family continue to be in our thoughts and prayers.
Blessings,
The Bainbridge Family
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