Thank you

Dear family and friends,

What a year this has been! So MANY trials, but also many wonderful, unforgettable moments! Our family would like to send a huge thank you for standing so close to us during Bryan's journey which began on April 19th. We had been given such a grave report from the doctors about the burst aneurysm in his brain as well as being told of the second aneurysm that needed to be dealt with. We did not give up hope, but relied heavily on the prayers of our family and friends, and even strangers, we found out! We felt God's comfort and saw miracles and answers to our prayers every step of the way. We have, undeniably, experienced the power of prayer and to that, we give thanks to God.

We would also like to thank those who have supported us other ways...many gestures of kindness with regards to keeping our home and business looked after, weeks of round-the-clock childcare, meals, baked goods, groceries, thoughtful gifts for our children, monetary gifts/gift cards, emails, and comments that were so encouraging on the blog. (bzjourney.blogspot.com). We are humbled, to be part of such a family in Christ.

Along with the surgeons, we are hopeful that Bryan will be able to begin to work again in April. Although we still look forward to our life being "back to normal", we are thankful to have Bryan with us. He can continue to be a husband, father, son, brother, nephew, and friend, with his wit still intact. There are still a few challenges for Bryan, but he is here and well on his way, to what we hope will be a full recovery!!

Please accept this letter as a huge thank you from us. Wishing you a blessed Christmas. We also pray for health and peace in the upcoming year.

Love,

Bryan, Michelle, Breanna, Zachary, Cassandra and Samantha

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME....

First, my apologies with the delay in updating the blog. Daily life has taken over again, which is definitely a good thing and we are thankful for this!

We would like to thank Karen and Mike (Bryan's sister and brother-in-law) for setting up this blog and providing all the updates and prayer concerns . This blog was a wonderful way to get the word out quick. It was also great encouragement for us to read the comments. We thank you for all those prayers and comments!

Our life is beginning to become somewhat "normal" again. Although Bryan is still home recovering, we are thankful for how far he has come already. According to the doctors, and we have known this ourselves, it is a miracle that Bryan is here with us!

Bryan still gets tired quite easily. In part, this is due to the injury on his brain. Anything that takes concentration is exhausting, because he has to work doubly hard at it. Also, he was not allowed to do anything physical for a long time, so now his body has to work up to where he was before this all began in April.

Most people think, when they see Bryan, that he is totally back to "normal".... but not quite. There are still some challenges for him. He can concentrate, but it is exhausting for him. His physical strength is not quite there, which he is now allowed to work on. His memory is not as sharp. He used to pride himself remembering and knowing peoples names, but has difficulties with that quite often. Most people wouldn't know, because he can be creative in the situation. Often if he remembers a first name, he can't remember the last name etc.. (Now I've given away his secret!) A lot of noise or chaos is sometimes challenging for him. It seems to be hard for him to tune that out. With four small children, this is a challenge!!

An exciting thing for Bryan was that he was given the okay to drive again. This has been great for Bryan. It gives him some freedom to get out and do his own thing! (I must say....it gives me some freedom too!)

Our children are doing great. There are still some bad dreams occasionally, or difficulty when Bryan leaves the house. Overall, we are enjoying spending our time together....(when they are calm and quiet....).

We thank God for the miracle he performed on Bryan. We are thankful to all who prayed for Bryan. We have indeed experienced the power of prayer.

We are not sure how many people still look at this blog, but I will have another post next week. :-)