Happy October Everyone!! 

I wanted to jump on here and give everyone an update on everything. So here it is…


Bret- He is now at a new facility in Lancaster. He has been adjusting very well there. My parents felt this was the best for his care and recovery. Here he continues to get therapy 5 days a week and is working very hard! 
  We praise everyone at this facility for going above and beyond with accommodating Bret & making sure all of his needs are met. We especially want to thank Kourtney and Justin who work with Bret VERY closely on a regular basis and have open communication with my parents. From there, as a team they map out Bret’s treatment plans. SO THANK YOU Kourtney and Justin!!!! 
  Here’s a little bit about Bret’s care…
  In speech and occupational therapy, he is still working on his swallowing. He has a swallowing test this coming Thursday to determine if he can get rid of the purées and move into more solid foods. Bret does not like his food puréed so he sometimes gets frustrated with the taste and consistency. With that being said, he does still get feedings through his peg tube, to make sure he is still gaining weight. The facility does not have people qualified to do it with their staff, so close family and friends have been going in 4 times A DAY, EVERYDAY, to help Bret get the adequate food intake. We can not thank you enough to all those showing up day after day to help with this task! 
 In physical therapy, he’s still working very hard learning to walk. He can carry his weight and help assist by moving his body. He still needs supported and is learning to use more of his left foot by using a new brace. He is also still trying to learn to gain strength in his left arm. (His left side of the body was affected by the injury to his brain). He will be getting another shot of Botox to help with the spasticity.
  Bret is getting a lot of visitors, which we are so thankful for. Bret knows who everyone is. He laughs and smiles and communicates to everyone. We see the “old” Bret. We praise God for this because with the accident just being 7 months ago, fresh in our minds, we still have a lot of emotions…but we finally see hope! 
  Even though Bret shows positive emotions, He struggles with expressing his negative emotions. This may take time or he may never be the same in that aspect. with everything he is dealing with, we expect him to be sad at times and THATS OKAY, but we just don’t see it yet. His brain is still healing and we are here with waiting arms when he processes everything and grieves the loss of his wife. 
  Bret just recently went to his first “outing”. He went to his aunt Denise’s wedding. He had fun being with his kids and seeing the entire family. He even went to his boys football games and baseball game. We are trying to get him out for a little at a time, but still understand that we can not have too much stimulation. It’s been a blessing to have him come to family things again. 



Now onto the kiddos- The kiddos just got back from Florida with their Uncle Ryan and Grandma. They all had a great time! They fished, went to the zoo, went snorkeling and did lots of swimming. 
  The boys football has come to an end and Owen only has another week left of fall baseball. 
    Owen recently got braces and he is very excited about it! He’s been very responsible with cleaning his equipment and eating only certain things. 
   I’ve been checking in on their teachers, guidance counselor’s and their grades. They all are doing so good in school! We are so proud of them with how well they are doing, we even took them to Dunkin donuts the other morning to praise them for all their hard work! 
Halloween is coming and all the kids are excited about it. they all have their costumes and are ready to get so much candy! 
  With fall, comes holidays. This year will look very different then what they’ve known for their whole lives. We will navigate it as a family and support them. We just ask for prayers as we try to emotionally support them through all of it. We want them to have fun, enjoy it but also still remember all the fun holidays they had with their mommy. Our goal is to have Bret be there with them for Christmas morning so they can enjoy it as a family.

Amanda- We want to remind everyone about Amanda’s “Celebration of life”. It will be on November 3rd at 7pm, at the LCBC in Manheim. It’s going to be rough evening, but we are glad we can spend the night all coming together because of the love we all had for her!

We would like to let everyone know that Bret will be there for the gathering. It will be VERY overwhelming for him and we want him to be present in his emotions and hope this night will help with his healing process. with that being said, we are taking precautions to allow Bret to be there, but also fulfill his needs. The stimulation might become a lot for him. If you could refrain from all coming up to him at once, we would appreciate it! He will be excited to see all of you, but we want to be careful he doesn’t become over stimulated where he’d have to leave and not be able to process Amanda. Bret would want all of you focused on Amanda anyways, rather then making it about him. Thank you all for your understanding! 

Lastly, we just thank you again for your continued prayers and support. You all are still showing up, even 7 months after the accident. The fear of us doing it all on our own, is crippling so please know…your caring hearts go a LONG way in our eyes. We couldn’t do this all without any of you! God has shown up time and time again, and we just continue to praise him as well for always knowing the plan so we don’t have to worry. He wears the burden for us so we can be strong enough for these children and Bret. We Thank God for always being with us. 💚

Looking  for someway to support?! Come out to the motorcycle ride on Sunday! Food and music from 2-5pm! We thank Iron Saber for coordinating this! (It will be posted all over FACEBOOK this week incase you need more details! 

We also want to thank everyone who organized the 5K! It was a rainy day, but the efforts DID NOT go unnoticed!! We thank you all for loving the family to put that all together! The kiddos surely enjoyed walking in the rain with all of you!!