Our first visitor

Thanks for all your messages, posts, letters, care packages and phone calls. We are feeling good down here in Birmingham.

Ella and I had a treat this weekend when our friend Bridgid came to visit. The weather was mild, 70 degrees, and we spent a lot of time outdoors. The therapy program takes a break on weekends except for the first Saturday when a normal 6-hour session is scheduled. So Bridgid and I went out and walked around the lake at Aldridge Botanical Gardens and bought magnolia and holly branches at their annual greens sale. The apartment is now decorated in true southern style.

On Sunday, Ella had her first day off. We took our most beautiful hike yet, at Moss Rock Preserve. All of these hiking spots, including Oak Mountain State Park, are within a 10-minute drive from our apartment. It's a strange area. We're sandwiched between a Super-Walmart and a Chick-fil-A, but so close to woods and waterfalls.

Moss Rock Preserve is our favorite place so far. It's a popular rock-climbing destination with a boulder field close to the trailhead. Fortunately for us, you can navigate around the boulders pretty easily and follow marked trails that hug the stream. There's a lot more exploring for us to do at the Preserve, but we had a strenuous hike yesterday (strenuous with Ella on my back) that felt like the so-called Cardio Trail, but Bridgid insists was not. Ella enjoyed throwing stones into the stream. She's able to bend down and pick them up herself now and give them a pretty good toss into the water. We're seeing progress every day.

After the hike, we had a picnic on our balcony with Bridgid before she left. We are very grateful to Bridgid for making the trip to see us. We had so much fun with her.

Bridgid was able to hear "Christmas in Dixie" on the radio right before she left, which no trip to Alabama in December would be complete without. And we both bought some Crimson Tide apparel so I believe she had the full experience. Sarah's back today and Ella seems happy to see her and to be playing with all her new toys again. We're counting the days until Greg's return, but we're not counting the hours of therapy anymore.