Merry Christmas, Heartfelt thank you for all your love and support and all the best in 2012!!

It has been almost 4 weeks since Henry's surgery and we have been meaning to update this blog.   Henry and our family have continued in our recovery and progress.  Below (left) is a photo of Henry just 2 weeks post-surgery.  On the right is a photo of the boys horsing around at about 3 weeks post-surgery.. Henry's scar continues to improve and fade (they do make the incision in the same location and attempt to minimize new scarring).  On the right, you can see the scars from where the drains were (the 3 holes moving horizontally across Henry's belly.. the middle one is worst, but only had the stitch removed days before this picture).

We talk about our family recovering... You don't actually realize the state & severity of stress that you become used to.  In our process, we have worried constantly since February when we learned Henry had a problem with his heart. I think we believed the stress would evaporate upon arriving home after such a successful surgery with the preferred procedure and with Henry flourishing.  It isn't quite accurate and we share this for those going through a similar process.  It is almost like post-traumatic stress (as we define it as a lay person) - sometimes small stresses like Magnus almost falling produce an over-reaction response like an adrenaline rush followed by a feeling of complete depletion ... Sleep was initially very disrupted upon our return... and our appetites were pretty much nil for several weeks... perhaps these are the result of such a high state of stress for such a long time??   It is getting better for us all, but if you are going through this, know that the stress doesn't just disappear.... it seems to be more of a dissipation..

We also think a lot about the many families we met during our times in Edmonton.  We wish that complications didn't have to happen and feel heavy hearts for the families still facing much stress and uncertainty.  We feel sad that many of them are still in Edmonton and away from their families over this holiday season.

We are getting back to living regular life, enjoying our kids, and generally our life together.  For Hal, he has had the additional task of returning to business and giving renewed focus to his goals there... not an easy transition with all that has and is going on.

It's hard to believe that only a few short weeks ago our whole family was uprooted and Henry had such a complicated and serious operation.  Here we are enjoying Christmas Eve.

Here is Henry enjoying a Christmas morning snuggle with Daddy.  No one has been happier to be home than Henry. It is a rare moment that he isn't smiling.

Here's what we really looked forward to when we knew Henry had a problem with his heart..... him being able to horse around with Daddy just like his brothers do!! Magnus is in red, Owen on the left and Henry on the right.

We have continually tried to thank the many wonderful friends and family in our lives through this process.  If you ever doubt the goodness of people, there is nothing like a health problem or crisis to bring out the best in people.  The week before Christmas, we had a call from a good friend to let us know she and a friend were going to take care of the kids while we went out to get Christmas organized for ourselves and the kids.  There was no question of "would you like us to" and no option given except to pick the day... So, for the first time in 7 months, we were able to go out for several hours with no kids, but knowing the kids were in good hands.  What an amazing gift. Thank you so much Yvonne and TJ.  Only a few days ago, another wonderful gift.... Our friends Cynthia, Greg, and Yvonne and Brian (same Yvonne that organized to take care of the kids) called us to let us know they had arranged Christmas dinner for our family from the Westin.  What a beautiful, kind, and wonderful gesture.  We can't thank you enough for this. Dinner was wonderful.  There would have been no way we could have prepared this kind of Christmas dinner ourselves this year. This year we needed this family meal more than we ever have before. Here are Hal and Magnus checking out the spread.

As we see 2011 coming to a close, we are just so happy and relieved in how our process has gone. That said, we hope and pray that all will go well with the families we know who are at various stages of recovery, but also families who are faced with new challenges, unknowns and stresses.  We hope we can be there for them as so many have been for us...

Merry Christmas to you all and all the very best to you in 2012.  Love from the Kuntze5.  The last parting picture is Henry - first up on Christmas morning, sharing some special alone time with mommy. I don't know who needed this more, but what a nice gift from Henry to mommy.