Remember the ramp?

Well, its coming. In case you missed it, here is the link to that post: original ramp post. For those of you who want a short cut: our awesome friends who work in construction have offered to raise $10,000 for us to tear down our old porch and build a new one with a wheelchair ramp attached so that getting Olivia in and out of the house is do-able. Please, please, please go back up and read the older ramp post. It contains all the information about the budget, how this project came to be, and pictures of what our porch looked like and the plan for the new porch and ramp. All VERY important information. There are a few things to update you on concerning this project, so here we go:

1. First of all, not really a ramp update, but an Olivia update. Things are about the same-- moving forward very slowly. She is still on the ventilator in ICU, but they are getting rid of meds and turning her settings down everyday, so we don't know when she will be either out of PICU or at home, but we are praying things continue to progress.

2. The work on the ramp HAS STARTED!!! We couldn't believe it, but last Saturday, 15 of our friends showed up in the bitter cold (I think the high was 30 degrees) to finish the first phase of the ramp project--demolition. After our porch was no more, they poured the concrete footings for the new porch. From what I understand, there will be 3 or 4 more work days before the entire project will be finished.

3. We have enough money raised to finish a large part of the project, but we don't have all $10,000. With the incredible generosity of so many people, we have raised $8,000 of the budget. If you or someone you know is interested in helping us raise the last of the $2,000, please read this letter from those responsible for the project to understand how to donate: ramp letter.

Thanks to everyone who is helping to make this happen for our family. Brian and I are driven to tears to think that people would be moved to help us in such a huge and practical way. With that said, a special thanks to the people in these photos, who froze their rears off last Saturday.

It even looks cold in the pictures, doesn't it?