Week filled with fun...

Charb has been enjoying all the company and all the craziness around him! Yesterday, we went on our first outing with the entire family. We all took a drive down to Graves Island near Chester and spent the afternoon picnicking near the ocean. It's the first time Charb has been on a trip that far from home. He did so well, he was happy, laughing, and enjoying the sunshine! We all felt so blessed that Charbel was with us and that we could all enjoy each other.

Charb also went to Smiley's park with the kids earlier this week and had a great time watching them running around and playing. When we're at home, we make the most of the backyard by bringing Charb outside and eating our meals there with him.

Tonight, Charbie took a trip down to our friend Mark's new house and spent the evening with Mark and the family lighting fireworks and enjoying a BBQ.

All in all, it's been a busy week full of good times and great memories. Charb has been soaking it all in and lovin all the family around him.

Check out the album for new pictures of Charbel and the family!

New Photos of Fun with the Family :-)

Check the Photo Album for new pics of Charb and family. New videos will be added in a couple days.

Here's a really sweet pic of Charbel and his cousin Samer!

Family Reunion!!!!

We are lucky enough this summer to have a whole bunch of family members coming to visit us from around the world! Many of them have not seen Charbel since before he 'woke up' last summer, and some have not seen him since before the accident. None the less, everyone is amazed and overjoyed by the progress he has made so far. We have aunts, uncles and cousins galore...in all there will be 32 people at our house this summer...for almost a month!

Charbie has been really happy to see everyone. We thought that he'd be overwhelmed by all the noise, but Charbie is taking it in stride, in fact he's enjoying all the attention! He loves arm wrestling and playing thumb wars with the kids and relaxes to the massages of Tante Janet. It's fun and exciting to see everyone together, thankfully, this summer Charb can interact with everyone and share in all the fun and laughter!

Introducing Ellen!

Since Charb will be home full time now, we hired Ellen to come help mom with Charb's daily routine, and to help Charb with his exercises and speech. Ellen has a very interesting background and has a great deal of expereince in the health care industry. She and Charb get along really well - when he doesn't want to do something he let's her know with a big loud 'NO!' And when she talks to much Charbie just tells her to be quiet, it's pretty funny :-)

Ellen super enthusiastic and loud and does well motivating Charbie and explaining to him why he has to do all kinds of vocal and physical exercises. We look forward to working with Ellen and Charbie looks forward to her cheerful voice every day!

Welcome on board Ellen!

Here's a pic of Charb greeting Ellen...

Picture of Charb and the great guys that brought him home!

Home Sweet Home

Well, Charb has been home for over a week now, and it's been awesome having him here! Getting him upstairs was actually pretty easy thanks to some friends at EHS. Two strong guys brought him up in a special chair, the whole thing takes about 5 minutes. He's been in the living room since! It's so nice having him around when we are all having lunch and dinner, just hanging out watching TV. His apartment is about a week or two away from completion. Although it will be sad to see him go (even if it is only across the driveway) it's good for him to have a little space of his own. There's a lot more room there for him to do his exercises and he'll have a special bathroom so that he can take real showers.


Charb got upstairs with the help of MLA Chuck Porter and Ryan and Jerry -they were the two medics on the scene of Charbel's accident and stopped by to see him whenever they get a chance ever since. When they heard that a stretcher was needed to get Charbel upstairs, they were really happy to volunteer! Thanks guys, and thank you to Chuck Porter and Richard Dauphinee who organized everything.

NEWS FLASH!!!

Charbie is finally coming home for good! He's finished two months at rehab (more about that in a later post) and he's coming home today! Everyone is excited, especially Charb, who can't wait to be home. Charb's apartment has been under renovations for the past month or so, and things are moving along. It should be ready for him to live in by the end of next week.

In the meantime....

Charb has been telling us all the time that he wants to go to his "real" house, the house he grew up in. Unfortunately, because it on the second storey, it was too steep to build a ramp and we haven't been able to bring him up. But, thanks to some wonderful friends, we have found a way to bring Charb upstairs, and he'll be home with us for the whole weekend! This will be the first time he's been at his family house since the accident. It will be great to be in familiar surroundings once again.

I promise to update more about this weekend and Charb's progress soon, and look out for some new pics and videos!