Evi Walking!!

December 11, 2006

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Evi and her surgery today. Evi did great. We arrived at the hospital at 6 AM. We checked into the hospital as an inpatient for the day, and we were even assigned to our old room where Evi had spent almost 6 weeks. We praise God that Evi was not frightened by the whole process. She woke up from the procedure in a good mood, ready to drink some apple juice. She was excited because the doctor was able to make her cast bright pink. We are so thankful that Evi didn’t have any pain from having her knee stretched and straightened. The plan is to change the cast on January 4^th then every week thereafter until Evi’s leg can be completely straightened.

We also got some good news today. Members of Park Cities Baptist Church were able to find us housing when we return to Dallas. It’s a wonderful answer to prayer and a huge blessing.

We’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family and friends in Arizona. We will be leaving Dallas on Thursday morning and arriving in Flagstaff on Friday evening. Please pray for safe travel and also that the whole family will travel well. It’s a long trip!

God bless and Merry Christmas,

The Hulls Family

Please pray

Tomorrow morning we check into the hospital at 6 AM to prepare little Evi for day surgery. This is not a huge deal, but because of the possible pain involved it will be better if Evi is unconscious. They will be putting her entire left leg in a cast in order to stretch out her knee. Her knee must be able to have full movement so that she can properly use her prosthesis. Please pray for Evi as she will spend the next month or so in this cast. We will then visit physical therapy on Tuesday and Wednesday before we leave for Arizona. We will keep you updated on what we learn on Monday.
Thank you for praying...

December 8, 2006

Hello, here is our latest update on Evi and our family. We spent a lot of last week visiting with the doctor and the physical therapists. Our goal was to stretch Evi’s knee so that she would be able to have full deflection of her knee. Unfortunately after several weeks of this, there was no change in the knee deflection. As a result Evi will be checked into day surgery on Monday in order to put a full cast on her left leg that will force the leg straighter than it was and hopefully gradually stretch the scar tissue that is preventing her from putting her leg straight.

Even with the discouragement of putting Evi in a cast, she has made some great progress in the last week. The wound on her shin is looking remarkably well, and is getting close to the point where it can be fitted for a prosthesis. This is a huge encouragement after two months of setbacks. Please continue to pray that it will heal completely before we return back to Dallas on January 2^nd for further castings or prosthesis fittings. Evi has also learned to use her walker this week and enjoyed showing it off to some friends this afternoon. She still prefers to use her bottom to scoot around but will not be able to scoot with her cast.

We will leave Dallas this next Thursday and will arrive in Flagstaff on the 15^th. We are looking forward to spending some quality time with family and friends while visiting. We would also love to invite you to come and visit with us on Sunday December 17 between 3 and 7 PM or the 19^th between 5 and 8 PM. This will be an informal time to meet and share about our time in Lesotho and our present adventure in America with Evelyn. This will be held at my parents’ house in Flagstaff. Please contact me if you are interested for directions. We are looking forwarding to spending time with you, and thank you for your fervent prayers for Evi during these last 3 months.

As a family we are doing well and adapting to the many changes in our life. Caleb is growing and we are amazed that he is almost 6 months old. Two weeks ago we began to feed him some baby food, and he can’t get enough of the stuff. Mom is tired and has a lot on her plate as she prepares to move once again. She looks forward to the day when she can move somewhere and know that she can stay for a while. I miss flying and going to work everyday, but I’m keeping busy helping to care for Evi and Caleb.

December 1, 2006

Friends and Family,

We returned to Scottish Rite for Evi’s check-up today. We started off the visit with a visit from the Child Life Department. Evi was nominated earlier in the year for the “Hero of the Month” award from the Kid’s Wish Network. They met her with some balloons, a T-Shirt and a gift card. Although Evi had no idea why they were taking her picture or why they gave her balloons she had a good time. Now for the medical side of things: The doctor agrees with us that the wound on her leg is healing. Evi’s knee is also slightly improving, but not significantly enough. The scar on her knee has slowly tightened all of the skin tissue behind the knee, causing it to hurt when the knee is straightened. Beginning on Tuesday, we will begin physical therapy at the hospital 2 or 3 days a week. We are also meeting with Evi’s doctor twice next week. If Evi is not able to straighten her knee by next Friday, the doctor is going to take her to surgery (she will have to be put under) and put a cast on her leg to straighten her knee. Please pray that the physical therapy will be successful and that a cast will not be necessary. The good news is that even if Evi does require a cast, we will still be able to visit Arizona during Christmas for a couple of weeks. We’ll have to return to Dallas the beginning of January for more doctors’ visits and the making of Evi’s prosthetic. If all goes well, Evi will hopefully have her prosthetic and will begin physical therapy sometime in February. February is a little later than we had originally planned which creates a few difficulties, but nothing God can’t handle. For one thing, the mission house that Park Cities Baptist Church has so generously allowed us to use for the past few months will be occupied starting in January. The church is currently exploring other options to help us out with housing, and we’re praying that God will provide just as He always has. We’re so thankful for His provision during this tumultuous and traumatic time. We’re also thankful for all of you who have supported us with your gifts, surrounded us with your prayers, and encouraged us with your love. Please keep praying for our family, specifically for mobility of the knee.

Evi Video

November 28, 2006

Friends and Family,

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Danny, Evi, Caleb and I had lots of fun celebrating Turkey Day with Danny’s aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandmother who came in from Flagstaff, AZ and Fort Collins, CO to celebrate with Danny’s cousin in Allen, TX. Danny and his uncle spent most of the day helping Cousin Steve put up a new fence. Danny enjoyed working again. Visiting with Danny’s family was great. We even took a trip to the Dallas Zoo earlier in the week. We had a great time, but we also missed all of our friends in Lesotho. Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house in Lesotho with about 50 other friends.

Speaking of Lesotho, we would like to ask all of you to pray for that country. Normally Lesotho is fairly safe and politically stable, but with the upcoming elections sometime around January or February, things are become a bit worrisome. Last week a Dutch aid worker with the Clinton Foundation was shot and killed during an assassination attempt on the Minister of Trade in Lesotho. Please pray for the safety of our friends in Lesotho and also for peace for the entire country.

Thank you for all of your prayers for Evi and our family. We went to the doctor on Wednesday for another checkup. The doctor said that the wound is behaving atypically, but currently it is improving. The open wound on her shin continues to improve and get smaller. We are holding our breathe and praying that this trend continues and we don’t take anymore steps backwards in the healing process. The doctor, however, was very, very concerned about Evi’s knee which was broken in 3 or 4 places in the accident. Her knee has become quite swollen, and Evi cannot straighten her leg completely. We were given some physical therapy homework and a leg brace that Evi wears at night to help straighten her knee. Danny and I were afraid that this would become a big battle with Evi, but miraculously she doesn’t seem to mind very much at all. What a blessing! The doctor will re-evaluate her knee on Friday and possible do X-rays if things haven’t improved.

We are still battling with Evi’s weight, but fortunately she hasn’t lost anymore weight this last week. Hopefully we’ve stopped loosing and can start gaining. Evi’s always been a tiny little girl, but now she’s so, so small. Even her 2T pants are falling off of her, and I bought most of her pants before she lost so much weight so I purchased 3T.

We covet your prayers during this time and really appreciate all of your support. The love we’ve received from all of you is one of the things we are most thankful for this holiday season. God bless all of you.

November 27, 2006

Today we were able to take Evi to the Dallas Aquarium. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves, well at least Evi did as Caleb slept the entire time. Evi had a lot of fun watching fish, monkeys, snakes and tons of other critters all over the place. When the weather is nice and we have time it is really nice to get Evi out of the house. This week will be busy with doctor visits for Evi and hopefully by the end of the week we will have a plan for the next few months. Below are some specific prayer requests and praises:

Praise:
* A great thanksgiving with Family
* Evi's leg is starting to heal back up again

Prayer:
* Pray for Evi's scarring on her knee. There is severe scarring on the side of her knee, and this may be limiting movement and causing discomfort when she straightens her leg. X-rays will probably be taken Friday to further look at her knee swelling and pain.
* Pray for health for the entire family, as everyone has been a little sick these last couple days.

It's hard to believe that this week will mark three months since the accident. Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday and other days it feels like it was years ago. We are so blessed to have the assurance that God is in control. I often wondered why Evi was so strong willed and determined. Well, I guess I know now.

November 20, 2006

The last few months have been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Evi's leg was looking better, then worse, then a little bit better again. We are praying that we are now at the end of this cycle. Evi's leg is starting to look much better. The wound is gradually beginning to close up and the mysterious black spots covering her leg are starting to disappear as well. God has blessed us with such an incredible little girl. Through the struggles of a hospital stay and loosing her foot she remains strong beyond her 3 years.
Please continue to pray as there are still things that have to happen before we begin to fit for a prosthetic. A few months ago we were concerned that her leg was always straight and that she would never bend it. Now that Evi is scooting around everywhere she always lifts her leg up to avoid it hitting anything. Now she has a constant bend in her knee and it is painful for her to straighten it. Her knee is also swollen. We have fitted her with what we call a "leg warmer" to keep her leg straight all night long. We are amazed that she has not complained at all about wearing this at night.
Yesterday her Sunday School teacher told me that Evi was talking about getting her new foot and couldn't wait to "run, jump and play" again. We are so excited, and look forward to the day that Evi can walk on her own again. These pictures were taken last week when we went to the Dallas Zoo with my Uncle, Aunt, Grandma and cousin.

November 16, 2006

As many of you know we have been concerned about a large spot on Evi’s shin that was not healing like the rest of her leg. On Tuesday we took her to the doctor and the wound specialist at the hospital. They are concerned about the leg and are unsure exactly what is happening with her large open wound. There are large black spots on a lot of the lower leg that is close to the shin. The fear is that all of these black spots will open back up and become more open wounds. We are using a different kind of bandage and are praying that the leg will close up over the next couple of weeks. Once again the option to go back to the OR for another skin graft is a strong possibility. Please pray with us that her leg would heal without having to have another skin graft. Our next appointment is on Wednesday the 22^nd.

Evi has really made progress and can’t wait to get her new foot so that she can “run and jump” again. She even talks about the rock that fell on her leg. We are very proud of Evi and she is being such a strong little girl. Once again thank you so much for your prayers, phone calls and words of encouragement. You have truly blessed us during this experience. Leslie and I are discouraged that we taking steps backwards. We were fully expecting to be fitted for a prosthetic before Thanksgiving. Now we are praying that we will be able to do this before Christmas. But God is in control, and we are truly blessed by the generosity of Park Cities Baptist Church and particularly an adult Sunday school class that has adopted us during our stay in Dallas.

November 13, 2006

Friends and Family,

Thank you again for all of your prayers. Danny is doing very well. He has a little bit of a black eye from the surgery and a few headaches, but has otherwise healed very well. He’s also very excited to be able to breathe so well. He said he didn’t realize that it was possible to breathe just through your nose without opening your mouth. He had a follow-up appointment with his doctor on Thursday. His doctor said Danny’s deviated septum was one of the worst cases he’d ever seen.

Evi also had an appointment on Wednesday. The doctor was a little baffled by the worsening condition of her leg. He called in a wound specialist who recommended a foam type bandage. The best part was that we didn’t have to give her a bath until yesterday. Usually we have to give her a bath everyday. Yesterday’s bath was not a good experience. Her wound bled a lot, which really scared Evi. Danny and I were disappointed that the wound didn’t look any better, but at least it didn’t look any worse either. In fact, except for the one open wound, the rest of Evi’s leg is looking really well. We are most disappointed that extra time the leg is taking to heal delays us being fitted for the prosthetic. Evi’s next appointment is Tuesday, so we are hoping that the foam bandage begins to help by then.

Evi continues to make progress with her mobility. She’s not only scooting, but also crawling now. She even used her walker a little bit over the weekend (something she had up until now completely refused to even try). Evi’s also enjoying visiting with other kids now. We’ve even taken her to Sunday School twice now. She continues to sing, play, and even dance. Every day I’m amazed by her beautiful spirit. She has started to talk about the “big rock” that fell on her and gave her leg an owie. After that she gets a big grin and shrieks with excitement about the fact that she will get a new foot. She can not wait to run, jump and kick balls again.

Caleb is doing well. He’s still my angel baby, and most of the time he sleeps at least till 5 AM or so. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing. He’s already 4 ½ months old (though he’s beginning to wear 6-9 months clothes!) I feel sorry for him though because Evi requires so much time and attention, taking away from the time we could spend with him. He’s such a wonderful baby and a true joy to be around.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the ladies at Park Cities Baptist Church whose mission house we’ve been staying at. I’ve been attending the Ladies Bible Study and MOPS group. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m still exhausted, but Christ continues to give me strength.

Blessings to all of you,

Leslie & Danny