Sorry for the break in blog posts. Work has been busy and we now have a houseguest staying with us, Hannah Wachdorf, my lovely sister-in-law and Dan's baby sister, so our lives are much more interesting than usual and I don't have time for y'all. (Just kidding.) But for those of you who read this site to stay updated on Aaron and Kelly, here's an update.

Kelly has moved most of their belongings into their apartment in Starkville. They aren't going to be taking up permanent residence there immediately, but they were able to get their things out of storage and start getting the apartment set up like they want it, with some help from parents.

As of Monday, Aaron is also in Starkville, to spend some time with Kelly and take a break from D.C. Right now, Aaron is at kind of a slow spot in his recuperation, and there's no reason he needs to be in D.C. constantly. As some of you may remember, Aaron had to have a skin graft a couple of months after his amputation. Although that needed to be done and the graft was largely succesful, it proved to be the most trying part of this whole process because it took so long to heal. Aaron had healed up enough to be fitted for a prosthetic at some point in June, but he continued to have trouble with a small, small spot of skin on his leg not wanting to heal all the way. This was very frustrating, because in every other aspect, Aaron is totally able to move forward in his physical therapy, and being held back by something that small was like getting sidelined from a football game because you have a mosquito bite. Within the last few weeks, Aaron volunteered to be a kind of guinea pig for a new device the military hospitals are testing out for stubborn wounds like his. I don't really understand how it works, but the basic idea is that the patient uses some kind of contraption that directs pure oxygen to the area in an attempt to provide the best possible circulation and encourage the tissue to make the final step towards being completely healthy. The great news is that it appears to have worked. Aaron's skin is, at the moment, completely healed up, and for that we're very, very thankful. Like I said, he is taking some time off of therapy right now to take it easy and make sure that his newly-formed skin has plenty of time to get strong so that it can consistently bear his weight and the friction of a prosthetic. Please pray with us that this would be the last time Aaron has to deal with this particular issue. He is physically fit and ready to get back to walking all the time if this one thing stays stable.
Aside from that, please pray for safety the Rice family in general, as Aaron and Kelly will be traveling, and Ryan and our newest college student Hannah Ruth Rice will also be starting the process of moving up to Starkville this week, with help from Mom and her white Chevy Suburban, affectionately nicknamed the Big White Burrito. Honk if you see them on the road.
Thanks for checking in, y'all. We love you.