Happy First Day of Winter on Monday

Thankful at Thanksgiving

I am thankful for all the moments in my life. That I have been married to the same man for almost 35 years. (thankful most of the time) That I had been able to be the mother to 3 wonderful, fantastic sons. That I work in a wonderful enviroment where my co-workers are my best friends. That I live in a great neighbor, city, state and country. That I came from a large family of 2 brothers and 2 sisters. That my parents chose to have another child after 6 years. That I was able to grow up in a stable family. That my longtime friends know all about me and are still my longtime friends. That I have in-laws that are the best. That my mother-in-law is able to spend Thanksgiving with us. I am thankful for all that has been given to me.

P.S. GO BYU!!!!

Veterans Day-THANK YOU!!!

Dear Soldiers,

I just want to take a minute and thank soldiers for their selflessness. They go all over the world and have to leave their families at home. They put their lives on the line for our freedom. They are my Hero! Thank you for your constant bravery and giving up so much of yourself for your country.

Happy Halloween!!!

I forgot to post this on Friday or Saturday. So it is a little late.

Happy Birthday, MOM!

Dear Mom,
Happy Birthday! I love and miss you so much. I am so thankful that you are there to care for my sons until I can be with them again. Thanks for being a great example of a mom and grandma. Remember how we used to tease you about being born on Columbus Day, asking always if you were born in 1492! You were such a great sport to take our kidding in stride. Again I love you and thanks for being my MOM!

First day of Autumn

Tuesday was the first day of Autumn. Seasons are changing. Life goes on. Life has changed. I go to work, I come home, I keep busy. If not then my thoughts wander to loneliness. I know there are people around but some days I just feel alone. Not feeling so up beat all of the time. I think that you can put on a happy face and try to convince others that you are alright. Sometimes it is hard to convince yourself. Everything is alright with me, I guess with the change of seasons I reflect on the changes in my life.

Here is Ryan's headstone - it so reflects his personality. Racing, #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., PUGS and he loved cruising. We do not need to know what tomorrow holds in store as long as we fully live today.

Anniversary

Six years ago on August 15th, my oldest Brad passed away. He was 22 years old. When he was diagnosed at age 5, this was devastating. All of your hopes and dreams for you child's future are smashed. You have no idea what to expect or what the future will hold for them or yourself. He was always a happy kid even dealing with this diagonosis. We tried to make his life happy and fulfill his dreams that we could. I had always told him if I could take the disease away and give it to myself I would, that was never his wish. But he was hoping that would find a way to cure or atleast be able to slow down the process. I love you, Brad. This disease called Muscular Dystropy (Duchenne) is a disabling disease, when you see the firemen out collecting with their boots on Labor Day weekend and the Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon on Labor Day please donate to them. This will not help my boys who have already passed away at a young age, but the research could help to find a way to end this life shortening disease for other boys with this same disease..

Summertime

It is August already, how time flies. Year round school has already started, I will have a birthday in a few weeks, Football season will be here. I just try to keep busy that helps me to get through these dog days of summer. I know it gets easier as I have been there before. Thanks to everyone who just lets me deal with this on my on pace. I really do know that I have the best support group ever.

Six Months Ago

Six months ago my life completely changed. I am not sure if I am moving forward, or stuck in the same place, or moving in reverse. Life moves forward no matter what, I guess we just move along with it.

Kenny Chesney

Went to the Kenny Chesney concert last Thursday night at Rio Tinto Stadium (not the best place for a concert) - WOW

Miranda Lambert - So-So

Lady Antebellum - Really Good

Kenny Chesney - Priceless!

Well now the funeral is over, we have gone on another cruise to Alaska, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Ryan's birthday, Graduation day, Father's Day, 4th of July and now everyday is here. Each day gets a little easier, just living one day at a time.

We are heading home! Today we will fly from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Salt Lake. We are ready to be going home, we return the rental car and head to the airport. When we check in, I mention to Lyman to see if they have berevment fares. They no longer offer anything, but we did get upgraded in Ft. Lauderdale to first class from here to Atlanta. That was so nice and relaxing. We had a couple of hours layover in Atlanta. We checked in there to see if we could get an upgrade, but the flight was completely sold out. So we kept our coach seats, that were not together though (what do you expect for booking at the last minute). The gentlemen sitting in the sit next to me did offer to move as long as it was an aisle seat, which luckily it was just on the other side of the aisle. That was so nice of him, if not I probably would have cried all the way home (what a baby), I was just at the point that I could not deal with the flight sitting next to a complete stranger not knowing what we had just been through. A surprise to me Lyman had started writing the obituary, I had no clue. I was thinking about who should be the pall bearers, who should speak, who should participate, and what songs meant the most to Ryan. I started to type up a program, because this was Thursday and the funeral was Tuesday. We knew Lyman's sister and brother-in-law, niece and her husband and their daughter were coming to Salt Lake. Lyman's aunt's funeral was going to be Saturday, so we knew that we would see a lot of family there at her funeral. Mindy was so kind to pick us up at the airport. It was so good to see a familiar face, someone that knew what we were going through. We headed to our house. We are stopped at a red light - Mindy and I are just talking and recapping all of the events that have happened. Next thing we know Lyman is yelling "honk that truck is backing into you." Luckily there was no damage, it was just like he had drifted back into her car. Hopefully this was not a sign of bad things to come. We pulled into the circle and our neighbors came to unlock the door. Again so good to see someone who knew. They were really close to Ryan, it was sad and good to see them. Thanks to everyone at Princess, to all of our family and friends who helped us to get through this. A celebration of Ryan's life will be on Tuesday.

It is now Wednesday. Lyman called to see where the coroner was at, they were still not ready to release Ryan's body to the mortuary. He didn't want to yell at them, possibly it would slow down the process. He did call the mortuary again to see if they could help. Well it looked like we would not be going home today. We decided to go out and visit the Everglades. They are within driving distance. We drove across Alligator Alley and then came back to the Everglades. Before entering the Everglades we ate a an Indian Restaurant across from the entrance to the Park. We had Navajo (or Seminole) Tacos. They were good. Then we went to the park and decided to take the shuttle tram out around the loop. Just as it is our time to board the shuttle we get a call from the mortuary that they have Ryan's body and that he has been scheduled to fly home tomorrow. Lyman calls the travel agent and gives them all of the informatiion about his flight and tells them we need to be on the flgiht with Ryan. Thanks to them we were on exactly the same flight and all of us could fly home together. We finished the tram tour and headed back to Ft. Lauderdale. We took the scenic route back and came throught Miami (Little Havana Section). It was interesting to see, but we keep the doors locked. We are going to head home in the morning. What a relief. Now call and let everyone know when we will be there and see if someone will pick us up at the airport. We had Linda and Dan take the van home, to eliminate extra parking charges. Mindy will come and pick us up. Thank you! Things seem to be going well and we decided to schedule the funeral for Tuesday as Lyman's aunt's funeral was going to be Saturday. There were some coming from out of town so we needed to set a date.

Here we are Port Everglades, we are supposed to take our one bag and leave everything else on the ship for about a month (our stuff will be cruising the Caribbean). Report to the medical center by 8:00 a.m.. Linda and Dan will be disembarking at their regular time. We will not see them again until we return to Salt Lake. Their flight leaves the p.m.. The Broward county Sheriff's were very nice and understanding, they just had to follow the protocol for these kind of things. By this time is about 11:00 a.m. After they came then the coroner was to pick up Ryan's body. The Cruise lady from Princess came and escorted us off of the ship. We got to avoid any crowds or the hustle and bustle. We were told a room had been reserved for us by Princess near the airport so that as soon as we could leave there was a shuttle that would take us to the airport. We had hoped that everything would move quickly and we would be going home tomorrow. Lyman had not brought the charger for the cell phone, as he thought we would not be needing it, because we were originally only going to be in Ft. Lauderdale for a few hours. We made a few calls from the hotel and used the cell phone as little as possible to keep the charge. Lyman called Linda and Dan to see if they had seen a Verizon phone store anywhere in the area, they were out looking for the Hard Rock Cafe. We had looked in the phone book, but wasn't sure of the address. Linda was trying to call back on the hotel phone, but Lyman didn't tell me she would be calling back. I was talking to Mindy, recapping all of the details that we had gone through. Linda kept trying to call and couldn't get through. She had found a store and had bought a charger. Soon there is a knock at the door, I thought it was someone from the hotel bringing up the luggage. Surprise it was Linda and Dan (who I didn't think we would see until returning to Salt Lake). They had been driving by and Linda noticed the hotel from the freeway, and said to Dan is that an H on that building? They found our hotel and brought the charger. We try to plug it in and it doesn't start charging. What to do? They have a short time before they have to leave. The Verizon store is not to far from the hotel. We quickly run back over and take the phone to be sure that the charger works. Luck has it we had a bad charger. Got a new one, they let me run into Quizno's and grab Lyman and I lunch. We returned to the hotel and they needed to be off. (Wow sometimes miracles do happen). It looked like we would not be leaving until last Wednesday and now more into Thursday. The coroner's office said to pray that there were no homicides that night, so that Ryan would be their priority. At this point Lyman decided we should rent a car and not stay in and stare at the 4 walls. The travel agency was able to help us with this task. We took the airport shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car. Then we decided that we should at least look around Ft. Lauderdale (we had never been here before), so we drove past the port to see the Coral Princess just getting ready to leave. We took some pictures as it was leaving. Decided to eat at Bubba Gumps for dinner. Things were progessing slowly, we called the funeral home in Ft. Lauderdale to see if they could help us speed things up. We just wanted to bring Ryan...HOME!

5 months ago today Ryan passed away. Sometimes it seems like it has been forever and other times only a few days. Just living life one day at a time.

Here we are it is the last full day of our wonderful Panama Canal Cruise. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? We are supposed to pack our bags that are staying on the ship with the wheelchair and leave them in the room. Bring the bag that we are taking with us down to the Medical Center in the morning. We will be in Port Everglades tomorrow A.M. the doctor said that we would need to talk to the Broward County Sheriff's department and the coroner would pick up Ryan's body. Today reminiscing about Ryan, trying to decide on a date for the funeral, who to call when we get off, who to have speak at the funeral, not really the end to the trip that I had expected. Linda and Dan will disembark on their regular schedule. We will now be here alone waiting for the coroner to release Ryan. This last day seems like a blur, I don't recall everything we did this last day. Probably played Bingo, got packed, and ate some great food.

Super Bowl Sunday - Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Phoenix Cardinals. We are at sea heading toward Fort Lauderdale. Today on the ship they had an Italian Pasty Buffet that was extremely wonderful. There was also an ice sculpture exhibition. It was so cool to see the artist just carve away at the ice, never stopping and stepping back to view the sculpture. What a great job he did, it was a seagull on a wave. We played bingo twice this day. Lyman went to the Art Auction to bid on the Navigational chart from our Panama Canal Cruise. He got the bid! It was going to be formal night and we decided to get our picture done as a group. There was Linda, Dan, Lyman and I. It was Molly that took our picture in black in white. It turned out really good. Probably one of the best pictures that I have taken. I usually don't photograph very well. We went to the Newlywed, not so Newlywed gameshow in the Explorers Lounge. What fun it was even just to play along and see where you would have scored. Then we attended the Champagne Waterfall Party. A tower of champagne glasses that they poured champagne over starting at the top.

Aruba, Jamaica o-o-o I want to take you. Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty Mama! Aruba would be our next stop. Dr. Lindsay said it would be OK to get off the ship in Aruba. Dan, Linda, Lyman and I went out in the rain. This was the only port day that we had rain. It was still warm though, but very muggy. It finally stopped raining when we were walking through town. We did not have an excursion planned, just walking through town to pick up on some of the deals in the shopping book. Linda did find some jewelery to purchase, I was going to buy some pearl earrings, since I thought I had lost one of mine. But, the earrings were sold out! Linda and Dan wanted to go to the Hard Rock in Aruba, so Lyman and I went along. They just hailed a cab in town, told him where they wanted to go, and we were off. On the return trip there was a cab loading zone, so we just caught the cab back to the pier. How adventuresome to just catch a cab, usually we had to be sure that there was transportation for wheelchairs. This time there was no wheelchair with us. This was our last port on the trip, we would now we at sea for a couple of days and then back for Fort Lauerdale and Port Everglades.

Our next port is Cartegena, Colombia. Dr. Lindsay advised us again that we should probably stay on ship, just in case there is an inquiry about Ryan's death. He said "if there is a problem he would be able to take care of it". Linda & Dan had an off shore excursion already planned and they also wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe. Lyman had gone on his walk about earlier and had already eaten breakfast. He was going to attend a presentation about navigation so I went to breakfast by myself. Several times both Lyman and Dan had gone up and ate by their selves. I was sitting by myself eating breakfast and one of the restaurant workers came up to me and said you look awfully lonely! Did I? I had not realized that, I also wondered (as Dr. Lindsay had said to us) the ship is like a small city he may have known that I was the mother who had lost her son. When Lyman was finished, I went with him on walk about. He had discovered all the cool places on the ship and showed me around. Linda and Dan came back from their off shore excursion later that afternoon and we had dinner at the Horizon Court Buffet. We attended one of the Big Production shows that night. Had I looked lonely? I thought that I was hiding it well. I had not been consistenly crying (except in the shower and then no one knows that you are). I think we were aware that someday soon Ryan was going to pass away, just not that it was going to be yesterday. To be continued. . .

Well now what to do? We could go back to the room and grieve for Ryan, but what would Ryan want us to do? Dr. Lindsay said to make any calls that we needed ($5.00 a minute ship to shore) and they would take care of the charges. I called my sister Lynda, Lyman's brother Dave, Holloways, and work. Everyone was as surprised as we were. Ryan had been feeling great and had not given any indications that he was not. We are in the Panama Canal, not just at home or in a hospital, but the Panama Canal! Ryan would want us to experience the trip through the canal. (I think this maybe a reason he passed on, because he could not wake up and didn't want us to have to get off the ship in Panama). This was probably a once in a lifetime deal. He had shown me on Tuesday where he was going to sit when we went through the canal. I showed Lyman the location, he stayed there all day took pictures and experienced the canal for Ryan exactly where he would have been. It was quite impressive and I am glad that we decided to go out and view the locks, the lake, the bridges, the Gaillard Cut, all of this is part of the Panama Canal. One of the ship's photographers, Molly, had met Ryan and us during the bridge tour, she didn't know he had died. She was off on the locks taking pictures and gave us a thumbs up, we gave her the thumbs down. Then she knew what had happened. When we were cruising on the lake I went to get something to eat. It had been since 10:00 p.m. last night that I had tried to eat something, I was feeling a little weak and had an upset stomach. Plus I had been up for about 36 hours. Linda and Dan had made a sign to hold as we were in the canal and they got their picture taken and they were also in the ships DVD. Linda came to find me and see how things were going. It was OK, but then so odd. I have been someones care giver for approximately 28 years, now I was not a care giver anymore. We then went and find Lyman and Dan (Lyman was still in the same location). We finished cruising the lake and then entered the Gatun Locks in the afternoon, this would take the ship back down to the Caribbean Ocean on the east side of the canal. I would highly recommend a cruise through the canal, it was quite the experience. We finished going through the locks and then on our way to Cartegena, Columbia. At dinner we sat in the same location that we usually did, there was a woman who had been on one of our off shore excursions that had spoke to Ryan before. She asked where he was, I had to tell her that he had passed away earlier that a.m. Also, we had met a couple from New Jersey in the airport in Salt Lake and had seen her earlier that week with Ryan. She saw me in the elevator and asked about Ryan, I had to tell her about his death. She was so sweet and had only met Ryan but felt a connection to him. She offered her condolences and wished us God's blessings. To be continued. . .

Now it is Thursday. Early a.m. about 1:00 a.m. We still are preparing to leave the ship at 6:00 a.m. We had the best care that could be available, the doctors and nurses went out of the way to explain everything that they were doing and why. About 1:30 a.m. things start changing, Ryan's vitals are dropping just a few numbers at a time. The nurse and the doctor are concerned about Ryan's output. With all of the IV fluids that they are pumping into him, not much was flowing through him. It appears that his kidneys were shutting down, next his vital numbers were still dropping a few numbers at a time. At about 2:30 a.m. Dr. Lindsay suggested that I call Lyman as things were not looking good. I had been through this before with Brad and it was so much the same (I think that it was harder on the doctor and nurse going through this). Before Lyman got there his vital numbers start jumping up and down on the scale from High to Low. Exactly what Brad did. Lyman got there and I said "this is so much like Brad". I think I knew that this was going to be the end. This was about 2:45 a.m. numbers are still widely fluctuating, up and down. Ryan takes one last gasp (he never did wake up, but in Ryan's own way he wanted us to be able to go through the canal). The numbers all flat line, all of his organs were shutting down. Ryan passed away at 2:55 a.m. just prior to entering the Panama Canal. Lyman calls our friends Linda and Dan and lets them know. They come down to the hospital to be with us, how special it was that they were there so that we were not alone. Thanks again to them for their love and being our support during this time. We are not sure, do we still have to get in Panama? We are able just to sit and spend time with Ryan. The hospital is on level 4 so we are down were there are portholes to look through. We check it out just as the pilot boards our ship and we pass under the Bridge of the Americas. Now we are on approach to the first lock in the canal. The doctor pulls Lyman out (Dan does go with him), they discuss what we do now. They call me over to discuss this also (Linda stays with Ryan so he his not left alone). The doctor advises us that the best thing to do would be to stay on the ship and finish the cruise to Port Everglades, Florida. Getting off in a foreign country could cause us to have to stay up to a month before returning to Utah. They do have a morgue on the ship and we can remain on board. WOW what a decision. But we have come to trust Dr. Lindsay and realize that staying on board would be best. He advised that this would give us time to grieve together. He also advises us that we can stay with Ryan as long as needed, but they would need to transfer him either before 8:00 a.m. or after 1:30 p.m. to avoid a lot of confusion with the crew. This was about 6:45 a.m.. Linda and Dan left and went to their room as we were getting ready to enter the first lock and they have been up since early that morning, too. We stayed with Ryan until about 7:45 a.m. and said our last goodbyes. Then we left him . . .to be continued

A day at sea. Today there were no early morning off shore excursions, a day to sleep in. Lyman woke up early and went out on his walk-about and to get breakfast. I said to him, "pick up some cereal for Ryan and bring back with you." Ryan was still sleeping, it was almost 10:00 a.m., I thought well we should get Ryan waking up and doing all of his morning routine. I gave him a nudge, he didn't budge. I sat down by him and did things that would anoy him, tickle his nose or bug his toes. No response. At this time I am getting concerned and try to find his pulseometer to check his vitals. No Luck! Now getting a little more concerned. I call my friend and asked her if she can find Lyman. She sends her husband, Dan to look for him and comes down to our room. Just a few seconds later Lyman walked in, I said call Dan & Linda and tell them you are here. Linda came down anyway. Lyman, also could not get him to respond. At this time I called 911 on the ship and they sent a medical team to our room. They also could get no response, but his vitals were good. They asked me if he was diabetic? No, that is a questions no one had ever asked about Ryan. They said that he was dehydrated. Lyman then lifted him into his reclined power chair to transfer him to the ship's hospital. Still his vital signs were good. Just not waking up. The day goes on and he still continues with no response. About 6:00 p.m., after some wonderful care by the medical staff, we were advised by Dr. Lindsay that we would have to disembark the ship in the Panama Canal as they could not continue with long term care on the ship. He felt that Ryan needed a cat-scan as to what had happened to his brain and why he was not responding. (The only thing I could think about was that I did not speak Spanish and with my luck I would fall off of the gangway in the early hours and fall into the Panama Canal). We would have to be ready at 6:00 a.m. to get off the ship. This meant packing that night to be ready to get off promptly. We would not get to go through the canal. But, we needed to know what was wrong with Ryan. I had been with him most of the day. Lyman stayed while I went to eat something and pack what was needed. It is a good thing my friend, Linda was there as I could not focus on what I needed! I needed to eat something as I hadn't eaten at all. We went to the Buffet, I tried to eat something since I didn't know when the next time food would be available. I returned to the hospital about 11:00 p.m. so that Lyman could finish the packing and we would be ready to get off. During the next hour I keep talking to Ryan and said "You need to wake up or we will have to get off and not be able to go through the canal." This was his dream trip to take this Panama Canal cruise . . . to be continued

Now we are in Costa Rica. What a fun day. The off shore excursion tour that Ryan, Linda and Dan and I went on was power wheelchair accessible. We took a bus tour through the countryside to the first stop at a small restaurant and gift shop, were you could look out to the ocean and see our ship. Next a little town and church were children were performing their native dances. Then a stop at a fruit and souvenir stand, before returning to the dock. Lyman, however did a different off shore excursion. He went on the train and boat tour. He is a total train buff. Anywhere there is a train he would want to check it out. We had a great day, wonderful meals, and fun. Ryan was a little tired out from all of the early morning departures we decided he could sleep in tomorrow as we would be at sea with no off shore excursions. To be continued. . .

I was wrong we actually went to Guatemala before going to Nicaragua, oh well. This day Ryan was not very happy the off shore excursion that we were doing was not power wheelchair accessible. So that is why he is in a manual chair that did not support him very well. His dad was going to have to lift him into the bus and then bring the manual chair with us, so not a good plan. Ryan was so uncomfortable and had a hard time holding his head and his body upright. I had thought the off shore excursion would be so fun that it would take his mind off of other things. The bus ride to the "Tropical Wild Animal Park" was interesting to see the countryside of Guatemala. I had expected it was going to be a Tropical Rain Forest with local animals that we drove through, but no it was more like a zoo. They were the same animals that you could see at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. So much for the distraction. We decided after that if Ryan could not take his power chair then we were not going anymore. Live and Learn. To be continued. . .

Our next stop was Nicaragua - we were able to get our Passports stamped here. We were told it was just a few blocks away from the port entrance. Well after going around and down and across, it seemed like 10 scary blocks, we found the place. Then we walked over to the shopping area. It was really hot now and humid. Ryan was really bugged because all the children kept staring at him and following him around. Ryan told me that it was rude and to ask them to stop. I explained to him that I didn't know how to tell them this since I didn't speak Spansih! So sorry. We purchased a few items shirts, pins, hats, noah's ark minature, 3 little Mayan guys (Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, and See No Evil), a bird whistle and a miniature clay pot. Back on board the ship we had mentioned the children staring and following Ryan, they told us that no one that has a disability in Nicaragua goes out. And that they probably had never seen a motorized wheelchair that was able to give Ryan such independence. Then it made a little more sense. To be continued. . .

What a day! Can you believe it Ryan got invited to visit the bridge of the ship. Of course we got to go with him. What a view we had you could see forever. We could see Acapulco from the ship. We got to see all of the controls, how they operate the ship, navigate, meet the Captian Mariano Manfuso and his crew. This was a chance of a lifetime. Ryan thought that it was the best thing ever and truly appreciated the opportunity to visit the bridge. We also meet Rebeca from Mexico who was the lady that helped this dream come true. We meet Molly the photographer who took the pictures. They became great friends of ours from there on. To be continued. . .

Day 2 and 3 were at sea days, checked out the people at the pool (Lyman and Ryan were looking for hot babes, found none. There were a lot of Senior Citizens on this cruise) we played bingo, ate, watched movies, ate, went to production shows, ate, checked out the rest of the ship, ate.

On Day 4 we docked in Huatulco, Mexico and did a shore excursion. We had rented a wheelchair accessible van, that could hold Ryan's wheelchair and 4 other people. They kept saying 3 other people and we found out why. The van driver only spoke Spanish so that they had a other gentlemen that gave the tour in English. He did not have a seat to sit on, but was a good sport and just knelt the whole time. The van was a typical Mexican car with a big crack in the windshield, the passenger side window could not roll down because it was plastic. But, the tour was great and they went out of their way to do what ever they could for us. We toured the city and got this great picture of the cruise ship. We went shopping in the city and it was great to have the other gentlemen with us who spoke Spanish. I bought a woven blanket there, that we watched the people making them. We went to a fun beach. Then the day was over and we returned to the ship. To be continued . . .

Day 1 of the Cruise (actually day 2) - Today was an at sea day. We had received a notice about a virus going around and to be sure and wash your hands and if you were sick to call the doctor. Linda's husband Dan got sick last night and threw up 3 times. They had to call the ships doctor and advise them that he was sick. Well this meant he was then quarantined to their room. Fun for him. But Linda did come out and eat with us, and play bingo. She did go back and check on him several times. This was our first formal dinner night. Hey, were is your tie? To be continued. . .

Our cruise begins in Los Angeles, as you can see Ryan was doing so good. He was so excited to be getting on the ship. We had flown from Salt Lake to LAX and then traveled to San Pedro in a wheel chair accessible van. We including, Linda and Dan, then took the van over to the eating and shopping area near the Harbor. We had dinner there and walked around through the shops. We returned to the hotel and got up the next morning, on to the cruise ship terminal to check in. To be continued. . .

Here is a video tribute to Ryan


http://memorial.yourtribute.com/RyanKranwinkle

"Crusin" 1990 ~ 2009 Ryan Lee Kranwinkle born June 5, 1990 to Lyman and Vicki Kranwinkle.Ryan passed away aboard the Coral Princess pursuing his dream of going thru the Panama Canal on 29 Jan 2009 at 02:55 LT at sea 08deg 33.8'N 079 deg 29.2W. If Ryan had lived four more hours he would have been put off in Panama at the first lock second gate and taken to the hospital. Ryan being himself found a way to complete the transit of the canal. Ryan loved to see different places and learn about new things whether it was on TV or in person and during his last quest he saw four different countries. Ryan's favorite sport was NASCAR and was able to visit DAYTONA last year. What Ryan probably loved the most were his pugs Bear and Cub, they will miss him. We would like to thank everyone who helped Ryan achieve what he did and those who helped care for him. Ryan was a senior at Riverton High School. We would also like to thank Captain Mariano Manfuso and crew of the Coral Princess for making Ryan's last trip so special but especially to Dr. Grant Lindsay and the medical team on the Coral Princess for their excellent care and comfort to Ryan. Preceded in death by brothers Brad and Marc, Grandma and Grandpa Peterson, Grandpa Kranwinkle. Survived by parents, Grandma Kranwinkle, many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is so hard to believe that it is 2009. We had a great holiday and can't believe its over. Back to school and work tomorrow. Hope that everyone's New Year's resolution comes true. I always start out with good intentions and then seem to loose focus.