We for Madison Wednesday morning after we got the boys off to school. It was a nice day, so we hurried and walked Jack around the block knowing he was going to have a long day in his create.  We stopped at Laurens house for a quick lunch.  Lucy was so excited to see Clara's new kitten.  We grabbed some sandwiches and ate quickly with Lauren.  We wish we would have had more time to visit with them, but we were in a hurry to get to Madison for Lucy's covid test.  It was fun to see Lauren and Clara even if it was for a short amount of time.  We could tell that we were cutting it very close to Lucy's appointment.  When we were about a hour away I called the testing center to let them know we were going to be about 15 minutes late.  They said the specimen truck leaves at 4:30 and that is the last pickup for the day.  We were going to arrive at 4:33. She said they would hold the truck and she told us to pull right up front when we got there.  JJ drove as fast as he could, and we did arrive right at 4:33.  I called and told her we were there, and she came out and swapped Lucy's nose.  She bagged it up and handed it right to the driver of the specimen truck and he left.  We were so thankful the driver waited for us and that it all worked out.  I am also thankful we didn't get pulled over for driving so fast.  We probably should have left earlier in the morning, not stopped at Laurens or a million other things but we were glad it all worked out. 

As we were driving, I got Lucy's pre-op instruction call.  Lucy's surgery was moved to the morning, and we needed to be at the hospital at 6:15 AM.  This was wonderful news!  Since we only had a little bit of daylight left and no longer had the morning to do a few things we wanted to do we decided to make the most of our daylight.  We stopped by the Ronald McDonald house quickly to see Lucy's heart tile we got for her.   They have these tiles on the fence that you can have made for loved ones.  We thought it would be special to have one for Lucy.  We ordered it a while ago and were excited to see it in person.  Lucy said she is leaving her mark in Madison!  Yes, she is.  She will always have this tile there and at a place that means so much to her.  I love the quote she decided to have put on there.  "Every flower grows through dirt." I hope Lucy likes he tile and can have happy memories and feelings about her stays in Madison.  There have been so many important parts of her life and we have witnessed so many miracles here. 

We didn't check into the house, just saw the tile and then decided to go walk picnic point.  We always make a point to walk there each time we come.  It was very muddy, and parts were covered in snow.  We could see on our drive into town that the lake was frozen over.  We have never been to Madison this time of year.  It was so pretty and neat to see the lake frozen like that.  I should have switched my shoes to my snow boots but didn't think about it.  We tried to avoid the really muddy parts and overall, it wasn't too bad.  It was so pretty to see the sun setting over the frozen lake.  When we got to the end, out at the point there were these guys who had walked across the lake out to the point.  They said that was a common thing to do there.  They said it had been warm that week so it might have been a little on the dangerous side, but they made it ok. It does sound like a fun thing to do.  We also saw some people ice fishing and the guys that crossed said the fishermen give reports on the thickness of the ice.  They knew according to the report the ice was still thick enough and it was safe to cross.  JJ and Lucy went out and walked on the ice, just at the end of the water.  I am glad we were able to do the walk.  I love it and I have so many memories of walking out to the point.  It is a special walk to us. 

We then got checked into the house and ate some dinner.  Lucy got emotional at dinner.  Being back in the house and everything familiar about it is hard.  It is hard for me too.  I wonder why this is a part of our life.  Why do we have to be going through this. When I sit in that house though I am thankful.  I am so thankful we can stay there, just across the street from the children's hospital.  They take such good care of us, and we never have to worry about anything.  For Lucy it is hard to think of all the days she has spent there recovering.  They are some of her hardest and most painful days. She is thankful too, but it certainly brings a lot of emotions to the surface.  We ate and then got settled into our room.  We knew we had an early morning and were exhausted from a busy week and traveling all day.  We went to bed early.