The Crabbe Report: Happy 236th Marine Corps Birthday!

Happy 236th Birthday to the Marine Crops! We had a wonderful day here in Maryland/Washington DC celebrating the birthday!

Monday they told Justin they were going to redo parts of his skin graft on his right leg. Wednesday he went in for surgery and they decided to try a different dressing that would stimulate tissue growth. So the skin graft was not done. Now we are just waiting to see if this helps so a skin graft can be avoided. Right now we are not going to outpatient until his leg is healed. Justin is in better spirits because he was really bummed this past weekend when he couldn't go to outpatient.

Tuesday night: We went out for a family dinner. This was the first dinner as a family to a restaurant since before Justin's deployment! It was Justin's second outing and he enjoyed a nice steak dinner. We wanted to feed him a good meal before surgery (which ended up not being exactly what he thought). He did well getting in and out of the car with his manual wheelchair. I think he really enjoyed being out and it was nice for him to sit at a table and eat.

Wednesday: Since they decided to not redo the skin graft Justin wanted to go to the mall Wednesday night. He wanted to buy a new jacket and a few other things. I think he is becoming more and more comfortable going out in public. After his shopping trip with mom and dad they all went to eat dinner at the food court. It is so nice to see him wanting to go out. Late last night our family friend Kathie came in to visit! We are so excited to see her.

Thursday: Today is the Marine Crops 236th Birthday! So Happy Birthday to all the Marines! We spent the morning and early afternoon going to the White House for a tour. There were about 30 people (wounded warriors and their families) from the hospital that went on the tour. The buses picked us up and we had a first class treatment. The Pentagon Police escorted us with lights the sirens all the way to the White House. They shut down the freeway to allow us to pass. It was an experience and getting into downtown DC didn't take very long without any traffic. I tried waving to people before pulling into the White House (since everyone was staring at us) but only 1 person waved :(. When we got to the White House we had a nice tour followed by a group photo including President Obama! Yes we were fortunate to meet him twice. He actually stood in between my parents for the group photo. Then he shook everyones hand. He said to our family "that he had just recently signed our photo from Justin receiving his Purple Heart, and we should receive it soon!" It was nice that he remembered us. After the tour and photo we exited through the front door of the White House and they gave us M&Ms to go! The buses were waiting for us on Pennsylvania ave (Which is closed to traffic) and we were escorted back to base. On the way back there was a lot more traffic on the freeway and people pulled over to the left and we passed by everyone on the right. (I am sure people weren't happy that we were cutting through traffic. I did not wave this time because I am sure I would have received a different type of wave back).

Oh we also met the "First Dog" Bo Obama! Yes the handler brought him up and we were able to pet him and I actually tossed him his toy. He was the softest dog I have ever felt. He was also very well behaved and followed his handler around.

When we arrived back to the hospital the Commandant and his wife were arriving to give out Purple Hearts. They are just the sweetest people and we enjoy talking to them! The are so genuine and truly care about all the Marine and there families!

Here are a few pictures from today but we were not allowed to take in any cameras or cell phones inside the White House!