His name is Jim...

...and my Daddy saved his life.

I will never forget the shock of the day we got the call...and how confused we all were. Sadly when I talked to Dr. Glass on the phone he asked me the strangest question..."Would you like to donate your Daddy's organs?". So many emotions flooded my body. I couldn't even speak...he told me I could take some time, but that they needed to know quickly. I felt as if he was almost being rude and crass...the thoughts in my head went from anger to are you sure my Daddy has passed? Did you try everything? Then the thought went right to knowing. Not a day or so before we learned my Daddy had been put on the kidney transplant list. Knowing, that we would have relied on another family's sadness to help us made the answer all so clear. It took some convincing for my mother to be ok with it...but once she did, I told Dr. Glass that we would do it and I answered yes to every donation type possible he was eligble for. It was the hardest thing to do and almost unfair, my Daddy should have been the one on the receiving end. :o(


Jim wrote the sweetest letter to my mother about who he is and what he does for a living and how much our sacrifice has meant to him. He spends his life as a coach and karate instructor and helps children and adults to find hope and light in their lives. Jim wanted us to know that not only did my Daddy's gift of organ donation improve the quality of his life, but of countless others that he comes in contact with each day.

On April 4th I will go to a tree planting ceremony in honor of my Daddy...

My Daddy is alive in someone else and somehow through all this pain, I find peace in knowing that part of him lives on. I can't believe he's been gone for 8 months. I love him so much and miss him more than anything each day...but through his death he has gone on to continue doing the good he's always done. I love you Daddy.

December in a nutshell

Wow, its been an absolute whirlwind. Birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays, of course the holidays and traveling and there was also a wedding! I don't think we have yet to recoop. I just went through some pictures and decided I'd share them with you all. :o)

We started out December by asking Santa to send his helper Barclay back to visit Little Jon! This year he brought his sister Ricki to play with Cadi. The first night they arrived, they got themselves into trouble...



and the next night...



and again...we had many adventures with these two!



They helped Cadi and Little Jon try to be good even though they themselves were both very naughty!

My sweet little boy turned FOUR on December 10th. I still have a hard time believing he is getting so big...Four just sounds so big. :o( I adopted a tradition from Shannon, a dear friend of mine, and on the kids birthdays they wake up to the number of years in balloons on their door.



At school he had his walk around the sun. It was so very emotional for me to be there. He was so proud as he showed his little classmates the pictures of him through the years. I am so proud of my little boy, words can't even describe.

**sorry these are blurry, they are from my cell phone...my mind was so flustered I forgot my camera at home. :o(





Then we celebrated his birthday with friends and family at Pump It Up a few days later! It was a hopping good time!



As well as slip sliding fun!



Checking out the Scooby Doo cake Aunt Kristen made. :o)



We appreciate all of our sweet friend's who came! Thank you for being a part of little Jon's special day.





The following Sunday was our Christmas program at Church. It was so sweet! Even though my son was the 'real' entertainment.



We then had our annual visit to see Santa...this year the big request was bubble gum and candy canes! Santa was quite happy. LOL!



My little sister came up for a visit and we went to ICE! An awesome ice land at the Gaylord Texan. It was so C-C-C-Cold!







We then drove to the ranch to spend Christmas with my Mom and Boots. The kids had a lot of fun! Here they are decorating the tree with snow...



And then we said good bye to Ricki and Barclay as they lay in their sacks to wait to go home with Santa...



And the babies were obviously good this past year. :o)



And then we drove home to make it for a wedding my lil ones were a part of...



So there you have it...a crazy month and holiday season over again. 2008 was full of happiness and pain. I have been blessed beyond measure and I want to thank my family and friends for always being there for us. I can't wait to see what 2009 holds...Thank you for reading as always!

Tagged!

Ok, I swore I posted this. My brain has been gone for the last two months with how busy we've been! I promise after this week, I will be a bloggin' again!!! Lots and lots to update!

I was tagged by Valerie. So here I go! The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same...NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)



This is last March at Little Jon's 'little brother' Ty's birthday party! It was a fun art party! In the back you can see Ty and his other friend Jace. :o) I can't believe Ty will be three in a few months...where is the time going?

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season and Happy New Year!!!

A strong plea to my prayerful friends...

I have a very very dear friend that is sick right now. I am begging for prayers for Brad Wims, his wife Jenny and their two beautiful children. I spent the summer of 98' traveling across Southeast Asia doing mission work with Brad and Jenny in college. Brad's wit and humor always had us rolling with laughter...but there is one memory of that trip I will never forget. It was climbing one of the tallest mountains in SE Asia (Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia). I was NOT in the shape I should have been to attempt such a climb, and as we neared camp climbing up and were literally in the cloud bank, I passed out. I woke up in Brad's strong arms as he helped carry me as far as he could until I could gain enough strength to carry on...That was one of the most difficult and defining experiences in my life. On our decent the next day, I had a quarter of a mile left to go and my legs became rubber and gave out. I literally could not feel them or move them. I sadly knew what it felt like to be a parapalygic. Brad once again, carried me on his back the rest of the way down and put me in the van waiting...

As I see this strong man lose strength, my heart is hurting for him and his family. I have faith that God will see him through this...So please, pray for him. They need it so badly right now...

Here is the link to Jenny's blog: http://thewims.blogspot.com/

Better late than never?

It was a wonderful month--and now here we are almost through November and I have not posted the follow up! As always, October was extremely EXHAUSTING. I was actually relieved when it was over, we try to fit so much in because I just love it so much. I have been so busy with life and it will only get busier with the upcoming holiday's and my little boy's 4th birthday to plan! So after a hiatus, here is an overload of pictures! Be prepared!

Little Jon's fall festival and our Church Festival:

On the cookie walk, Jon had to stay with Cadi or else she'd just keep on walking to the table to help herself...she had no interest in the premise. ;o)



Lil Jon 'fishing' for loot at the VRCC Festival!



Cadi once again, did not care for the fishing, she was happy to know where the loot was and happily helped herself.



The ring toss.



The big hit was the car drive! I love this pic, I wish Joshua (Larae's baby boy)and lil Jon had their ears on, it would have been too cute!



Lil Jon driving his sis around--Aunt Kristen forever the good aunt filming!



And Jon worries about the fact that lil Jon kept wanting to ride the PINK car. LOL!



Last trip to the patch:

We have a tradition of going and meeting up with a couple of good friends and then to dinner...it's always sad to go, but always fun.



Here we are getting ready for the train barrel ride. We laughed so hard because it was just one heck of a dust ride. We were covered in it! But Aunt Kristen was too sweet and took lil Jon like 4 times. I couldn't breathe!



DUST!



Our final hayride. :o(





Final jump with Aunt Kristen!



Boo at the Zoo:



This tiger LOVED Cadi, he kept trying to jump on the glass and paw her and lick her...she didn't seem too interested. HA!





Don't worry folks, they had baths when they got home after all they touched and laid on! ;o)



The best part of the whole trip was the Trinity train ride...it was so beautiful! My kids LOVED it!





After the aforementioned bath, we carved our pumpkin!





And the finished product!



THE BIG NIGHT!!! HALLOWEEN!

Here we are getting ready, Cadi was just singing and singing as you can see!









Lil Jon with his buddy JJ.



Trick or treating!









And our final themed meal...this idea is completely owed to my friend Sheridan. I'm so glad we tried it! Who knew pumpkin was so yummy!!! She posted the recipe and had MUCH better pictures here.











So there was the last week in a nutshell! This month has been full of wonderful trips and visits from dear friends. Hannah and her family came down to visit and we all had a BLAST! Here is a couple of cute pics from their visit...

Cadi and her partner in crime Kenzy.



Lil Jon and Kamy washing dishes...we put them to work!



Cheesy smiles!



All of them in the tent...you have to look real close...



All the kids waiting in line to do 'Boinga-boinga'. LOL!



So as you can see...its been a crazy month. I hope it won't take me as long next time to update! I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving! :o)