Prayers for the Schuhmacher Family

I want you to meet Meri, probably one of the sweetest, kindest, most giving souls I have ever been blessed to meet. I count her as one of my best friends, even though I have only met her once.

You see, she lives in my computer, and we met because our children have type 1 diabetes. My child. Her children. Yes, I said, children. Three out of four of her boys have t1.

She is a mentor to me because her first was diagnosed as a baby; only 8 months old. During the next 13 years, she would be handed not only two more t1 diagnoses, but a melanoma diagnosis for her husband, Ryan, three years ago. He underwent surgery and chemo. They thought they had beat it.

Three years later, cancer has again reared it's ugly head... this time Ryan has 6 tumors in his brain, and multiple tumors in his lungs and abdomen.

My heart aches so bad for this family, and I spent a good part of yesterday crying when I heard the news (those of you who know me know that crying isn't really my thing). I love Meri as the sister I never had. She is simply an amazing woman who is married to an amazing man. I liked Ryan from the moment I met him. These two have been together for 19 years, and they truly make each other whole.

Will you please join me in praying for this sweet family? March 4th has been set aside as a day of fasting and prayer for the Schuhmacher family. You can read Meri's story here. And for updates, join the facebook page that has been set up for the family.

Please tell all you know to lift this family up. Let's let heaven hear our voices loud and clear.

Thank you Chick-fil-a!

So what do you call something that far exceeds your expectations into a whole new realm of awesomeness? I call it Team Elise Night at Chick-fil-a.

Tracy Matlock and the Southlake Chick-fil-a went above and beyond for us and I am so thankful for their support. Even more amazing is the number of friends that came out to "Eat Mor Chikin" with us. Some people drove 45 minutes to come see us. Some I hadn't seen in almost three years. Everybody came out eager to eat some good food and support a worthy cause while they were at it.

At last count I think we had over 120 friends (kids and adults) come join us. And that's not counting friends that went through the drive-thru, or friends of friends. I'm not sure on the exact total of what was raised, but we should have that number in the next few days.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to see us. You have no idea what it means to Fred and I to be surrounded by so many people cheering us on. I think Elise said it best today during a conversation we had:

Me: Did you have fun last night with all your friends at Chick-fil-a?
Elise: Yeah... I loved all the people. Why so many people come to play with me?
Me: Well... I'd have so say it's because they love you... you are one very loved little girl, did you know that?
Elise: Yeah, that's amazing!

It sure is Elise.

Here are some fun pictures we took of the event... enjoy!

Old Friends, New friends

If there was a theme for our recent trip to SF, it would be about friends, both old and new. Although we had planned this little mini-vacation as a time for Fred, Elise and I to get away from the stresses of day-to-day life and have fun as a family, I'm glad we were also able to see some friends as well!

Since we took so many pictures, I've decided to split my SF post in two; the friends we saw, and the stuff we did. This will be the friend edition!

It all started off at the airport when we ran into our friend Christi from SF! She was headed home from Thanksgiving in Florida and just happened to be connecting through DFW, and was sitting only 5 rows in front of us! What a fun surprise. She also was able to help me get Elise and all our carry-on bags onto the plane when Fred had to go back out through security to pick up Elise's "beek" (blanket) that we had forgotten at home. Thanks to our amazing friend and neighbour Brek for the ride to the airport and bringing "beek"!

On Friday, we went to Brice and Susan's house for Raclette... mmmmmm! Brice and Susie are some of our oldest and most dear friends. I don't think there are enough words to describe what these two mean to us. They have held down the fort in SF while everyone around them have moved away. It was so much fun for Elise to meet their boys (of course there are no pictures of the adults!)

Jake and Elise

Jake, Elise and Owen

On Sunday night, we were lucky enough to be invited to dinner by Meri's in-laws. Wow! I haven't eaten that well in a long time (well, probably since the Raclette on Friday!). And the dessert! Pears! Pastry! Need I say more? It was great meeting everybody, and Elise had so much fun playing lego with all the boys.

Me and Meri

Elise and all of Meri's kiddos, including Lawton! Such a sweet puppy!

Continuing the theme of old friends, on Monday I got to hang out with someone I hadn't seen in 10 years. My older brother's ex-girlfriend, Rekha. This amazing chica was like an older sister to me when they were dating. I was in high school, and they were together about 8 years. She was so much fun to be around, and I LOVED it when she would go shopping with me. She has the coolest fashion sense. She just so happened to be in SF the same time we were, and it took some planning, but we managed to hang out for a little bit. Unfortunately, no shopping.

Rekha, Elise and I

How pale do I look standing next to her?

Thanks to our very generous friends, Amy and Philip, we had a lovely house to stay in during our trip. Their oldest daughter, now 9, is who our Elise is named after. It was so much fun for little Elise to meet big Elise; and of course Elise's sister Zoe! These kiddos are so adorable and so much fun! Little Elise absolutely LOVED being around them and told me several times, "no go back to Dallas." She was very sad to leave her new friends.

Elise and Zoe... awwww!

Elise and Zoe goofing around

Big E, Little E, and Z-O-E! Best buds

Once again, no pictures of the adults... oh well. That's it for my friends post. Stay tuned for a tonne of pictures and the "stuff we did" post!

KANSAS CITY!!!

Why is the title of this post capitalized with three exclamation marks? Because that is how Elise says (nay, shouts) Kansas City. Every time. Pretty much shrieks it. And I know not why.

Alas, finally here are some pictures from our KANSAS CITY!!! trip. Only about a month after the fact...

First time on an airplane... in first class!

Celebrating her birthday in KANSAS CITY!!!

Mmmmm, cake

Elise sharing with Lee

Can't eat it fast enough!

Elise and her older man

HUGS! Madison, Elise and Lee

Elise and her new BFF, Madison

Feeding the goats at Deanna Rose, this very cool, free children's farm.

Elise LOVED feeding the goats!

Goat want some milk? Yeah? Okay!

Did I mention she really liked feeding the goats?

This pic totally cracks me up for some reason

Tractor ride!

I LOVE this picture, I don't know what it is, but there's something perfect about it

Our Fondue Fun-Do

Saturday night, in a very un-Joanne-like move, we hosted a fondue party for a bunch of friends. I say it was un-Joanne-like because those who know me very well, know I HATE entertaining. I think Martha Stewart needs to be banned from the airwaves. And locked up. Not for insider trading, but for giving people unrealistic ideas of what entertaining should look like. No, I WILL NOT fold your napkin so it looks like a swan. And nor will my entree be served looking like some modern art piece.

I don't know why, but the prospect of people coming over to my house makes me itchy. It's not all the work that goes into preparing your house, in a very perverse way I enjoy that. I think it's all the pressure of making sure the people have fun and enjoy themselves. Because we all know that I'm responsible for everything that ever happens, ever.

But our friends Johnny and Kellie were going to be in town, and she wanted to get a bunch of us together. And I love that girl and would seriously do almost anything for her. Including, apparently, having 10 people come and hang out in my house. So no one was more surprised than me to hear the word yes come out of my mouth when she asked.

You know, maybe I'm becoming more relaxed in my old age (or maybe it was the copious amount of wine in the fondue), but it wasn't that big of a deal. I actually ENJOYED it and didn't even go through any of that I'm-so-nervous-and-uptight-and-I-can't-sit-down-and-are-you-sure-you're-having-fun-do-you-need-anything pacing that I usually do during get-togethers at our house. You don't need to say it, I am well aware that I need therapy.

Getting ready for some fondue

Time to eat!

Yummy cheese fondue and Val's model-esqe hand


Elise diggin' Chris on the guitar (on a completely unrelated note, I am fully aware at how horribly my socks clash with my outfit... at least my feet were warm)


Yes, we had a chocolate fountain... jealous much?

Preston and Elise hanging out


Johnny? Whaddya mean Barq's has bite? Johnny? (Heh, I love that commercial!)

So thanks to Johnny & Kellie, Gina, Val & Chris, Jade & Michael, Preston, and Austin & Renate for good food, great fun, lots of laughs and friendship. I may even be up for doing this again in a year or two!

A Time of Friendship

Today I had the honour of spending some time with my sweet friend Kellie, along with a bunch of other fun ladies from various aspects of her life. It was supposed to be the day of her baby shower, but as you may recall from an earlier post, she lost baby Gabriel. So instead, we had a time of remembering. Stories of how we all met Kellie were told, and it amazed me how many of our stories are all intertwined in some way. We cried as she talked about Gabriel, and she was able to share some of her wisdom from this experience. It was only too appropriate that today at church, Barry's sermon, called "A Community of Wounded Healers", was about God wanting us to use our pain and suffering to minister to others that are suffering too. After all, we serve a Jesus who did the same for us!

I watched in awe as my friend shared her pain, and how she is open to God's plan of using her through this awful tragedy. I am so thankful for her friendship. I don't think I've told her that, but I plan to.

So, thank you, Kellie. For showing me that suffering can be graceful, and to not be afraid to show my wounds to those who I count as close friends.

Welcome to the World, Brenden!

Congrats to new parents Andy and Jenny Box!!! Brenden Matthew was born Wednesday, July 30, at 1:51am. He weighed in at 8lbs even and was 20 1/4 inches long. And he is a total cutey! It was so sweet to hold a newborn again, although I have a hard time remembering Elise being that little. I swear my uterus sighed while I had him in my arms.

Welcome little Brenden, we're so glad you're finally here!

A Liddle Good-bye

Last night there was a get together to say good-bye to our friends John and Katy Liddle. They are moving to Weatherford OK, where John got a job at a radio station doing pretty much everything, including sweeping the floors. I kid, I kid! He'll actually be doing some sports broadcasting, which is something he's been wanting (as well as something he's very good at). Yay John!

Anyway, I am sure going to miss me some Liddles. I wish that Fred and I had been able to spend more time with them, but life just seemed to always get in the way. John and Katy are the type of people that make a party more fun just by being there. Their joy for life is infectious, and you can't help but love being around these two. They are cool, fun, crazy, silly, sweet, and just plain lovely. And now they're leaving. Curse you, Oklahoma... when will you stop stealing our friends?

Please come back soon John and Katy. We'll miss you!

Liddles and the Cunhas

Thanks Jade!

My friend Jade (click on her name to check out her blog), read my post lamenting that I miss chocolate bars from my homeland. Because she is so uber-fantastic, she bought me a Coffee Crisp when she saw one at a snack bar at a musical (how random and weird is that?). Here I am posing with my chocolate bar, mere seconds before diving into its coffee-infused crispity chocolate goodness.

Thanks Jade, you are the coolest!

On a completely unrelated note, I like to say homeland. It makes me sound like I'm from a really exotic place.

all done!

Rest in Peace, Baby Gabriel

My heart is broken for my sweet friends, Johnny and Kellie Gaffney. Today, on a day that is usually reserved for celebration, they said good bye to their little boy, Gabriel. He was born on July 2, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation) with Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition that is not conducive with life. His parents took him off of life support and committed him into the arms of the Lord today.

The name Gabriel was chosen because, in the words of Kellie: "We know now that he is not destined to live on this earth, but in the heavenly realms. We wanted him to have an angel’s name that exemplified who he is. The angel Gabriel is the herald of all God’s mysteries."

Please join me in praying for them, that amidst the pain and sorrow of losing their child, they can rest in the Lord and find peace.

If you know the Gaffneys and would like to send them an email or a card, please let me know and I can give you their information. I know they would feel blessed to know that you are praying for them.