Family Secret

Well I was just checking a friend's blog and read her post on a family secret. Ours was so similar I thought I would post that now...

Ryan has had a hard time at work for some time - as in there just is not enough work. We began an intense job search about 8 weeks ago and we just found out last week that we are moving to Naples, Florida! The work is going to be much more intense - almost a complete contradiction. We are so grateful we were able to find such a great job, in a place we love as quickly as we did!

Three Little Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!

Audrey Julia

Audrey is a funny girl. She has a lot of quirks about her that only her family truly understands...or do we? She is 27 lbs totally soaking wet, (probably wearing a wet towel and all) despite the fact that this girl loves breakfast! She seriously eats three servings of breakfast!

She also has quite a few dinner favorites: chicken enchiladas, Hawaiian haystack, "dip" (refried beans, salsa and cheese mixed and heated together), chicken casserole... Notice a pattern here? Chicken and cheese, chicken and cheese...

She was sent to her bedroom this past weekend and told she needed to stay there for a certain amount of time. She came down crying and informed her dad that she could not tell time so she wouldn't know when her time is up. Audrey also told him that she was angry and was going to make a noise at him like an angry Velociraptor.

This morning I was dropping her off in the car line at school. The teacher helping her out asked her where her shoes were... Yup, she just walked into the garage, got herself in the car and was ready to go. (I was a good mom and brought them to her since there is a good chance she will be able to play outside today).

Our funny little Audrey. She has quite the attitude but all in all, I think she has earned that right...(and she comes by it rather naturally as well).

Christmas

We traveled once again to Michigan for Christmas. I will never complain about traveling to Michigan for Christmas because we weren't able to one year and it was not Christmas. Some children believe that Christmas does not exist without Santa - I believe that Christmas only happens in Michigan.

I actually did not take many pictures at all. I either forgot to get out my camera or someone else had one out so I chose not to take mine out. I will have to borrow SD cards and transfer them onto my camera.

While in MI I was able to go to two Michigan State basketball games. It was great. I love basketball (something my grandma and I shared) and being a Beadle I LOVE Michigan State - it couldn't be any other way.

My younger brother was married in Chicago on December 29th so I traveled from MI to IL in a one day trip all by myself. The drive went well as did the wedding. I was the photographer (along with anyone else who brought a camera). The next day Sandy, the kids and I headed back home.

Thanksgiving

We headed South for Thanksgiving this year. We love Florida - all times of the year, yes that includes the summer. Tropical climates are not for everyone but they are for US! Anyway, enough with my cheerleading for Florida. We went to Venice - where we use to live and stayed with Ryan's parents. They have a pool and the kids spent almost all of there time in there. We did pull them away from the pool twice (1) Thanksgiving dinner which we actually ate at a restaurant - it was ok but probably won't do it again (I didn't want to spend an entire day of our four day vacation making food); (2) a trip to Busch Gardens.

While we had a nice time at Busch Gardens and the weather was perfect, we did run into some trouble. Audrey was standing with Nathan looking at the elephants when she started hopping all over the place and crying. I quickly discovered that she was being bitten by red ants. We were able to have her looked at and cared for at a first aid station. Nathan rode his first roller coaster ever. I don't know that he actually enjoyed the experience he said something about closing his eyes and waiting for it to be over. While Ryan and Nathan were off at the roller coaster we went in to the kid section of Busch Gardens. I will start this by explaining that there is only one way in and out. Audrey was playing in the jump around lily pad water area when Ryan and Nathan arrived. They went off to a four story jungle gym. I had not noticed Audrey poking her head around the water area anymore so I went to investigate. She was gone. No one had seen her leave and the "workers" stationed inside the area said they had not seen her in quite awhile. Other mothers started to notice my panic and started telling me what to do - much appreciated. I talked to a security employee who said, "yeah this happens all of the time. Look around for her for awhile and if you don't find her I will alert park security." I started to walk away when one mom who happened to overhear sent me directly back to tell her to alert park security now and then I will continue to look for her. What seemed like an eternity later I noticed Audrey on the third floor of the jungle gym. The fastest way to her was to go across this long rope bridge that was also three stories off the ground. I yelled her name and took off running, losing both of my sandals in the process. When I made it across the bridge Audrey had moved. Then another mother started carrying her down a flight of steps asking, "Is this her." I grabbed her, hugged her and cried. Audrey was wiping away my tears and was not happy that I was crying because, "she saw daddy and she went off to find him but made some friends and decided to play."

Looking back at the experience I think "Way to go Mommies" it was the mothers in the park that were so helpful in finding Audrey. I imagine most of the employees at the park do not have children of their own and have obviously never lost them. And while yes I am sure children wander from their parents everyday, I don't lose my children everyday! So yes, this is an emergency right now - not when I have looked for any amount of time. Then I have to smile at the memory of the mom carrying Audrey down to me asking "is this her?" Because what if it wasn't and she just started picking up any little blonde girl bringing her to me so that I could check! Oh my dear Audrey cancer couldn't take you from me so you had better believe I couldn't possibly lose you at an amusement park.

One Saturday in November

Well, as you can tell, I have not been posting and keeping up with the events of our family very well. One day back in November we took a Saturday to go to Pisgah National Forest where they have a fish hatchery. Nathan went there on a field trip and he wanted our family to go back. I do not remember much about the day except that we were in the car, on the way, and we had to stop to Lowes to pick up Nathan's Build and Grow project to build later when realized Audrey put herself in the car and was not wearing any shoes. We ended up buying her a $12 pair of shoes from Target and the day was saved. I also remember thinking later that we should have packed a lunch and had a picnic as there are may places along the road with picnic tables - I know the kids would have loved it. Instead we ended up eating at Pizza Hut.

Nathan Laughs

Nathan asked if a brachiosaurus is taller than our house. I admitted that I do not know. He said he read that a brachiosaurus is five stories high. I explained that our house is three stories high. He then wanted to know if each room is considered to be a chapter...

Nathan wanted to know how much money Ryan and I have. I gave him a number and he was excited. He wanted to know what I was going to do with it. I told him that we can't do anything with it because it is making more money. So we had a little lesson about interest. He asked if his money was making money (I can just see a picture that must have formed in his head) I told him he would need a bit more money to invest. So he responded, " I guess my money is just lazy."

Holiday bliss

Yup, you heard it right. We are nearing the end of holiday bliss. We loved and enjoyed our Thanksgiving trip to FL (will post about it later). We did a bunch of fun stuff in between then and now. Schedules have been packed and weekends are nothing short of crazy! Gifts for family, teachers, bus drivers and nurses are purchased, wrapped and some have already been given. Next Wednesday evening we head off for MI. Ryan will be there for four days the kids and I will be there for about a week and my little brother will be getting married on the 29th. So much we have done, so much to do, so much to look forward to... Holiday bliss.

Each Has A Story

Audrey: In preparations for our Ward's fall festival Sandy and I were at the church with the kids working on putting together a lot of the food and various other items to get ready for the night of fun. The kids were running around the building though I had asked them to stay close. Nathan came down from the Primary room and said that Audrey was talking on the phone. I called her down to the kitchen and had her sit in a chair. I didn't have time to quiz her about what Nathan had just told me - I was working. I heard Audrey mumble something about telling someone that a person broke in. I quickly turned around and asked her who she was talking to. "A Lady." Then I demanded to know what number she had dialed. "9-1-1". Just as the words escaped her mouth I turned to see an armed police officer motioning from the window for me to open the door. When the police officer came in I explained that I just learned what she had done and that we were talking about it. He also came to talk to her a bit to be sure she knew that you don't practice on a real phone. Audrey looked at him with fear in her eyes and begged, "Please don't take me to jail. My preschool taught me to do it."

Nathan: After getting Nathan off the bus one day he asked, "Mom what language is fart." I ignored him hoping that he would drop it and tell me about his day. Then he continued, "Mom, do you know what fart means?" Not wanting to make a big deal out of it, I replied, "Yes Nathan, it means toot." I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him squeeze his lips together trying to suppress a giggle. He then went on to tell me the story of why he needed to know what the word meant. This happened a few weeks ago but when I think about it I still smile. Yes, my son made it all of the way past the first quarter of first grade before he knew what a fart is! I suppose his first grade education is now complete...

Elysse: Yes, I already have my Christmas tree up. I couldn't help it! I walked into some retail stores and they were already decorated I just couldn't resist. In college my roommates and I would get a tree, put on the lights and then make a popcorn string to put on before the ornaments. I really wanted to do that this year because I think trees with popcorn and cranberry strings are the most beautiful. Audrey and Nathan helped make them. It did take two days though as they are a lot of work. We had a good time working on them! Elysse loves popcorn so naturally when she sees some she is going to take a chomp. She leaned right into the tree and took a chomp off the popcorn string. When I was telling Sandy about it as we were standing around the tree Elysse bent toward the tree making a chomping noise!

Lizzie's Wish

The Matson family moved to Asheville a short time ago. Scott, the husband/dad is a dental surgeon and they came here for a four month rotation. Two months after they arrived they noticed that their youngest child (at the time) had large, unexplained bruises. After medical investigation they were informed that Lizzie has leukemia. A week later Ban, the wife/mother, was scheduled for c-section and they had their fifth child.

The night before the c-section I was unable to sleep. Elysse was not sleeping well so I laid awake. All I could think about was this family and their situation. Suddenly a thought came to me - cord blood. Via Cord has a program to collect cord blood for siblings of those who have life threatening illnesses at no charge. 11:30 at night the Matson's were contacted and told about this program. In less than six hours time everything was set and cord blood was collected and saved.

I became involved with the family a few weeks after the diagnosis. In talking with Ban I inquired how all of the children were doing with Lizzie's illness. I learned that the hardest thing for Lizzie is not being able to go to the store with her mom. They had a routine. They would do grocery shopping and then walk up and down the toy isle. Lizzie would not get anything on these trips - she just loved to look.
So an idea was born. I went to the O.P. Taylor Toy Store in Biltmore Park and talked to an employee, Jeannie (pictured right). I explained Lizzie's situation and the plan was put in motion. Katrina (pictured in the middle) is the manager of the toy store and she was so excited to make this happen. They were willing to let Lizzie and her family come into the store an hour before they opened so Lizzie could spend time in the store without other customers and without fear of infection. On top of opening early just for Lizzie they also gave the entire family a 25% discount!!

An email was sent out to the Asheville Ward, explaining the exciting opportunity Lizzie would have to have a private shopping hour at O.P. Taylor Toy Store. The Asheville Ward sponsored Lizzie's wish and collected a substantial amount of money for a shopping spree. The generous donations were enough to not only provide Lizzie with a gift card but each of her siblings also received one.

Lizzie carting around her items.

Ronan snoozing through the shopping trip.

Lizzie was more than happy to just play in the kitchen - shopping could wait.

The kids were overjoyed. They could not believe they were able to take part in Lizzie's wish.

Leo knew exactly what he wanted and had just enough to pay for it. He spent all of five minutes picking out what he wanted and the rest of the time toting his box around!

Griffin was very calculated and methodical. He looked for ways to maximize what he was able to purchase. He has exactly $0.01 left.
Ellis couldn't focus. She was so excited she didn't know where to start, where to go or what to look at next. Eventually she was able to fill her shopping basked with several girly items that she enjoyed.

Lizzy and Ellis as they looked around.

The kids with their gift cards before they entered the store.

This experience was so fulfilling. In the grand scheme of things this was a little more then an hour of time for a disease that will hang with and haunt this family forever. But will hopefully be remembered whenever they think of their time in Asheville. This experience provided Lizzie a chance to feel like a normal kid again. I am so grateful for everyone that made this possible.