the story that made me cry!

my dear friend amy b. sent this to me today and said try not to cry, yeah right. amazing story, but i can almost guarantee it will make you cry.


She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: 'How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right? When can I see him?'
The surgeon said, 'I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it.'
Sally said, 'Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't God care any more? Where were you, God, when my son needed you?'
The surgeon asked, 'Would you like some time alone with your son? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university.'
Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair. 'Would you like a lock of his hair?' the nurse asked. Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.
The mother said, 'It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else. 'I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom.' She went on, 'My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could.'
Sally walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.
The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.
She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them. She lay down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.
It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Lying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said:
'Dear Mom,
I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say 'I Love You'. I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know.
Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess what, Mom? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him where was He when I needed him?' 'God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children.
Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you. To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool? I have to give God His pen back now He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore the cancer is all gone.. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery! How about that?
Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me.

remembering the simple & small things

i first have to thank my sweet friend melissa for the post on her blog this morning. she posted about the little things this morning that made her happy.
we woke up to snow this morning, nice way to start the day! needless to say i was a little irritated. oh & then the drive to work made me even more irritated. if the weather ever changes even the slightest in utah the majority of people forget how to drive. it kills me! after reading lissa's blog it made me realize i have so much to be grateful & happy about. winston churchill once said, "attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference!" so here's to a good, happy attitude today.

here are some things i'm grateful for this cold winter/spring morning: :0)
*todd working so hard on crew's room, i am loving it. i promise i will post pictures.
*a patient & loving husband that works so hard for our family.
*my 2 sweet kids & the 1 on the way.
*ultrasounds, love seeing the little crew man.
*good friends, the ones that are always there for you no matter what.
*sunshine, i haven't really seen it today, but man do i love it!
*my camera, a way to capture the lives of my children & family.

i hope you all have a wonderful thursday & that you can find the sunshine in the snow!

happy birthday tif w!

i just wanted to wish my sweet sister-in-law tif a happy birthday! she is the amazing mother of 4 cute kids & is very talented. she keeps our family together & does so much for everyone else. she is always thinking of others & has never once put herself first. she's so tiny & cute & we just love her. tif is hardworking & always on the go with her kids. even though she has her own little family to take care of she is an amazing care taker of my sweet mother-in-law. i admire tif & all her amazing qualities. we love you tif & hope that you have a wonderful birthday, you deserve it!

easter 2008...long post, but worth the read

i couldn't believe how early easter was this year. we went to the syracuse city easter egg hunt, my sister-in-law lives there. my kids didn't do so hot on picking up the eggs. todd told them this coming year we were going to have easter egg hunt training. lol! so at this egg hunt you empty out all of your eggs before you leave & give the eggs back. i noticed that tys had a few with coupons in them. i didn't think much of it when todd said you can redeem the coupons at the west bowery. that's a store i've never heard of, that's what i was thinking as he said it. duh! so we get in the car & leave. we are driving home & todd & i are both frustrated that our kids didn't do so well. can you tell we're competitive? i start looking through their baskets & read one of the coupons..."redeem at the west bowery the day of the easter egg hunt". light bulb moment!!! duh, bowery! it finally clicked with the brain dead pregnant lady. these coupons were good too, easter basket filled with prizes, grab bags, full size candy bars, etc. tys had 4 i believe & bay had 1 or 2. so todd turns the car around & we go back to redeem their coupons. now it's all making sense...no wonder we were the 1st ones out of the parking lot everyone else was redeeming their coupons. needless to say by the time we got there all the baskets were gone, but we made out with a way cute stuffed chick from target, some candy bars, & fun grab bags that were filled with fun easter prizes. all in all the kids did pretty good & we apologized.
on to the next egg hunt. 2 fabulous families in our neighborhood started this egg hunt in their yards 9 years ago. 1 of the families has moved, we miss you guys, but the new family has continued with the other family with the fun tradition. my sister-in-law carrie & her two girls joined us again this year. well it was hilarious because it's divided into sections & baylie & saige were not letting anyone in front of them. they held hands until the start & then they were off. holy cow those 2 did good. baylie's basket was completely filled! i guess our little talk paid off or maybe the other one was a warm up. poor tyson was sick! he was acting a little funny, but i just thought he was tired. as soon as we got home todd took him to his room because he said he didn't feel good & not even 2 min. later he was yelling that he just threw up! fabulous!! you know i've always loved hot chocolate until i was cleaning hot chocolate throw up from his bedroom carpet & trying not to lose it myself. poor little dude, i felt horrible for him. he was so sick that he cancelled his "special date" with todd & some friends for the jazz game that night.
we woke to fun easter baskets that the kids enjoyed & a yummy easter breakfast, thanks todd. that afternoon we took a picnic to this awesome park in kaysville/fruit heights. the weather was perfect & the kids had so much fun. this was our first easter ever that we didn't spend it with family. wow, that's a crazy thought. we enjoyed our relaxing day & we're looking forward to another easter celebration this weekend with the denning side.
sorry for the long post, congratulations if you made it through the whole thing. lol!
here is a link to our fun easter pictures. i hope you all had a fabulous easter too!

playing catch up

last week i went to dallas for work & man i feel really out of it now. i have so much to get caught up on.
i had to post these pictures i took last night of the princess. i was taking some pictures of a craft that i made for a craft group & of course she wanted some pictures taken of her, such a poser! the first one is my favorite! there were some others, but blogger is being a pain & i can't get them to upload correctly. maybe later. happy tuesday everyone!

*please note, we don't usually go around our house topless, but bay wanted to wear a specific night shirt to bed & she couldn't find it & i hadn't made it that far. you know how it is if you have kids. lol!

sorry!

sorry to torture you guys, we had to have a little fun, right?
drum roll please....

it's a BOY!!!!!

we are looking forward to crew bradley's arrival in august. i have already done some damage shopping & we have only known for two days! needless to say, we are all very excited & baylie is relieved that it's not a girl. thanks bri for the ultrasound & we loved your funny commentary. i will never think of a twig & berries the same way!

it's a.....

the ultrasound

it's a.....

the big day is tomorrow!

ok it's the big day before the really big day in august! we get to find out the gender of our little peanut tomorrow. thank goodness for a brother that can do an ultrasound on a weekend! this will be my 4th ultrasound, man i'm lucky! i don't know who's more excited the kids or me. actually i should say tyson or me. there is no question is baylie's mind that it's a boy & if it isn't, well there are going to be some problems. she told me the other day if it's not a boy it will have to go back. she already calls him by name, crew. it will be crew bradley & she almost always uses both names. i thought in the beginning she would for sure want a sister, nope a baby brother. i feel like it's a boy & comparing pregnancies i would say a boy, but you never know. it's like christmas morning in march. i can't wait! please send good vibes our way that we'll be able to find out. i think this is the one time when you don't want your child to by shy or modest! lol!!

the salt flats & photography

i'm taking a photography class from a little sussy, aka nicole hill. i have found i'm a hands on learner, at least when it comes to photography. i don't understand the foreign language that is spoken in the books i've read. maybe it's because i haven't put a whole lot of time & effort into it. needless to say i've had a lot of questions. thank goodness for a brother that is so willing to help, thanks kirk. he suggested that we go out to the salt flats. i have never been there before. i honestly thought they were by the great salt lake. man was i wrong! we had a boring drive out to the salt flats with the all to often, "when are we going to be there" from my kids. todd & i had fun joking & laughing about things along the way, like the little towns with no services. what's up with that? the salt flats were freezing! i'm so glad i had a winter coat. the wind was crazy. poor bay fell in the rocky area before we even made it onto the ice, i mean salt & cut her hand open. tyson thought for sure it was frozen ice, not frozen salt. he was very cautious & kept asking susan if we would be ok. it didn't take him long to be running all over.
i had a good lesson from kirk & was very happy with the overall outcome of the day. man do i have a lot to learn. i'm excited to be learning though. the photos above were basically taken for my assignment, but anytime i can get pictures of my kids i don't care what the reason is. these photos are straight out of my camera, no editing yet. (i started writing this before my class last night & i was so nervous to have my work critiqued in front of the whole class. i was sick about it. nicole was very impressed & happy with my photos. what a relief!)
thanks todd for being so supportive of me & spending the day just hanging out with me. you are the best!

jazz girl

i was one proud mom last night! bay danced at the jazz game during half time. she loved every second of it & it didn't last very long. my friend amy & i were so frustrated because we missed the first part of their dance just trying to get on the floor! we had to wait for the refs to come off & then battle everyone that was going out for half time. needless to say it was so much fun & she did so good, all the girls did! i can't believe that she can dance in front of thousands of people & not have one ounce of fear, i love it. she has loved dancing for the jazz dancer studio & adores her teachers. it has been such a good experience for her & i love the confidence that she has. when we were walking off the floor she said, "that went faster then we practiced!" i agree bay the fun experience was over way too soon, but i'm so happy for you. below are some fun pictures that my awesome brother kirk took, thank you! todd, tyson, kirk, & susan were there to support our dancing princess, thank you! they were all so proud of her too. what a fun night!

*thanks to my wonderful friend tilda, aka amy, for spending the day with me. i'm so glad our girls are in this together. i love our "lunch dates" to our favorite place in the gateway food court! lol! i always have fun with you & love when we get to hang out.

nobody to play with...

i just got a call from my sweet girl & she sounded so sad. she doesn't have school on tuesdays because todd doesn't work. she said she didn't have anyone to play with because tyson was at school & her dad was doing the dishes, thanks babe! she wanted me to come home. oh i wish i could! she has a couple of friends on our street, but hasn't been wanting to play with them because she says "they are mean & don't like to share!" she is very content just being with her family & i love it. anyways, i got off the phone with her & called todd. he is such a good dad & immediately stopped doing the dishes & went to see what she wanted to play. i am so grateful i have such a good husband that makes so much time for our kids. our kids adore him & love having time with him. thanks todd for being the amazing dad that you are, it means the world to us.

natural born skier/boarder!

we went skiing/boarding on saturday & had a blast! it was bay's first time skiing & tyson's first time boarding, he used to ski. i was a little nervous that they would get frustrated or cold & then the whining would begin...never happened! they both loved it & couldn't get enough. we had fabulous company, kirk, susan, tyler, & leslie. thank you all so much for coming & helping. kirk was our amazing photographer & susan, ty, & leslie all board, todd & i don't. i am thinking about trying it next year, hello their boots are so much more comfortable than ski boots! tyson picked boarding right up and amazed us all, he was in heaven. the ski princess, bay, was a natural too! holy cow she was good. i think it was only a couple runs before she could go the whole way without falling. she had permagrin the whole day & was the like the energizer bunny, just wanted to keep going & going. thanks todd for helping her. it was kind of hard for me not being able to be the one to help, but thank goodness for wonderful family. the weather was amazing until about 2:30 pm & then it became miserable, that was to all of us adults, but didn't even faze the kids. the wind & snow were horrible! they still wanted to keep going. my biggest fear of the day was being taken out by somebody else. i knew that i could control myself & not endanger the baby, but there are some crazy people on the mountain! it all turned out good. we are all, especially the kids, looking forward to our next trip up. next year we'll get season passes for sure. thanks to my wonderful family for a great day. go here to see some sweet pictures. kirk took so many good ones, thanks!