History

Friday, March 14, 2003 9:29 AM CST

We have added direction to the church from the Twin Cities area. They are very simple. Literally two turns.

We have many special plans for the memorial service. Scott Dorman from Nashville, TN will be the soloist. Pastor Mike Lee from Shepard of the Lake Lutheran Church, Savage, MN will lead the service. William Sergeant will play the violin during the visitation and memorial service. It is our plan to display the many pictures, cards and gifts surrounding Hope's life.

We have made the following arrangements for Hope's memorial service.
Everyone is welcome to attend.

Date: March 22nd (Saturday)

12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM Pre-service reception

1:30 PM Memorial Service

Location: St. John Lutheran Church
Hwy 4 (406 S. East St.)
Pomeroy, Iowa

Directions from the Twin Cities:
Take I-35 south for 164 miles
Merge onto US-20 West via Exit 142B (also the Fort Dodge exit)
Take US-20 West for 55 miles to Rockwell City
On the west side of Rockwell City, take Hwy 4 North 10 miles to Pomeroy.
St John Lutheran Church is a huge, beautiful church which sits on the west side of Hwy 4 as you come into town.

Please contact us if you need additional assistance with directions, hotel, etc.

God Bless,
Dale, Teresa & Faith

------
There are three things that will endure - Faith, Hope, and Love - and the
greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

On the evening of March 10th, our little angel went to be with her Heavenly Father.

Although she never spoke a word or even so much as opened her eyes, this little girl has taught us lessons about life and love that no adult could have ever dreamed of teaching. To witness her magic and the impact she had on so many people was truly aweinspiring. As one friend put it, "We can not even begin to imagine the magnitude of her influence; as the ripple effect from this will continue for generations to come."

Even in her last few moments of life, Hope chose to be considerate of other's feelings first. Teresa had gone to get Faith and was coming back to the hospital. Hope was having a very difficult time, so I asked her to wait until her mommy and sister got back. She calmed down and waited for their return.

The very minute Teresa and Faith told her they were back, Hope decided it was ok to go. We were all finally able to really hold her close as we sang to her, kissed her and told her goodbye. We sang, "Angels among us", "I hope you Dance", Walk on" and "She's driftin' away" a song by my close friend Scott Dorman. Our prayers for comfort and mercy were fulfilled as she passed away very peacefully.

Faith so badly wanted Hope to open her eyes. She even asked us,"Will Hope's eyes be open in heaven?" We believe she is finally able to look down upon us with her eyes wide open. She's going to make the greatest little angel ever!

We may have lost our daughter, but we have not lost HOPE; for this child will live in us all for the rest of our lives.....and something tells me she wouldn't have it any other way.

God Bless,
Dale, Teresa & Faith

Thursday, March 13, 2003 9:30 PM CST

We have made the following arrangements for Hope's memorial service. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Date: March 22nd (Saturday)

12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM Pre-service reception

1:30 PM Memorial Service

Location: St. John Lutheran Church
Hwy 4 (406 S. East St.)
Pomeroy, Iowa

For a detailed map, you could go to www.mapblast.com and enter the address or contact us and we would be more than happy to give you directions.

God Bless,
Dale, Teresa & Faith

------
There are three things that will endure - Faith, Hope, and Love - and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

On the evening of March 10th, our little angel went to be with her Heavenly Father.

Although she never spoke a word or even so much as opened her eyes, this little girl has taught us lessons about life and love that no adult could have ever dreamed of teaching. To witness her magic and the impact she had on so many people was truly aweinspiring. As one friend put it, "We can not even begin to imagine the magnitude of her influence; as the ripple effect of this will continue for generations to come."

Even in her last few moments of life, Hope chose to be considerate of other's feelings first. Teresa had gone to get Faith and was coming back to the hospital. Hope was having a very difficult time, so I asked her to wait until her mommy and sister got back. She calmed down and waited for their return. The very minute Teresa and Faith told her they were back, Hope decided it was ok to go. We were all finally able to really hold her close as we sang to her, kissed her and told her goodbye. Our prayers for comfort were fulfilled as she passed away very peacefully.

Faith so badly wanted Hope to open her eyes. She even asked us,"Will Hope's eyes be open in heaven?" We believe she is finally able to look down upon us with her eyes wide open. She's going to make the greatest little angel ever!

We may have lost our daughter, but we have not lost HOPE. For this child will live in us all for the rest of our lives.....and something tells me she wouldn't have it any other way.

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa & Faith

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 3:51 PM CST

Please continue to check Hope's website for further information regarding her funeral and any other important updates.

We should know the details regarding date, time and place very soon.

I have left the last journal in place for those of you who did not know of Hope's passing.

Let us all rejoice in her short time on earth for she will spend an eternity in the Lord's loving arms.

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa & Faith
--------------

There are three things that will endure - Faith, Hope, and Love - and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Monday evening our little angel went to be with her Heavenly Father.

Although she never spoke a word or even so much as opened her eyes, this little girl has taught us lessons about life and love that no adult could have ever dreamed of teaching. To witness her magic and the impact she had on so many people was truly aweinspiring. As one friend put it, "We can not even begin to imagine the magnitude of her influence; as the ripple effect of this will continue for generations to come."

Even in her last few moments of life, Hope chose to be considerate of other's feelings first. Teresa had gone to get Faith and was coming back to the hospital. Hope was having a very difficult time, so I asked her to wait until her mommy and sister got back. She calmed down and waited for their return. The very minute Teresa and Faith told her they were back, Hope decided it was ok to go. We were all finally able to really hold her close as we sang to her, kissed her and told her goodbye. We sang "Walk On", "Angels Among Us", "I Hope You Dance" and "She's Driftin' Away" - a song by my close friend Scott Dorman. Our prayers for comfort and mercy were surely fulfilled as she passed away very peacefully.

Faith so badly wanted Hope to open her eyes. She even asked us,"Will Hope's eyes be open in heaven?" We believe she is finally able to look down upon us with her eyes wide open. She's going to make the greatest little angel ever!

We may have lost our daughter, but we have not lost HOPE. For this child will live in us all for the rest of our lives.....and something tells me she wouldn't have it any other way.

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa & Faith

Monday, March 10, 2003 11:32 PM CST

There are three things that will endure - Faith, Hope, and Love - and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

This evening our little angel went to be with her Heavenly Father.

Although she never spoke a word or even so much as opened her eyes, this little girl has taught us lessons about life and love that no adult could have ever dreamed of teaching. To witness her magic and the impact she had on so many people was truly aweinspiring. As one friend put it, "We can not even begin to imagine the magnitude of her influence; as the ripple effect of this will continue for generations to come."

Even in her last few moments of life, Hope chose to be considerate of other's feelings first. Teresa had gone to get Faith and was coming back to the hospital. Hope was having a very difficult time, so I asked her to wait until her mommy and sister got back. She calmed down and waited for their return. The very minute Teresa and Faith told her they were back, Hope decided it was ok to go. We were all finally able to really hold her close as we sang to her, kissed her and told her goodbye. We sang "Walk On", "Angels Among Us", "I Hope You Dance" and "She's Driftin' Away" - a song by my close friend Scott Dorman. Our prayers for comfort and mercy were surely fulfilled as she passed away very peacefully.

Faith so badly wanted Hope to open her eyes. She even asked us,"Will Hope's eyes be open in heaven?" We believe she is finally able to look down upon us with her eyes wide open. She's going to make the greatest little angel ever!

We may have lost our daughter, but we have not lost HOPE. For this child will live in us all for the rest of our lives.....and something tells me she wouldn't have it any other way.

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa & Faith

Sunday, March 9, 2003 7:08 PM CST

Hope had a challenging night last night. We had been checking in with the nurse every couple hours throughout the night and were very worried about Hope. The nurse called us around 6:00 AM this morning to let us know that Hope was really struggling to maintain her blood oxygen concentration. She told us they had to put her on oxygen fulltime to keep it in a safe range. She also explained that her color had changed throughout the night, thus she felt we may want to get to the hospital fairly soon.

We rushed to get everything together and arrived at the hospital around 7:30 AM. We had planned to have Faith spend the whole day with us, so she too had to hurry to get ready this morning. Once again, she made us proud by getting dressed quickly without so much as a grumble. I think she was pretty excited about going along today anyway, but I also believe she sensed a bit of concern in our behavior and really stepped up as THE big sister.

Hope continues to be a fighter. As the day went on, she seemed to relax more and more. By evening, she had once again gotten off the oxygen most of the time. She continues to have difficulty handling stimuli, so typically it's when she is moved that her blood oxygen drops a little due to striderous breathing. Fortunately, we felt much better by night time than we did at the start of the day.

Faith really enjoyed another day with Hope. She helped change a couple diapers, combed her hair, picked out her outfit, and changed the bow in her hair numerous times. The highlight of the day for Faith was getting to hold Hope again. The hugs and kisses between sisters was a sight to see. Thank goodness for video cameras, because I was able to tape another 45 minutes today. The video and pictures will be priceless to us.

Teresa is facing another challenge of her own. She now has infection in her incision. We were surprised to see it show up this late after the surgery, however we were told that she was at very high risk due to fact that it was an emergency surgery and things just aren't done as cleanly.

We are praying, and we know you are as well, that Hope has a good week. She really ended last week nicely, but had her share of setbacks this weekend.

Everyday with Hope is a day with one of God's little miracles!

With Love,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Saturday, March 8, 2003 6:16 PM CST

We had a wonderful time with Hope and Faith today. It was truly "quality time" spent with the family.

Faith spent the entire day with us at the hospital. We could not be more proud of her. She got to hold Hope in the rocking chair for a long time. It was so cute, she nearly fell asleep with Hope in her lap. When she wasn't rocking her, she was holding her hand or kissing her cheek. Faith likes to play "The Babysitter", so it is no surprise that she takes such great care of Hope. She kept whispering in Hope's ear, "Hopey, it's your big sister." The last thing she said to her tonight was, "Hopey, you are going to have a nice and cozy night!"

We also had fun making a plaster mold of Hope's hands. Not easy I might add, but well worth it!

Hope had a fairly good day. Her blood oxygen concentration continues to concern the nurses and doctors. She can go for hours at a time, but then suddenly it will drop and they need to quickly provide oxygen. Her extremely dedicated nurse, Marie, continues to receive our love and respect. She has spent a lot of time with Hope during these 14 grueling days. We can recognize the pain these wonderful nurses and doctors feel for our family. Marie even helped us make the plaster mold today. In fact, it could be argued that the ladies (Teresa, Marie & Faith) did all the work, while I just made a mess.

Doctor Bonnie returned today after being gone for a week. She spent the first week with us and we became quite close. As we received big hugs from her, she told us that Hope was the first person she asked about the minute she walked in today. She also said she thought about us countless times while she was gone. It's so wonderful to see her again. We missed her very much.

We prayed over Hope today at noon. It was a great feeling to know that so many others were doing the same.

Please join us again Sunday at 12:00 noon (CST).

They continue to reassure us that she is resting peacefully and without pain, so we know your prayers have been working for Hope thus far.

We can't thank you enough for all your love and support.

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Friday, March 7, 2003 9:37 PM CST

Hope had a few more episodes with her breathing today, but nothing major. She did have to be suctioned and given nebulizer treatments a few time though. Her kidneys are still working well and her color remains great. Everyone always comments that she just looks like she's taking a nap.

The time we get to spend with her continues to be a blessing. Even though we can't predict the future, it's just so exciting to see her moving and making noises every now and then. There is no question all the prayers have worked thus far for Hope. She was not expected to still be with us. However, another EEG was performed today and we should get the results in the next few days.

It appears that the focused prayer sessions today went over well. Please continue to spread the word. It is absolutely the Lord at work here. The number of people coming together for this little girl simply gives us chills.

Regardless of where you are, please take a momment and join us again tomorrow and Sunday!

Saturday, February 8th @ 12:00 Noon
Sunday, February 9th @ 12:00 Noon

Thank you and God Bless!

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Thursday, March 6, 2003 5:51 PM CST

Miracles continue to happen. We can not and we will not give up on Hope!

She had another fantastic day!! In fact, it was her best day yet.

Faith got to hold her little sister Hope for the first time today. They both loved it. Hope's body is simply becoming more tolerable of movement and handling. Faith and Hope are now wearing matching braclets they received from a friend. Faith thinks this is really "Cool". I have to agree.

The nurse removed the catheter because it was time to install a new one. Well, just like when the ventilator accidentally fell out and Hope began to breathe on her own, her kidneys began to work and she wet her first diaper. So, needless to say the catheter stayed out.

She is also beginning to move. She definately knows we are there and touching her. She actually lifted her arms and her legs. While I was touching her face, she even slightly moved her head for the first time. She continues to get a stronger grip as well.

We did not pass this next occurance along in earlier journals because it was just too emotional, but now we feel the time is right to share it. On Sunday, when we thought we going to lose her, she actually cried for the first time. There was no sound and of course she has never opened her eyes yet, but tears rolled down her cheeks as if to say, "Mom and Dad, I know you are here with me and I'm not ready to go yet."

All of these developments have caused the Doctors to re-evaluate the situation. Medically speaking, this little girl was supposed to be gone by now. However, she now has them ordering new tests.

With all these miracles in mind, I want to organize an idea that one of my best friends suggested. He felt that we should consider harnessing and focusing God's spiritual energy through a mass prayer session that would bring everyone together in prayer nationwide for the same purpose at the same time. I think it is a fantastic idea.

I would like to have a few of them planned. Please mark the following times and dates down and join us in this wonderful prayer for HOPE.

Date: Friday, March 7th
Time: 12:00 Noon (CST) & 6:00 PM (CST)

Date: Saturday, March 8th
Time: 12:00 Noon (CST)

Date: Sunday, March 9th
Time: 12:00 Noon (CST)

God Bless you all!
Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Wednesday, March 5, 2003 7:09 PM CST

Today brought another blessing of peaceful rest for Hope.

Teresa dolled Hope up in a colorful outfit. It was orange, lime green and hot pink with flowers on the front. Then to top it off, her blanket was bright yellow. We nearly had to wear sunglasses just to look at her, but it was a nice change.

We both got to hold her for a long time today. She did wonderful. Teresa sang to her while she rocked in the chair. Hope thought she was in the spa when I held her. I gave her a manicure and put lotion on her skin. Hey, what are dads for?

Faith had another great day at Precious Lambs Preschool. After school, she went with a classmate to play for a couple hours. It was just as nice for Grandma, as it gave her a chance to rest a little.

One thing is for sure. We no longer take any day for granted.

"So I pray that God, who gives you HOPE, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

We love you all,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Tuesday, March 4, 2003 7:52 PM CST

Hope was blessed with another peaceful day!

Her only episode all day came at 5 AM this morning, where she needed suctioning, oxygen and a nebulizer treatment. After that things went pretty smoothly. Her kidneys are still not working well, so the catheter remains in place. The feeding tube has not been a success either. Even after running the tube all the way through her stomach and into her intestine, the formula continued to reflux back into her airway, so it was removed. On a positive side, the removal of the tube has helped her breath more peacefully.

Teresa was able to give Hope her first sponge bath. Hope and mommy both enjoyed the experience.

Faith went back to preschool again today. We are so proud of her. Her teachers take such good care of her, so they have been a real blessing.

As I was reading the Bible to Hope this afternoon, one particular verse relating to strength had an extra special impact on us.
"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever." Psalm 73:26

Hope's strength through all of this has come from our Lord Jesus Christ. May we continue to pray for his loving hands to hold her.

God Bless

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

p.s. Since it was a quiet day, I decided to update a couple of the photos.

Monday, March 3, 2003 7:15 PM CST

We had a beautiful time with Hope today. As usual, we spent the entire day by her side. The morning commute was a little hectic due to a few inches of snow, but that didn't phase us much.

Hope had a very restful day. There were no major episodes to speak of. Only the occasional suctioning and nebulizer treatment was necessary. Teresa and I were actually able to hold her for quite a while today. We don't get to hold her as close and tight as we would like, but just having her lay on a pillow in our lap is a very nice feeling. Her positioning was not nearly as touchy as it has been in recent days. We tried playing a new Christian Rock cassette tape for her, because we are pretty sure she knows every single word to the songs on the "Songs 4 Worship" CD by now. Unfortunately, the player was a little fast, so it sounded like Alvin & The Chipmunks.

After we updated the journal yesterday, Hope had a very bad episode. By far, it was the worst one she has had. No position was working to calm her breathing. Even the oxygen and neb treatments weren't working. No one was sure what was going to happen, so the nurses told us we should take the opportunity to hold her. Teresa held her while I sat close beside them. We prayed over her and talked with her. Miraculously, she came out of it on her own. We ended up staying very late, finally deciding not to stay over night. The minute we returned home, the hospital called and said she was having a bad spell again. She obviously came out of that one as well. We called in to check on her about every hour throughout the night.

Due to severity of the episodes she has been having, we are planning to start staying at the hospital every night. They are actually going to implement something new for us that they have never done before. They will bring in a sleepchair and place it next to Hope's bed so we can just stay right beside her all night. Once again, these people continue to amaze us with their generosity.

Faith had a day of fun and games! She went with a neighbor friend to the Mall of America and Camp Snoopy this morning, and then went sledding on the fresh snow in the afternoon. Believe it or not, she still had enough energy to give us a big hug and kiss when we got home. What a great kid!

Thanks again for all the prayers. They are definitely making the difference. I don't know how we could make it through this without all of you.

With Love,
Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Sunday, March 2, 2003 2:43 PM CST

Hope is still getting treated like a queen from the nurses and doctors. One of the nurses who took care of Hope for several days last week, karen, continues to check in on her even on her days off. We overhear the calls come in asking about how Hope has been doing and it means so much to us that they care enough to do this in their free time. It really tells you how truly special these people are.

Hope now knows the names of all her friends and family. We had a talk with her and told her about all the people that love her and have been saying prayers for her. Thank God it was quite a long list. We feel blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives to tell her about.

Teresa combed Hope's pretty blonde hair this morning. We then changed her outfit and took some pictures with some of her beautiful gifts. New blankets, stuffed animals and cute pajamas were just some of the items she has received. Faith likes to pick out a new bow for Hope's hair every time she visits.

During another baptism at our church this morning, the pastor dedicated the song, "Welcome to the Family" to Hope.
They are such terrific people. Pastor Lynn was by our side within 45 minutes of our request to baptize Hope yesterday.

Today, Hope is having a little more trouble breathing again. She has had a few episodes today where suction and oxygen were needed to get her realxed and resting peacefully.

Her feeding tube is working well for her. They are injecting a small amount of formula every three hours. Her skin remains flawless. In fact, Teresa continues to comment on how she wishes her skin looked as good as Hope.

Hope is now a week old. It's hard to believe you can love something so much in such a short period of time, but Hope has showed us how it is done.

God Bless all of you,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Saturday, March 1, 2003 6:25 PM CST

We had a wonderful time with Hope today.

We decided it was time to baptize her, so we called our church and our pastor came to the hospital and performed a beautiful cerimony at 4 PM.

Hope wore Teresa's baptismal dress. All the nurses were commenting on how beautiful she was. Her personal nurse for the day, Diane, was supposed to get off work at 3 PM, but she stayed for the entire service and helped us with so many things. Faith looked so cute. She held little Hopey's hand the whole time. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

We had a terrific meeting with the child psychologist today at 1 PM. Faith really likes her. She gave Faith a book entitled "When Dinosaurs Die", which helps children understand death. We were a little surprised, but Faith was doing great as Teresa read it to her. The psycholigist used a book of animals to describe feelings. Faith told her that she doesn't feel scared or afraid. Instead, she feels proud...like an elephant! That was very important for us to hear.

A feeding tube was inserted through Hope's nose at 6 PM. Due to reflux during the prior attempt, this time they ran the tube entirely through the stomach and into the intestine. This way it will not come back up and obstruct her airway.

Overall, Hope had a fairly restful day. That alone was a blessing after the last couple days she has endured.

Again, thanks for all the support.

We love you all,

Dal, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Friday, February 28, 2003 7:51 PM CST

We continue to be affected deeply by the heartfelt words of love and encouragement written by family and friends in the guest book. Even with all that has happened, it is because of you that we can't help but feel like the luckiest people on earth.

She's only been on this earth for six days, yet she has touched some many lives in a positive way.

Today was very difficult for Hope. Positioning is becoming ever increasingly important for her to breathe. She has tremendous difficulty in just about every position other than her right side. We do get to hold her, but only for short periods of time because she begins to have respiratory distress very quickly. They have to get her on oxygen immediately during these episodes. They started her on a small amount of formula through a feeding tube in her nose, but she could not keep it down. They discovered this during a routine suctioning of her mouth and throat, which has been necessary to keep her airway cleared.

This has been very difficult on Faith. She simply does not understand why the months of planning and preparing for this event have changed so drastically. We met with a child psychologist today and she is helping us to help Faith through this difficult time. Faith is going with us to see her little sister again on Saturday. The psychologist has made a special meeting with us on Saturday so she could talk with Faith. The people at Children's are undescribable. Hope's nurses are wonderful. I told her nurse today, Diane, that she was an angel in blue. Her doctor, Bonnie, hugs us and cries with us. We could not ask for a more caring person to watch over our little girl.

Each day is a new challenge. However, we continue to hold onto HOPE. Remembering that, "I can do all things through Christ, which strenghtens me!"

God Bless,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Thursday, February 27, 2003 6:45 PM CST

Today was an emotional roller coaster. While we remain optimistic and believing in God's great miracles, the doctors, nurses and social workers are "preparing" us for the worst. After reading the EEG, the neurologist is not very encouraged. There has not been the amount of progress they expect to see after 5 days. Our little angel has yet to open her eyes. At times, she will retract slightly from pain. Occasionally, she will grip our fingers which sends chills up our spines and tears of joy down our faces.

Overall, Hope had a rough day. Her breathing was spuratic and very taxing on her. Her blood oxygen dropped below safe levels several times today, so she was quickly given oxygen. She remains on seizure medicine as well.

Our strength comes from all of you who continue to check in on Hope's status and write such heartwarning comments and stories in the guest book. It truely is making all the difference. We have a CD player next to her playing "Songs of Worship". We read Bible verses to her and pray with her constantly.

Please don't give up on her. She needs your prayers for a miracle more than ever!

God Bless you all,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Wednesday, February 26, 2003 6:53 PM CST

The real life story of Hope began on Saturday, February 25th. Teresa went into labor, so we took her to the hospital around 10:30 AM. There was an increased concern as Hope's heart rate would drop with every contraction. At 2:00 PM it was concluded that a more aggressive approach was needed, so an emergency C-section was ordered. By the time they got Teresa on the surgical table, Hope's heartbeat had completely stopped. Once they got Hope out, they began CPR. They continued this for over 30 minutes until they finally got a heartbeat. She was still not breathing on her own. They immediately took her by Life Flight to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.

The cause of the problem is extremely rare, in fact they told us they have never seen it. There were three complete knots in the umbilical cord. They were each about 2 inches apart. This must have happened early in the pregnancy, but caused no problems until contractions tightened the cord.

At Children's, she remained on life support and unresponsive. Dale went to Children's Saturday night to stay with Hope. Teresa urged (demanded) the nurses and doctors to release her the next day. She left the hospital less than 22 hours after her vertical c-section.

Faith was well cared for at Clark and Shelly Johnson's. However, she was very excited to see her little sister she calls "Hopey".

Hope's Ultrasound and EEG were unable to explain much due to swelling of her brain. Her neurological status is of great concern.

On Monday, at approximately 2:30 AM, her ventilator accidentally fell out. The doctor was going to put it back in, but she was breathing on her own so it was left out. She started having seizures, so they put her on medicine through her IV. She needed to be suctioned frequently and her kidneys were not working well.

On Tuesday, she was breathing easier and they removed her oxygen tube. She continued to have seizure activity and is now given the medicine routinely. They put a catheter in and her kidneys are now putting out urine. She was still in a coma. She physically looks perfect. Her color is great and the swelling of the eyelids, ect. has greatly reduced.

On Wednesday, they performed another EEG in the morning. We are still awaiting the results. She is getting rid of literally ounces of fluid. Her heart rate and breathing are near perfect at around 40 breaths per minute and around 120 heartbeats per minute. She is still unresponsive. For the first time since she was born, she gripped Dale's finger with her right hand. Her status remains critical and are extremely serious.

We remain optimistic and keep believing in miracles. The doctors and nurses at Children's are angels of God. The friends and family that have rallied around Hope is incredible. She continues to need you prayers. Now more than ever as we enter into critical time frames.

Faith has been wonderful, yet with all the attention on the new baby, she is feeling a little left out. This is certainly not easy for her either, so please say a prayer for her as well. She is definately having fun with Grandma Anderson, who is staying with us.

Praise God for a living Hope (First Peter 1:3) and Expect Miracles!

God Bless,
Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 1:43 PM CST

We want to thank everyone for all their love and support, but mostly for your prayers for Hope. We will be making frequent updates to this site including pictures and status reports of her health.

Again, thank you!

Love,

Dale, Teresa, Faith & Hope

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 1:43 PM CST

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 12:49 AM CST

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