A GIFT TO REMEMBER
We’ve finally posted a few photos from our trip to Bismarck in June (Cancer Walk): picasaweb.google.com/Avabrae. There are more to come… as we just ran out of storage space!
The Photo…
Today’s Caring Bridge photo is a snap-shot of our three girls standing in front of Ava’s brand new playhouse. This photo has earned a story for the record books…
Several MONTHS ago, just before Ava finished Chemotherapy, Mom dropped into our local Sam’s Club with both Ava & Adley. This by no means was “usual,” as due to her health restrictions we hadn’t hardly taken Ava ANYWHERE out in Public in over a year. As Mom was checking out, she let Ava play inside of a cedar playhouse that was set up as a display at the end of the check-out line. Ava immediately fell in love with it, giggling and laughing as she popped her bald little head in & out of the shutter windows. The clerk asked Amy why Ava didn’t have any hair, and immediately broke down in tears when she learned of this little girl’s cancer. Amy gave her one of Ava’s cards, and proceeded to tear Ava’s claws from that little playhouse as they all left the store.
About three months later, Lavern (the clerk) from Sam’s Club called us to mention that she had a special gift for Ava at Sam’s Club, waiting for us to pick it up. Out of no-where, this complete stranger purchased that wooden playhouse for our little angel Ava. Her story touched her in a way that she became motivated to raise enough $$$ to make one of Ava’s very dreams come true. Again, a complete stranger!
Thank you Lavern. Just as you were touched by Ava’s story, you have now touched a complete family of strangers with your giving heart… and have given an example of how to live a more meaningful life. We now strive to be more like you!
Adley turns ONE!
Summer is in high gear, and you can bet this household is soaking it all in each & every day. Ella’s pre-school class has taken the summer off from reading & writing, and have been filling each day with field trips, children’s theatre productions, movies, splash-days, music/dancing, and more. She’s excited for school every morning!
Ava & Adley pass their days back and forth between two recent High School grads living on our street… Emily & Meagan. They’re getting lots of love from these two, along with trips to the park, playtime in the yard, movies, and splash time with our slip-n-slide or in Emily’s backyard pool. On swimming days, Ava promptly announces to Mommy & Daddy after work: “I go wimming… I go WIMMING!!!.” She is in love with the water, but swims more like a rock than a fish. We’ll get there…
Ava’s potty-training is taking some time. When we ask her if she has to go tinkle, she replies: “No please!” She fights it nearly every time we TELL her it’s time to go potty. If we can get her there, she does great. Our efforts to entice her are reaching some creative road-blocks. Again, Ava is taking her sweet time, but we’ll get there!
Adley is now ONE! We celebrated her very first birthday with a splash at our neighborhood pool. She performed onstage with her cake like a champ, smearing frosting over nearly every single square inch of her little body. And later that afternoon, little Adley took her very first STEPS, three in a row. Hurray for Adley!!! Just two short weeks later and she is now in high gear cruising everywhere on her own two feet.
At the party, Ava had a hard time playing “second string” to Adley. She was completely convinced it was HER birthday party. She sat right next to Adley while we all sang, and oh boy ~ the look on her face she heard “… Happy Birthday dear ADLEY…” The frown she spurted just about knocked out anyone who dared to give her eye contact. Ava has become infatuated with birthday cakes, her LONG-favorite toy being a tiny little plastic birthday cake she carries with her everywhere, even to bed at night!
Time
So our summer marches on. Soon Ava & Adley will be back in daycare… and Ella will enter Kindergarten. As we reflect on the year past, we wonder where ANY of it went.
Time. What looking back at the time seemed like an eternity here on earth… it now appears to have unfolded in just the blink of an eye. It’s amazing to think that today, at least for the moment, we feel free from all that is behind us ~ as we embrace all that is before us.
Praise God for miracles, because we have one living daily in our midst!
