Followers

I suddenly hit 50 followers!!! Wow!

I'd been hanging out in the mid-forty range for awhile, and thought about a giveaway...

Which I will do, I just need to finalize my plan for what I will be giving away!
I have a few ideas, and I will try to share something in the next few days.

Thank you to everyone for reading, commenting and supporting me.
Much love and many hugs to you all.

Disaster Relief Effort

Our area was hit with a tremendous storm on Friday July 1st. Our town is fine but a bit further north, there is significant damage after winds of 100 MPH ripped through. My husband's parents cabin was hit hard, but in that area is also Faith's Lodge.

Just before the entrance to Faith's Lodge, Driveway

As many of you know, this organization is a huge part of my life. They are in dire need of financial support to clean up the hundreds of down trees. I fear that until the trees are cleared up, they won't be able to host families that so much need the hope that they provide.

Prior to the storm, Faith's Lodge structure was not visible from this road,
now you can see it with the naked eye. In this picture, (taken with my phone)
you can see the rooftop in the middle.

River's Run & Ride Rally board of directors is possibly hosting a dinner in a few weeks to further our fundraising, but I feel like I need to do something now. I'm just devastated by this, so much of our life is devoted to that facility and their mission. I have come up with this immediate fundraising effort: 
This photograph was taken this Sunday after the storm in River's Garden - I couldn't believe the beauty of Mother Nature at our home after seeing the devastation just 30 minutes away.

In an attempt to share this beauty while helping Faith's Lodge, for a donation of $5.00 to River's Run & Ride Rally, I will email you this JPEG as a THANK YOU for your help in this effort. All proceeds from this photograph will go directly to Faith's Lodge toward their clean up expenses. Please put Disaster Relief Effort and your email in the Notes field. 

NOTE: This photograph is in no way directly connected to Faith's Lodge or its employees. 

It is an attempt to help preserve the mission of Faith's Lodge by offering families suffering 

serious illness or loss of a child hope. 

Happenings

I just wanted to post quick. Things have been busy, but well.

We spent 3 days at The Compassionate Friends National Conference in Minneapolis, which was wonderful! I will post more and some pictures at a later date.

The fundraising efforts for Faith's Lodge have been going very well! We raised $1000 from a spaghetti dinner on Friday, the online auction raised just under $400 and the Support Faith's Lodge photo raised just over $100. We are truly blessed to have so much support, that in 3 short weeks since the storm we are able to donate $1500. THANK YOU to all that have donated, I appreciate your support in something that is so important to my family.

I have been working with our team at the hospital on the memory boxes, I finished the birthstone part, and have been working on the picture frames. They are going to be lovely. I will have to share some photos after we get them put together!

I think that's it for now, I just wanted to update after the auction, and tell all of my readers how much I appreciate their support, understanding and listening ears. Will share more details soon!

Restore Hope

This slideshow was created by my husband, in order to capture the devastation of the storm on July 1, 2011. Also, to help those that have never been there see the serene, peaceful setting it provided prior to this storm. Hopefully, with enough support and time, Faith's Lodge will be able to again provide this beautiful setting. It will never look quite the same, but it will continue to be "a place where hope grows."

Flashbacks

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We had a scare on Thursday night, it wasn't as bad as it was in our heads, but it was quite an experience! To back track a little bit, Rainbow Babe had a check-up on Wednesday, he had immunizations and we were given the all clear that he was happy, healthy and doing everything he should be doing... YAY!!!
For those of you that don't know our story very well, River had a check-up the day before he died and was given the all clear that he was happy, healthy and doing everything he should be doing...

Here is where the scare comes in, on Thursday evening, Babe was playing, climbing and being silly as usual. In the midst of this, he slipped off of a chair and hit his head on a ceramic tile floor, hard!  Daddy tried to catch him and got his leg, but it was too late. In the past he has fallen and hit his head, tripped and caught himself {he is a little 15 month old boy}, but this was different. He cried and when he calmed down, his body lost all color... we looked at each other in a state of panic. That color was all too familiar, and we left for the ER. This is where it hit us, that the scenario (check-up one day, ER next) was hard to handle. They asked us if we knew his weight, if he was up-to-date on vaccinations. Well, of course he just had an appointment yesterday! Daddy and I looked at each other and we reminded ourselves to take deep breaths, this was a completely different situation, but too much to bear. I fought tears, and tried to smile so Babe would not get scared and panic.

We were relieved to know that he was just fine, they did x-rays and he did not show any problems, likely a slight concussion and we had to monitor him overnight. As we left the ER all I could do was think, thank goodness they didn't put us in the same room, and thank goodness it was a different doctor.