Donate Life

When I was 11 years old I was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver disease. It was controlled by medication for almost 20 years when the disease progressed into a new disease that was destroying my bile ducts. Shortly after Scott and I were married I was referred to a specialist in Charlotte who told me he thought I would probably need a transplant within 2-5 years. And, exactly 2 years later I found myself starting the listing process. So many "God" things happened during the next year I couldn't possibly write about them all. I was 1 point away from NOT being listed, I was told I'd probaby wait at least 18 months and I got "the call" 5 weeks later. I was at church when the call came and because the UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) system was down and my donor was on life support, it gave all of my family time to get to the hospital before surgery began. Those are just a few of those "God" things...




I may never know who my donor was or anything about their life or death, but I will forever be grateful for the greatest gift they and their family could have given me. Not only MY life but the life of a very beautiful, compassionate, yet "spirited" little girl. Because if I weren't here, she wouldn't be either. And so today, we celebrate the 7 year anniversary of a second chance at life, a chance to be a wife and a chance to be a mother.

If you would like to be an organ donor or have any questions about being a donor, please visit this site http://organdonor.gov/ . You can find answers to all your questions there and sign up to receive an organ donor card. Please let your family know your wishes, in many states that little donor symbol on your driver's license only expresses YOUR wishes and family members still have to make the final decision for you. Don't take your organs to Heaven, God knows who needs them on Earth!

40 Years and Counting...

Happy 40th Anniversary to my Mom and Dad!!

Just 40 years ago they decided to get hitched.

And after being told my dad couldn't get any time off

from the family feed mill...

they simply crossed the state line...

and eloped!

We surprised them this weekend with a family party.

They had no idea that we were planning this shindig.



Family and friends came from near and far.

The grandchildren were the life of the party.

There's nothing like cousins!

And crazy uncles.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

You are a great inspiration to all that know you!

Welcome to our "ool"...

after a day with 4 kids under the age of 5, there MIGHT be some "P" in it...

Gracie was like a little fish with her swimmies on!

The shamu floats were a big hit, with both the little kids and the big ones...

After the pool party we headed inside for a big, birthday bash

for all the little girls.

There was lots of cake.

This is my brother.

He likes cake.

Gracie likes cake too!

She even eats the crumbs off the table.

Abigail is about the cutest baby in the world.

Her white-blond hair and baby blue eyes are to die for!

It was like Christmas.

Wrapping paper everywhere.

Mass chaos as they ripped into the packages.

Then they had to compare.

Gracie is now a princess doctor.

Slides, swings and monkey bars...

What would my blog be without a recent sliding adventure...

She hung there for 30 seconds, no lie!

Much stronger than I gave her credit for!

Every time she came down the tunnel slide her hair looked like this!

A rare moment, she never wants to swing!

The "squiggly" slide

I Caught a Fish "THIS" Big...

Scott loves to fish. He really loves to fly fish. When we lived at the fish hatchery, a little perk of my job, he would sneak off in the afternoon and fish almost everyday, a little perk of his job. And when he found a high-dollar fly rod in the parking lot and no claimed it, he was ecstatic! Since we've moved to the "valley" and since we've had a bouncing-baby-girl-turned-terrible-twos-toddler he doesn't get to fish very much anymore. He waded out into the frigid river on our recent camping trip. He did catch a couple trout, a little on the runty side but who am I to judge, I just grow them, not catch them.

That's him, waaaaayyyyy down there.

Dry Camping...in the Rain

Gracie went on her first Jeep ride with top down and the windows out.

She promptly told us to turn off the "air"... ummm....

she rode the rest of the way with her blankie over her head.

Our campsite, before the deluge hit.

We recently went dry camping. Not by choice really, just turned out that way. Funny thing is, it rained cats and dogs all weekend. So the term dry camping is used fguratively, kind of. Dry camping is when you camp with no electricity, no water hook-ups, no sewage hook-ups, no cable TV, you get the picture. We went out to Davidson River in the Pisgah National Forest knowing we wouldn't have water hook-ups but hoping the much ado about electricity being added to the campground would become reality within a day of our trip. No such thing. Not a big deal really, we could survive. But then a pipe under our sink broke. Quick trip to Lowes for a part and that was fixed. Then a seal on the water pump broke. This was not an easy fix and resulted in us draining our fresh water tank into every possible vessel we could find. So no electricity and no water and then it started raining. And it rained. And it rained. We decided we were only one step above the tent campers next door. But at least I had a real bed and a real toilet, even if I did have to scoop water from the bathtub to flush it.