Buddy Walk 2007

Yesterday Maddie and I went to the Buddy Walk at the Bricktown Ballpark. Every year the National Down Syndrome Association puts on a Buddy Walk. It is a fundraiser to raise funds for local Down Syndrome children. They have all kinds of fun things for kids to do like inflatables, games, pony rides and much, much more. If any of you know anyone who has a DS child and they seems lost and don't know what to do or who can help, be sure to tell them about the National Down Syndrome Association. They would be able to help them find support of all kinds, it's a truly wonderful organization. I have a niece, Kylie who is 14 years old and she has Down Syndrome. Kylie is an absolute joy to our family. She loves music, cheerleading, her brother Kaleb, being with her mom and dad and Hannah Montana! She's a hoot, I tell ya! Maddie and I stopped at TCC before heading out to the ballpark. Every year we all have matching Buddy Walk t-shirts so Maddie and I put Bubba in his t-shirt and took a few pictures. Someday I'm going to be brave and take Fletcher with us to the Walk...maybe next year. Kayleigh didn't go with us this year because she wanted to spend the night with her cousins and Craig stayed behind to be with Fletcher and watch the OU game.

Mommy, Maddie and Fletcher

Mom, Kim, Kylie, Kaleb, Kevin, me and Maddie

Maddie riding a pony

Kylie riding a pony

Fun Times...

Tonight my sister Dawn invited Maddie and me to a big picnic at her work. Dawn brought her grandsons Gabe and Ryan and Kim and Kylie came also. We had a great time! There were four big inflatables, games and lots of food. But the most fun was a hill that all the kids loved rolling down over and over! As soon as it got dark they showed the movie 'Charlotte's Web' on a GIANT outdoor screen. We only stayed for about 30 minutes of the movie but I bet it was a lot of fun watching it outside! Tomorrow we'll be at the 'Buddy Walk' for all of our sweet Down Syndrome friends. I'll post some picture from that tomorrow evening. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mommy and Maddie

Maddie sliding down the hill

Maddie and Gabe heading up the hill

the whole gang

Sweet friends...

Today I got to see my dear friend, Susan and her family. Susan and I have been friends for nearly 20 years! Susan is a wonderful wife and mother and treasured friend to me and my family. She is also a missionary in Creel, Mexico. I get to see Susan and her family usually once a year sometimes twice a year. She always makes a special trip to see Fletcher. Today Fletcher loved playing with Susan and her daughter Jaynie. After I picked Maddie up from school we all had a fabulous lunch a McDonald's! When you live in the mountains of Mexico you don't get to have McDonald's!!! Maddie and Jaynie played on the playground at TCC under the supervision of Susan's husband, Luis. They really play well together. It was so wonderful to see Susan and her family and hear of the blessings they are to the people of their city. They will return to Mexico on Saturday. Oh how I'll miss her!

Fletcher had a great day and seemed to be back to his old self! We skipped school today since Susan and her family came to visit. I fed Fletcher at noon and I think I have figured out the secret to feeding him! Distraction is the key! Yesterday and today there were people around him and I would just sneak the food into his mouth and he would swallow it and sometimes even smile! Fletcher HATES for anyone to try to restrain him or make him do anything he doesn't want to do. So, I tricked him! It was fabulous! I also let him hold the bottle and just play with it and somehow he ended up having 15cc's of apple juice! Way to go, Bubba!

Old Fashion Tent Revival

Last night our church had a tent revival and ice cream social. So, Craig and I decided to check Fletcher out of TCC and enjoy the revival and the ice cream. We had a great time! Craig's parents are such a treasure to us, sometimes I don't know what we'd do with out them! Our family doesn't fit in our van when we have Fletcher and his wheelchair and all his 'stuff'. Trudie and David brought Maddie so we could all be together! Thanks! The music was awesome, thanks Kyle! The preaching was fabulous, thanks Lance! The kids had a great time, thanks Jason and my many friends who helped make it possible for me to go to the revival with my family instead of pastoring kids! And the ice cream was delicious, even Fletcher had a few bites! I am so grateful for our church family we are so honored to be serving the Lord with such wonderful people! Here are a couple of pictures from last night, I'm sure you've noticed Kayleigh is not in the pictures. She got to go to Six Flags this weekend with her cousin Megan for Megan's birthday. Now talk about fun, those girls had some fun!

We had Fletcher's post op appointment today. The doctors first words when he saw Fletcher was, 'Oh, that eye is not open.' But it is still swollen so we'll go back in 5 weeks and see what he has to say then. When Fletcher had this surgery last year Dr. Hildebrand did not follow up with Fletcher, so I am hoping follow up is the key. And the doctor will see the progress or the lack there of and be able to know how to proceed. That's all for now sweet friends! Thanks for stopping by and please continue to keep sweet little Ashley in your prayers.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

As most of you know I am number 6 of 7 children, the 5th daughter. And Friday was my mom's birthday. So, for her birthday we took her to lunch at Nonna's in Bricktown. It was a 'girls only' lunch. Not all of my sisters or nieces could be there, but we still had a great group! My mom's sister, Iris and one of her daughters, Heather came also. We had a lot of fun. There were a lot of stories and a lot of laughs!

Here's mom with three of here five daughters:
Kim, Mom, me and Dawn

Here's mom with some of her granddaughters and great-granddaughters:
Kayleigh, Mom, Amber, Chevaun, Cynthia, Maddie, Kylie, Sylvia and Carmen

Mom and Aunt Iris

My cousin Heather and Aunt Iris

A little update on Fletcher. His eye is looking okay, we have our follow up appointment tomorrow afternoon. Until yesterday I was very skeptical about the effect of the surgery but yesterday his eye looked pretty good. It seemed to open up a little more. So, we'll see. This is a picture I took of him Friday right before he went to school. Friday was the first time this week he made it through an entire class. It was music therapy day, Fletcher loves Friday's at school!

In my last post I asked you all to pray for sweet little Ashley, please continue to do so. She is truly in the battle of her life. Please pray for her parents and siblings. Craig and I can empathize with this sweet family we know how hard it is to try and balance 'life' and all that goes with it with a critically ill child. But, we didn't have to do it with Fletcher in a different state than us. Anyway, if you haven't checked on Ashley lately her mom has posted specific prayer request on their blog. Thanks for being the Body of Christ to this family!

http://www.ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com/

Please Pray

Would you all please pray for this sweet little Ashley? She is literally fighting for her life right now. I do not know her personally, but as a mom of a medically fragile child I find blogs that touch my heart. Ashley's story has really moved me and she needs our prayers. I know you all are so faithful to pray for Fletcher that I just knew you wouldn't mind adding one more precious baby to your prayers. You can read about Ashley and check up on her at this link.

Thanks, Denise

http://www.ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Craig!

Happy day to you! You are wonderful and I am so grateful to be on this journey with you! I love the way you love me and the way you love our children. I don't tell you often enough how much you mean to me. You are truly a gift from the Lord. I am a better person because you. Today you started your day at 4:45am in order to get our sweet Fletcher to the hospital for surgery. I love this picture of the two of you. I was so happy that we were all able to be together after you got off work tonight. It's obvious your daughters adore you as well. You are amazing and we love you so much!

Well, Fletcher had eye surgery this morning. Like I said earlier we started our day very early. We arrived at Children's Hospital at about 6:15am. I feel like it went well today. His eye is still pretty swollen and it's hard to tell if the surgery did what it was supposed to. Fletcher has a follow up appointment Monday so we'll see. He sure was a trooper today I was so proud of him. The pictures below are the before and after shots I took this morning. Look at him in that little hospital gown! Such a sweet boy! Thank you all for praying we always know we can count on you all to pray for Fletcher and it means the world to us! Thanks!