Ryan Michael Harris

Well here is the most exciting news to hit our family lately. Ryan Michael Harris joined our family Tuesday, May 30th at 9:56am weighing in at 8lbs 2oz and 20 inches long. He is a joy and so darn cute! Of course I am biased, but he is a good baby so far. Hopefully that will continue. Have a great day!

Today

Well this morning I got to do some scrapping as Scott and Andrew shot each other with the nerf guns they got for Easter. Sarah,meanwhile, was sitting in front of the TV watching Dora. She loves "Doh Doh". This is the LO I got done for my weekly challenge at Keepsake Trends. Later this morning we went to Pratt's Pet and Feed store to look at all the animals. It was fun to take the kids to see all the chicks, birds, ducklings and turtles. There are a ton of animals there and the kids loved it. Then after that we went to Cerreta's Candy Factory. We were hoping to go on a tour there but they do that on the weekdays so we will have to go back. We just had an enjoyable day with our kids. Hope all is well with you all! Take care and enjoy your family!

Finally a LO done!

I think it has been ages since I got a layout done! Here is one I did for my Keepsake Trends weekly challenge. This was fun and pretty basic. I love how it turned out. Now if I could only get my camera to take a decent picture! Yipes! I hope to have quite a few LO's done this week. I don't know well I will be able to do that as my feet and ankles are so swollen I can't sit down for more than 20 min at a time. I will do my best.

Today I went to the dr. and he basically said I have another week and they will try to get me induced. I guess now they put you on a waiting list rather than schedule your induction. I am okay with that, the only thing I am worried about is how big this boy is going to be. Oh well, we will just have to see.

Here is a shout out to my youngest sister who had her second baby yesterday! Their baby girl weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 11 oz. They named her Violet Calista Sproul. Congratulations Arica! Great job!

A ton of things going on

Well I have fell off the blogging thing for a while. There are many reasons. First, I have been trying to find ways to get this baby out as soon as possible. That has been a challenge. Then on Tuesday Scott's Grandpa died. It was to be expected but still a bit sad and hard on the family.

We took Andrew in for his appt with his surgeon. The dr. would like to do his nose surgery this year. Basically the sooner the better. So I think we will do that as soon as we can. It will be another trying experience as it will change Andrew's apperance again. We just love Andrew the way he is and it will be hard gettin used to the change. We keep telling ourselves that we have to do this for him. It won't be us having to deal with other people's comments about his appearance. So we are strong for Andrew. Then he needs to go to the orthodontist this year so we can start planning for any reconstruction they will have to do on his upper teeth and hope that the bone grew across so they won't have to do the bone graph later.

Okay so that fills up my days along with trying to get my house clean as much as possible so when people come to visit, I am not embarrassed by the lack of organization or tidiness. I will try to post more interesting things later today or tomorrow. We will see what happens. Have a great day!

Our most recent addition

This is what we acquired on Saturday evening. We knew we were going to have to get a bigger vehicle than our beloved Grand Marquis and when we saw this one we knew we couldn't let it go. It has every option you could think of. All leather, 2nd row captains chairs, 2 lcd flip down screens, vcr/dvd, cd player in front as well as the back, 3rd row bench seat will lay flat for a bed. So yeah.

GO SUNS!

Okay so I have to say that I am a huge fan of the Phoenix Suns and have been since I moved to AZ. Last night's game was just reaffirmation of what this team is. Such craziness and heart pounding moments in that game! It will be great to watch them play game 7 on Saturday. From the comforts of my in laws home of course, but wow! Bring it on!

Molly Lichlyter Marks

I am not sure if any of you know this person or her family but I do, and I am forwarding this to this site in order to help them. I hope this is appropriate, if nothing the prayers will help. Molly Lichlyter Marks is a friend of mine and her sister Abby Kobel is as well, so this hits me a little hard.

I'm not sure if you know the Lichlyter family - Molly's dad, Bruce, was the former bishop of the Moon Valley Ward - Molly and her family live in Peoria - Zach recently returned from a mission in Mexico - Molly's other brother is married to Danielle Parks. Her sister Abby Kobel used to be in the Peoria Ward they now live in Surprise. I'm just passing this on to try and help their family.


Dear Friends and Family:

As many of you know, our sweet Molly was first diagnosed with liver cancer six years ago when she was a senior in high school. She very bravely handled her first surgery in March of 2000, to remove 85% of her liver. Hopes were high that the surgery would remove all existing cancer and that she would recover without the need of any further treatments. Great things were in store for her. Molly met and married the love of her life - Elliot, a devoted and supportive husband and best friend. Molly and Elliot were then blessed with their miracle baby, a beautiful daughter, Jaycie.

Unfortunately, in the summer of 2004, her cancer returned - again in her liver. The same surgery was performed, and once again great hopes flourished that this would be the end of this battle in her life. However, in February of this year, we were all crushed to learn that not only has the cancer returned, but that the tumors are inoperable, due to size and location. Molly's only hope, at this point, is a liver transplant, which needs to be performed as soon as possible given the aggressive rate at which her cancer is growing. Surgery is scheduled for May 24th. This is where we come to you with a plea for help and prayer.

From a medical standpoint, Molly is prepared for the surgery. All necessary tests have been performed on her and her younger brother, Zach, who has graciously volunteered to be her donor. Molly's insurance company finally consented coverage for her after an extensive appeal process. However, they have declined coverage for Zach. Today we were advised that Zach's insurance has also denied him coverage as a donor. This news added devastation to already existing devastation. Molly's immediate family and close friends are doing all they can to quickly gather the necessary funds, which must be paid prior to surgery, but we have a large goal to reach. The estimated cost is approximately $50,000 for Zach. Not only is the surgery a great expense, but Molly will initially be on 18 medications to support her acclimation to her new liver, and then lifelong anti-rejection medications.

With humble hearts, we reach out to you and ask for your help. An account has been set up in the name of Molly Marks at Bank of America. The account number is 0043-7991- 6588. Truly, we are sincere when we say no gift is too small. We know that the small, yet generous, gift of MANY is all it will take to help Molly. Time is of the essence. We appreciate all of you who have been praying for Molly and our family all these years. We can especially use them now. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.

For questions regarding the surgery, please contact the Good Samaritan Transplant Center Coordinators at 602-251-2700 or Peggy Lichlyter (Molly's Mom) at (602)843-2885 or lichfam@cox.net. Please feel free to forward this to any who might be willing to help.

Done so far...

These are two layouts I did this morning. I wanted to start my day out by scrapping because later in the day my legs and feet can't take the added swelling while sitting down. So here they are. After lunch I put my kids down for a nap and I set my timer for an hour. I cleaned my kitchen, did a load of laundry, swept and mopped my kitchen and dining floor, cleaned my oven and microwave. Amazing what you can do in an hour. So that is my goal. To clean my house for an hour a day and hopefully it will get to the point that I no longer need an hour. (We can only pray) Hope you all are having a great day!