BEST AUNT EVER!

One night after separating donations for the garage sale, Aunt Camee gave Grace a gift. Inside her gift was this AWESOME Boston shirt. We loved it!! There was also an envelope with tickets to the Boston Children's Museum and Tickets to see the RED SOX!! We were so excited! Thank you Aunt Camee!! We love you!!

Boston Fundraising...

I didn’t get a chance to write about all the wonderful fundraising events that took place before we left.  When Gracelyn is old I want her to know what took place in order to get her to see the doctors  in Boston.

I have to thank my sister and mom before anyone. They are the ones that headed every thing. I truly know what my daughter means to them. They were willing to do anything and go to any effort to help. THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you so much!

When friends found out that we were going to be heading to Boston, immediately offers came in to help. One friend suggested shirts. A week earlier I had made a design for an Amazing Grace team shirt for a 5K we were participating in. We ended up using the same design. My friend Tara Roberts took over the sales of the shirts and did a great job! It was a huge task! Especially since Grace decided that she wanted all of her “friends” in pink shirts after she was given her pink shirt (everyone else was in grey). Thank you Tara! We love our shirts!

The first event was our Golden Corral dinner. My sister found out about this opportunity and it was so much more than we could have expected. It was a blast! Jeff and I were a little late showing up because we had back to school night for the little man. When we arrived then place was full of family, friends and neighbors in the Amazing Grace shirts. We were without words. Our Amazing Grace team waited on the tables. They would get drinks and clear the tables when customers were done. They were given all the tips to go toward Gracelyn’s fund. There were so many generous people that gave large “tips” for a little girl they’d never met.  Customers kept asking for her and within 20 minutes of arriving we had to go back home and get her. My parent’s 17 year old neighbor came to help for a “little bit.”  He ended up asking his parents if he could stay the whole time. :) I really was that much fun!

The Yard Sale-WOW! This event was incredible  My mom came up with the idea. No one in my family had never had a yard sale before, so we didn’t know what we were doing or what to expect.  My mom started taking donations and her house. Quickly her three car garage was full. We then moved onto a huge trailer until it was full and then filled my three car garage and trailer. My mom and her friend Tami Myers, along with Tami’s mother separated and priced EVERYTHING. It was a HUGE task! HUGE! So many hours were put into organizing it. Originally it was set as a one day event and turned into two full days. We had so many things, there was no way one day would have been enough.

On Friday morning we headed for the Jackson’s yard. They were SO kind as to let us have it in their yard. It was the perfect location. We knew we would have my parents help and two of our best friends Brandon Barnes and Celeste Rice. We didn’t expect anyone else, but people just started showing up. All the garages were quickly emptied, tables set up and it began. We weren't scheduled to start selling until 2pm, but by 9am we had a large crowd and it didn’t stop until 6pm Saturday when we started loading up what was left. There were a lot of friends that showed up and just began organizing. 

Saturday morning was wonderful! When we showed up we had friends, family and neighbors with aprons on cooking pancakes at our Pancake Sale.  It was a great idea my mom had for those who weren’t interested in buying things at the yard Sale. Jim Knight brought all of the equipment over, my Uncle Jim, Kim, Glen and Justin Porter and Scott Wade made all the pancakes. Thank you!

Katie Ellis offered to head up the Bake Sale. She did a great job! Again, things just kept coming and coming. So many donated to this I don’t even know who to thank. I don’t know where half of it came from. What I had was delicious!  I do know there was some awesome chocolate cake from my sister-in-law Amber, some cinnamon rolls to die for from Teresa Lake and some very fitting and perfect HEART cookies from Annette Wade. Thank you everyone who donated to the Bake sale!

My sweet cousin Adam sat at a table both days taking orders and making paracord bracelets. This was such a fun idea. I had no idea he was coming, but all the kids loved it! Thank you Adam!! 

Thank you to all that came.  We were joined that day by people from every part and time of our lives. 

We truly felt your love that day.  Jeff and I  didn’t get to see each other much since we were running like crazy both days, but when we did we would just look at each other smile. No words could express what we felt. 

On Friday we had a little rain and wind. We were able to keep things from being ruined. Uncle Mike brought over HUGE tarps and we covered it all over night. Saturday was beautiful! 6:00pm came and it began to get dark. We knew the storm was coming. A text went out to all of our Elders Quorum and Young mens group. Within minutes the whole thing was down and our DI pod was filled with what didn't sell. Thanks to Jared's "tetris skills" (as he called them :) ), everything managed to fit into one pod. As we were finishing loading the rain came down! It poured! My phone was filled with texts telling me that it was a miracle and gift from God.  I know Heavenly Father answered our prayers.

Mom, dad, Camee, Tami, Diane and The Jackson family- Thank you! We could not have made it to Boston without this event. This event didn’t just give us the means to get there, but it provided us with the knowledge that we have a lot of people standing behind us. 

 

Thank you to Jodi Brown for setting up a fundraising page. We appreciate the effort you put into it! It was so thoughtful of you!

Last, our Chick-fil-a dinner.

It was an amazing feeling to arrive and see that ¾ of the restaurant was full for our daughter.  My sweet cousin CJ surprised us behind the counter. He works at Chick-fil-a in Logan. When he found out about this event he arranged with the owners to work his shift in Riverdale. I can't express what this meant to me!!  We love you CJ! THANK YOU!!

It was a fun way to be able to see friends and family one last time before we left. Thank you to all who came! Thank you Chick-fil-a Riverdale! We had an exciting night (those there at the end know what I mean) ;)

Amazing Grace Blanket

When Gracelyn had her last surgery my mom made her a beautiful blanket with fabric hearts that represented prayers being said for her all over the world. We sent it into the OR with her. It was wonderful! Everyone loved it! The morning we left for Boston my mom gave her this Amazing Grace blanket. I LOVE IT! I’ve asked Grace if I could have it, but she won’t let go of it. ;) Thank you Mom! We love OUR blanket! 

- I have to confess….the first night we were in Boson (you know, the night she sang for hours about missing her siblings) I stole it from her once she feel asleep. SSHHH! My sweet mom has since started me my own matching blanket. Guess she felt bad Gracelyn's blanket has been stolen.  :)

MIssing her family...

Grace has been having a really hard time without her brother and sister (not to mention her Grandma, who she had a nervous breakdown over about 2 hours into the flight. ) The first night we were in Boston she stayed up for over an hour singing (Gracelyn's life is a musical and she is ALWAYS singing about what is going on around her) about how much she misses and loves her brother and sister. It was so hard to hear.  I didn't want to stop her, so I laid in my bed listening to the sweet song and crying. Praying for Heavenly Father to comfort her while away from them. I didn't know it would be so hard on her to separate from them, even for one day. She needs them.  She loves them.  We didn't have plans to go to the airport to pick them up, but when we left the hospital we had almost an hour to before they arrived. She quickly painted a sign and we headed for the airport.

Breakfast for lunch with a side of SILLY...

Yesterday at lunch Gracelyn asked me to get my camera out. Here is what she needed me to capture. LOVE this girl!

Boston Children's Hospital

Today we spent the entire day at Children's Hospital for testing and to meet with doctors.  We really liked it here. It's HUGE and COLORFUL! Every children's hospital should be just as bright.

We had to take a picture of this sign as we walked in. We LOVE it and feel like telling people this every time they smoke around her.

Gracelyn was fantastic! I couldn't have asked for her to be better. We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital super early for a sedated echo.  I convinced them that she would be good and didn't need the sedation and it bought us a couple more hours of sleep (who am I kidding...I haven't slept in days...). Lucky for us they listened and lucky for me she was just as I told them she would be. She was WONDERFUL! The tech told us that "she is the BEST three-year-old that they had ever worked with." They played Tinker Bell for her, but she ended up falling asleep instead of watching it. She let every doctor and nurse do just as they asked. Heavenly Father sent her down with her trials, but he also sent her with everything she needed to get through it all. She is so patient and brave. She's a super star!

She was so great we had to take her for treat! Let's pray tomorrow will be just as great!

Yawkey Family Inn

This is the beautiful place we are staying. It was built in 1889.  It was originally a frat house that they have turned into patient housing.  It is in a city called Brookline, but we are only six blocks aways Children's Hosptial. We have our own room with shared bathrooms, kitchen and family rooms. It is nice to have somewhere safe to stay!

Leaving for Boston...

Gracelyn received this poster on Tuesday from all of the sweet kids in her Sunbeam class. Gracelyn has THE best teachers EVER! I can't thank them enough for all they have done to make her feel loved. Thanks Joey, Suzanne and Amanda! She loves you all!

As we were leaving there were signs placed all along our way! She LOVED them! Thank you!

She was so happy to be flying on the airplane. She was very patient with the oxygen and mask that she had to wear.

It wasn't until two hours into the flight that she lost her excitement. She cried and cried and CRIED for her grandma.  She kept telling me that she "just needs her grandma."

We had a great flight. It was even 40 minutes early! As we were landing you could see what a beautiful place it is. We hope to have some time to see it! Thanks for all the prayers!