Blessings!!!

I woke up this morning to find snow on the ground. How blessed I am as I watch the snow fall. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I feel as though God Himself gave this snow specifically to my children and my husband. How wonderfully excited they are. The last day of the year, the last day of our visit together could not be ending more beautifully than this. Thank you Father for loveing us so much that you care enough to make it snow just so I can see the smiles on their faces and in their eyes. My heart is feeling so blessed!

Dave has gone back to the apartment to pick up the kids and take them to Target to get gloves and hats and something to sled on. Since we live in Texas where it never snows we have only packed T-shirts and Crocks. I wish you could have seen the smile on the face of the "big kid" I married when I walked into Ash's room this morning to wake him up and tell him of the snow. I probably won't be seeing them back here at the hospital for hours.

I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to two of our nurses (Jaka and Emily) for ordering this snow for us. I love you both for "getting" it here just in time before the kids left. You guys along with a few others have made our stay here so much better and Ash and I love you for it.

Ash looks really good this morning. She is having to be stuck for all lab draws today and this makes me crazy. I know that replacing the line is what is best for her, but it is so hard to watch her be stuck again and again. Transplant life is not fun, but it is LIFE! For that we will forever be grateful to the Father, to our donor family, and to the staff here at UNMC. Tomorrow she will go down to the OR around 7:30a.m. so Dave and the kids will still be here with us. I am so thankful for that. One of the hardest things I have to do is sit in that surgery waiting room alone. God is so interested in the very details of our lives, and He knows how much I needed Dave to here with me.

I am thinking that starting the new year with a new line and a new hope of feeding our Ashley is a step in the right direction. I pray that this year holds precious memories, progress for Ashley, and a move for us back home to Texas. Even in the midst of difficult trials this year, God has blessed my heart and my family immensly. Our Blake and our Allison are beautiful, happy and healthy. Our sweet Ashley Kate is beautiful, happy, and alive. Our marraige is beautiful, happy, and stronger (even though we live miles and miles apart) then it has ever been. Our faith is beautiful, it makes us happy, and it is healthier and stronger then it could have ever been without the struggles we have had. To think that the very Creator of all the universe loves my family enough to be intimately involved with all that we do is a humbling realization.

May God bless you and your loved ones today and every day of this new year. May you seek Him with more of yourselves than you ever have, and may you wake each and every day knowing how very much He loves you. Thank you for caring about a tiny, baby pickle and her family. We love you. Its time to go watch the snow! Trish