Meet Rett...Our Super Hero!

Meet Rett - Our Superhero

Many of you have heard us talk of Rett Bush.  Rett and Kate have been best buddies since they met in the Turtle pre-school class. To say they were inseparable is an understatementt.  Somehow this quiet, Southern gentlemen decided that he was intrigued by the loud bouisterous presence that is Kate...and the two have become amazing friends.   And the best part of it all is that his Momma and Daddy and big brother, Cal, are pretty amazing people too.  So our whole family lucked out and found a huge blessing in the Bush Family.   



Rett has been waging his battle with leukemia since January of 2011.  We have only been along side the Bush family for one year...but in the year I have seen God in a new way as a result of this family.   I have prayed harder than I have before.  I have rejoiced over the  news that Rett made it through another night without another ER visit.  I have seen a family embrace God in a season of pain and heartache....and I will always be humbled by their example.  They trust fully in God to be their strength.   Kristen has been such an example to me of joy and faith in the midst of overwhelming fear and concern.  Cal has been an amazing example of compassion and love toward his brother.  They learned to love one another and treasure each day they have together.  This family is real.  They cry.  They bleed.  They fear.  They hurt.  But they ALWAYS trust in God's goodness and love.    

And today, we joined the Bush Family in celebrating the end of Rett's chemotherapy treatment!!   Today was amazing.  TODAY WAS AMAZING!  TODAY WAS AMAZING!!

 

I am so proud of this young man.   I am so grateful that God spared his life.  I am so blessed to be a friend of this family.  And I am so excited to officially be part of TEAM RETT!    In October Kate and Nathan and Josh and I will be joining Rett in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Fundraising Event called  Light the Night.   As a tribute to Rett, his mom has encouraged as many of his friends to join him in their Red Team Rett T-shirts and celebrate his victory.  It will be a fun night with a lot of exciting activities for the kids.   It is also an opportunity to come along side the Bush Family and LLS to raise money to further research in blood cancers.

Please donating toward Team Rett. 
 No donation is too small.
Thank you!

We love you Rett!   We love you Bush Family!

Saturday with Friends

My dear friend, Holly, was in town this past week visiting from Long Island, NY.  She came last weekend to see the new house and it was a loud, crazy afternoon as her four children and my two children ransacked the house and raised the roof with all the yelling. (Sorry Josh and Papa Dan!)  But since we don't see them that often it was worth any headache that came from the commotion.  Later in the week, Holly and I took in a late movie after we got kids into bed, and another night she came back to help me unpack my scrapbook room and set it all up!  (Love her for doing that!!)

So this Saturday we decided to get together one more time before she left for New York.  We opted to pack the morning with activity to avoid the mass destruction that occured weekend prior.  

We started our morning with a visit to the local farmer's market!  This was the 1st time I had been to the town's farmer's market since moving here.  It was nice and small, but it had a lot of variety. We bought some juicy cherries (Kate's pick), some garlic pickles for Papa Dan, some string beans, freshly made fettuccine and fresh bread.  I love local markets like this!  Oh, and we also grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies for road! (Nathan's pick.)

 Then we took the kids over to a neighboring town's park.  It was a perfect place to burn off a bundle of energy.  Kate loved the zip line and the swings.  Mia and Joel played on the slides.  Nathan adores the gravel box full of dump trucks.  Gabe was content eating grass and hanging on to his mama.  And Andrew, well he just chased the kids around the park and added to the fun!  (Andrew seemed to avoid the camera...so I don't have any shots of him...sorry, Holly.)

 Holly and Gabe!

 (Notice the matching dresses that Aunt Holly pick out for the girls!)

 After the park, everyone was hot and hungry.  So we had a picnic lunch on our front porch.  (I love my front porch!)  And then the kids played in our kiddie pool for a while.  There were lots of splashing and squeals of delight. 

We were sad to see everyone leave.  But we were so glad we got to see them so many times this past week.  Now if we could just get Uncle Neil to transfer his job to Virginia, life would be sweet!!

Are we in Maryland anymore??

I posted a few weeks ago about how mild our winter weather has been this year. Did I sleep through January and February and March, to awaken in April?   I keep finding myself asking if I am still in Maryland?  I think my dear friend Peggy has been having similar temperatures in L.A. as we've been having in Maryland.  Maybe our wind is a little nippier here, and the occasional flurry does awaken us from the dream that winter has disappeared from the calendar completely.  But in all my years of living in the Old Line State, I have NEVER experienced such a mild, beautiful winter!!  Today I just had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air.  So inspite of a little bluster here and there, we ran (or drove as the case may be) as fast as we could to a park to meet up with some friends.   Kate, Georgia and Laney quickly settled in on the tire swing, and there they stayed for most of the time we were there.  They called it their "girl party", and they screamed and yelled and sang as loud as they could. It was a picture of pure joy!   Have at it girls!  

While the girls dizzied themselves with laughter and circles, I chased after a very mobile Nathan!  That boy is fast!   But I loved that he got to get outside and run around today.

 
I did finally find a way to confine him, but much to my disappointment he wasn't too thrilled with the swing.  He was off and running again soon!

 

So I hear they are calling for snow on Sunday.   Snow. What's that?   I'll believe it when I see it.