"Thank you for still being with me and taking care of me Chrissie, even 6 years later..."

Today marks the anniversary of Chrissie Patterson's passing.  She was just 4 years old when she died, and Rowan was only 3.  They have an unearthly connection that can only be explained by God.  She visits him in his dreams regularly, and even recently he saw her angel in the corner of his PICU room when his BP started crashing and there was a room full of doctors and nurse working on him.   He cried happy tears and waved up at her, smiling from ear to ear. Rowan always visit her grave on this day, and takes her Mommy flowers.  I don't believe he's missed it even once in the past 6 years.  Here are the precious photos from this evening, while he honored his very first angel friend, Chrissie.  Of course Rowan spotted several "signs" from Chrissie while we there, which made him very happy.  And when he knelt down to say a prayer, he thanked her for them all.

He brought pink roses and tulips for Lorraine...

One perfect pink rose for Chrissie...

He drew this picture for Chrissie's Mommy, so she could see what he saw in his hospital room last month...Chrissie's angel watching over him, right by the clock:)

He loves how the pink iron around her grave looks like hearts.  He placed her rose on top of one, but then said that he wished he had brought her 12 more... one for each heart on the fence.

 

Rowan said that the muddy areas on either side of the stone at the foot of her grave looked like angel wings...

Then he saw a cloud in the shape of a heart, just over the pond that Chrissie loved so much...

He thanked God, and Chrissie for the signs...

and then he cried out, "Thank you for still being with me and taking care of me Chrissie, even 6 years later."

We had brought one more special gift with us today...one that we had for Chrissie's older sister Meribeth.  I used some of Chrissie's old clothes and made Meribeth a special quilt from the material.  She had no idea I had been working on this, so she was pretty excited, and surprised, when she opened the gift bag.

I just loved watching Lorraine and Meribeth look over every inch of the quilt, remembering the different outfits.  They would say "Oh, look, remember this jacket", or "Oh yeah, these were those pink pants", or "Aw, her Make-a-wish shirt!".  It filled my heart with joy, to see the clothes bringing back such good memories, especially on the anniversary of a very sad day in their lives.

I took great care to save the buttons, snaps, trim, ruffles, etc from the clothes, because I knew it would help them remember dressing little Chrissie in these adorable outfits every day that they shared with her here on Earth.

I kept the pockets in tact as well, because it made me smile to think of what treasures this little four year old girl probably kept in those pockets of hers:)

Thank you Lorraine and Matt, for opening up your doors, your ranch, and your hearts to Rowan and I once again today, especially on such an emotional day for your family.

We pray for peace and joy to fill your hearts and your home tonight (and always) as you honor and remember your angel, Christyn Joy Patterson.

Thank you, thank you , thank you! That's all I got...

I know I usually have lots of words, but the beauty and success of this past weekend's transplant fundraiser at Copa Wine Bar has left me at a loss for words.  I didn't take quite enough pictures either, but I hope this simple post conveys our tremendous, heartfelt gratitude.

Thank you God for putting all of these people in our lives, or in our path.

Thank you Jeff and Angie Bridges for opening up your beautiful venue and your hearts, and for sharing your time and talents.  This is our 4th year partnering up with you for our Annual "Rowan's Smokehouse" Fundraiser at Copa Wine Bar.  The first 3 years were solely to benefit Kidd's Kids.  This year, Jeff and Angie were successful in convincing us that this year's proceeds should go towards Rowan's transplant expenses.  Brian and I truly prefer being on the giving side, rather than the receiving side, but we appreciate that everyone wants to help us get through this.  We could not have done this without Jeff and Angie's generosity and friendship, the hard work of your staff, and the food donations from your patrons and friends.  

Thank you Jeff for staying up ALL night smoking all of the yummy brisket and chicken, and for bottling up your delicious Dr. Pepper Chipotle BBQ sauce.  Thank you to Chef West, from Smoke, for donating the beans and potato salad...which everyone raved about!  Thank you Rowan for making your famous ginger lemonade and the homemade carrot cake cupcakes that sold out quickly.

Thank you to Keller Williams (Maggie & Margie), Big Red, Inc. (Emmett), Copa Wine Bar patrons and Esmie for all of the amazing silent auction items you brought in for us, and to all of your generous donors for offering them to us for this event!  We had a bike, cooler, beach chairs, artwork, a live action painter outside, dinner gift certificates, wine basket, beer basket, liquor and cigars, golf package, hotel stays, a beach house rental, and more!  Everyone had so much fun fighting over these gems, especially the "Meal prepared by Chef Rowan":)  

A special thank you to Ms. Toni for manning the door, selling the paintings, bracelets and cupcakes, and for handling all the money for us.  Thank you Maggie for wrapping up the silent auction and finalizing everything with all of the winners.

And finally, thank you to every single one of you who showed up, ate, drank, shopped, celebrated with us and supported us.  The event would have been nothing without your presence and participation.

Drum roll please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  During this single 3 hour event, you all were able to raise just over $6000 towards Rowan's transplant expenses in Seattle this Summer.  We were blown away! Thank you doesn't seem like enough, but it's all I got right now.  That...and some great memories.  Please accept our thanks, and enjoy the pictures I did get...

 

(Thank you Manny for making sure Lilly Grace won this bluebonnet painting for her grandma, and for making all of us cry:)

 

(The kids enjoyed a very cool, live action spray painting artist outside.  Thank you Paul!)

  

How could I forget the cereal!!!  Rowan asked people, just a couple days before the event, to bring a box of cereal for the hospital's food drive to benefit the SA Food Bank this Summer.  Not only did you guys bring cereal, you completely filled the two huge collection boxes we had there.  Ian totaled up the servings last night and you donated 1064 servings of cereal to local youth this Summer!  We cannot thank you enough!

Last but not least, I just have to show you some of the pictures that I took of Rowan and I playing with the bubbles that Angie gave him after the event was over.  We went out into the parking lot and blew bubbles in the grass, like we didn't have a care in the world.  Look at the joy on this kids face as he "fruit ninja'd" the bubbles for nearly an hour. Thank you for helping give us that peaceful moment in the midst of a very stressful time in our lives.  Thank you all for your part in that...from the bottom of our hearts!

 

 

Once more...thank you...