Bowen had a loose tooth that really bothered him every time he went to take a bite of food…

At first I had trouble convincing him to try wiggling it loose while holding a napkin over it. But before long, I some how convinced him into this…

(Trusting little fellow, hugh)?!!!

I told him to just wait a minute so I could go and get the video camera. By the time I got back with the camera, this is what I found!…

Yep, he did it himself!!!!!!

We just got back and are all going to climb into bed! Our vacation was just incredible! Can’t wait to post more soon! Whitney is a very amazing girl. She has an amazing gift for working with children. We hope her parents don’t mind sharing her with us!!! We are adopting her into our family for sure!!!!

Throughout Adelaine’s journey with cancer, we have been blessed by so many people, and in so many ways. Whitney reached out to us in a very special way. We got to spend time with her having fun, plus spend quality time getting to know her. We are so blessed to have been given this wonderful opportunity. She is one of those people who will not just come and go after a season, but we will remain close to us forever. What a blessing!

Thank you Whitney! We love you and will never forget how you reached out to us! You are an amazing person. We will never forget Adelaine’s Second Wish come true! You have touched our lives and we are forever changed. God bless you!

So the most amazing thing happened. Last week we received an email from a sweet girl named Whitney, who happened upon Adelaine’s website, who happens to live in Orlando, and also happens to work at Sea World. And, I’m pretty sure she happens to be an angel! Here’s how it went…

My name is Whitney and I am a senior at the University of Central Florida. I came across your site and I want to let you know that your family is in my prayers! Do you live in Orlando? Is there anything I can do to help? Thanks so much…

Thank you so much for your kind email. We do not live in Orlando, but we travel there pretty regularly, though. We actually live in St. Petersburg, just outside of Tampa. We travel to Orlando to go Give Kids the World at http://www.gktw.org/. It’s a magical place for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. We love it there!
Thank you for praying and your compassion. May God bless you!

Adelaine truly made an impact on how I look at life. I dont know exactly what it is about your precious little girl, but I am willing to do whatever I can to give her a ‘dream’. I work at Sea World, and I would like to know if your family would like to come visit the park, on me. I will see what I can do about having a special interaction with a dolphin or maybe going into the back to pet a penguin. Have you already been to Sea World with Give Kids The World? Please let me know… I really truly want to help ‘make the day’ for your children and your family.

[Wow!!! I have a question and I’m wondering if you may be able to help…
Believe it or not we are going to Orlando with some friends this weekend. We met them at the Children’s Cancer Center in Tampa last year and our two families have become great friends. Their names are Kat and Brad Evers. They have 4 children ranging from 8 to 3yrs., plus a foster baby who is four months. Their daughter Sesly who is five was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia just like Adelaine. You won’t believe this, but we were planning to go to Sea World, but they have been trying to get tickets from Give Kids the World and were just denied because last year they did the Disney Cruise for Sesly’s wish, so they are not eligible. Give Kids the World had given us tickets last year when we were there, but we didn’t go because it was raining. We were planning to use our tickets this Sunday, but decided not to because the Evers’ wouldn’t be joining us. So, here’s my big question….

I’m wondering, since we already have tickets, if you may be able to get them some tickets and we could all go together. I can’t think of a better surprise for Adelaine than to get to go with her two best friends, Misty and Sesly. Please know that I’m not trying to impose but, it just seems so unreal that you’ve sent me this email. I know that this is very short notice and so if it doesn’t work out, please don’t worry. Thank you soooooo much for offering to help us. I hope that we will definitely get to meet you at Sea World, if not this weekend, then sometime very soon.

Of corse! That would be perfect! I would LOVE to get to spend the day for a little while with you all!!! This couldn’t be more perfect! How many tickets do you have, and how many tickets do you need? You said they are a family of 6 with 4 kids, but one child is 3? If the child is 3 or younger they do not need a ticket. I am so excited to meet up with you and make your family’s day so unforgettable! I will be working from 8:45 am until 4:45 pm, through out the park at all of the exhibits with the animals, so you can stop by and say hi. I also will have a lunch break from 12 til 1, so I can hang out with your families then as well! I am so glad that I can help to brighten up your weekend!

We continued to email back and forth, but thats the jist of it! The best day for everyone to meet at Sae World was this Thursday, so we planned a trip around that day instead of on the weekend.

Isn’t God amazing! Tomorrow we leave and will be joining the Evers in Orlando. The children and I will be there from Wednesday until Sunday. Unfortunately Doug will not be able to join us as he has a conference all day on Saturday and will be working during the week. We plan to spend all day Thursday at Sea World with Whitney doing all the exciting behind the scenes stuff like feeding and interacting with sea creatures. I think that justifies taking a Spring Break part 2, don’t you?!!! On Friday we plan to take the Evers’ as our guests to Give Kids the World, to spend the day.

Basically our entertainment is free which only left the hotel cost. God had a plan for that too!!!! Over the weekend the company I worked for called and asked if there was any way I could work a 24 hour shift on Sunday. Because it was so last minute, the pay would have been really hard to turn down anyway! I was very exhausted on Monday as I did not get any sleep during those 24 hours, but it was definitely worth it! Kat and Brad are staying in a time share and we were able to get a fantastic deal in a luxury suite right next to them. The cost of the suite for 3 days was exactly what I made during the 24 hour shift!!! I guess it is really meant for us to go on this vacation. As a bonus, Daisy gets to come with us. Doug usually works 12 hour days so I’m sure she could find SOMETHING to get into while she was home alone for so long – just maybe!!!!

Anyway, that’s what we’ve been up to, trying to get all the pieces to fit so we can go to Mickey’s world!!! Hopefully tonight I will be able to finish the laundry we still have from camping!!! It sure is exciting that Adelaine feels good again and we can do fun vacations together. I still can’t believe how all this came toghter so beautifully. God is good!!!

Angela

We missed CCC this morning because I hadn’t caught up on my sleep from Sunday. Yesterday was so busy that I made it to bed well after midnight. Poor Adelaine thinks that for some reason CCC had been cancelled today. But she did have fun watching Noggin in bed with me while I slept all morning! We really did miss seeing everyone!!!

Ok, so it’s been a while…

Last Tuesday, the CCC through Adelaine a very special 4th Birthday party. Miss Sara ordered her a Princess cake, very fitting of the little princess! She had a perfect day celebrating and just loves being four years old! Here are a few pictures from the day…

“My Princess Cake, Yummm”

Adelaine and Dana

“My and the Guys”

“I wanted to share my favorite”Animal Soup” at the party”!

“My Teachers and Friends”

“You’d Better Look Out!”

From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank all our friends at the Children’s Cancer Center. We love you all and thank you for the love you give to our family!

Oh yes, Adelaine’s ears aren’t really pierced, those are just stickers. Her day is coming soon though, as soon as she is finished with treatment. She really wants those diamonds!!!!!!!!

We had an incredible trip to Georgia! Camp Twin Lakes was better than any of us could have hoped for. The 8 hour trip took us more like 11 hours, both coming and going, but we had a lot of fun along the way. The DVD players really helped A LOT! It seemed very strange going to “Cancer Camp” as we call it. I’d take “Asthma Camp” or “Fat Camp” over it any day!!! But none the less, we had an awesome time.

And yes, I really did let Adelaine hold that snake. FYI she gets bit by lots of animals she comes into contact with. There was the poodle at “Pet Therapy” that got her at the hospital last year. Then there was the bunny in the petting zoo at Peyton’s fundraiser. She got bit by a duck at Halloween at the school carnival. Then there was the Whipple’s cat… the list goes on! She’s so loving and gentle; I’m not sure why they always get her. One thing’s for sure, after a few tears, she always goes back for more. When she asked to hold the snake I thought, “What’s the worst thing that could happen”? If she gets bit, it can’t possibly hurt any worse than having her port accessed (don’t forget she will not use any numbing cream or freezy spray in preparation for it). Plus what an awesome story to tell, “I got snake bit at Cancer Camp”, how cool would that be?

I know that Kat and I will be FOREVER FRIENDS, there’s nothing like a 22 hour car ride to make or break the deal! We had such a good time together. We have a quite a few more camps planned this summer (good thing we all got along so well)! We are going to Camp Sunshine in Casco, Maine June 28 – July 3 www.campsunshine.org. Them we are flying to Fenton, Michigan to the Nature Resort Wish Trip July 12 – 19th www.kidsfightingcancer.net. Next we come home and will have one day to wash and repack then it’s off to the Florida panhandle to the Light House Retreat http://www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org/
Let’s just say that this summer is going to be WAY better than last summer for all of us! Praise God. It feels so great to be able to put back some of what was taken from the children. Mason and Bowen are going to have a jam-packed awesome summer this time and I get to enjoy every minute of it with them.

Our good friends Kathreine and Callen, from Atlanta came for the day. They have three boys, William ,Charles and Aaron. Adelaine sure feels like a princess around all the guys! KitKat and I both hugged and cried, it was a great reunion. We plan to take our annual girl trip during Memorial weekend again!