To view photos of the even please click the link attached above (or here)
God always provides!
~jenn
Hattie rides a 2 wheeler!
8 years ago
Friday, August 05, 2011
Benefit for Andrew and Family at Buck Hill
We are speechless! The turnout at the Benefit for Andrew and the Morris Family at Buck Hill last night was amazing! The generosity of everyone there is something that words cannot describe! The closest we can come to showing our appreciation is a big THANK YOU!!!!! WOW!
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Our Summer (so far) in Pictures
In no random order (because our browser makes it hard to rearrange the placement of photos in blogger), here is some of what we've done this summer...
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Praying for a Miracle
On Friday (July 15) my 2 1/2 year-old nephew (Brendan's sister's and brother-in-law's son) was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal Sarcoma (cancer). The tumors continue to grow and multiply at such an alarming rate that after being given about a month to live on Friday, today the oncologist now gives little Andrew just a few weeks left here on Earth. To put into perspective how aggressive this cancer is, just 3 weeks ago the only symptom Andrew had was a bump on his head which his family believed to be an "egg" from a fall he took being a typical 2 year-old boy. Less than 2 weeks later a 2nd bump appeared, this time on his leg. We now know that these were/are sarcoma tumors. There are now 25+ tumors throughout his body... 
Some of you may be doing the math in your head ... a little flag is going up... yes, Andrew was born the day after Ty was delivered. He has been the little guy I look at and smile (often through tears) knowing where my 2nd son would be at developmentally. Selfishly we pray that God will intervene. That He will take this cancer away and heal Andrew. We also pray for God to wrap His arms around Andrew, his mom Brianne, his dad Joe and his sister Aubrey. To grant them peace in their hearts, comfort in their souls and strength in mind, body and spirit. We pray, too, that God does the same for us as a family but more specifically that He gives us all the strength to be as supportive, loving and caring as we can be for Bri, Joe and Aubrey as well as each other.
I have gone through a horrific loss - no parent should ever experience the death of their child. However, I also recognize that my loss was/is nearly uncomparable to the loss that my family may soon face. My prayer for Brendan and myself is that God can use our loss and use us to be supportive to Bri and Joe in ways that those who have not gone through the loss of a child simply cannot be. Please pray these things with me and for me.
You may be wondering how else you can help. A non-profit account has been set-up to help cover any medical bills not covered by insurance as well as funeral expenses. Please, by no means, feel obligated, but for those interested here are 3 ways to donate:
1) Checks made out to "Andrew Morris Fund" (please contact me personally for an address to mail these to.)
2) Donate via PayPal
3) Stop by any Associated Bank and let the teller know you would like to make a donation to the Andrew Morris Fund
Thank you, again, for all of your support! Hug your children a little longer and tighter and cherish each moment with those that you love.
Take care and God bless!
~jenn
Some of you may be doing the math in your head ... a little flag is going up... yes, Andrew was born the day after Ty was delivered. He has been the little guy I look at and smile (often through tears) knowing where my 2nd son would be at developmentally. Selfishly we pray that God will intervene. That He will take this cancer away and heal Andrew. We also pray for God to wrap His arms around Andrew, his mom Brianne, his dad Joe and his sister Aubrey. To grant them peace in their hearts, comfort in their souls and strength in mind, body and spirit. We pray, too, that God does the same for us as a family but more specifically that He gives us all the strength to be as supportive, loving and caring as we can be for Bri, Joe and Aubrey as well as each other.I have gone through a horrific loss - no parent should ever experience the death of their child. However, I also recognize that my loss was/is nearly uncomparable to the loss that my family may soon face. My prayer for Brendan and myself is that God can use our loss and use us to be supportive to Bri and Joe in ways that those who have not gone through the loss of a child simply cannot be. Please pray these things with me and for me.
You may be wondering how else you can help. A non-profit account has been set-up to help cover any medical bills not covered by insurance as well as funeral expenses. Please, by no means, feel obligated, but for those interested here are 3 ways to donate:
1) Checks made out to "Andrew Morris Fund" (please contact me personally for an address to mail these to.)
2) Donate via PayPal
3) Stop by any Associated Bank and let the teller know you would like to make a donation to the Andrew Morris Fund
Thank you, again, for all of your support! Hug your children a little longer and tighter and cherish each moment with those that you love.
Take care and God bless!
~jenn
Monday, July 11, 2011
Easter in July
So I remembered that I never posted about Easter - big surprise... There are days I half wonder if I've got early onset Alzheimer's but I know that it's really just motherhood and having too many things to keep track of. OK - so not sure how long this post will be. Sadly at this point my pictures will remind me of what happened. What I do remember of Easter is that T still LOVES to get his hands dirty (literally) and use them instead of spoons when dying eggs, 
thinking C was the most beautiful little girl in the world (which she is anyway, but especially so in her Easter outfit) 
and that T could have hunted for Easter eggs for a week.
The day started off like any other Sunday in our family - C wanted to wear her tutu over her pj's. So stinkin' cute if you ask me :)
"Julie Grandma" (as T calls her) had the house decorated up and festive for the holiday. 
I can't remember if it was before or after church, but we attempted our annual family picture - at least the grown-ups were smiling, right?
Following church we did the egg huntS (yes, plural).
I think T handed his basket over to one of us adults a minimum of 6 times to re-hide the eggs.
It was a hoot watching him run around and be SO surprised to find the eggs hidden in plain sight. 
C wasn't much interested in finding the eggs themselves but more-so getting them open to see if there was chocolate inside. 
The girl takes after her mother in that department, that's for sure!
When it was all said and done, I think all the yet-to-be-eaten candy got thrown away. The eggs containing the candy ended up getting hidden among some rabbit droppings (I'm sure it wasn't Mr. E Rabbit, he'd never poo in Julie Grandma's garden. Must have been Peter or his cousin Benjamin Bunny - hehehe) and that just grossed us all out.
OK - all for now. Stay tuned for another installment of the Moore family. :)
God Bless and Love to all!
~j
thinking C was the most beautiful little girl in the world (which she is anyway, but especially so in her Easter outfit) and that T could have hunted for Easter eggs for a week.
The day started off like any other Sunday in our family - C wanted to wear her tutu over her pj's. So stinkin' cute if you ask me :)
"Julie Grandma" (as T calls her) had the house decorated up and festive for the holiday. 
I can't remember if it was before or after church, but we attempted our annual family picture - at least the grown-ups were smiling, right?
Following church we did the egg huntS (yes, plural).
I think T handed his basket over to one of us adults a minimum of 6 times to re-hide the eggs.
It was a hoot watching him run around and be SO surprised to find the eggs hidden in plain sight. 
C wasn't much interested in finding the eggs themselves but more-so getting them open to see if there was chocolate inside. 
The girl takes after her mother in that department, that's for sure!
When it was all said and done, I think all the yet-to-be-eaten candy got thrown away. The eggs containing the candy ended up getting hidden among some rabbit droppings (I'm sure it wasn't Mr. E Rabbit, he'd never poo in Julie Grandma's garden. Must have been Peter or his cousin Benjamin Bunny - hehehe) and that just grossed us all out.
OK - all for now. Stay tuned for another installment of the Moore family. :)
God Bless and Love to all!
~j
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Forgotten Vacation
About a month ago we embarked on a weekend trip to the Wisconsin Dells with the hopes of a fun-filled family vacation... Casey had fun. The rest of us - not so much (though I would be lying if I said none was had). In July of 2009 T, B and I took a similar trip - a weekend at the Polynesian Resort in the WI Dells. We all had a great time despite the unseasonably cool temperatures and a rainy weekend that forced us to take advantage of the indoor water features of the resort. This time, we just wanted a weekend away. Brendan had just returned from a week in Colorado engaging in work and play.
We arrived on a Friday night and Tegan and Brendan headed down to the pool while I put Casey to bed. It was a hit - despite wanting to stay at the pool T came back to the room with minimal complaints. Saturday brought an experience we had not had with Tegan in quite a while - kicking, screaming, laying on the floor tantrums when any sort of transition was proposed.
At some point we tried to lighten the mood by heading down to the Arcade. Fun was had by all - Casey had her first ride on one of those cheesy arcade "rides".
She didn't really seem to care one way or the other if the ride was moving. It was still fun to watch her reactions nonetheless. 
Tego and Brendan played at least one game together and I think T won a few pieces of candy from another game. 
Then it happened - we ran out of quarters. "Playing" games without coins doesn't last very long for a smart 4 year old... surprisingly one of the arcade games as spitting out tickets every now and then despite none of us really playing it. After T got tired of pretending to play games we grabbed the tickets and headed to the gift shop hoping we had enough to "buy" something fun. Let's just say it wasn't pretty when T realized that 35 tickets wouldn't buy the fake Transformer. Instead he could buy a couple little crayon shaped erasers. The floodgates and Tegan's lungs quickly opened and the erasers were thrown across the hotel lobby... and T had to be carried kicking and screaming back up to the room.
After the display in the lobby we decided to order in pizza and eat in our room as we were too scared to take our self-proclaimed big boy out in public. At one point I told Brendan if there was one more tantrum I wanted to pack our bags and go home on Saturday night. To me it just wasn't worth it. At least at home we could send Tegan to his room to let off his steam and cool down. Not really an option when you're staying in a several hundred room resort and there are other guests on either side and above and below you. UGH!
By the time T realized we weren't going back to the pool after dinner he decided to make fun of his own... "hiding" in the closet. I just prayed he wouldn't slam his fingers in the sliding door.
Following in T's footsteps, Casey had to join in the fun and play hide-and-seek, too.
Thankfully, though, T did pretty good Saturday night once we got some food in him and he went to bed with minimal fights.
On Sunday, the kids woke up happy and seemingly ready for a fun morning at the pool. C wanted her suit on as soon as she got up. After repeatedly bringing her swim top to B he finally put it on... over her pj's.
We headed down to the pool and had a nice hour or so of fun. Then came the time to transition from the pool back to our room. All we needed to do was move our things out of the room and to our car - check out, really. We were still allowed to continue to use the pools for the rest of the day, just the not the hotel room. As we feared, though, this brought yet another round of tantrums. Looking back, we should have gone with out guts and just checked out first thing in the morning and just not even gone to the pool to tempt fat... you live and learn.
I'll finish on a positive note - Casey really enjoyed herself.
Like last summer, she thoroughly enjoyed the pools (which didn't surprise me since she loves bath time, too).
She loved walking all over the baby pool as long as she had a hand to hold. The minute we'd let go and she'd try to take a step or 2 she'd tumble down and go under. True to her nature, though, Casey would get right back up and keep on going :) That's our girl!
Love to all! ~j
We arrived on a Friday night and Tegan and Brendan headed down to the pool while I put Casey to bed. It was a hit - despite wanting to stay at the pool T came back to the room with minimal complaints. Saturday brought an experience we had not had with Tegan in quite a while - kicking, screaming, laying on the floor tantrums when any sort of transition was proposed.
At some point we tried to lighten the mood by heading down to the Arcade. Fun was had by all - Casey had her first ride on one of those cheesy arcade "rides".
She didn't really seem to care one way or the other if the ride was moving. It was still fun to watch her reactions nonetheless. 
Tego and Brendan played at least one game together and I think T won a few pieces of candy from another game. 
Then it happened - we ran out of quarters. "Playing" games without coins doesn't last very long for a smart 4 year old... surprisingly one of the arcade games as spitting out tickets every now and then despite none of us really playing it. After T got tired of pretending to play games we grabbed the tickets and headed to the gift shop hoping we had enough to "buy" something fun. Let's just say it wasn't pretty when T realized that 35 tickets wouldn't buy the fake Transformer. Instead he could buy a couple little crayon shaped erasers. The floodgates and Tegan's lungs quickly opened and the erasers were thrown across the hotel lobby... and T had to be carried kicking and screaming back up to the room.After the display in the lobby we decided to order in pizza and eat in our room as we were too scared to take our self-proclaimed big boy out in public. At one point I told Brendan if there was one more tantrum I wanted to pack our bags and go home on Saturday night. To me it just wasn't worth it. At least at home we could send Tegan to his room to let off his steam and cool down. Not really an option when you're staying in a several hundred room resort and there are other guests on either side and above and below you. UGH!
By the time T realized we weren't going back to the pool after dinner he decided to make fun of his own... "hiding" in the closet. I just prayed he wouldn't slam his fingers in the sliding door.
Following in T's footsteps, Casey had to join in the fun and play hide-and-seek, too.
Thankfully, though, T did pretty good Saturday night once we got some food in him and he went to bed with minimal fights.
On Sunday, the kids woke up happy and seemingly ready for a fun morning at the pool. C wanted her suit on as soon as she got up. After repeatedly bringing her swim top to B he finally put it on... over her pj's.
We headed down to the pool and had a nice hour or so of fun. Then came the time to transition from the pool back to our room. All we needed to do was move our things out of the room and to our car - check out, really. We were still allowed to continue to use the pools for the rest of the day, just the not the hotel room. As we feared, though, this brought yet another round of tantrums. Looking back, we should have gone with out guts and just checked out first thing in the morning and just not even gone to the pool to tempt fat... you live and learn.I'll finish on a positive note - Casey really enjoyed herself.
Like last summer, she thoroughly enjoyed the pools (which didn't surprise me since she loves bath time, too).
She loved walking all over the baby pool as long as she had a hand to hold. The minute we'd let go and she'd try to take a step or 2 she'd tumble down and go under. True to her nature, though, Casey would get right back up and keep on going :) That's our girl!
Love to all! ~j
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