Get Ready for a Blogover!!

Stefanie, another mom waiting to adopt a child from China (actually her 4th from China and 8th total), held a fundraiser asking for donations in exchange for an entry ticket for a free Blogover. Guess what???? We won and boy do we need it. I also think this is the perfect excuse to look into a computer upgrade since I am having so many problems posting pictures. Pretty soon our Blog will have a new look! To read more about Stefanie and her wonderful family, please visit her website at: http://www.wheneastmeetssouth.blogspot.com/

The Minnie Mr. and the Little Mrs. Go On Date

Introducing the Minnie Mr. and the Little Mrs.

Harrison's Nanni always called him "Min" or "The Minnie Mister" and the nickname has really stuck. I guess if Harrison is the Minnie Mr., then his bestfriend and full time sidekick, Emma, is the Little Mrs.

Harrison and I were thrilled to be able to spend an entire day with Emma at our house! We picked Emma up in the morning at took her for breakfast at IHOP (Harrison's pick). Emma said she had never been to IHOP so Harrison was happy to show her the ropes.

The first picture is the happy couple waiting for our table. An important thing to note is that Emma carried her own pocketbook with lipstick (Chapstick). This is Emma applying her lipstick so she would look lovely when the table was ready.

Making a crayon fort is a good distraction for the little couple who loved pressing their faces up against the glass and looking at the other people dining.
Emma is a much better eater than Harrison so I encouraged her to order the strawberry and banana pancake instead of the chocolate chip one Harrison eats. Harrison was a bit disturbed they put cherries on the eyes so he immediately pulled them off for Emma to eat.

After breakfast (which it was very difficult to convince Emma not to pick up the tab since she had her own money) we went to Pa's house, as Emma calls it. There, Harrison immediately decided that a nice drive with the Little Mrs. was in order.

Look Emma, I can drive without hands and without looking! "Help, Mr. Mike!"

Riding off into the sunset and gazing into each other's eyes.

Emma and Harrison and get ready to go on a hunt in the woods. Emma insisted on carrying flashlights in case it got dark on the walk.

The hikers pose for a quick picture.

A very very tired Emma at the end of the day taking a walk with Pa on the long driveway!

We had so much fun. Thanks Emma for having such a fun day with us!

Oh How Fast Time Passes!

Apparently I can post from work, but home still has some problems. When I just made the last post, I looked to see what other pictures I had and I noticed that I had Harrison's first school pictures from when he was in the 18-24 month Montessori program. He looks so adorable even though his daddy put his pants on backwards.

Ellen's Legacy Walk

Here are some pictures of our amazing walk to support pancreatic cancer awareness. Did you know November was national pacreatic cancer month? Do you even know what pancreatic cancer is? Do you know what your pancreas does? This time last year my answer to all these questions was "no." Unlucky for me, I got to learn the right answers the hard way!

Please take a moment to learn a bit about pancreatic cancer by visiting http://www.pancan.org/. Unfortunately this is a type of cancer that has no good warning signs, but perhaps by spreading awareness we can see a change in the funding that is made available to this type of cancer so that future patients have treatment options available that do more than give a 50% change for 12 weeks. The current options are just that grim.

Why does Blogger hate me?

I try to post....really I do, but for some reason my computer and Blogger are not getting along. I really think its my computer, but we will see. So here is a test to see if this posts!

If it does you will see one of my favorite pictures of Harrison. It was taken about 1.5 years ago on his first cruise. He looks like the golden boy!

Oh, and P.S. Guess I am using names now. I forgot I wasn't since its been so long.

Halloween - a little late

I have had a terrible time with Blogger lately - especially since my hubby started "working" on the computer to test out his new skills. Anyway I can't get in to edit my last post to include the picture from the Pan Can site and it has taken me days to just get this screen up to post Halloween pics. Lets hope this works!!

Here are the boys on Halloween. It was a bit of a sad night for everyone b/c Nanni and Pa usually stay at the house and hand out candy. We stop by a few ties throughout the night to show of H's finds, but this Halloween Mommy had to stay behind and give out the candy.

Ellen's Legacy - 1st Pancreatic Cancer Fundraising Event November 11th

We created a team, Ellen's Legacy, to walk in Atlanta's 2nd annual (and our 1st) pancreatic cancer walk to benefit PanCan. You can learn more about pancreatic cancer and the walk by visiting http://www.pancan.org/. Mike, Harrison and I are all so honored that many family and friends have chosen to walk with us this Sunday in honor of my mom. Our team consists of Bethany, Madeline, Sherrie, Eric, Suzanne, Marley and Heather. This is my mom's story from our team's page.

Go Ellen's Legacy!!!! (This is a picture of my mom on her 1st birthday)
This May, my family and my mom, Ellen, and stepfather, Jack, returned from one of our favorite vacation spots - Disney World. Prior to and during our trip, my mom complained of a burning sensation in her ribs. When we returned home, she decided to go see her doctor. The doctor was unsure and scheduled a CAT scan. The scan was on June 7, 2007 and she was diagnosed later that day with metastatic pancreatic cancer. This was her greatest fear as she reviewed the possible outcomes of the scan the day before. Never did it cross our minds that in fact it would be pancreatic cancer.

June 7th was a turning point in my life and hers, as well as in all of our family and friends. It was the last day I worked for the next several months, it was the last day I slept well, and it was the last day that I did not spent next to my mom. From that day on, my family dropped everything to start on this journey with her. We hoped the journey would be a long one, but our wishes often aren't answered. Instead, my mom died in her sleep with us nearby on October 4, 2007, three days short of 4 months from diagnosis.

During the 4 months we had some really great times, but we also had some really hard times. PanCan provided information and support to us during this journey and it was not until a week after her death that I discovered this upcoming walk in Atlanta.

This walk will mark the start of our new life without my mom by our side, but we will continue to live, hope and pray for a day when pancreatic cancer patients are at least given options for a chance at increased survival.

I promised my mom that her death would not be in vain and that we would continue to live our lives in a way to create a better world for us and those around us. This is just the first step in our new journey and, as we promised...we won't stop!

We love you mom, Ashley, Michael and Harrison