Sunday, June 6, 2010

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh-my!


Evie and her family were invited this weekend to attend Dream Night a the zoo. A special outing for disabled and chronically ill children. We were reminded of all Evie has overcome and the deep waters the Lord has graciously brought her through. We were so humbled to be included seeing so many, many children who are in a daily battle and whose conditions are critical.

The theme of the evening was a Hawaiian Luau and they truly put on a spectacular presentation for these special kids!

A red carpet Aloha celebrity welcome
They passed out flower leis.
There were tiki torches and twinkle lights
Facepainting
Games and prizes
Tatoos (which we still cant wash off:-)
Hula Dance Lessons
Grass Skirts
Dinner and refreshments
Makeovers and manicures by Miss South Carolina
(....the highlight of the night for my girls)
And, oh yes...lots of fun animals
We got to see another of Evie's heart-brothers. Cute Derrick's mom writes a beautiful blog about this little guy!
The significance of the zoo always tugs at my heatstrings. You see, on the 9th day of Evies life, I dressed her in her snugly little bear outfit for her first big outing - a zoo trip as a family. This was the morning the nightmare began. It was at the zoo as we strolled around that frigid January day that I first noticed her funny breathing. Later that night, we landed in the ER and after a battery of tests, they diagnosed her broken heart. We could have lost Evie that day. This could have been my last picture of my baby girl!
January 25 2004

It has been a long hard road since. But slowly, the nightmare of that day and the roller coaster months that followed are starting to fade into the background. And in its place are a million beautiful memories of our happy, healthy, life-loving little girl and the family who adores her.

4 comments:

Karen said...

great pics Mandy. Love your heart. It was great catching up last week! :) Love you!

Shannon said...

It was so good to see you and your crew at the zoo! It really was an amazing yet humbling experience.

I'm glad you guys had fun. You got some great pics!

Faith M. said...

We just had a hospital event at the zoo yesterday too. I'll post about it later. Your story about sweet Evie in her bear costume got me. I hate thinking about the days before Maggie was diagnosed and all of the "what ifs" that could have happened. I even hated the pictures from that time for quite a while. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time. Evie and the rest of your family is as gorgeous as ever, but I'm pretty sure your girls get prettier every day.
Hugs,
Faith

Julie said...

Mandy,
I loved your story... the ache, the joy mixed into this beautiful tale of the healing of a broken heart.....

You have a gorgeous family!

Just came from my Hannah's blog where I read the words you left for her. Thank you for loving on her. Thank you for loving on Courtney when she lost her baby. You are blessed both my girls more than you know... and you have blessed me!

Thank you!!!
Julie (Todd)

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