Vacation at Disney World

We packed up and flew to the Magic Kingdom last week and had a great time. We decided that it would be good to get away for just a few days before Misty went back to work. Four days was perfect for us for our first trip to Disney World. Ben was beside himself as we prepared to go. When I picked him up on Wednesday his teacher said she had to warn him four times at nap time about settling down and going to sleep. So she requested that we not tell him where or when we are going somewhere next time. So I picked him and got his flu shot then we headed home to pack for the big trip. We flew down there and went over to the Magic Kingdom and the fun started. The weather was nice and the crowds were small. I told someone at work today that the wait times got up to 20 minutes on Saturday and they laughed at me saying that was a long time. They said last time they went during June it was MUCH longer than that. So we were blessed with a great time. We did all of the Magic Kingdom including Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain roller coaster. Ben LOVED each of those and would do those 2 rides a hundred times again.

He of course made out like a bandit with the stuffed animals and souvenirs. So we made it home with everything and eventually got packed up. The only reason I mentioned that Ben got his flu shot before we went was.... he woke up Sunday morning saying he was cold. So he had a fever and we think well maybe we can get him home and get some Tylenol in him and maybe by Monday he will be fine. Well this morning his fever was just as bad or even worse so we visited Dr. Goldsmith today and confirmed that he has the H1N1 flu. So 5 days of Tamiflu and he should be back in action. Misty returned to work today to only be out for the next 2 days as I travel to a sales meeting. So pray for Ben as he battles this virus and that Misty and I don't get it too!!!

I am not sure if I posted this but the organizers of the race/walk to raise money for The Amelia Center e-mailed everyone to let us know they raised over $9,000! We also got a letter last week from the Executive Director of the Center and he informed us that the memorials that all of you have made now total more than $1,500!!! We want to thank you so much for remembering our little girl and helping this amazing place with your donations.

Thanks so much for all of your continued prayers as well.

Another week

Another week has passed and everyone is doing well here. It has actually been a month since Amelia entered our lives. That sounds so hard to believe! But at the same time it seems like the past 4 weeks has lasted for 10 years. I am back at work physically but I am not sure how much mentally. Misty is still enjoying her time off by walking and reading blogs of other people out here that have gone through similar situations. Boy there a BUNCH.

We were reminded this week of how many people out there care for us. We got a letter from The Amelia Center listing all of the people that have made donations in memory of our Amelia and it was overwhelming. There is always the presence of this support around us but it is nice to be reminded of it.

We have had a busy week. We signed up Ben to play soccer at the YMCA. This is going to be fun for sure. We also did some recruiting of some other neighborhood kids that Ben played T-Ball with back in the spring. So we have 12 three and four year old kids signed up and ready to play. Ever since we told him about playing we have had to "practice" in the backyard. Some of the adults almost passed out last weekend but he was going strong. I am also going to be the coach since no one else had signed up. This should make it even more interesting with him playing and me coaching. In fact the last team I coached was at the same Y about 6 years ago. I volunteered and ending up coaching a 3-4 year old team and we had a blast.

We also are preparing some to travel to Disney World this Thursday. Someone at work asked me this week if we were all prepared to go and I simply answered, No. Misty and I travel so much with work that we will pack the night before and just simply get on the plane. In fact I just bought the tickets for the Magic Kingdom yesterday. We are just going to be down there for 4 days so it wont be hard for us to make this a fun time for Ben. Of course I did do a little planning yesterday by calling the Hilton Honors guest manager and asking what the capacity load of the hotel is next weekend and what our chances are for an upgrade. No matter how much I travel I still cover my bases for upgrades!

We have a very peaceful weekend planned thank goodness. There just happens to be some decent college football on this weekend so that will help pass the time on a rainy weekend I am sure. I am also very sure that Ben will keep us entertained playing the Wii.

Thank you always for the continued prayers. We know that we can face each day with God's help and your prayers are also helping us do just that.

The Amelia Center Walk/Run

This is a group picture of our team that walked/ran in memory of Amelia!

The Baby Steps 5k Run/Walk was a huge success. The organizers of this event I am sure spent many hours organizing this event. It was such a blessing to have so many family members and friends join us as we walked to raise money for The Amelia Center. The families that organized the event said they were anticipating around 75 attendees and they had over 400. This is a huge turn-out for the first year. I am so excited to know that they were able to get this many people involved to raise a huge amount of money for the place that we all hold dear to us.

Misty and I are so appreciative of all of the prayers and support that people are still offering. This is still very prevalent in our lives. We have had some ups and downs as we go but knowing that so many people are STILL praying for us has helped. This week brought about another challenge for us as September 1, 2009 was the original due date that the Doctors had given us. But as everyone has said these days will come and go. We also have Ben to always keep us entertained. This week Misty got out some stuffed animals to give to him and there was a little black kitten. She said he looks like Oliver, a cat we had that died last year. She asked Ben if he thought that Oliver and Amelia were up in Heaven playing. He responded "she was probably pulling his tail because that is what babies do!" What a cute thought for the adults to think about. Sweet Amelia and Oliver up in Heaven running around and having fun.

We have planned our trip to Disney for a weekend. Ben is beside himself that he is getting to go meet the seven dwarfs. I think this will be a great time for us to have fun and be together as a family. Also please pray for Misty as she gets ready to go back to work in a couple of weeks.