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Sunday, September 15, 2013

help-a-heart fun

I'm jumping back to the beginning of summer again!!
We had a great time at the help a heart silent auction.  Help a Heart is a support group for heart families that was started by two wonderful heart mamas who have become great friends.
All the heart kids got to go on stage and get a medal. We kinda think they deserve one for everything they have to endure!
This sweet little girl is Ava, who Andrew has loved since he was about 2.  
Some of you may remember Ava's mommy watched Andrew part time for me when I went back to work after a year off at home with him.  These two were/are just the sweetest and cutest kids ever!  
These girls have become like sisters to Andrew and Kerigan this summer, since they live in our town now!  We love having another heart family that we have known live super close to us!  It is so fun getting together and the kids all play so well together.  Plus an added bonus, we get to ride to the meetings together which makes the drive more fun!  It takes about an hour now, so we leave a little early and shop in Des Moines before the meeting!  So fun!  We just make an adventure out of it!
More heart friends, Lainey and Andrew!
My loves

I love these sweet moments they share!
I have no idea why Andrew was standing like that!  Ha!
But this is what I mostly got for pictures!  Seriously, Andrew??
My sweet little girl in her heart dress to support her Bubba!  She could not be any sweeter, I swear!
Later this summer our group had a family picnic which was so fun.  Daddy and Kerigan played at the park!  Daddy almost got stuck but it was fun anyway- Ha!
They had water balloons for the kids and they had a blast!  I love Help a Heart so much.  It offers so many wonderful opportunities for us families to connect, and also our kids.  I think it is so important that Andrew knows he is not the only one with a special heart.  That there are so many other kids (too many) that share that special mark on their chests, and they can show each other and feel connected.  It has been the most wonderful gift to our family to have this group of friends we otherwise would never have known.  We are all connected by our amazing and special kids, and it is just so incredible to sit in a room full of people where every single one of them understands how it feels to watch your baby being wheeled down the hall for surgery.  And to not know if you will ever see them again.  Since those feelings are impossible to explain to anyone, it is just so nice having people who understand.

"A friend loves at all times..."
Proverbs 17:17