Ready for the magic

TGIF!!! We have a 3 day weekend. I know for one, all of us are sleeping in tomorrow (at least until 7:00)

Today was a good day! Denny and I realized that we don't have much time between now and Christmas. How did that sneak up on us so quickly? If we are going to pull off Christmas here, we needed to really take advantage of this last day where Kayla would be busy. So, Denny and I did what we do best. Divide and conquer. I dropped my duo at the door to SJ and headed for the mall. I was able to fulfill all of her wish list which made me SO happy! A HUGE thank you to Jennifer Martin and Mike's Bikes for the awesome bike that is waiting for Kayla at home! Claire and Megan, you girls picked out a beauty for your friend! Kayla will LOVE it! We got her a helmet to open on Christmas morning. I can't wait for her to look up with those huge puzzled eyes wondering what she will need the helmet for. I will have the picture of the bike ready and waiting! So exciting! It will be so strange not having Anthony ripping open things at the same time this year, but it's ok... we have FB Video chat! We will have to time it since there is a two hour time difference.

On that note, we are so glad that we were able to have the time here to focus on getting Kayla started on her treatment. Now that she is starting to get in the groove, we feel it's time for Anthony to join us here in Tennessee. We know that his presence will help Kayla to improve and for us to all feel some form of normalcy. He will join us soon. We can't wait! For now, we just do our video chats as much as possible. He is doing fantastic though. We couldn't have had better people to leave him with. As a mother, you know what kind of trust and love that is to be able to hop on a plane and know that he will be cared for as if he were in his own home in his parent's care. For that, we are eternally grateful beyond words.

 Aj could seriously be a twin here. Look at their expressions. He's like a brother for sure! Even Charlie Brown has the same grin. haha

 Mailing their letters to santa! Score :)

Aj and both of his loving grandma's. I LOVE this picture. 

Anthony singing with a lot of his friends at Good Shepherd <3 <3 <3 this!

 Feeding the horses at a local friend's farm with Amanda right by his side!

Having so much fun!

Tomorrow, we plan on doing lots of arts and crafts. Maybe a movie? For sure, we will do the light tour as we do every year. I encourage any of you who don't have plans, to try and squeeze it in. It's something that all of us... young and old.... any religion can equally find the magic in seeing. Just wear your PJ's. Hop in the car. Play some holiday tunes and get lost in the magic of the moment. A time where you can just be happy to be together. A time where time sort of just slows down and you breathe a little deeper. Time to reflect on the year and smile at the pretty lights. So many people put so much energy into them. I know quite a few people who can barely even get them up every year due to physical pain, but still do it. It's for those people especially that I will continue to be in awe of all that it means for them to have done it for us. Thank you! (and thank you to Denny who goes along with this silly tradition of mine, even if it is not his choice) I, for one, will be breathing deeply and enjoying every second of it. Let the magic begin.

We hope that all of you have a very special holiday. Love Love Love!

Here is a picture as you enter the Target House. Our apartment is the top left balcony in the middle of the building (balcony is the living room. The windows on both sides are our bedrooms)

Kayla finally started working on her legacy bead necklace. What I love is her pure appreciation that every bead on it is one she has earned. Blood, Sweat and Tears...... Literally.

I could explain what each bead means, but I don't want to bore you. The red beads that have tiny eyeballs on them are the "bad day beads". The green w/ polka dots are "good day". The #2 is for completing her 2nd week of radiation. (I will make sure to grab #1 on Tuesday. Oops... how did we miss that?) The red beads are blood draws or various pokes. We don't always remember to grab beads after each appointment. We need to try and get better about this. How great are these legacy beads? This necklace will mean so much to all of us forever!