Pray us there and Back

Just letting you all know that we have arrived safely. We flew out of a local airport around 10:00 and was waved goodbye by some sweet family members. I was told that they would "pray me there and back" and I like the sound of that. So join them in praying us there and back.
The flight was pretty uneventful, which is the way I like it. The pilot was great and his sweet wife had packed us some snacks and drinks. Dylon actually got to fly the plane. It was so awesome. We only flew 10,000 ft above sea level, b/c of Dylon's condition and the affects of the cabin pressure, we didnt know if he would have any, better safe than sorry. He did have a few minor caughing spells, but nothing worse than the usual. But let me tell you something, flying at sea level meant some really awesome views we got to see the gulf and rivers. It was gorgeous. We flew into the Million Air airport, which is the same as Hobby, but has a special place for the smaller planes. We got off the plane and was greated by some friendly Houstonian's and as well as our cab driver. The cab driver was so sweet and so helpful to us. We then arrived at our hotel and checked into our room, and we had trouble with our debit card. We put all of the money that was given for Dylon's trip in a special account and then found out that they had a limit and so anyway just one thing to add to the stress. Ha! I'll call the bank in the morning and get that straightened out. We have really enjoyed the hotel room, and staff, all very friendly, they even took us to the Target. We got us some groceries so we can eat in our room
We did talk to Dr.S (cardiologist) and he was glad that we made it safely without any problems. His nurse will call us in the morning to set up a time when we will see him tomorrow. Dr.S wants to do another Echo and EKG tomorrow. We will also possibly see the Surgeon.
How are we doing?
Amazingly Strong.
I know that things are not going as planned by Me Ha! But I think it is just another reminder that God is the one that has the say so over anything and everything. My hands are up and I surrender it all to him. Thank You Jesus for loving me.
Just know that your prayers for us are being answered. God is so great and is "bigger than the boogie man" (vegi tales)
I will update tomorrow and let you all know what is being said at the appointment!
God Bless!
Shelli

Complications

Please ignore any typo's, I am very sleep deprived!

Dylon has had some complications with his caughing and gagging and hard time catching his breath. They believe that it is from his vascular ring around his espaphagus. We spent the night at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensecola last night and upon evaluation they (Tcmc's cardiologist Dr.S) have decided to up his surgery for Tuesday instead of June 17.
We will fly out tomorrow, settle in our room and wake up to speak to the surgeon and the Anesthesiologist. So surgery is in 3 days. We are running around trying to get a bunch of stuff done that we thought we had 2 more weeks to get done. But it looks like our BIG GOD has other plans.
Please keep us in your prayers, I will or someone will update my blog as we get closer to Tuesday.
God Bless
Shelli

Grab a button!

My B.I.L (brother in law) who is a very talented graphic designer...designed Dylon a button...please grab one. Show your support and love for Dylon! Only 26 more days until his surgery
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A Special Photo Shoot

As Dylon's heart condition became more known throughout the county, we have just been blown away by all the support and love. We have recieved cards, phonecalls, t-shirts, stuffed animals and a huge prayer chain. But one gift that really meant alot to me was a phone call I recieved from B&P Photography who wanted to do a free photo session of Dylon before his surgery. I couldn't wait. We had the photo's taken last week at a local park. As you can tell they turned out wonderful. I really think alot of B&P Photography, after doing this for Dylon, they have decided to do it for other kids who have a life threatening illness in the Covington County area..what a great idea and a wonderful way to turn their God given talents into a way to help other families.

Only 28 more days until his surgery, I am trying to fit in as much summer time activity as possible. I hope to do a few beach trips and maybe to the Zoo again.

This past weekend, my Brother and his wife Suzanne put on a Heart Mending party for Dylon, it was really sweet the invitation read:

My Mommy and Daddy didn't know from the start, that they were getting a little boy with a very special heart! Now just 3 years later, its time for a repair, but I know i'll be fine with my mom, dad and God there. The doctors will put on their scrubs and gloves, and fix my heart with skill knowledge and lots of love. I've got one thing to ask while I am away... Please get down on your knees and pray,pray,pray! It will take a few weeks for me to recover, but I'll be back in no time playing with my brothers. Now on a different note before I go... Uncle Wade, Aunt Suzanne, Britt and Parker J want to celebrate and pray for my special "Heart Mending Day"! So please join me and my family for an afternoon of fun, that will consist of food, cake and prayer for everyone! I really hope to see you there!!!

we had a great time, Thank You guys! You can check out some pictures from the party on Suzannes blog.

One more thing before I go, I finally made our hotel reservations....it was a big deal to me and took me 4 hours to actually decide on which one. Time is flying by and your prayers are needed more and more the closer we get to June 17.

God Bless!

Prayer's for Bentley!!

I came across Crystals blog a couple of months ago. She and I have become blogspot friends as well as praying for each others CHD kids. Her daughter Bentley will undergo open heart surgery May 20 at Texas Children's medical Center. It was very ironic finding her blog and then realizing that her daughter is going to have surgery 3 weeks before Dylon at the same hospital by the same surgeon. Bentley is such a beautiful child. You can read more about Bentley's condition by clicking here. They are leaving out today so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Also if you haven't bought a bow to support Bentley, then you need to by clicking here.
Make sure you go and leave a comment for Crystal and Bentley to show them some support!



Father God,

I just pray that you just hold Bentley and her family in your arms

and comfort them like they've never been comforted. God I just pray that

you will work through the nurses and doctors and surgeons to perform
a great miracle for Little Bentley. Also protect them on their trip to and from Houston, TX and surround them with your never ending love.

Thank you Jesus. We praise your name.

Amen

Not Me Monday!

This is the first time I have ever done one, so bare with me....

This week I did not get second degree burns on my forearm from cooking supper,

nope NOt Me, I'm like a younger Betty Crocker. I also didn't blame it on my son saying that I was protecting him from the oven, I would never do that ;)

I also didn't bribe Dylon and Houston with candy just so they would clean their rooms up, NOT ME, I don't believe in bribing. Bribing would only result in spoiled kids and my kids are NOT spoiled.

Not to mention the fact that I did not forget about Mother's Day until the day before, Not me I remember everything and everyone. I also did not go fight the Wal-mart crowd Saturday just to buy 94 cent cards for my mom and my MIL, Nope not me. I only buy the top dollar cards, they mean more.

Those tan lines on my kids today, are not because I forgot to put sunscreen on them before we went swimming for 3 hours, Not Me. I am very sun concious and I Always put sunscreen on them before stepping out in the sunlight.

I also am not embarresed by the aroma that is in my car, NOt Me. My car is clean as a whistle, no 3 week old french fries are found in the "Rocket" Van. There is also no sand, or sticky, melted gummy bears either.

I also am not so desperate for some quite time, that on Mothers Day I laid in bed and I would hide the lap top under the covers as soon as I heard someone coming my way, and pretend to still be asleep, Nope Not me. You see, I slept until 11:00 I would never be so selfish.

NOT ME!!

Pictures from the Spaghetti supper

This is Dylon eating his delicious Spaghetti!!!

I meant to post them with the blog last night, but my camera was in the car and I was so exhausted from the yard sale, that I didn't want to go and get it.

My cousin Mandi(Mimi) created shirts for the yard sale and spaghetti supper, and Im sure we will wear them day of surgery too. I tried to get some pics of some of the Family wearing the shirts. I don't have any pics of the yard sale yet, but I know someone had a camera there and I will eventually post some.

Here is a few pics from the cooks in the kitchen...Thank You SES!!

Dylon's Yard Sale and Spaghetti dinner was a huge success!!

Just to do a quick update on the Yard Sale and Spaghetti dinner. We had our Spaghetti dinner Thursday night at SOuthside Baptist Church and sold over 300 plates. The ladies that put this together are teachers at Straughn Elementary School and they did this with the thought of being able to pay for all of our bills for the month of June....and they sold enough to pay for our bills for June and July! What a awesome group of ladies that cooked some really yummy spaghetti and had a blast doing it. WE LOVE YOU SES!!

So as anyone who has ever done a yard sale knows how much work is put into one. We had donations of items from over 50 families. IT was a HUGE yard sale. We started putting things out Friday and ran out of room and so we had to get up bright and early today and put out tables outside to put more things on. As we would take things out of the trailor, people were buying them. It was Awesome. We also did a live auction for a fiddle, and it sold for 400.00. OH and not to mention the awesome cakes and cinnamon roles and candied apples and boiled peanuts that sold before I could get my hands on them. Thank you Harts grocery, Mrs. JoAnn, Mrs. Mary for going through the trouble for baking these items.

If you have never seen the Poweplant Farmers Market, you need to go the next time they have an event there. It is a beautiful and historical building..it is all exposed brick with huge windows, so nice.

So the big question is how much did we make???
Are you ready for this??

over 7,000.00 dollars!!! And don't worry it is in a safe!

The turn out was awesome and the experience was even more humbling than anyone could ever imagine.
I owe you guys BIG time....Mom, "B" Brian, Jennifer, Suzanne, Aunt Jeannie, Steph, Dad, Wade, 22(Justin), PaPa John, Mandi, Dave, Mrs Pam and Mr.Billy, Mrs.JoAnn and Mr. James, Honey, Kat, Grandma(Rodgers), Terri Jewell, Grandmother, Blaine, Melissa, Nicole, Unk(Griff), Mrs.Stuckey, Aunt Elaine, Tonya Hart, and a even bigger thanks to WAAO, for making this Yard Sale bigger and better than I could've ever have dreamed.

I didn't forget, I could not have gotten any of this done without Aunt Vicki watching and loving my kids for me all weekend. Thank You Vick Vick.

Thanks to anyone and everyone who came, who gave and who have been praying for my family. We love ya'll!

The Zoo!!

A couple blogs ago I promised to post some pictures of the trip to the Montgomery Zoo. I am just now getting around to uploading them to my computer, I hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the Zoo! It was such a beautiful day and we were just amazed by God's beautiful creations.
"Let everything that has breathe, Praise the Lord! Alleluia"

Psalm 105:6

We ate lunch in Africa, near the lions and Houston is showing his "BIG" teeth just like the lions do.


This is Dylon roaring like a lion, all three boys just loved the lions, but Dylon couldn't wait to see some elephants.

This was Laeton Reid's first trip to the Zoo. He had such a great time and his favorite animals were the AH-AH's (monkeys) We couldn't get him to leave their area.

We stayed with the elephants forever. The kiddo's were infactuated by them. We had such a great time and cannot wait to return to the zoo.

Oh one last picture....this picture is for Dave he is one of my kids most favorite people, and he is also a Turkey Fanatic. Houston loves hunting with Dave and so it was important that we took this picture for Dave who at the time hadn't killed a turkey. But don't worry he made up for it last week when he killed three turkeys. We can't wait to eat some fried turkey Dave. We love you and Mandi!

God Bless!

God's Masterpiece

This morning in church, there was a baby dedication. And seeing this excited and beautiful family dedicate their little girl was such an honor and a joy. It brought back the time when the twin's were dedicated at Central Assembly of God in Haughton,LA.It seems like yesterday. They had on their little smocked blue outfits, my mom and my best friend from college drove nine hours to see their dedication. Making that commitment to God to always honor him and to bring the boys up in a God loving home. Watching them smile and coo at the preacher as he held both babies at the same time(which made me nervous)and remembering the preacher say this was the second set of twins he had dedicated. It was a BIG day. Watchin this beautiful family dedicate their little girl who also smiled at the preacher brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy and tears of sadness. There was also a music special and the song was "You are a Masterpiece" by Sandi Patty

Before you had a name or opened up your eyes

Or anyone could recognize your face.

You were being formed so delicate in size

Secluded in God's safe and hidden place.

With your little tiny hands and little tiny feetAnd little eyes that shimmer like a pearl

He breathed in you a song and to make it all complete

He brought the masterpiece into the world.

You are a masterpiece

A new creation He has formed

And you're as soft and fresh as a snowy winter morn.

And I'm so glad that God has given you to meLittle Lamb of God, you are a masterpiece.

And now you're growing up your life's a miracle

Everytime I look at you I stand in aweBecause I see in you a reflection of me

And you'll always be my little lamb from God

And as your life goes on each day

How I pray that you will see

Just how much your life has meant to me.

And I'm so proud of you

What else is there to say?

Just be the masterpiece He created you to be

Seeing this dedication and hearing this song just reminded me that God formed Dylon and it was no surprise to God when the doctors found his "special" heart. He has Dylon's life in his hands and no matter what God chooses to do, it is his will and his will is whats best for Dylon's life. However, it makes me so sad to think of this, I know this sounds crazy, but in all reality we live life like everyday is promised to us or we have some control of our lives. Or atleast I do, I take the kids to school and am comforted that I will pick them up when it gets time too, or I can get them anytime that I want. The thought that June 17 when he is taken from us for his surgery, may be the last time I ever see his sparkling blue eyes, or that mischevious little grin and I am in no control over what happens during his surgery and this frightens me. But I am reminded that...

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1Chronicles 29:11

But it is not until these times, the times were we are heavy burdened and weary and scared do we take into focus what we commited to that day of dedication to God. We have to always know that these babies are a gift from God, and he has a plan for each and every one of us...we are all his children and he loves us and sometimes teaches us important lessons through pain and suffering. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are NOT in control of this life, but God is and the only way to live is to live through Christ.

God Bless!