Please Pray

February 12, 2009 - Clay Campbell lost his battle with cancer today. Please pray for his very young widow, Cozy, and their precious children. I can't imagine how hurt they must be right now and pray that they are letting their family and friends comfort them when they need it the most.
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I take a positive lesson for myself from every story that touches my heart - in whatever way that is. Sometimes I am angry about an injustice I see or devastated by someone else's loss (I am a FEELER not a Thinker!) Tonight I am humbled by someone else's path and their grace on their walk. The story of the Campbell Family is a heartbreaking reminder not to take any day with a loved one for granted.

Cozy Montgomery is one of the prettiest girls I have ever met. She is a year or so younger than me and was a high school cheerleader and a Golden Girl for Florida State in the mid 90s. She was always the girl you looked at and thought "really, does one person deserve all that?" The beauty of it was that she was incredibly sweet and unassuming. In her first or second year of college our then boyfriends were roommates. She and I both moved on to better things shortly afterwards. Thank goodness!

I am 99% sure that our paths have not crossed again since then, but she's someone I will never forget. I was lead to her story recently through mutual friends and I am incredibly humbled by what I've learned. Her husband, Clay, has terminal cancer and just today returned home with hospice care for his remaining days. Clay & Cozy are the parents of a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Cozy Montgomery Campbell is still extraordinarily beautiful and will be a widow and mother of 3 before she is 35. The link for their family's Caring Bridge site is below. Please read their story and pray for their peace and comfort in the coming days.

God Bless you and your family. Love, Kim

www.caringbridge.org/visit/claycampbell

Those Crazy Surveys. . .

I try hard not to contribute to the junk mail issue we all have, but my best girlfriend sent this to me and I am willing to do anything for her. Her answers cracked me up mostly and I'd love to see your answers, too. The instructions are below, just in case you plan to do it the right way.
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USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think! Now foward,
change the answers to suit you and pass it on.
It's really hard to use one word answers. Be sure
to send it bac to the person you received it from!

Where is your cell phone? car
Your significant other? working
Your hair? terrible
Your mother? sweet
your father? intense
Your favorite thing? life
Your dream last night? none
Your favorite drink? coffee
Your dream/goal? peace
What room are you in? office
Your hobby? sleep
Your fear? loss
Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs? here!
Where were you last night? home
Something that you aren't? shy
Muffins? sometimes
Wish list item? time
Last thing you did? dishes
What are you wearing? black
TV? rarely
Your pets? funny
Friends? amazing
Your life? fabulous
Your mood? quiet
Missing someone? Ya Ya
Drinking? some
Smoking? drinking
Your car? fine
Something you're not wearing? lipstick
Your favorite store? Ann Taylor
Your favorite color? red
When is the last time you cried? months
Who will resend this? someone
Where do you go to over and over? crazy
Five people who email me regularly? Amy, Mom, work, work, work
My favorite place to eat? out
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? Hawaii
Four people I think will respond?irrelevant

St Edward - 1S, Miss Schreiber's class

As requested, here are some photos of Max at Open House this weekend. He was so proud to show off his very first science project, a shark habitat. I seem to be having a problem with my camera and the photos aren't great. I'll have to see if I can do something about that this week.


Miss Schreiber ~ so cute!

The habitat

Max, Sophia & Mrs. Troje

Max's MLK project

I have a dream . . . that everyone was not slaves. I believe we should treat people equally. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

He always makes me so proud!

Gym Rats

If you've been looking for us and we are M.I.A. try the gym. Any gym . . .

Ed is coaching Max's Rookie League basketball team and we have practice on Tuesdays and games on Saturdays. Max's little team STINKS. They are just terrible. In their defense, this is the first year that more than half of them has ever played basketball. Sadly, it shows! Poor Ed gets so frustrated with these little monkeys and leaves every game hoarse, mumbling to himself and sweating. I am not far behind him since I seem to mimic his every motion from the stands. But I've said it here before, and I will say it again, there is something to be said for loyal friends and a supportive family. This weekend's game brought Max's fan club out in full force.

Grandma & Grandpa

Aunt Stacy (with Baby on Board!!!!) and Uncle Eric

Aunt Linda and Uncle Michael

Ryan and Kyle

Kristin and Nick

& Gregfather with sweet Nolan

Ed couldn't be at this week's game because his Junior High team was playing in a tournament, but I don't think Max suffered and the kids could be coached by John Wooden himself and still not make a shot. Coaching is not their problem!

Then half the crew headed from Dana Point to Santa Margarita to see St. Edward's 5/6 team play in their second tournament game at St. John's Episcopal. That game didn't end well either, but the fans were there in force and we enjoyed a post-game lunch. I speak for everyone when I say it has become our favorite part of the weekends lately. If Saturday's game is early, it's breakfast. If it's later, we'll have lunch. No matter what ~ we're all there and liking it a lot!

Ed's Jr High team practices a few days a week and plays games a fews day a week, depending on the week. Max is the official Ball Boy! That is one proud kid when he is on the bench with the 5th and 6th graders in his knee-length jersey. This weekend he got to do his job three times!!

Somewhere in the midst of our basketball weekend, we made it to Open House at St. Edward's. It was Max's opportunity to show off his classroom and his work and for Sophia to check out Kindergarten. It is a little devastating to me to think that our baby is going to begin Kindergarten in 6 months, but the passing of time is inevitable. She wasn't too sure to begin with, but warmed up when she saw the books, the computers and the playground! It's not as if she has a choice, but we were happy to see her excited and interested by the time we went to the GYM to find Max.

AND Ed and I are trying our hardest to hit the gym as often as possible in the New Year. It's not a resolution, it's a genuine need and desire. Although we were barely legal (one more than the other!!) when we met, we are a lot closer to 40 now. Gravity and slowing metabolisms make us a little crazy and we are trying to do something about it. I made the mistake of getting on an elliptical next to Ed early last week and had no idea that he sticks to it for an hour. Are you kidding me?!?!? I admire him for it, but halfway through I took my magazine to a bike and we caught up with each other a little later. Stay tuned. I hope I can tell you that we're still in the gym together a few months from now!!

Hey Nana, Look at me!

Mom -

I am a little behind on my photo sharing, I'm sorry. Check out the Princess with her HSM puzzle you sent when she was home sick! She loved doing it and was so proud to share. Belated thanks for a morning of entertainment. We miss you!

Shameless Promotion

Sometimes there is something that happens that is so good, and out of the ordinary that you just need to share. I had that experience this week and wanted to tell everyone!

We all know how scarce TRUE service is. There is one company that I shop with a few times a year and the service always blows me away. Julie Wodock of The Note House is amazing! I mostly shop with her for custom gifts for friends and family, but she also has a full line of stationery. I inquired with her this week about designing something for Max’s birthday party because she didn’t have exactly what I was looking for. In less than an hour she returned two separate proofs that were adorable and perfect!

Her prices are reasonable, she is unbelievably pleasant to work with and her turnaround time is lightening fast. I recommend her to you without reservation if you need invites, address labels, personalized note cards, bag tags . . . I have purchased all of them from her and loved them. Such amazing service is so rare these days that I had to make a fuss. Go to her site. Order something! You will not be disappointed.

http://www.thenotehouse.com/

email: thenotehouse@indy.rr.com

New Year's Eve

WOW! If you don't know what it means to need a vacation from your vacation, you should hang around here for a few days during the holidays. Here's a condensed version of the last ten days . . .

My mom arrived on the 21st and we headed straight to San Diego to go ice skating with Ed's parents and all their kids and grandkids. That was fun!

We celebrated on Christmas Eve with Ed's aunts, uncles and cousins and were treated to a special dance performance by Max, Isabella, Aaron, Sophia, Mason and even Abby. They reminded us that entertainment doesn't have to be sophisticated or well planned. Sometimes being together is as good as it gets.

Christmas Day was quiet and perfect. Max and Sophia each got one gift from Santa and LOVED it. Ed, the kids, my Mom and I ate lunch at home, watched the Laker game and napped. Ideal!

Ed and I had date night while my Mom was in town to enjoy the kids. We saw two movies on the same night and even had time for dinner and a little shopping. Those nights are rare and much treasured. It's too bad that it takes us a full day to recover anytime we get home after midnight!

An overnight trip to LA with my Mom was fun and action packed. Dinner in Malibu, a visit to the Santa Monica Pier, another movie, lunch and an all day shopping trip in Glendale were almost accomplished in under 24 hours. We try hard to get it all in when we get a chance to be together and it almost works!

New puzzles, Barbies, Star Wars galore, Disneyland, Wii, new DVDs, uploading iPods, lots of dinners out and one old dog that got skunked (not recommended, BTW)!!!! We are blessed, worn out and looking forward to another terrific year. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and the coming year brings good health and more happiness than you need. HAPPY NEW YEAR. God Bless you and yours . . .

Pray for Ema, please

UPDATE!!!

Ema made it home to celebrate Christmas with her family. Surgery went better than expected making her recovery less painful and easier on her little body. Thank you all for your prayers for Laura, Tony and their girls.

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If you regularly visit our blog, you know that we have been praying for our friends the Prater Family. Their daughter Ema was hospitalized in October for complications from pneumonia. A battery of tests revealed that she has cavities in a portion of her right lung that are an invitation for infection. While they don’t know yet how or why this is occurring (the high dosages of antibiotics mask most diagnostic cultures) they have determined through constant monitoring that Ema will require surgery on Friday morning.

From the CAT scan, they know that surgery will require taking at least the upper lobe of her right lung with the possibility of also impacting the middle lobe. The surgery is rare and challenging as they will access her lung by separating her ribcage through an incision in her side.

Please make an effort to take time from your holiday schedule to say a prayer for this family. Ema needs our prayers for strength and recovery. Her sisters, Devyn & Halle, need our prayers for comfort and reassurance. And most of all, their parents, need our prayers for the strength to watch their baby suffer knowing it’s for the best, clarity of thought to navigate through all of the details and faith that a divine plan will be revealed to them in time.

I urge you to share your love for your own family and friends. Life moves so rapidly that we forget sometimes (I am the MOST guilty of all) that every moment is delicate and any one of us may well need prayers sometime soon for a tragic loss or unthinkable fear. God Bless you at Christmas, and always.