Answered Prayer!

We have a precious couple that go to our church and that have been such sweet mentors and friends to us throughout our marriage. Carl and Francie Albertson are just a beautiful, sweet couple that we (and so many others) look up to and respect and love greatly. Right after the twins were born, Francie spent countless days at my house helping me. I'm pretty sure I would have not made it through those first 3 months without her. For the Thanksgiving weekend this year, Francie and Carl were in California visiting her sister and some other family members. Early on Thanksgiving Day Francie woke up having chest pains and shortly after waking passed out and went unconscious. Carl performed CPR until the EMT arrived. She flat-lined and was shocked several times in the ambulance. It did not look good. Once they got her to the UCLA hospital, she was very unstable and they weren't sure she would make it. Miraculously, they were able to stabilize on a ventilator and concluded that she had suffered from a heart attack. They then cooled her body for the next 24 hours to try to minimize damage that could have been caused by lack of oxygen to her body and brain during the times that she flat-lined. At this point they really had no idea what she was going to be like when she woke up. They just didn't know how much damage there was going to be. SO many people were praying for her and for God to do a miracle. When Francie woke up two days later, they Dr's and nurses were astonished. She was TOTALLY FINE. There was NO damage whatsoever. They also were blown away because with the type of heart attack she had, there is only a 6% chance of survival period. SIX PERCENT! And of those 6% there is almost always significant damage. The Dr's and nurses called her their "Christmas Miracle". And just a little over a week from the time of her heart attack, she and Carl were able to fly back to home to Mobile. Amazing! Several of us surprised them at the airport and welcomed them home......

Here they come! They were so surprised! Look at Francie's face! I LOVE it!

Lots of joyful and tears and hugs took place.....

Shep-Shep wasn't sure what to think about the whole deal ;)

The kiddos insisted on getting a pic on the sleigh :)

She had a bruise/sore on her nose from the oxygen tubes but other than that....she was COMPLETELY normal. Seriously, just amazing!

A miracle for sure! So very thankful that Francie is still here with us. She and Carl are such a blessing to us all!

Hunter's Hope Walk

On the first Saturday of December we took part in a Hunter's Hope Walk here in Mobile. For the last couple of years one of our good friends from church, Anne,  helps organize and host this charity walk that brings awareness to the need for our state (as well as ALL the other states) to offer newborn screening for Krabbe Disease. Currently Krabbe Disease is not on the list of newborn screening requirements in the state of Alabama. If it was and a newborn tested positive for Krabbe disease, then there is treatment that could be given to cure the baby. If it is not detected until months later, then there is no treatment that can be given and life-expectancy is very short. Several years ago a young couple of in our church here had a seemingly healthy baby girl. Six months later she was diagnosed with Krabbe Disease. She was not screened for it at birth and, thus, there was no treatment that could help. She and her family have been battling this awful disease for the past few years. Hunter's Hope is a foundation that brings informs and educates people about Krabbe and advocates for legislation to be passed that requires Krabbe to be added to the mandatory newborn screening list. Such a worthy cause. I'm so glad we were able to take part this year.

The hubs dropped me and the girlies off at the walk because a friend of his had called late the night before and told him he had an extra FREE ticket on the 6th row of the end zone for the Alabama/Georgia football game in Atlanta!!! Ummmmm, to say he was like a little kid on Christmas morning would be a MAJOR understatement. He was just a taaaaaaaad bit excited (too bad the Dawgs weren't able to pull threw.....they were OH.SO.CLOSE. :(  Nonetheless, he had the time of his life :)

The Chick-fil-A cow made an appearance at the walk...

Anna's hubby, Sammy, is a cow fan as well :)

There were some fun craft stations for the kiddos....

Food crafts are always a hit :)

Gabbie enjoying her SECOND Chick-fil-A biscuit of the morning :)

Jocie still working on her first....

Anna and Katie manning the biscuit table :)

Go-Fish booth....

Scott trying out our basketball booth :)

Face-painting!

Scott and Shawn wondering if anyone would notice if they hopped into the jumpy house.... :)

Baby Shep-Shep took all the fun he could handle....

Anna welcoming everyone to the walk....

Our Pastor, Jim, praying for the families affected by Krabbe and for our state laws to change regarding newborn screening....

And then we walked!

The finish line!

One of the precious children that was honored at the walk and his family....

SO thankful to have been a part of this day....