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| Traditional Family Photo with Ronald, just missing Daddy Brian this year... |
"FOR GOOD"
"I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you"
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtMN3mXmvqUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtMN3mXmvqU Listen to the song if you are not familiar with it.
These lyrics from the Broadway show "Wicked" are truly amazing and really touch my heart. I can't help but listen to it and not think of the life of our little man Logan. He definitely came into our lives for a reason, we have learned and continue to learn because of him. He has helped us to stretch and grow in so many ways and I think from day 1 of this 12 year journey, we were committed to giving something in return. We are who we are today because we knew him, loved him, and because we shared and continue to share his story.
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| Logan Del Ballard |
Our journey has been well described by this poem:
Welcome To Holland
by
Emily Perl Kingsley
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandt's.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
by
Emily Perl Kingsley
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandt's.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
Yep, we booked our trip for Italy back in 2000, got dumped off in Holland when our son was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, and then somehow ended up on a deserted island when he passed away. However, we got off that deserted island after going through our own grief and returned to real civilization, a changed and different couple. We had a "new normal" and although we haven't forgotten the crazy journey, it didn't end. We are still on that journey and we continue to meet amazing people that our lives would have never had the opportunity to come in contact with. For that we thank you Logan for the opportunities your life has presented us with. We truly have been blessed and we have turned a tragic situation into something positive for ourselves, our family, and for many others who are on a journey themselves. We are FIRM believers in "Paying it forward" and each year on or near March 22nd, our Logan's birthday we put a little something special together and go and mingle with some truly amazing families at the Ronald McDonald House. We owe more to this organization than can be quantified and we hope our small contribution will bless the lives of others and inspire them to someday Pay it Forward as well. So, with that long introduction here is this years visit to the Seattle Ronald McDonald House.....a special thanks to my wonderful in-laws who made the drive all the way from Utah to help us out. What a blessing as for the first time in 12 years, Brian was not able to join us. He has been taking a bridge inspecting course for work and had a field test that day that he could not get out of. He was missed! Along with him being gone this year our wonderful RMH volunteer Rick had family commitments out of state so, an off year for all of us, but it went forward non -the- less
I also owe a big thanks to many friends who lent me things to pull of this years cookie buffet. Thank you LeeAnn, Lindzee, Victoria, Anna, and Amber. Your help and talents were much appreciated. Also a huge thank you to Holly Simeon from PreppyLaneBoutique for the custom designed "Owl" printables www.etsy.com/shop/PreppyLaneBoutique They inspired everything including the cookies that Allison of Sweet Themes Bakery www.sweetthemesbakery.com made and did an over the top job on. Joey from Pop O licious cake pops www.popoliciouscake.blogspot.com/ pulled off some darling owl cake pops that were loved by everyone! Once again, thanks to Brian's parents for bringing the Cookie Tree cookies all the way from Utah, the jars would have been empty without them.
Cookie Buffet
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| It is a smile like this, that makes the effort worth it! This is what it is all about! |
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| These two moms are just ecstatic with filling their little take out boxes full of cookies. What a great photo in the moment! |
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| This family has been at Ronald McDonald House for 8 months. Their son has cancer and they removed a 5 inch piece of bone from his arm. He was pretty excited to show me his scar! They are hoping to be able to go home in the next 2 months. |
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| Kelsey loves going to Ronald McDonald House and she was lucky enough to find a little friend. They played hard together and this little girl followed Kelsey around everywhere. |
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| Grandma Irene and cousin Jakell put together a bunch of owl puppets for the kids to assemble. They had a great time gluing it all together. |
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| I love to sew on paper and a similar project on Pinterest inspired me to make some little pouches for the knife, fork, spoon, and napkin. |
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| I had Holly Simeone www.etsy.com/shop/PreppyLaneBoutique design these water bottle labels to look a little like the ever so popular subway art. We threw on some uplifting words of encouragement so these families could reflect on their personal journey in attending to their children with medical issues. |
This was the dumbest project I have ever attempted. Painting pinto beans with spray paint! Note to self***DON’T try this at home…unless you
live in a super hot and dry area of the country. Seattle weather in March does not qualify….PINTEREST,
this is going to be chalked up to the stupidest project I ever tried, but boy
in the end, I was happy with it!
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| www.sweetthemesbakery.com |
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| www.popoliciouscake.blogspot.com/ |
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| French Fry Favors Each year our good friend Anna Price makes these adorable favors for the kids at the house. This year we had more kids than ever and they loved these. Anna has been a part of this tradition the last 4 years and we love and appreciate her. She usually watches Spencer "Boy" for us, but Nana Price needed to be Nana to her very own special grand kids this year. So, our good friends the Hall's and Heddings stepped in and entertained Spencer for the long hours while we were gone! |
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| Victoria and Spencer upon our return! He looked pretty happy and had a great time! By this time in the evening, I'm exhausted and then the reality of the day sets in and I reflect on a very special little man. Logan, we love you and miss you and continue to honor you in the only way we know how! Happy Birthday "Little Man".... |
this is so cute and your family is so awesome :)
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