A DAY TO REFLECT!

Today has been a bitter sweet day. I wanted so badly for the "Berlin heart" to do for Christian what it did for Kaidence and I am so heart broken that it could not. I attended Christians funeral services today and they were beautiful. The family did a wonderful job of capturing who their son was and what he meant to so many. I continue to pray for his family and hope to spend some time with them soon. On the front of his program it read "Some people dream of angels, but I have held one in my arms."
I do hope that we can all take the time today to embrace those that we love and be kinder to those around us.

On a happy note, little Grace is getting her new heart today and we wish her family all of the luck we can. Today is the day of their new beginning. Good Luck Baby Grace, we are so happy for you!

WE have finished up all of the filming for the Children's Miracle Network and are very anxious to see the story they do on Kaidence. They have spent so much time and thought capturing our feeling and emotions of Kaidence's Journey. Kaidence is getting to be such a busy little girl. Her bottom is still her mode of transportation but I think she may be thinking about trying to crawl. She has become strong enough to get herself from the laying position to sitting, WAY TO GO!!! Her feeds and eating are improving and she doesn't throw up as much. She is starting to get more of her voice back although it is still pretty soft and she will sometimes just sit and jabber. The boys are getting ready to start school and hopefully this year we can all be together for the holidays. Thank You all for your support and love and for being part of our families "Journey of Faith, Hope and Trust."
I had another heart mommy give this to me and I think it is a great way to sum up our new lives as "heart mommy's". Our trials have not been what we expected and our lives are forver changed but It just reinforces that good can come from everything and that life and trials are all about your attitude, your perspective, your faith and your hopes!!!

WELCOME TO HOLLAND-By Emily Pearl Kingsley
"When you are going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks 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 and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?" you say, "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm suppose to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there has 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 guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you never would 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 bring to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips and 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." The pain of that will never, ever go away because the loss of that dream is a 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 , lovely things about Holland."

I hope that we can discover life's beauty and blessings as we take our own personal tours of Holland!
With Hope, Faith and Love,
Shauntelle

A BROKEN HEART!

My heart is broken as I write to tell you that our little buddy Christian passed away on Saturday evening. Christian was Kaidence's "Berlin Heart buddy" as he was waiting for a heart transplant and Casie and Scott have become my friends as well. Casie, Scott and family, we are thinking of you. Christian is so lucky to have a mommy and daddy like you. I know that he loves you as dearly as you love him. Please pray for this sweet family as they live life day to day without their sweet little boy.

DOING GREAT!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have been insanely busy the last two weeks. We went to the cabin 2 weeks ago and had a great, relaxing time ( I will post more later) and we are still de-junking our house. We have also been doing some stuff for the National Children's Miracle Network. This post will be quick because we have an appointment today to place the button to Kaidence's g-tube. We were originally going to put her under for it but I hate to have her intubated again for such a quick thing. Kaidence has been doing AWESOME and she looks great. I think that she just may skip the whole crawling ordeal and just start walking. Her last appointment on Thursday went well and we don't have to go back to Cardiology for a whole month. I have NEVER stayed away that long in over a year. We of course will be back for other appointments like another sleep study with her c-pap, but just to know that her heart is doing so well that they feel we can space things out a little more is wonderful. Every time I walk through the hospital doors I count my blessings when I get to leave that same day through them as well.

I never cease to be amazed as to the kindness that comes our families way. To whomever dropped off the two boxes at our home last evening, we sincerely Thank You. I was shocked and overwhelmed at what you left on our porch. It was exactly what we needed and at the timing was perfect. We are so grateful for it and we promise to pay it forward as soon as we can. We know that "where much is given, much is required" and our family has been given so much and we know that we have much that we need to do in return. We will forever be repaying all of the kindness that has been poured upon our little family.

ANOTHER HEART ANGEL HAS RETURNED HOME!

Our sweet friends, the Brimleys lost their little angel Isaac last evening. Please keep them in your prayers. They are amazing parents that made the most out of the time they had with their little one. We love them and are saddened by the loss of Isaac. We love you Paul and Jessica!

Also today is Kaidence 's one year mark being diagnosed. In fact at this time last year we were waiting in our ER room in total shock. I have so many emotions and am so full of gratittude. However, given the loss of our friend, I will post more later.

YARD SALE FUNDRAISER FOR DAXTON!

Hello all,
Just wanted to let you know of a fundraiser that is happening for one of our little friends. Daxton is currently waiting for his miracle to happen, a heart transplant. The cook family is from Bountiful as well. Some friends of theirs have set up a huge Yard Sale for tomorrow. They are hoping to earn money to put towards Daxton's medical bills. If you have anything that you would like to donate to the yard sale please have it at the Winegars parking lot in Bountiful tomorrow morning between 6:00-7:30 AM. If you would like to shop the sale you can do so from 8:00 am -2:00 PM tomorrow (Saturday). Also, a fund has been set up at the Mountain America Credit Union titled “Baby Daxton Heart Fund.” For more information about this or any of the other fund-raising events, please call 510-0117 or 688-3636. Thanks, we live in a wonderful community!

IT'S ALMOST BEEN A YEAR!

So like I have said, the last few weeks have been a little bitter sweet to reminisce as to the fact that last year at the time we had 3 healthy children not knowing that things would change extremely. I often try to remember how easy and worry free life was then compared to our life now, even though I am so grateful for the life we do have. So this week on Sunday, July 27th will be our 1 year anniversary since our lives changed forever. I have so many mixed emotions. It seems so long ago since it all happened. In fact last year at this time we were on our family McCall, Id vacation where it all begin. We were all were SO SICK! I wanted to do something special to mark the anniversary and to celebrate how far we have come. Any fun ideas of how to celebrate (keep in mind it is Sunday)? If I was rich I would love to invite everyone over for a big picnic celebration and invite all our family, friends, ward family, nurses and doctors so that we could personally Thank You all. That of course won't be happening but do know that you all would have defiantly been invited and that we are so thankful for what you have done for us. We are so grateful for all that we have learned this last year and for how our lives have been touched for the better....forever!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MCCADEN!

Happy, Happy Birthday McCaden. Happy 7Th Birthday. WE love you so much and are so very proud of the boy you are. McCaden you are kind, giving and almost always happy and of course, full of A LOT of ENERGY. Thanks for being such a wonderful big brother and Thank You for teaching your mom and dad about the pure faith of a child. You were our strength often when Kaidence was sick and you helped remind us that we just needed to be faithful and believe in the promises that Kaidence was given. You have had a long tough year with everything that has gone on since sis got sick but you were always loving, prayful and understanding when I couldn't be there for you. We love you and look forward to having a fun day with just you and your brother. Love You Always and Forever!!!