Un-BEE-lievable News!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, we met with Dr. Heinle at Texas Children's Hospital!

This is the same surgeon who has done all of Sarah's open heart surgeries and has known her since birth. He has not seen her in person since she was about 8 months old and he was AMAZED at how big and great she looked today!Basically, we found out today that they are able to do the "Fontan" operation several different ways.

Option 1: (this is what we are PRAYING for!!!!) The most preferable way is to place a tube from her main arteries that carries the blood straight to her lungs without pumping through the heart. They will place the tube, attach it to her lungs, detach the blood flow from her heart and put it to the tube! Sounds like a piece of cake to me! HA! I'm glad that these doctors and surgeons have done this MANY times because I can't imagine having to do it once!This tube they place is large enough to grow with her into adulthood! In this option, they will have her on the heart/lung bypass machine, but they WILL NOT have to stop her heart or go inside of her heart!!!!!!!!! AMAZING! We won't know until they get in and see what we are up against, though! (about 2-3 hours into the surgery.)

Option 2: (they will be prepared for this if option 1 is not a viable choice)

Once they get inside of her chest, it is possible to see that there is not room or things are not laid out in a way that allows for this tube outside of her heart and in that event, they will build a tunnel THROUGH her heart to do the job. In this scenario, not only would she be on the heart/lung bypass machine, but they would have to stop her heart for most of the surgery to build this tunnel. As Dr. Heinle put it "The heart is not as happy with this option as the other way, but they CAN do it and HAVE before."This is also a very good expected outcome, but just more invasive during surgery time.

We found out that once the surgery begins, it takes 2 hours or so to even get to her heart. It takes a while to get through scar tissue and the breastbone which they will have to crack to get inside. (this has been done before on her! Nothing new there) He just wanted us to know that we should expect for the first updates to be that they are just working on GETTING TO the heart and lungs.

The best news that we heard as far as what to expect AFTER she is healed.....

She CAN ride rollercoasters as long as they aren't extreme g-force kinds or ones that HOLD you upside down for a long time!

She CAN be a dancer, cheerleader, swimmer, whatever she wants!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She CAN live a normal life without limitations except for the ones she puts on herself!

She will possibly get tired a little quicker than others and she will not be a professional athlete, but we are going to focus on the things she CAN do and not the things she CAN'T!

One little bit of news I didn't care for is that she will be on 2 kinds of lasix after surgery for a while. She will most likely have to wear pullups for a while and she doesn't like that but we are easing her into that. She'll be so thankful to be done with surgeries for a VERY LONG time, that pullups will be NO big deal!

I am so thankful for these miracles I've seen in her life! She is amazing to me! We returned from Houston and she wanted to go swimming at Mimi & Pop's. We got there and she hugged her soaking wet brother and said "I missed you, Jason!" Then, she put on her swimsuit and swam all over the pool doing different moves like she was training for the olympics or something!

I am so proud to know that she is such a determined little girl! She brings tears to my eyes as I watch her in complete amazement of what she can do because she doesn't know she shouldn't be able to!

There is a story a dear friend shared with me about a bumblebee charm she wore on a bracelet....It truly is something I think about every single day with Sarah!

"For years scientists have stated that the bumble bee should not be able to fly. Aerodynamically their bodies are too big and their wing span is too small. The bumble bee, however, doesn't let itself be labeled by those silly scientists. It "bee-lieves" it can fly and it does!"

Sarah just has to grow and not let herself be "labeled". She has to fly on her own without realizing how she "shouldn't" be able to do things! I hope, as her mom, that I am always helping her spread her wings and if she falls, I'll be there to catch her! Her wing span may be "small" but her heart is so big and I know she is going to do great things in her lifetime!

Thanks to God for all of these things! And thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support! Love,Sharon

Fourth of July!!!!!!!!

This year, for the 4th, we were invited by some VERY sweet friends, The Whitfields, to enjoy a few days at their lake house in Burnet, Tx! We had the best time! Inks Lake is beautiful and the time shared with friends will be a weekend we remember forever! The best part was that Kim & I decided since the daddies had to work through most of the week, that we would be COURAGEOUS women and take all four of our children, their dog, Dixie and their boat and haul it allllllll to the lake a few days early...by ourselves!

I am so glad that we did. The kids had a great time and we had a chance for some mommy and kid bonding! Surprisingly, they were AWESOME in the car! They didn't fuss or fight and everything was wonderful! Kim is now my hero, because she pulled all of us and a BOAT which is something I would NEVER want to do! Good job, Kim!

Once we got to the lake, we immediately had fun! We unloaded all of our things and got ready to go grocery shopping and out for dinner with the kids in Marble Falls. This is the cutest little town! Yes....we battled WAL-MART with all four kids and a list a mile long! I wish we would have taken walkie talkies and worn shirts with team numbers on them! LOL It was like a twisted version of Supermarket Sweep!

When we got home, we unloaded all of the groceries and put them away. Then, we all settled in for a late night ice cream and then watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic". (the boys mostly played their nintendo ds's during this part of the evening! LOL) We didn't go to bed until 2 a.m! Even Sarah stayed up with us! WE had a great night!

The next day, we woke up to light rain and thunder! That was okay. It was so relaxing to sit on the HUGE screened in back porch (or front porch as Jeff said) which faces the lake and have my coffee and stare at the lake, the squirrels, the birds, etc. Even in the rain, things looked beautiful! No internet, no phone, just us and the lake! Nice! Later that day, we decided to let the kids swim in the rain. It was barely raining and hadn't thundered since EARLY that morning and we could see the sun starting to peek out. They were so excited! They loved swimming in the lake! They all played so well and Kim and I had a fun time watching them. Sarah wasn't SURE about it at first, but she warmed up to it pretty fast! Again, we stayed up until around 1:30 and we let the kids have Smores at midnight! It was fun! Another fun activity was that we would take the kids on "deer hunts" at dusk every night! We'd all load up in the golf cart and drive around looking for deer, rabbits, etc. We even found this bush that attracts butterflies and we could park next to it and hundreds of monarch butterflies would fly in our golf cart and all around us! Sarah was AMAZED!!!!!!!!!! It was a great memory! The most deer they saw in one night was 19!!!! And the deer aren't scared of you! They just stop what they're doing and look at you! So cool!

On Thursday, we were getting ready for the rest of the family to get there! Daddies were on their way and so was another family of 4! By Thursday night, we had 6 adults, 6 kids and a dog in the cute little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house! And not once did I feel "crowded"! It was like a miracle! We were piled in, but we spent so much time visiting and having fun, that we didn't seem to notice! Thursday morning, before everyone arrived that night....Sarah woke up at 6 a.m. Since we had not gone to bed until very late, I didn't want her to wake the rest of the house, so I got her and our blankets and my camera and we headed down to the neighbor's boat dock to sit and watch the sunrise! We had a very special time that I will always remember. We talked and laughed, watched ducks, birds, the sunrise, fish jumping out of the water, etc. I told Sarah how special she was to us and we laid there and enjoyed the morning! After the sun rose, we went inside. The rest of the day, we spent playing in the lake and having fun!

Thursday night, we all had a good time but went to bed fairly early. We had to rest so we could all go boating on Friday!!!! Friday morning, we got up and Todd made us a wonderful breakfast! We enjoyed scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and homemade gravy! (which he can make really well!) Then, we headed out to the lake for a day of fun in the sun! We all got on the boat and off we went! We intertubed until we were tired and then we came back home and swam a bit. Later, we decided to go back out in the boat to an area of the lake called "Devil's Hole". I was slightly intimidated by the name of this place, but it was BEAUTIFUL! Until Todd climbed the mountain of rocks and fell off! Nice! He hurt his leg, ankle and bottom of his heel, but he is okay. He did look like he had been attacked by a tiger, though. His shorts were SHREDDED! LOL We had to wrap a towel around him to help him in the boat. It was not fun. However, the kids enjoyed jumping from the rocks into the icy cold water! It was so refreshing! Sarah even climbed a small rock (with my help) and jumped! She is such an adventurer! I was amazed at Jason, too! He went pretty high! He loved it! My little adventurous kids! Scary!

On Saturday, it was the fourth of July! We spent time playing in the sun again, boating, etc. I nearly drowned when I got sucked underwater after falling off the intertube while going SLOW to the house, but other than that....great day! The kids LOVED the fireworks! We laid on the grass and watched them! The kids did sparklers and we enjoyed everyone's show around us! The people across the lake had a cannon and it was VERY loud, but added to the fun! It was a wonderful July 4th!

On Sunday, we all got up to come home and I felt so sorry for my friend, Kim. One of the dads backed his wife's car into Kim's front bumper and messed it up. She was so upset. It is a new car and I can understand! THEN, on the way home, Kim's husband was driving her car with the boat behind it and hit a bump (in the same car as the front bumper that got messed up) and the boat trailer jumped the hitch and sent the boat through the back door of her SUV! They were fine! It broke the glass and REALLLLLLY messed up her car, but thankfully, nobody was hurt! Needless to say, her car was in need of some R&R when we got home! Hopefully, she'll get it back good as new from the shop today or tomorrow!

This is right before we left town! Jason & I went to pick up Mc'D's for everyone before we hit the road! I didn't know they made bags this big at McDonald's! LOL It was funny!

LOL...my attempt at making the kids understand the rules before we left.

They did pretty good!

Ahhh.....this will be one of those photos they laugh at when they are grown! LOVE it!

Our fabulous chaeuffer! Good job, Kim!

Kim and I BEFORE the trip....LOL (not really) this was after....

Kim and I after the trip! LOL!

Me and my silly, silly boy! Fun times!

Enjoying my time at the lake!!!! Something about these rainbow umbrellas just makes me giddy!

Morning on Inks Lake!

My sleepy little one watching the lake at 6:15 a.m.!

Still dark! Yawn!

Sarah acting like she's queen of the world....isn't she?

Sweetie pie!

JUMP, Jason!!!!

Ready to jump in!

The infamous rock! I will now refer to it as "Tiger Rock" as that is what Todd looked like he'd been attacked by when we left!

My sweet babies watching the ducks early early in the morning on the day we left! I had so much fun with them in the mornings! We had great bonding moments! I just LOVE these babies!

Sarah feeding the ducks one morning!

Little Miss Fourth of July!

Todd intertubing! Nice!

Jason when he got back on the boat after tubing!~

Todd and Jeff man the wheel!

The daddies!

Me and Jason upside down...well, the camera was upside down!

Sarah taking it easy!!!!

My favorite 4th photo of Sarah!

This one is a close 2nd!

Sweet! I love this photo! All tan and cute!

This is another one that will stir great memories for them all someday!!!

My handsome little guy!!!!

A day with friends...

We had fun another day going with our friends to the library for a magic show and then to the water park for some fun in the sun! The kids had a wonderful time! So did I! :)

A visit from Granny Jenny & Pawpaw Michael!!!!

A few weeks ago, Granny Jenny & Pawpaw Michael came to visit from Birmingham, Alabama! We were so happy to see them! The kids just LOVE them! They are the parents of James, who is married to Laura....Todd's sister. They are my sister in law's in laws! LOL Even though Jason & Sarah aren't "blood" related to them...they have ALWAYS treated them like they were their very own grandkids! They are so thoughtful and sweet and we love to visit with them whenever we can. The kids enjoyed seeing them and so did we.

Running out to the car as they arrive!

Presley & Sarah as they waited for the arrival!

Waiting outside and passing time by riding on our toys!

Cute, Jason! Mr. Cool!

Snow Cone Sillies...

Our kids LOVE snowcones! We try to make sure we take them about once a week to get one! They get different flavors every time! We now are making up our OWN flavors by telling the girl to mix things together and coming up with funny names! Like our new fave is "Pinestraw"! Pineapple Strawberry! This was a fun evening of riding around eating our snowcones after swimming at Mimi & Pop's house! We all look awful...but we love being silly together! This is what memories are made of!