A Party for Hope

Tonight I feel completely exhausted.  I can only imagine how Hope feels!  Today was absolutely wonderful in so many ways and we were blown away by the turn out to Hope's party.  Shawn went to the hospital to pick her up in the morning.  There were some delays with her medication and she was not home until minutes before we needed to arrive at her party.  We quickly changed her into her party outfit, loaded the car and ran out the door.

Pulling up to the church I was feeling stressed but immediately saw the cars of some of my friends and knew that there were many available hands to help with set up.  We managed to get everything set up and ready to go in plenty of time.  We did not pull off today without the help of so many of our wonderful friends.  One friend made 150 cupcakes, another made a cake (that the nurses are currently eating on night shift as we forgot to cut it!  I almost died when I realized we forgot to put the knife out with it and no one had gotten to enjoy it), another picked up supplies all morning, many more helped prepare decorations and other party plans.  Today was truly a group effort and would not have happened without so much support.

Hope was overwhelmed but fairly happy through the party.  We even managed to get a nap out of her in her stroller.  So many people that have prayed for her were finally able to see her in person.  We were blessed by all those that also made donations to Heart Beats as they seek to support families of children with CHD's.  We have personally been blessed by them and know how important their ministry is.

Shawn and I both stood at the back at one point, I asked him if he could believe how many people love Hope.  I looked up to see him fighting back the tears as we were so humbled by the love and support of our community.  There were many tears shed as we looked back at the last 12 months with Hope.  It's hard to believe how much that little girl has been through.  It made me so proud of her and so blessed to be her mom.