Serendipity!

My cousin's little boy, Nate, broke his arm today and they took him to Cardon's Childrens Hospital. He got an iv and the nurse brought him a toy for being so brave...and look what was on the back!

So sweet that Gavin's little cousin got a gift from him. <3 

This is the first time that someone we know has received one of his toys!!

Nate probably would've preferred to NOT break his arm to get a ninja turtle (and so do his parents, I'm sure!) but since he did, I'm glad he got something out of it at least. ;) We hope you feel better, Nate!

Delivering the toys!

We hand delivered all of the toys to Cardon's Children's Hospital tonight! We ended up with FIVE laundry baskets and THREE hefty-sized bags FULL to the brims with TOYS!!! Over $600 worth of over 300 toys!!! This year we surpassed our goal by a landslide!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who joined us...what a GREAT way to wind down the year, and right before the holidays.

 

This year Andre's family got to join us, since they've lived out of state up until now, so that was fun for everyone!

As we were leaving we ran into one of the service dogs who "works" at the hospital...what a sweetie!

The BEST Kind of Shopping Spree!

We took the kids to buy the toys from the monetary donations...$300 worth! They had SO much fun picking everything out. (so did Andre and I!) ;)

 { SO many toys!! }

 { Our super long receipt!! $300 worth of toys!! }

THANK YOU everyone who donated money!!! Excited to add these to the three baskets of toys waiting at home!

Toys rolling in...

From two laundry baskets FULL of TOYS...

 ...to THREE laundry baskets FULL of MORE TOYS!!!

Woohoo, keep it up!! Can we make FOUR baskets?!?! ;)

5th Annual Gifts From Gavin Toy Drive!!

Join us in donating a toy to give to Cardon's Children's Hospital in honor of Gavin's 6th birthday (Oct. 6th!) Every year our family uses the money we would have spent for Gavin's birthday to buy toys to donate to the children's hospital where he spent so much time. There are 3 ways to join us!

1) You can bring a new toy by our home anytime in the next two weeks, up until Sunday, October 20th. There is a blue rubbermaid container behind the bench on our front porch to put your toy in, in case we're not home when you stop by!

2) OR you can have a toy shipped to our address: ............... (Amazon free shipping!)

3) OR you can make a monetary donation to our paypal account and we'll add it to our budget for buying toys. We've also had e-mails sent with gift card vouchers to Toys 'R' Us, etc, so that's an easy option, too. (We'll be taking the kids shopping on Saturday the 19th, so make sure to get it in before then!)

Any kind of toys are welcome...big or small!!! The little toys by the check-out register are perfect for playing with in a hospital bed, so don't think a small toy isn't good enough, they are GREAT! Also, baby toys are always needed...any little rattle, teething, or musical toy. Art supplies can be used in the communal craft room. Books are great, too, board or chapter. There are also computers for the kids to play on, so any computer games, especially the younger aged ones, are super fun!

A $1-5 toy can make a HUGE difference for one little kid who has to get yet ANOTHER blood draw. They don't care how big and fancy it is, just the idea of going to the toy closet to pick a prize is enough! It makes such a HUGE difference to them and to their families. I can't tell you how much it helped to have a new toy brought in for Gavin, especially when we were quarantined to his room and he could only play in his crib for days on end. It wasn't just fun for Gavin, it was a sanity saver for his mom and dad!!!

Lot of stores have their annual toy clearance sales right now including Walmart, Frys, and Target. Don't forget to grab one when you are running errands this week! :)

Donate Life!

We've made lots of new friends over the last few years, and many of them don't know much about Gavin's illness. He was born with a genetic disease called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which affected his liver. He was on the organ transplant list for 6 months to get a new liver which would have saved his life and cured him. During that time we received 3 offers, but all fell through at the last minute, and before a 4th match could be found, he got an infection that overpowered his immune-deficient body.

Because there is such a LONG wait list for organ transplants in America, it is basically a game of being sick enough to move to the top of the list, but not too sick to actually be able to receive it. Many, many people die while waiting. There are over 100,000 people waiting on the list, and babies and children are the hardest to find donors for. I never gave organ donation a second thought before we had Gavin, and it was still kinda scary when I finally did fill out that form. However, it is a necessary, life saving action and completely worth it!!! ONE donor helps up to 50 people!!! The coolest part (to me) is that your corneas can actually repair blindness for two individuals. That is AWESOME!!!

There are many myths and misconceptions about organ donation, but ALL major religions accept it as a final act of love and charity. Anyone can be a donor, all costs are covered, and you can still have an open casket at your funeral, if you so wish. And did you know that its not actually "official" when you only register through the Motor Vehicle Dept in your state? You ALSO need to fill out the form online through Donate Life America for it to be official! It is SO EASY!!! Literally takes a minute to fill out the form. Also make sure you let your loved ones KNOW your wishes, so they can make sure they are followed through.

If you register, let us know!! We love hearing those kinds of things. :') Donate Life

5 years.

My lovely little boy...oh, how I miss him.