Let the Countdown Begin!

Thank you all for sharing in our excitement about our upcoming (and by that, I mean next weekend!) trip to Disney. This is truly a dream come true and a once in a lifetime gift.

Matt and I were laughing last night about our honeymoon trip to Disney. We had the BEST time ever, but throughout our trip we would complain about something that we just couldn't understand. After witnessing several toddler tantrums, watching parents struggle while trying to haul strollers on and off buses, and seeing the mob scenes that are the stroller parking areas outside of the rides....we wondered....

Why in the world would you ever take your small children to Disney?

It was then and there that we vowed...

We won't take our (future) children to Disney until they can go all day without a nap, aren't wearing diapers, and don't need a stroller...because those people are crazy!

Well, we aren't newlyweds anymore. Almost 7 years, 4 kids, and a whole-lot-of-drama later...we are taking our 4 napping, diaper-wearing, stroller-riding kids to Disney and couldn't be happier!!!

8 days to go!

Hero Brady!

I'm proud to announce that Brady is now featured on Alex's Lemonade Stand's Hero Page. You can CLICK HERE to see his sweet face and read his story. Hooray Brady!

I've Been Keeping a Secret

I have news...BIG NEWS!

News that has thrown this house into a state of uncontainable excitement!

Brace yourselves...

Here it comes...

The Williams Family is going to Disney World!

This amazing opportunity is being provided by the Make a Wish Organization of Western NY. All children with a life-threatening illness are eligible for a wish, and we have known for sometime that Brady qualified. It wasn't until LAST WEEK that we learned that Disney was going to happen. AND it wasn't until Monday when we learned that we were officially going!

There's more! Are you sitting down?

We leave for Disney a week from Sunday!!! We will be there for a week and just typing these words gives me chills!

Details and arrangements are being finalized every minute between our Wish Coordinator and I. Have I mentioned the packing that needs to happen? Yikes!

And yes, we are bringing the grandparents with us so that we can actually have at least one adult per child and so that we don't lose a child or two along the way:)

So the secret is out! What can I say other than, God is good!

You don't ever anticipate the blessings that will come your way when a crisis hits your family. God's love for us is amazing, wonderful, and yes, sometimes surprising! When you come face to face with cancer and death, you realize that there isn't a guarantee on the birth certificates of the ones you love. In Brady's case, it certainly seems that the risks are greater, but in truth, each and every life is a fragile and precious gift.

My prayer is that this trip is a wonderful time to enjoy God's greatest gift to me here on this Earth...my family!

Erik

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Erik Ludwinski passed away last night.


His noble and unwavering faith in the God that sustained him throughout two battles with Neuroblastoma is something rarely seen in a young man. The love and dedication evident in the words of his mother Donna were a huge source of encouragement for me in the past year.

Please join me in lifting the Ludwinski family up in prayer.

Thank you Erik and family for forever changing me.

Weird, Just Weird

I've been linking back to a lot of "last year" posts lately. Well folks, today I bring you back to Barforama 2009. If you don't remember it, I'll give you the quick recap. Brady had been home only a few days from the hospital after his diagnosis and surgery. Matt and I needed a night out, so we went to my MOPS group's Couple's Night and had a great time. When we got home, the kids all started throwing up and it was one of the worst and craziest nights ever.

Here is the weird part. Tonight was Couple's Night at MOPS for this year. Well, the barfing has once again started around here. Weird, weird, weird!

Allie got sick once around 4ish and Eli got sick 2 times after 5pm. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Matt and I were able to go and enjoy Couple's Night. But now I'm basically sitting here waiting for the rest of us to succumb. I know, bad attitude, but it just never fails that when one Williams goes down, we all fall.

So my friends, wish me well tomorrow!

Beauty Beyond Comprehension

If you stop and think today about the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life, I wonder what images might come to mind?

Until recently, I would have recalled my wedding day, the birth of my children, or maybe even some of the faraway places I've seen.

But now, I know that God has shown me the most beautiful thing I may ever see on this Earth.

The beauty of the love of a mother for her child.

This is the same beautiful love that God showed to all of us when He sent His son to die on the cross. It is immeasurable, beyond comprehension, and heart-wrenching.

It is a beautiful thing.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/erikludwinski

Blog Counter Broken

I'm so bummed! I realized a few days ago that our blog counter is no longer active. Right after I started the blog I signed up for a service that basically tracked the number of hits the blog received every day, how many new visitors stopped by, and how many total hits the blog received since the beginning. It isn't all that important I guess, but it was cool to see how many total hits the blog has had since last year. I know it was getting close to 200,000.

So if any of you are tech savvy (which I am NOT!) please clue me in if there is a way to recover that info or if you know of another blog counter out there:) Thanks!