Update on Ella's Surgery

Ella is home and doing great!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers today for Ella and our family. What a blessing to have friends and family praying, thank you!
Ella did great today! We got to Cook's at 7:30 this morning and were home by 12:30! Can you believe that? I was amazed. The surgery went well, her surgeon said she did great and everything went smoothly. Thank you Lord! She was a little grumpy waking up in recovery and on the ride home but once we got home it didn't take long before she already wanted to get down and play with Eva. Children and their resilience just blows me away!

Honestly, today has been a good day. I'm glad this is behind us but today was good. As much as I dread surgeries and having to let my baby go, the Lord gave me His peace today just as He has always done before with every other procedure and surgery so today was no different. We are so amazed and thankful for the level of care that Ella received. The Lord has put incredible people in our hospitals!

On Friday we had an unplanned, last minute pre-op consult in preparation for today mainly because when you look on paper at Ella's medical history she ummm, well..."looks bad" as they told me. Cook's called to see if we could come in for this reason. Lovely. That sounds mean to say but I agree, she has alot going on and is one complicated little girl when you look at it all written out. I have learned to laugh at moments like this when I have to go down the list and explain the congenital anomalies, the heart defects, the spine defects, the shoulder problems, tummy issues, why we needed a feeding tube, and "No, she doesn't have a syndrome" and please stop listing off ones YOU think she might have and the list goes on. Now, I don't mind having to explain it all like I used to because I see it as one more opportunity to give Ella's testimony about what an incredible God we serve. I love that they needed to see Ella in person because she "looks bad" on paper and were blown away at what they saw because what she looks like on paper is far from who she is or what she looks like in person. The Lord has done mighty things with her despite her differences and she is a living, breathing, walking miracle and there is no denying it. She is, just like the meaning of her name, "a bright light." I could go on and on.

Anyway, so Ella and I took a quick trip up to Cook's on Friday and the nurse that was taking care of us was a nurse we had before for a different procedure which was so reassuring and while we were there another nurse came in just because she heard Ella was there and she remembered her from 2 years ago and just wanted to see her. Crazy you might say, but I just looked at it as little ways God was showing me He was right beside me and is taking care of us. SAME THING happened today. The nurse that took Ella into surgery today was the same sweet nurse that took care of her during her omphalocele repair surgery when she was 2 days old. I want to say unbelievable, but it's not. The Lord is just so sweet that way to give us his peace in supernatural ways as well as in ways we can see with our physical eyes like putting familiar faces in front of you when you're feeling fragile.

So, things are good. We're so thankful that things went well and that this is behind us. We are so proud of both of our girls and how they love each other and support each other even though they are four and 2. Sweet sisters! Again, thank you all once again for your prayers, encouragement, and support. It is such a blessing to our family! Here are some pictures from today!



If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will. Eva, Eva, and her "loud" clothes. This is what she wanted to wear today and it was good medicine for the soul to just look over at her in her crazy outfit. Makes me laugh!

Starting to feel a little loopy after some pre-medication. Ella was so funny, several minutes after she got some Versed a nurse walked in the room and Ella said, "I'm sleeping" even though she was wide awake. The nurse asked her if she was sleeping with her eyes open and she shook her head yes with a big smile on her face. Hilarious.

Saying good-bye :(

Sweet baby in recovery

Playing "Surgery" once we got home. Now instead of always playing "going to church or to the doctor" like they do I can bet this is going to be our new play scenario...surgery. I'm not sure where the hot pink feather boa comes in but wouldn't real life surgery be much more pleasant if everyone wore feather boas? I think so. Notice Eva with her heels and clipboard with her "paperwork and stickers" for Ella. Awesome.

Nurse Eva and her patient. I love these two...and didn't I say in my last post that this surgery wasn't going to slow her down much? I'm pretty sure I did. Keep praying for smooth, quick recovery!

Thanks for praying, we are so blessed!

Surgery on Monday for Ella

Well friends, it is surgery time again for Miss Ella Hope. It's been a little over a month since she had her G-button removed and it was our hope and prayer that everything would close up on it's own but that is unfortunately not the case. Her G-button site has continued to leak and after talking with her surgeon they have said that at this point surgery is required.

So, Ella will have surgery this coming Monday morning, March 28 at 9:15. We would covet your prayers once again for her for a smooth surgery, quick recovery and for no infection. They will do what's called a gastrocutaneous fistula closure which in "Amy's Terms" means they will go layer by layer and close off the stomach first and work back up to the skin closing everything off. As much as I had hoped that things would just naturally heal up there was a large part of me prepared for this outcome so we are at peace about it and feel confident in this decision. Ella is a trooper so I have no worries that this is just a minor hiccup and isn't going to slow her down much at all.

Thanks for loving and praying for our sweet Ella, keep those prayers coming!!

Now you see it...

And this Thursday at 3:00 you won't!! That's right folks, GI gave us the go-ahead to get Ella's feeding tube removed so we aren't wasting any time. We're going to Ella's surgeon this Thursday afternoon to get it taken out. Bye-Bye G-button! WOOOOHOOOO!

This is MONUMENTAL and when I really think about it I get a big lump in my throat. I can't believe this day is here NOW. My heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness at what the Lord has done for our sweet Ella Hope. Thank you for your continued prayers for her, what a blessing they have been! We would love your prayers this Thursday and the remainder of the week for quick healing for her G-button site. We have been warned that after it is removed it's possible that it won't close up on it's own which means that surgery would be required to go in and close off the stomach etc. Please just start praying now that this isn't the case for Ella and that everything will heal quickly and like it's supposed to. Ella's GI doctor said that we should know within a week of her G-button being removed if it's going to close up on it's own or not. We'll keep you updated, until then keep the prayers coming!


"Dr. Black"

Ella loves to pretend that she is Dr. Black, her tummy surgeon. Don't you love the stethoscope around the neck? Very doctor-like isn't it? Very observant this little girl. I think the glasses are my fave. Hope she still likes Dr. Black after Thursday and the ol' taking the G-button out drama is over. Lord, have mercy! Pray, friends!

Crazy Clothes, Shower caps and Snow Days

Man, don't you just love these two?? I sure do. These two little girls are so fun and make me laugh constantly. Will you please notice Eva's shoes? Loooove it. Love the socks with sandals look and Ella isn't much better with her shoes on opposite feet and her high-water pants. I am proud to say that this IS typically what they look like on a day to day basis. Eva is really into dressing herself and she likes what my Granny used to call "loud" clothing. "Loud" meaning colorful, bright and patterned. Yep, that's Eva's clothing choice...loud. Precious.

Even in the bathtub she is still the fashionista with her cool shower cap that Aunt Ann sent from Thailand. Ummm, thanks Aunt Ann? Apparently little girls do in fact need shower caps.

Another "loud" outfit...at least this one matches. :)

I really do love that Eva likes to dress herself and I kind of look forward each day to see what she comes up with to wear. Unlike her mom, this girl is not afraid of color! You look in my closet and everything is gray, black or white. You look in hers and wow! When in public I do like to promote my children and I want them to look cute and not look like we got dressed in the dark but at this point in life I think we're ok wearing socks with sandals, pink pants and a funky leopard and flower jacket don't you? So, if you see us and Eva is wearing one of her "loud" outfits, know that our electricity is not out and that we didn't get dressed in the dark. This is just what she picked and it's fabulous! I just love her, she is so fun!

And sweet Ella, what a trip she is! She is very funny, talks all the time, is eating great, and is just pure joy. I thank God for all he has done with her multiple times a day. She hasn't used her feeding tube in 8 MONTHS!! Isn't that crazy?! We're so proud of her. We go to the GI doctor next week on February 14 for a check up and to discuss removing her G-button. I can't believe we are actually to this point where she might get it removed! This is huge. If GI gives the ok then we'll schedule an appointment with her surgeon to get it taken out. You can be praying about that because the day is drawing near which is exciting! I'll update after our appointment about what the GI says. Other than that, Ella is doing great and we're so thankful!

Just thought I would share some recent pictures since I haven't posted any in awhile. So here are some from our snow days the past week. We had some fun family time being snowed in. We painted nails, had movie night, made cookies several times, and forced myself to finally clean the house and organize my kitchen cabinets. So, fun times and productive too!

Movie Night! Doesn't Eva look like the life of the party? She really was having fun I just made the mistake of taking the picture in the dark and blinding her with my flash. Don't be fooled by the grumpy face.

On our way to Mimi and Pawpaw's house. I just love their little faces peeking out from under their hats!



Family Picture...I will fully explain about my amazing red jacket a little further down. Just wanted to give a sneak peek. :)

Eva throwin' some snow!

Building a snowman with Daddy. Aaaannd this little mound is as far as they got folks. Good effort guys, good effort.

Sweet Ella with Pawpaw


Yes! Is this not great?? We were at my parents house and my mom started pulling out all of their old ski stuff and when I spotted this red beauty with matching ski bib, pants and gloves I knew it was meant to be...this would be my snow day outfit. Jealous?

Fun snow days in Texas!!

Thoughts on 2010: Freedom, Peace and a Restored Soul

Well, well, well...look who's back with a blog post. Again, I totally mean to update more frequently but somehow time just slips away. 2011 will be the year, I can just feel it. Happy 2011 everyone! Right now Ella has pneumonia and an ear infection so Happy 2011 to the Carders right? She's on the mend though and I'm very thankful because the past several days she has been so miserable. It's just so sad to see her like that. Keep her in your prayers!

Another year gone by, wow. I'm amazed that another year is over and we are beginning a new one. I feel like we just did that like a month ago. But, obviously we didn't and as I think back about this last year and look back at my calendar and all that has transpired I am in awe at what the Lord has done. I love to look at my calendars from years past and see what we were doing on certain days. I found one from when I was in college not too long ago by the way. College! What in the world? Why did I keep it, I don't know. So funny though. I wrote down all of my appointments, tests, projects etc. but I can still remember at the beginning of several semesters forgetting to get my class schedule to know where I was even going for the first day of classes. I was organized apparently but had no idea where I was going. Yes, this was college and not high school like you would expect. Genius.

Anyway, I was looking through my planner from this last year and was just amazed at where we are today just one year later. So, here we go with Amy's Thoughts on 2010. My thoughts on 2009 last year came with no pictures, were very honest and was probably a bit hard to read. You know me, I don't sugarcoat well so we'll see how this one goes. This year was muuuuccchhh better than last year so here we go with 2010. Last year at this time we were newly emerging out of the black tunnel we had been in since Ella was born. Things were slowly starting to ease up, Ella was making slow but good progress with feedings and things were just in general a little more manageable. Our weeks were still filled almost everyday with doctor's appointments and therapy appointments for Ella. Many days we even had 3 sometimes 4 appointments for Ella...in one day. Whew! It made me tired just to look at my calendar filled everyday with all of her appointments. There wasn't alot of other things besides that in my planner for several months. But as the months went on I could see how her therapies began to decrease in frequency as she was making progress and more "normal" things began to be added to my weeks.

My feelings coming out of 2009 and beginning 2010 were that of thankfulness. I continue to feel extremely thankful but I also feel that this past year for me personally was a year of freedom, peace and a restoring of my soul. I thank all of you who have prayed for our family because I believe that the peace and healing we have been given was also something many of you have prayed for us for a long time. So, thank you for committing our family to prayer, we truly felt it this past year. This time last year things were better for us and we were actually seeing that there was light at the end of the tunnel and it was getting brighter. But, with all that being said, for me I feel that amidst my thankfulness there was a heart still broken that needed healing. I was still a bit overwhelmed, confused at the year we had just survived, I had a lot of questions I wanted answers to and honestly I was just a bit ticked off at times. Not that any of that should surprise you. I mean, I think we all remember my backyard plate throwing habit I had to release my anger don't we? I'm proud to say that I have not broken any plates in well over a year so that should tell you something. :)

Anyway, I was still hurting that all of this with Ella had happened, I wanted answers as to what went wrong in my pregnancy, when it happened, how it happened. When I happened to be out and about I would get annoyed when I would see "happy-mall-outing-family-with-their-three-healthy-kids" all having a great time together at the mall when for me to leave the house for an extended period of time I had to train and pay someone to come in and take care of Ella. Why did they seemingly have it so easy when things were anything but easy for our family? The world was going on but our world had been turned upside-down and I was still trying to make sense of it all. While everyone else seemed to be doing "normal" things I was beginning to be able to do more with the girls but for the most part my days and weeks consisted of taking Ella to the doctor and to therapies everyday and trying to get her to eat and to walk. All things that I definitely took for granted with Eva but not with Ella. She had to fight for everything and it just made me mad that things were so hard for her while "happy-mall-outing-family-with-their-three-healthy-kids" seemed to just be coasting through having a blast in life. Wow! Can you believe my inner commentary? How judgemental was I?? Let's just blame it on the grieving process so you don't think I'm a complete jerk and lunatic. :)

I remember at our appointment with our geneticist around this time last year I was asking a lot of questions. I wanted her to give me logical and specific reasons as to how these problems happened with Ella. I wanted to know how, when, why, at what point in gestation did this occur. Did I do something wrong, did I eat something weird, were we living in some strange area of town being affected by certain environmental factors that were causing birth defects. I know, call me crazy. She had been trying to tell me all along but I kept asking questions and she finally just looked at me kindly, yet firmly and said, "It just happened." You would think that would've given me some comfort and would've been what I wanted to hear but it wasn't. I still wanted to know what went wrong and why. I wanted to know the big picture and how God was going to redeem all of this. What did it mean for our family? How does it affect having more children? Are we going to even have more children? What were we supposed to do with this and the way it has changed our family? It was consuming me and I really struggled with it all. As last year went on I feel like God just gently and continuously revealed Himself to me and his purposes for me right now. Not for next year, or ten years from now, just for right now, for today.

I mentioned earlier that this past year for me is characterized by three things: freedom, peace and a restored soul. These are three huge gifts He has given me this year and I am immensely thankful and amazed. As I spent time with Him I realized I had a lot of fears which surprised me. I had never thought of myself as a very fearful person (except for my fear of spiders which I still haven't worked through and don't want to) but what was coming out was all rooted in fear. Obviously working through alot of these things is still ongoing but I believe by seeking Him first He will give you a new path if you choose to follow Him. He has certainly shown that to me this last year and as I began to let go of some things I was holding onto such as why all of this happened with Ella, trusting Him to take care of her, answering my questions about the future, etc. I began to feel the chains break away and experience His freedom like I never had before. I'm not going to lie and say that it was easy and came without walking through some pain because it didn't. There were lots of tears on my part, some wrestling with God and a re-breaking of my heart that had to happen for me to come to understand the way God feels about me and how much he loves not only me but all of us. But, I can say that it has been life-changing for me and I feel like a new person, a whole person and one who is more confident in God's love for me and who I am in Him. A HUGE burden was lifted off my heart and I no longer felt like God needed to explain himself to poor, little Amy Carder in order for me to trust Him completely. Unbelievable aren't I?? Sheesh, so high maintenance. Do you see what Rick has to deal with? Pray for him. :) I am choosing to trust God because I believe that He is God, He is real, He is truth, and without Him I am nothing. And, if anyone could understand my pain and disappointment in this life it would be him. He gave up His Son for me so that one day I can live forever with Him and that is truly a gift that I cannot wrap my brain around.

So, I still don't have answers to all of these above mentioned questions but that's okay. I'm not bound and burdened by feeling like I have to figure it all out like I was. What happened, happened and it does not define me, instead it has refined me. And through this refining process God has given me peace in the purposes he has for me today and has restored my soul along the way constantly reassuring me of His love and His plan for me. Not his plan for "happy-mall-outing-family-with-their-three-healthy-kids", not his plan for my neighbor, not his plan for my friends and relatives, but his plan for ME. It doesn't matter what they are all doing, what matters is am I following God and obeying him. That's what He wants from me and if I'm doing that then He can use me to further His kingdom and bring Him the glory He deserves. That's what I'm trying to do and what I have to remind myself of when I want to jump ahead of God and go with my plans instead of His.

I have always loved Psalm 23 and it's a passage I memorized as a little girl. In the past several years I feel that this passage has come to life for me and has comforted me and encouraged me in many different ways. There were many nights when I was pregnant with Ella and after she was born when I couldn't sleep because I was scared to death about what we were facing so I would quote this scripture over and over and over to myself until I finally fell asleep. And this past year the Word of God came to life as he restored my soul when I finally released everything to him, fully trusting Him with everything, even with my children and committed myself to him. Through that surrender the gift he gave me was a renewed spirit and a peace that can only come from him. I love the way Kay Warren puts it in her book Say Yes to God: A Call to Courageous Surrender which I highly recommend by the way. She states that "following Jesus is to offer to him all that you think you are, all that you really are, all that you think you are not, and all that you really are not-to be used in the way he chooses." I love that. I don't have it all figured it out and there are many days when I find myself on the path of fear instead of the path of freedom but I'm getting there. God is so loving, patient and kind and he has definitely outdone himself with the blessings he has given our family this year. I am humbled and at a loss for words for all that he's given to me.

So, with that, I will close this long post for the two of you that are left reading by this point with a sort-of blog post benediction: May this year be the year that you seek more of the Lord in your life, more of his voice in your ear and all that he has for you. May he cause you to release all that you are, all that you are not, all of your fears, anger, unforgiveness, hurt and pain and anything that is binding you from the freedom that he freely offers so that he may use you in the way he chooses. In turn, may he give you a renewed heart and soul that has been healed and soothed with his everlasting peace. Blessings in 2011!

Fall Update

Sorry Ann...I couldn't resist. This picture just screams Fall. :)


Weeelll, I'm back! I feel like it's been forever since I've updated but it's all been for good reasons. This October and beginning of November we were spending every minute we could with Ann, Derran and the girls so I had no time for blogging. This past Thursday they left to go back to Thailand so instead of wallowing in my sorrow I figured it was time for a little update. I love that my last post was about them arriving in Texas and now this one is about them leaving. Where is the in between??

We had such a fun time having them here. We ate way too much Sonic,Chick-fil-a, and Taco Bueno for anyone in a such a short period of time, took fun trips to Target, went to the zoo, the pumpkin patch, went trick-or-treating, played with friends and just had a good time being together. Since they left I've been in a little bit of a funk...you know me and my funks. I haven't been in one in awhile so it's high time for one ya know. It's getting better and I know we'll all be together again soon so it's okay but it STINKS saying goodbye! Stinks I tell you, not fun at all. :( However, we're so proud of them and the work they are doing. They are such a blessing to us and we're so thankful for the Reese family!








October and November seemed to have flown by but I don't want them to pass by and not share with everyone some good news about Ella. We have much to be thankful for! First, yesterday, Monday, November 15 Ella was discharged from Feeding Therapy!! We are so excited for her and are beyond thankful for all the progress she has made in the past year. Last year her first feeding therapy appointment was on September 14 and she went in not being able to eat any kind of food wihout gagging and vomiting and was being fed primarily by her feeding tube with a little supplement from a bottle. It was a slow, hard and demanding process and honestly I believed that it would be years before she would be eating sufficiently by mouth and I felt like she would be relying on her feeding tube for many years as well. Deep down I hoped and prayed I was wrong but there was just so much to overcome and with her diagnosis I didn't want to get my hopes up. Wow!! Was I ever wrong! I am still in shock that we are at this point where just ONE YEAR later we are done with feeding therapy AND it's been five months now since she has used her feeding tube for anything. Unbelievable! Thank you God!

Last time walking in to Feeding Therapy

Ella and her AMAZING therapist Miss Sara
Ella started off the day with a cookie bar for breakfast. Awesome. And yes, I still give her any food she asks for so it thrilled my heart that she wanted cookies for breakfast. :) Then we celebrated with Taco Bueno for lunch followed by some ice cream with Pawpaw.


After dinner we took a little family outing to Sonic to get another treat. Yea Ella! We're so proud of you! We love to celebrate around here can you tell?


Thank you also to all of our friends and family that have prayed so much for Ella. Your faithfulness and commitment to prayer for Ella has been life-changing for not only her but for our entire family. I pray that Ella's story serves as a testimony to the power of prayer and what a mighty God we serve! I never would have dreamed the night and day difference we have seen in just a matter of a year and I am overwhelmed and humbled at what the Lord has done and given us this year. We have so much to be thankful for and I don't take any of it for granted.

Second, another praise for Ella is that she had her annual review with Early Childhood Intervention last week and she is doing so well in Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy that they have decreased both of those therapies to just once a month. So, obviously our schedule has quickly changed with all of these therapies decreasing. I have to say that it is bittersweet which may sound weird to some people. But, this has been our way of life since Ella was born and her therapist are some of our good friends so it's just kind of emotional letting go. Can you tell I don't handle change well?? Even when it's good change it's still an adjustment. Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful that we are at this point where we don't need as much intervention because this is what we've been working toward so it's definitely a welcome change but for me it does come with some mixed emotions. I'm just so thankful for the specific people, therapists, and doctors the Lord sent to us to help Ella. They are truly such a blessing and have worked so hard to help get Ella to where she is now.

So, what's next? There is nothing scheduled at this point as far as surgeries. There will be surgeries to come but hopefully not for another couple of years. In December we have several follow-up appointments with surgeons to check on Ella's tummy and her left arm and shoulder then later in the winter we'll have some other follow-ups for other things so it's not like we are done with appointments and doctors. :) Many have asked when Ella will have her G-button taken out and that will probably happen this spring. We'll see her GI doctor in February or March and make more definite plans then when to remove it. Makes me excited but nervous! So for now we will just be enjoying our new schedule and thanking God for these blessings!

To conclude this massive post I leave you with Halloween pictures. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...Albert Einstein.

Einstein checking herself out. Loooove the hair!

GENIUS costume isn't it? Lots of good laughs at the tiny Einstein while trick or treating. I wish I could take credit for this idea but I can't. We copied it from our very funny and creative cousins in Alabama. Love you Rory, Ginny and Hayes!

Round 1-Eva was Minnie Mouse for her Halloween at school...safe choice. She is the cutest Minnie Mouse I've ever seen by the way!

Round 2-She decided last minute for trick or treating that she wanted to be a pizza again so she wore her old faithful pizza slice costume from two years ago. Why the change you ask? Well, after seeing how many laughs Ella Einstein was getting she opted to go for the funny and went for the pizza. It was hilarious, I was helping her get dressed and she looked up at me with a smile on her face and whispered so no one could hear her, "This be funny?" I assured her that yes, this costume would indeed be very funny! So cute! Love her sense of humor.


Hope everyone has a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Two Great Things

I have two great things to share with everyone! First, our friends Jason and Summer Cox are having a huge Garage Sale this weekend and all the proceeds are going to help bring their sweet baby girl home from Ethiopia! So exciting! So, if you live in the Fort Worth area and want to hit up a fantastic sale this weekend and help out the Cox's contact Summer at the email address below if you need directions to their home or more details. They also have other ways that you can help out too so check out their coffee fundraiser at www.justlovecoffee.com/CoxRagamuffins as well as their t-shirt sales at www.goseeklove.com!

Garage Sale Adoption Fundraiser for the Cox Family
All proceeds are to help bring our daughter home from Ethiopia
www.coxragamuffins.blogspot.com
Friday, October 15th and Saturday, October 16th
At their home
Contact Summer for details at jlandskcox@yahoo.com
*also will be selling baked goods*

Ongoing coffee fundraiser: www.justlovecoffee.com/CoxRagamuffins : $5 from every bag purchased goes directly to our family - makes great Christmas or birthday presents!

For the month of October only: visit www.goseeklove.com to purchase t-shirts - 100% of the proceeds go directly to our family!

The other great news is that Derran, Ann, Brynn and Meg are back home in Texas from Thailand this month! Yippee! They got back a week and a half ago and it's been nonstop fun for all of us. We have had the best time just being together and letting the cousins play. I meant to post these pictures from the airport last week but got a little sidetracked. Too busy carting Ann around to Happy Hour at Sonic everyday, going to Target, etc. And I'm not kidding. :) Better late than never so here are some fun pics to enjoy!

Waiting for the big arrival

Waiting...

Waiting...

Still waiting...

More waiting...

FINALLY! The moment we've all waited for for the last year...to see their smiling faces and hug their necks!



Ella isn't quite sure yet about Uncle Derran

Brothers don't shake hands...brothers gotta hug! Yes, I'm still always looking for opportunities to throw in a Tommy Boy quote even at the age of 32.


The happy little cousins

Eva and Brynn were SO excited to see each other! They had to be together and holding hands at all times. Even on the ride home from the airport with my mom squished in between the carseats they were reaching their hands ACROSS her so they could be touching each other! Awwwww, so sweet!


Mama and her chicks, happy together again!

Well now, what does one do when you are fresh off the plane from Thailand? That's right, Sonic baby! Within the first hour Ann and Derran were here we went to Sonic, Chick-fil-a AND Taco Bueno! Yes, you read that right, I did say in the first hour. Doesn't that sound like a dream? Three of my favorite places. I wish everyday started out like this one right? :) How does one do that you ask? Simple. First stop was Sonic for drinks for us girls.


Then a stop at Chick-fil-a for nuggets for the kids



And the last stop was Taco Bueno to-go for the adults

Aaahhh, perfection isn't it? We are loving having them back for a little while and we're so proud of them and the work they are doing in Phayao. Welcome home Derran, Ann, Brynn and Meg!!