A Christmas to Remember

The story of Christmas really began on Thanksgiving day this year. The Standard Journal ran a story on their front page that morning all about Ellis. They mentioned that Jen had baked French bread in January to raise money to send to the victims of the strong earthquake in Haiti and that the community had certainly rallied support for her efforts. They also talked about the fact that sometimes the giver needs some help herself. The article told of Ellis' disease and that he would require surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center. This is the picture that accompanied the article:



Over the course of the next few weeks, we have seen generosity, more than we could have imagined. A Christmas Jar appeared on the porch, cards and letters came in the mail, people contributed to Jen's pay pal account, and even at church the bishop gave us money that members of the ward wanted to contribute to help Ellis with his surgery. Many were signed, but many were given anonymously. Jen and I baked hundreds of loaves of French bread for which generous people paid $5 a loaf - many gave much more that Jen had asked for the bread. A dear member of our ward came to visit the kids dressed as Mrs. Claus, bringing gifts for each one.

The fire department arrived on Saturday, December 18th with lights blazing on their big truck. They brought with them a very special guest - Santa Claus. He was riding in the front. Fire Fighters brought in gifts and food for Jen and Nick and the children.

Jen and Nick drove down to Salt Lake on Sunday, December 20th (Nick came back evening on the Salt Lake Shuttle). Jen and the kids stayed with Tami and Steve and their children. Ellis had his pre-op visit with Dr. Black on Monday and then surgery on Tuesday. The damage was more extensive than we had hoped and he came out of the operating room with an ostomy. He will have it until April or May (to allow his little body to heal inside) and then he will have pull through surgery to connect everything together again. He was scared when he saw the bag for the first time but he has been so brave. Tami has helped Jen immensely with good advice and most importantly, support. Bruce and I drove to Salt Lake with Nick on the 23rd so we could all be together for Christmas.

With so many people to thank, it seemed impossible (especially when so many had given donations without names) so Jen made a poster and I took this picture. Our local newspaper published the picture along with our heartfelt thanks today.

Ellis was released on Christmas Eve but was rushed back to the emergency room on Christmas morning because he had a prolapsed stoma. Dr. Black came to see him there, pushed his intestine back in, and covered it with an ace bandage. That seemed to help and by the afternoon, Ellis was feeling much better. We all met at Marie Calendar's for Christmas dinner - no left overs (bad) but no dishes (great).

He is doing great and Jen and Nick have been amazing. We are grateful for good doctors, good hospitals, great nurses and a loving Heavenly Father who strengthens us and gives us courage beyond our own. This was truly an amazing holiday and the best way we can give back to those who have so generously given to the kids is to save our own coins so we can give to someone next year who needs to know they are loved.

We have felt a love and caring that has amazed all of us. We have seen total strangers give of their means to help our little Ellis. We have read messages sent to the kids of love and support and most of all the prayers of so many.

Quilts

Now that Christmas is over, I can put a post up about the quilts I made for my daughters. I have been working on them since March of this year and it takes about 2 months to complete each one. I have loved creating the design for each, then selecting the fabrics and sewing the pieces by hand. Quilting by hand is one of my favorite things.

Tami loves flowers and said if I made her a quilt she wanted it to look happy. I put the flowers in one by one and picked colors I knew she would like.

Adrienne saw a painting of a Tuscan countryside in the hotel where we stayed in California when my mother died last December. This is my interpretation of that painting.

Jen wanted a quilt of the old city school house that was long ago been abandoned and sits on a street leading out of Rexburg. She didn't want flowers, but I had to give her some little plants and bushes, as well as her favorite tree.

I made this quilt for Erin because it reminded me of the lighthouse we saw when we went there with them a year ago. It is just past Duluth, Minnesota. The sun may seem out of proportion but I made it that way on purpose because it was very hot and humid when we were there.