W.I.N.

Three letters.

One very important concept. 

What's 

Important 

Now?

Think about that for a minute while I tell you about the class I had the privilege of attending last night. 

Two of KCPD's driving instructors offered to present the class 'Below 100' to our Friends & Family group. The class is a nationwide campaign to keep Line of Duty Deaths below 100 annually.  That has not been achieved since 1944.   

Ironically, an officer's worst enemy is not necessarily the bad guy anymore. 

It's complacency.  

Every day my husband walks out the door, I worry about some crazy with a gun or knife preventing him from walking back through it at the end of the night. When in fact, many line of duty deaths are preventable. And that his biggest enemy is speed and a pole or a tree. 

Not wearing a seat belt. 

I don't want to get tangled in my belt when I need to get out of my car in a hurry. 

Not wearing a vest. 

It's just an off-duty job.

Speeding.

I have to get there first. 

We saw some horrific pictures of police vehicle crashes where the occupants didn't survive. 

And were not wearing their seatbelts. 

Why were they speeding and not wearing their seatbelts?

Going to a school shooting? Stop an armed robber?  Capture a rapist?  A serial killer? A kidnapper?

Nope. 

One was late for work. 

One was going to catch a shoplifter. 

One was just a chronic speeder. 

All of them left behind families. 

A wife, children, parents.

Officers that had been shot, and fortunately survived, were asked at what point during that car stop/ped check/suspect interview did they reliaze they were going to be shot at. 

Answer?  After they'd been shot. 

It all happens so fast, in a matter of seconds. 

A lot of good your vest would do you if it was in the backseat/trunk/shelf at home. 

Even at an off-duty job. 

And aside from the risk to yourself if you are speeding, what about the innocent people you could injure. Or kill?  

Like the two sisters, ages 18 and 13, killed in Illinois by a state trooper driving 126 mph while
sending a message on his computer, talking on his phone and on his radio. And he had been told minutes prior to the fatal crash that he was no longer needed at the scene of the accident he was responding to. 

Or the officer who struck and killed a 10 year old boy that was on his bike, crossing a highway, someplace he wasn't supposed to be, as most kids are, while driving 29 miles over the speed limit. 

Or the officer currently in jail for 15 years because he was driving 100mph through an intersection to an accident he was no longer needed at, when a car turned in front of him.  This caused him to swerve and strike one of his fellow officers, dragging his body and finally coming to a stop only when his car struck a pole, pinning and killing the officer. 

If you are involved in an accident on your way to help a fellow officer or community member, and are in a wreck because of speeding or not clearing an intersection, you will not be of any help.  You will divert more resources away from the initial needy party, thus causing a greater delay. 

And that could be my husband. Or my best friend's husband. Or me. Or my child. 

I don't claim to know what it's like to be in a police car when a call comes out.  Or the real dangers my husband faces when he steps out the door. 

I'm sharing this as a wife. As a mother. 

As someone who knows that of the 39 auto-related and 27 gun-fire related LODD this year that if just one could have been prevented by simply slowing down, wearing a seatbelt, always wearing a vest, a wife wouldn't be widowed. A child fatherless. A family grieving. A department mourning. 

Because I know every day that could be me. 

Or my children.
My family. 

My husband's coworkers. 

And if it could have been prevented by a little vigilance, imagine the insult to injury.

The anger, bitterness and resentment. 

WIN?

We all get complacent. I do it. My kids do it because they see me do it. My husband does it. 

But if I tell my daughter every single time she walks out the door to drive safe, wear her seatbelt and pay attention to her surroundings, then I damn well better be setting the example myself. 

And I don't just ask this of my husband, my children, but of all of you, too. Friends, law enforcement or not. Slow down. Wear your seatbelt. Be vigilant. Don't be complacent.  Remind your loved ones. Every day.   Be the voice that they hear every time they leave in that uniform. 

WIN? 

What's Important Now?  

Getting home safe, that's what's important. And it starts with awareness and accountability. 

Because I will happily be the crazy wife of Sgt Rawley that stands outside the station as all your husbands pull out in their police cars for their shift, knocking on their windows with a friendly reminder;

Got your vest on?

Seatbelt?

Slow down, be safe. 

I would rather do that every night of my life than ever once have to hug you and say "I'm so sorry for your loss" at your loved one's funeral.
Wouldn't you?  

For those of you interested in attending this presentation, please contact me. The officers who put it on for us are happy to schedule another one. And though the material is not suitable for young children, I will be taking my 14 and 17 year olds to the next one.  And I thank them for including me and giving KCPDFF the opportunity to participate!  

Check out the website www.below100.com

We are at 93 LODD deaths currently this year, wouldn't it be amazing to keep it Below 100 in 2013?  We can, but we all have to help. 

Santa Maria, CA. This officer lived, and was wearing his vest and seatbelt.

This Asheville, NC, officer Robert Bingaman was driving 70mph in a 50mph zone, and not wearing his seat belt. EOW 10/29/13 

What's Important Now?

Thankful

As most people in the normal world are relishing the next two days off before going back to work, my work week is just beginning. But that's ok, because we've had a pretty darn good Thanksgiving this year.  And I need to go to work to avoid eating the rest of the pumpkin pie and strawberry pretzel dessert in the house. 

This holiday was low key. Just me and the kids, my mom and John, and sister Kate and niece Abby came over for turkey and fixings.  Personally, I could have gone for some authentic Mexican food and avoided the turkey and potatoes all together, but I'm a sucker for tradition. And tradition calls for turkey.   

And football. And movies with the kids.  

A special shout out to my hubs and all the Police, Fire and Healthcare personnel who worked and missed the day with their families. Fortunately Brian was able to come home and eat with us during his shift!  

This year I started something I would like to become a tradition for our family.  Tonight we prepared and served a meal to the families at the Longfellow House, one of the Ronlad McDonald Houses that serves the families of patients at Children's Mercy.

 I have never been a Black Friday shopper. I like to browse when I shop and don't really like crowds of people when I'm doing so. I don't begrudge anyone who is a gung-ho shopper. Some of my best friends have perfected the art of conquering the biggest shopping day of the year. Just not me.  

And after all of the good things and awesome gifts bestowed upon our family this year, I really wanted to pay it forward.  So the kids and I, Hailey's sweet friend Carly, my Mom, my Dad and Teresa, my sister Kate and niece Abby and two of Kate's lovely firefighter friends; Kelsey and Marie, joined us in doing just that.  And though my other sister Kim and her family couldn't join us, they helped contribute.

I'm so grateful to have the family I do that was willing to do this with me.  A special thanks to all of them!   

 

The families raved about the cheeseburgers-I know it was the good, small farm grown beef from the 1/2 cow we just got from a friend whose dad is a farmer. 

And the baked beans my mom made were a huge hit, one family almost took the whole roaster!

They were very thankful for the salad and fruit tray, as I know how hard it is to eat healthy when you're stressed out with a kid in the hospital.  And how easy not to. 

It wasn't much, a few hours out of our day and a few dollars out of our pockets. But the feeling of being able to provide a nutritious meal to a parent worried about a sick kid, let alone the financial burden of it, was priceless. 

To have the big brother of a little guy come tell us "thank you for making us hamburgers. Cause I really love hamburgers and those were the best ever!"  As he and his sisters and Dad grabbed a bite to eat while Mom sat watch over their ill sibling. 

To know exactly how all those parents feel and to be thankful for the folks who provided me a meal while I was in that position. 

To instill in my children the importance of giving back and volunteering. 

How better a way to spend Thanksgiving? 

Everyone who helped wants to do it again, so my sister and I are going to start a monthly meal service to the house. We will pick a set day every month, and if you are interested and want to help, the more the merrier. Look for info on my FB page or Ethan's World FB page soon!  

Because after all, if it weren't for that special little bald guy, I wouldn't be able to begin to understand what some of these families go through.  And I've said so often, and truly believe, we were given that boy for a reason, and to have some of the most amazing people enter our lives because of him has been the biggest blessing of all. 

So aside from the usual thankfulness for my job, my continued cancer-free health, my hard-working including-40-hours-off-duty-during-a-holiday-week hubby, my amazing two older kids, my family-near  and far, and all of the wonderful friends we have in our lives, I am this year most thankful for another year with the bald kid. 

Thankful for everyone instrumental in getting us to Boston.  

To find a place that gave us hope and options when we had none.  

Thankful to have brought him home from Boston with a fixed heart. 

Thankful to tuck him in bed each night with his light up dog and Taylor Swift CD. 

Thankful to be able to smother his bald head with kisses any time I want to. 

Thankful to be that little bald guy's mom. 

Kelsey, Marie and Kate. With Hailey and Carly photobombing

Kelsey loving on Ethan-and him totally milking it!!

Parker making the burgers 

Hailey and Carly making the desserts

Mom and Abby's turn at the burger making

Grandpa and Ethan 

The gang in the big rocker 

Getting settled

Well, we've been in the house for 2 weeks now and are down to just about a dozen boxes left to go through.  Not too shabby. We should even be able to park all the cars in the garage by this weekend!  Woo-hoo!  

Flashback to moving day, and we would never recommend MOOvers moving company, ever.  We paid a flat fee for 29 items and 100 boxes, knowing we were taking all our own clothes, all of Ethan's items, and other stuff. They were to move living room furniture, refrigerator, grill, washer/dryer, my pie safe, and a couple of other pieces including a couple of antiques.  Their policy states they take the beds apart and then put them back together.  Lets just say it's real hard to put a bed back together when you leave all of the hardware at the old house.....and the grill, and a very heavy vase I specifically asked them to move.  And they clearly couldn't count, because they moved only 21 items and then wanted to argue about it. Well, I'm no genius, but I can count to 29. They did refund us some money, but the way they left the new house put us so far behind on moving day, I admit, it made me a bit crazy. 

Thank goodness this is our last move until retirement. If it weren't for our friends Mike and Tricia Vulje-BTW Tricia was our realtor- and Aaron Kohrs, we would still have stuff at the old house!  They did a way better job than the paid movers!!  Love you guys-and many thanks!  If you ever need an awesome real estate agent-Tricia Vulje with Reece and Nichols is your gal!  She's a full-service realtor, mover, painter, and brings her hubby and kids to help!!

And we finally got living room furniture-and I already got a neon piece of green gum stuck to it last night. Thank goodness for fabric protector and Google instructions how to remove gum from fabric. FYI-Butane is the answer....

And I've cut the tags off since this pic. 

Frankie looks sad because he knows this furniture is NOT for him to get on. 

He was not very happy.  Spoiled dog. 

We knew we wanted to use Parker's old bed for Ethan in the new house, so with a coat of paint and the awesome handy work of my Dad and Teresa and her parents, Ethan has a "brand new" bed!

From this....

To this...

We love it, and so does the bald kid!

Parker's football season is over, though Staley varsity is still in the running for state. He tried out for basketball this week, but sadly, did not make the team. He's ok with it, he will run track in the spring and wants to spend the winter months rebuilding his strength from his collar bone break with lifting and putting on some weight for football next year.  He goes back to the Ortho surgeon on Friday for a final X-ray and hopefully official release. 

Hailey's club VB season is starting, and we are really excited for her first year with this new club-Pride. Her coach is hard core, believes in good nutrition, strength and conditioning and has a food/work-out plan that we are all going to follow as a family!  She is going to be playing some awesome tournaments, including the Northern Lights one in Minnesota!  

Ethan's Special Olympics bowling season is over for now, we are looking forward to next year for sure. 

We need to find a pair of little bowling shoes and a cool bowling shirt for him to rock. 

I had my lab draw and shot at the cancer center this week, go back next week for results and visit with my NP.    I've had some really funky pain in my bones over the last month, so lots of labs got drawn this time. I may have some scans done this week or next, depending on the results. I'm sure it's nothing, as the chemo I was on-even a year later-can be causing this type of pain. I could actually have it forever, and though that's not the answer I wanted, it could be worse, and I can deal with a little chronic pain. Just means I need to take better care of myself, thus the clean eating and sugar cut has got to start and stick!  Tomorrow's dinner is a white bean, quinoa and kale soup I found from a friend's FB page. I can't wait to try it-thanks Joely!  My sleeping has been terrible, but I've started using  lavender DoTerra oil on my feet and a couple drops on my pillow lately, and I've had crazy good sleep-with no need for Ambien!!  Thanks Kate and Angie!  

The last couple of weeks have been especially hard on my work family, and I've spent them with a few more tears, but a lot more appreciation for the people in my life.  My friend and co-worker lost her husband to leukemia.  Travis was just 36 years old, and leaves behind Tara and his two young children. 

I can't imagine what my life would be like without Brian, especially for my children. Tara is strong, but losing her high school love, and father of her children is a terrible tragedy. Some of their friends and family are doing a raffle fundraiser of some gorgeous KC Chiefs prints on tin. If you are interested in helping this family, and maybe winning a cool tin pic of our 8-0 Chiefs, let me know and I will get you to the right person. If you are able to help, any monetary donation is greatly appreciated by the Martinez family. 

You can go to www.giveforward.com and type 'Travis Martinez' in the search box-it will take you to the Memorial Benefit page. 




Another friend and co-worker will be waging a battle for her life starting today, as Ashley Stockwell was diagnosed with breast cancer and begins her chemo. I will be wearing pink for my friend, and now sister, by the bonds of this terrible disease.  Ashley just turned 30, and her Mom and Dad are not local.  And though she has a lot of friends to help and support her, it will not be an easy road. Aside from the financial burden a cancer diagnosis brings, I know many days I only got out of bed and put on a happy face for my family and friends. I'm so thankful for them, because it would have been easy to wallow in the pity. Ashley is tough, and already has her game face on for this fight, but I feel a very personal responsibility to help her as much as I can. One of my biggest supporters, and best friends, and also a co-worker, Carissa, and I will be working on a fundraiser-or a few-for Ashley.  I already have another friend working on a breast cancer awareness/Ashley's Fight t-shirt we will be selling, with all proceeds going towards Ashley's mounting medical expenses. A Meal Train will be set up soon, and Operation "Stock Stockwell's Fridge" will be underway next week. So look for a list of her likes/dislikes on my FB and blog page soon if you'd like to help. Ashley is a very private person, and we clearly know I'm not. She has not asked for anything, and all of these are the brain children of myself and those who care about her. I will not share her private medical treatment details, as that is for her to do, but I will keep you updated with her progress as she starts kicking this cancer's ass!

I will be making and selling pink ribbon pins for $2 each to wear in honor of Ashley and all others fighting this fight! I will post pics tomorrow.   All proceeds will go to Ashley.  And any NKCH peeps who see this and can help, she will be in need of PTO.  I was only able to work part-time for 5 months during my treatment, and every little bit helps. You can go online to our intranet to donate.  If everyone donated just 1-2 hours, we could ensure she would continue to get a paycheck during her treatment. I don't have a lot of hours, but I will be donating-so can you!!

Oh, and in case you missed it-Boston won the World Series!!

Woo-hoo Sox!!

Ethan sporting his Boston shirt and Green Monster hat bought at Landsdowne outside of Fenway!

And my nephew Kellen is obviously a fan!

His hat came all the way from Boston too!

And our annual Halloween at the Gunthers was a success-Ethan's last minute clown costume was not my best work-but he still looks pretty cute. You can tell he was thrilled. 

I was warned that next year he needs a 'more grown up' costume....

To show our thanks for the good things we received this year, my family will be providing a meal at the Longfellow Ronald McDonald House the end of this month.  We were fortunate to only have spent a short amount of time at the Yawkey House while in Boston, but we greatly appreciated the meals local companies and restaurants provided us and the other families there.  You can only eat so much cafeteria food, and eating out gets so expensive, this means a lot to me to be able to help. I am thankful to have my sisters, Moms, and a dear family friend willing to pay it forward with me. 

Don't just be thankful this month, there is a reson every day of the year to give thanks. 

I am thankful to have another day to share our crazy lives with all of you!

Heartbreak, House Move, Hernia, Holter Monitor and Halloween...

I like H words, being that my oldest child is Hailey and my favorite holiday is coming up.  But heartbreak is not a favorite H word of mine.  Especially when it's linked to my favorite H girl.  

Ahh, the perils of being seventeen.  She will live, we all have, but it doesn't make it any easier. We knew the day would come, and will also probably come again in her lifetime. I'm just glad she was able to come home and talk to Brian and I about it. And when she cried in my arms like she did the time she was three and slammed her finger in the door of her toy box, I wished a bright bandaid would make it all better.  But she is a beautiful, smart, kind girl and she will survive (cue Gloria Gaynor music here). And we've got ACTs, SATs and college visits on the horizon right now to keep her mind busy.  Doing our first college visit in December-KSU here we come!  Speaking of college, she asked Ethan today if he was going away to college with her.  I can't even fathom that day.

Our new house is all done, with a close date of next Thursday. So all of you great friends who have nothing to do next Thursday or Friday.....we have plenty of boxes to move. The big stuff is all being taken care of by the movers-so just the easy stuff. Oh, and pizza and beer on us!!  My older kids are out of school next Friday too!  How convenient!  

We have grass!

And stair carpet!

And I love the painted vault in our master bedroom!

Our builder is using our house for the photos on his new virtual tour!

And how appropriate is it that I get to put my new house key on my new keychain in October??

That's right-it's October. It's breast cancer awareness month and I'm a survivor because of the early detection of a mammogram!  Go get the girls squeezed, NOW!  

My next cancer center check up is the first week of November and all digits crossed for continued good news. 

Speaking of follow-ups, Parker saw the Ortho surgeon, and his clavicle is healing nicely. He was able to stop wearing his sling, start running in gym and conditioning for football, but no full contact yet. Another appointment Nov 8th will tell us when he can start lifting weights again!  But, we had to get a CT scan of his abdomen and the results have us going to a general surgeon next week to see whether or not he has a hernia that needs surgery.  Does it ever end?!?!

Good news-we got into one of the surgeons at Mercy I know and really like-Dr St. Peter. 

I guess we will know next week how our Thanksgiving is going to be spent. 

Tonight Parker had his fall choir concert, and it was so awesome!  They sang some wonderful acapella numbers in Latin and German, a little Village People's 'YMCA', some Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and the composer of the high school alma mater was even present to hear our kids sing it!  I loved choir in high school-anyone remember Soel Nylvester at NHS?  And sweet Mrs Roberson at SHS?  

Parker with my wonderful Dad and his big sis at the concert. Ethan was refusing to be in the picture on the grounds he was simply being a jackhole and his square mouth face would have ruined this pic...

I also got a call from Dr Kaine today about the bald kid's recent holter monitor results. And as Boston suspected, he is throwing some PVCs. Not too many, and mostly singles with a few couplets in there. No bradycardia though, and really, really normal heart rate the entire time!  Woo-hoo!  Dr Kaine is not concerned about the PVCs right now to do any pharmaceutical intervention, just feels we should do a holter monitor at least once a year from now on. In layman's terms-his heart is still doing some confused beat skipping, but not enough to worry about. 

Ethan's PCA, Denise, returned today to help us out on his two days off school, and he loved seeing her.   She is such a huge help to me too. Today she filmed him doing a new party trick....when we glove his right hand to keep it out of his mouth, he figured out how to remove the glove with his left hand.....hmmmm, Ethan.....Ms Mary is going to capitalize on this at school and I'm guessing some purposeful use of the left hand is what you will be working on next week!  We got your number bald kid!!  

We also made a trip to CMH North for the free flu shot for Ethan and Hailey-and I was dreading even going in there. And of course, I was honest on the 4 question form and checked the Yes box asking if Ethan has an egg allergy, and we got turned down. Even after I told them he's never ingested egg, it came up on an allergy panel, and he's had the flu shot every year since the allergy showed up and has had no problems. And it's always been at a Mercy facility!!  I even told them who to call in Allergy and verify he's had the flu shot, or to call his Ped's nurse at the PCC. But, noooo, we were referred back to our pediatrician. Which really makes absolutely no sense to me. If he was going to have a reaction to a vaccine, wouldn't it be more prudent to be in an Urgent Care than in a Pediatrician's office?  Especially considering the peds office is not on the CMH main campus anymore.  Wouldn't they be more prepared for an allergic reaction than the place who couldn't even find a sat probe to check his O2 sat last time we were there, thank goodness we brought our own.....ahem. I resign. No more CMH North. Though I do need to start his Vital Stim feeding therapy back up, and the fabulous OT Ms Amy is the only one who does it.  At CMH North. What if he aspirates or chokes?  I guess if that happens, I will be calling KCFD to take him to the ER downtown??  Just truly frustrated knowing that sick season is soon upon us, and I can't use the facility 1.2 miles from my house. 

Onto to a happier subject...my favorite holiday, Halloween is soon upon us and I have yet to figure out the bald kid's costume.  I need to get on that tomorrow since we have my sister's Halloween party to attend tomorrow night!  But I did come across another creepy hand in the hospital gift shop last weekend-for half price even!!

And even with the move coming up, I did do some Halloween decorating around the house-though not nearly as elaborate as years past. 

And I'm almost done with my googly eye picture frame-maybe this weekend.....

Next post should be coming from the new house!!!

Closer to closing!

It's October and officially Fall, but hasn't really felt like it this week. 

We've had the AC off, then on, off and now back on. I will be so glad when we are out of this hot, stuffy, energy inefficient house. Especially since we had to pull our make-shift, looks like a white-trash- meth-cooking house portable AC unit from our bedroom while the house is showing. 

Trashy?  Yes. 

Kept me cool?  Oh, hell yes. 

And I will take comfort over fashionable any day. 

Except while trying to sell the house-someone else's house no less. 

Because, speaking of moving....

We will be closing on the new house in 2-3 weeks. 

We went from this:

 

To this:

Pretty darn quick.   

It's on the downhill slide now. 

And being in there today dropping off mirrors we already own to be hung in the bathrooms,  it was relatively comfortable upstairs with just the windows and back door open. And the downstairs was even cool. 

Ps- the air conditioner is NOT intstalled yet!  

This is a panoramic shot taken from me standing by the back of the house. 

This is a panoramic shot taken from me standing by where the stairs are in the above picture. 

This is the master bathroom-starting from left; tub, shower, closet(which walks tnru to laundry room!), toilet room, sink. 

 

Walk in master shower

Master bedroom ceiling.  We scored an accent wall to the left; Sherwin Williams Liberty Pewter, and the painted vaulted ceiling at no extra charge!!

Panoramic view taken from standing in front of the fireplace. You can't tell very well here, but we also scored an accent wall-Liberty Pewter-on the back of the house-left side of pic by back door slider. 

This is my pantry.  I'm in love. 

And did I mention the fabulous fireplace?

These are my hardwoods. 

Downstairs bar:

This is a close-up of the accent tile on the bar backsplash:

This is Ethan's bedroom-the windows are the ones you see from the front elevation of the house. 

I love his raised barn-like ceiling room!

And outside Ethan's door is a small closet and bathroom on the right, my wall alcove-with a plug in-also at no charge-straight ahead, and the entry hall to the left. 

This is Ethan's / the guest bathroom.  Love, love, love the awesome tile work this crew did!  

Finish plumbing, tile and carpet left yet to go in this week and appliances arriving Friday!!!

Once those are in I will post some pics of them and the downstairs kids rooms, and bar area and rec room. 

As I bump, bump, bump down our current stairs with Ethan on my lap, I get more and more excited for this house. This build job has been seamless, and efficient and we are getting everything we need in a brand new house for less than what we are paying in rent right now!  

Fall party soon!!!

Parker gets to take his sling off a little bit this week, and to be off for good in one week.   He does have to go back for another picture in 5 weeks to check healing. He may be able to start running after that, but still no lifting for another 5-6 weeks.  He's doing well, had his sling off all day today and only needed a Ibuprofen 600 for bed!  But no surgery so far!  

Oh, and his grades are all still a's and b's. Woo-hoo P!!

We are sosooooo proud of you!!  Keep it up amazing kid!  We love Ya lots!!!

Time to get out the creepy stuff.......

Helping my sister sister do a killer job on decorating for her Halloween party!  I can't wait!!!

It's fall y'all, so enjoy the cooler weather, and warmer drinks. 

We will have a housewarming at some point end of October/first of November and 

you all are welcome!  

Thank you for your continued love and support. 

A flashback to Boston;

Ethan's sleeping arrangement-and he must have been 

Tired of hearing us chat, and maybe a little cold..?!?!

But we did find a daddy look-a-like in the hospital:

Oh, wait, this was actually Daddy;

Sleeping in the cath lab waiting room. 

Ironic it was Stitch on Ethan's door-he loves Stitch!

And I loved the Handling Precautions sign describing what to expect of our little pretzel guy and how to handle and pick him up.  

A small thing I know, but really made Brian and I comfortable that those coming through the door knew what to expect-well, somewhat!

And another thank you-to Nicky's pizza in Liberty. He opened his doors and gave back his servers tips and 10% of his profit that night before we left.  It was a nice chunk of change that definitely kept us eating very well in Boston. But most of all, meeting some of the most kind folks that came in to share with us.   One specific man; Kerry, a bomber pilot brought Ethan a bunch of his bomber patches that he made up to share with guys he flies with and told us there is a whole bomber community out there shooting for the stars with wishes of a successful trip to Boston  for our boy. Such a nice young military man. 

These patches are going in Ethan's scrapbook, and since we have one or two left over, I'm going to send them to Ross Brown in Boston. A sweet, handicapped boy we met while staying at the Yawkey house just having had one surgery on his legs in July, waiting for it to heal so he could have the other leg done. Ross and his beautiful Momma Karen are from Texas and not prepared for a Boston winter. So I am gathering up some of our good, local, winter fare and a sweatshirt or two to send to him, along with the bomber patches. He needs to know those men are out there rooting for him too. 

So are we Ross, so are we!  

I think these and a KCPD jacket will bring a huge smile to Ross' face!  

Not to mention some great KC stuff-a chiefs sweatshirt, Royals hat, and of course some Zum, BBQ sauce, salsa and chips!  

Cheers with our stout, light and blueberry beer from Boston Beer Works!