DAY 3.....

well, today was another BEAUTIFUL day in FLORIDA!!! today, was the ONLY day that there was RAIN forcasted so we decided to go to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and make it a SHORT day so that we could enjoy the VILLAGE...we didn't want to waste a "rain" day MAGIC KINGDOM....sooo, we WOKE UP and decided to just eat all our LEFT OVERS that we had in the fridge and they tasted SOOOOOOO GOOOD!! we showed the boys the 'GIFT' that the bunny had left on our table when we got back last night from the parks...so far, EVERY SINGLE DAY, there has been a GOODIE BAG for the kids...again, this is what is so AMAZING about GKTW!!! there was a CANDYLAND board game and at FIRST, i thought, "man, we already have that...' but OOOOHHHH NO!!! this is the GKTW special edition CANDYLAND!!! it is going to TREASURED!!! it has all of the village building on it!!! awwwww....

well the ONLY thing that was BAD that happened to us was that MATTHEWS KIMBA (his wheelchair/stroller) BROKE!!! yes, matthew broke it FINALLY with all his EXCITED JUMPING that he loves to do in his stroller!! at first, we didn't know what to do but i finally thought it thru and we put matthew in joshua's new stroller (THANK YOU GOD he still fit in it!) and we would rent a double stroller at the parks for joshua & alex (they gave us FREE RENTALS thru GKTW too!!) i was just sad for matthew because he DEFINETLY had a lower view of the world and i know it was not the most comfortable seat around!!

well, we were OFF to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and after a short detour (taking the SENIC ROUTE!) we finally made it to the park!! :) again, we had FREE PARKING at all these parks and because of the folks at the DISNEY FORUMS, we knew to take MATTHEW HANDICAP PARKING PASS with us and boy were we HAPPY we remembered to do it!!! we parked RIGHT in front!! anyway, we got there and jsut enjoyed walking around....this was the ONLY DAY in our WHOLE 7 DAYS that it DID rain!! all the other days were overcast but NOT HUMID (which i was SOOOO WORRIED ABOUT) and the temps were about 83 degrees!! NICE! anyway, we had our ponchos and were ready for it and it was NOT going to slow us down!!! we had soooo much fun and were able to get on a couple of rides....the adults LOVED the MUMMYS ride!! i road it a couple of times with james and S! we had so much FUN!!! there was more thingst to LOOK at than anything...we did do a bunch of CHARACTER MEETS and i think the BEST thing we did was go see the BARNEY SHOW and then after that we got to MEET BARNEY after the show...he came down and took pictures with us and MATTHEW was sooooo excited and happy!! we had so much fun during the show!! and afterwards, the boys had fun in barneys FUN area...they LOVED IT!!! there were many props going on and we loved posing at them....they were actually filming while we were there....FINAL DESTINATION 4....we got to see some of the action...pretty cool! we didn't get to do too many things because we wanted to get back to the village....

AFTER UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, we came home around 6pm and had some dinner at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE which was YUMMY!!! we were then able to explore the village and do some fun things like PUTT PUTT, RIDE THE TRAIN, LOOK AT THE LITTLE TRAINS, talk to some other families, eat ICE CREAM, and just chill OUT there at the GKTW!!! it was really fun RELAXING time!!! just a PERFECT ending to a WONDERFUL DAY!!!

THE kids and WOODY WOOD PECKER and his girl...(what's her name?)


another of matthews favorites...MADAGASCAR CAST...


OOOHHHH....SCOBBY DO & SHAGGY!! we love these guys!!


MATTHEW and CURIOUS GEORGE...he LOVED this monkey!!!


My little gang with CURIOUS GEORGE & TED!!!


one of our FAVORITE shows...BARNEY and us!!! we had sooo much fun!


Matthew in a boat outside the BARNEY show....it was so hard to get them to leave here!


the sign at UNIVERSAL STUDIOS...WE HAD A GREAT DAY!


JOSH on the back of the train that goes around GKTW...


MATTHEW & ALEX playing with the romote control boats...


joshua checking out the AWESOME train set they had!!


MATTHEW and S on NOAH's ARK...


PLAYING PUTT PUTT at GKTW...


JUST ANOTHER PUTT PUTT shot!!


MATTHEW giving daddy a FACIAL with his ice cream cone! he was laughing SOOOOO HARD!


giving matthew a smoochie sticky KISS!!

DAY 2.....

well, we woke up today about 6:30 am, trying to get a jump start on our day! we had SOOOO MUCH TO DO and we were so excited to DO IT!!! SO, after everyone taking a shower and getting ready....we decided to sit out on our front porch and drink some coffee and enjoy the morning:



we decided to go and eat at the GINGERBREAD house today. a nice HOT meal!!! this would be the first time we were going to go eat there and we were excited but didn't know what to expect! well, it was AMAZING!! we got there and there was already so many other families there....we found a seat and got in line to get our goodies....and OOOOHHHH, what delicious goodies there were!! we can say we ate VERY WELL that morning....well, after having our delicious breakfast among the many families and all those beautiful ANGEL VOLUNTEERS..we got ready for the start of our ADVENTURE!!!



and we decided to take a couple of quick rides on the MERRY GO ROUND:


a wonderful lady at the DISNEY FORUMS gave us a PLAN for every day of the week we were going to be there...she even told us which parks would be BUSY and which wouldn't....just AMAZING!!! we were able to get an idea of what we should do on which days and what was going on at GKTW....sooo, today was a perfect day for.....

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM!!! we decided to do half a day there and half a day at DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!!



WOWOWOWOWOW, what a BEAUTIFUL day to be out there....unfortunately, we only saw like a FOURTH of the park!!! but we had so much FUN!! we did manage to get on some rides and the MOST exciting thing we did was be able to see FINDING NEMO and let me tell you that it was BROADWAY quality (per ME:) and all my kids LOVED it!!! i just got REALLY upset at the lady in front of matthew (we were in the handicap seating) who kept looking back at matthew and us whenever matthew would shout with joy at the play!!! made me MAD!!! anyway, it was just some fun!!! we did a couple of rides and we got to see that show plus A BUGS LIFE show....sooooo much fun!! it was also a BEAUTIFUL day....we did not get to see the whole thing but we had fun with what we saw..here are a couple of our pictures:

here we are with FLIK....what everyone kept telling us was soooo true...we NEVER waited in ANY SINGLE LINE from rides to character pics!!! even if we TRIED to get in line, they would spot us (with our MAKE-A-WISH BUTTONS) and pull us IMMEDIATELY to the front of the line and we were always NEXT!! that was just AMAZING and soooo touching to all of us...it again just made us feel like ROYALTY!!!



here we are with PLUTO!



here we are on the DINO RIDE and OMG, the boys LOVED THIS!! the baby started to pitch a FIT when we had to get off!!! :)


just me and my gang playing around!!


just some more pics with our buddies!!


our family in front of the "TREE"


AND THEN we went onto DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS...it was just down the road...not to far away....and it was SOOO MUCH FUN!! it is a BEAUTIFUL place and to see where some of the magic is made, it was so much FUN!! what i LOVE about these disney parks is that all my babies have been able to ride almost EVERY SINGLE RIDE that was out there....there was almost no height restriction...i LOVED that fact that even though i had a 1 and a 4 year old, they wre STILL able to ride the rides and ENJOY AND LOVE THEM!!! we got to ride some rides, and look around...and then the most important part was that we got to meet matthew's IDOL...here are some pictures from our day there!!!

here we are at the entrance of disney studios:


here we are with MATTHEW'S IDOLS!!!


MATTHEW just talking with his IDOL'S...


Matthew is a STAR!!! getting ready for the 3-D ride of toy story...it was actually soooooo AWESOME!!


JUST A PICTURE...


ALEX on HIS all time FAVORITE show right now...STAR WARS!!


AWWWWWW....on our way HOME after a LONG DAY!

about GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE...

ok, so here is the post about the most AMAZING place in the world ESPECIALLY CREATED for these special kids and their familys.....click HERE for the LINK to the website. well, i wanted to devote a whole post about this wonderful place so MAYBE you can understand what an AMAZING place it is and WHY this MAKE-A-WISH trip was so special.

this amazing place was built and created by Henri Landwirth, who is a HERO to MANY people....he has founded MANY different organizations all to help PEOPLE!! he is a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR....which is just amazing...and he wrote a BOOK about his life story....the short story of GKTW is HERE...the short of it is that a child asked a hotel owner if she could stay at his hotel while she went to the florida area attraction....he said yes but it took to long for that "wish" to come and the child ended up dying....he swore that that would not happen again...so in 1989 GKTW OPENED to special families...."He called the project “Give Kids The World,” because that is just what he intended to do - provide memorable, magical, cost-free experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families"...and HE DOES!!!

first, they send a GREETER to the airport to make sure you know they are waiting for you!! AND he helps you get your luggage, get your vehicle and sends you on your WAY!!



AND THIS is what you see when you pull up to the VILLAGE!!! doesn't it make your HEART RACE?! we were sooooooo excited!



this place treats you like ROYALTY....like you and your family are the MOST SPECIAL people there at GKTW....it starts right at the moment you come to the gate and they say.."WELCOME HOME!" everytime....then you come in and check in and the place is like a FAIRY TALE....the details that they put into EVERYTHING make you think you are in a AMAZING spot!! so you walk in and sit down and talk to a greeter who gives you some info and then you are OFF to follow someone to your new HOME...and that is EXACTLY what it is! and as you drive down the senic drive over there, you see many families coming and going, all with special kiddos....i got so sentimental driving to our home and then, when we SAW were going to be staying......OMG, sooooo awesome...and beautiful and such details....here is a picture of our HOME:

our home:


our SIGN...


here is a TOUR of our HOME!!

 

SOOOOO, this place is sooooo WONDERFUL....just for special kids and their families...all the families can stay for 7 days total.....they get their OWN villa..we are provided a vehicle thru MAKE-A-WISH (amazing!!!) so that we have freedom while we are there at the park...all our MEALS are included there....we can have meals 3 different ways.....if we are tired and don't want to leave our home, then we can call and they can come and DELIVER a continental breakfast right to our door!!! and the little cart is SOOOOO CUTE! OR we can decide to go have breakfast at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE and you can either drive over there, walk over there or RIDE IN THE TRAIN that goes around the park:



and here is the picture of the GINGERBREAD HOUSE:



where they have a HOT meal for you and you sit at tables fit for kiddos and each table has HUNDREDS of those STAR PEPPERMENT MINTS inlaid in them...all on the top they have THOUSANDS of dolls and toys that have been donated to GKTW....and then let me tell you about the staff of ANGELS that they have....they are ALL VOLUNTEERS from all walks of life, young, old....many of them work at DISNEY parks and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS....from church groups, corporations, etc....and ALL SO HAPPY TO BE THERE and they treat the families like ROYALTY....so nice, giving, warm, loving....we pick our food off the buffet and then the volunteers carry your tray for you, and get you whatever you need!! so amazing and nice!! we kept getting all sentimental during this whole process which sometimes made eating hard with that lump in your throat... and GOD FORBID you start to clean your table and stack dishes because they are WATCHING and they will swoop down and tell you NOT TO TOUCH THAT...that that is what they are there for....OMG...SO NICE!!!

well, then you can also have lunch/dinner at either the GINGERBREAD HOUSE or you can also have it at KATIES KITCHEN which served BOSTON MARKET GOODIES and boy let me tell you, they are REALLY GOOD STUFF!!! and then there is the MAMA PIZZA...here you can call in anytime after 4pm and they will make your pizza, as many as you want and DELIVER them to your home for you......AMAZING.....

and then there is the ICE CREAM PARLOR that is open from 8am - 9pm and they have EVERYTHING you can ask for in the ICE CREAM PARLOR....YUMMY!!! YOU can go as MUCH as you want to...

and there is NO COST to the FAMILY!! that in itself is just AMAZING, AWESOME....you have NO WORRIES while you are at the village...none at ALL...for a family with a special needs child, that you might have been paying so much on his medical bills and medical expensis to have this opportunity to go away from all of THAT for a WEEK with and ALL EXPENSE PAID TRIP to FLORIDA...there are no WORDS that can express what that is LIKE....

sooo, then the VILLAGE itself is BEAUTIUFL and there are MANY improvements that are going on to make it bigger and better....they have a MERRY-GO-ROUND that you can ride again and again:



and you can also play PUTT PUTT GOLF there all the time if you want!!




there is also a little train that goes around the putt putt area that you can ride whenever you want and as many time as you want!! sooooo much to do!!



there is also the AMBERVILLE where there is all the above and there is also an arcade and COOL TRAIN VILLAGE that you can push the button and things start to move in the village!!! and i understand that someone comes EVERY WEEK to CHANGE the village around!! just AMAZING!!!

here is alex driving one of those BOATS in the water below!!!


here is joshua just LOVING watching the trains go by and pushing the buttons!!!


sooo, as i was saying this place is AMAZING....they actually added another playground called......MATTHEW'S BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND! AND OF COURSE, i can't find a PICTURE that we took of it but it is based on the CANDYLAND BOARD GAME!!! it is just AMAZING and accessible by wheelchair thru out!!! just amazing!!! and it was right down the street from us!!!

they also have a POOL that the boys hit up the first day but we were unable to make it back out there! there actually doing ANOTHER pool area and it is under construction and it looks AMAZING...

soooo, see, this BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE is amazing....and to think that it was ESPECIALLY made for SPECIAL NEEDS FAMILIES LIKE US!!!! it brings tears to my eyes EVERYTIME!!!

SOOO, i will have to DEFINETLY try to make sure that i let the WORLD know, or at least all those that read this blog and my friends and family that there is a WORTHY CAUSE if anyone can donate to...this place is amazing and my family is LIVING PROOF that DREAMS DO COME TRUE and that this place is MAGICAL for families like ours....any donations that can be made to this place would be WELCOMED and hearing our story of our WEEK IN PARADISE will give proof that your DONATION would be working and would be shared with other families just like MATTHEW'S!!!

SOOOO, HERE IS THE LINK IF YOU EVER CAN FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO MAKE ANY TYPE OF DONATION:

DONATE PAGE HERE


here is a link if you want to send a TRIBUTE to someone while making a DONATION:

HERE

you can buy one of their MANY items for sale:

GIFTS



I will also do a post later on about the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION!!! so be on the look out for that one too!!!

MAKE-A-WISH TRIP START..DAY 1....

we woke up at 3:30 am to get the last of the things done before we left....we had already gotten everything packed (stayed up till about 12am) and packed into the car....we got up soooo excited! everyone had taken a bath the night before so we could just get up and GOOOOO!!! well, after making sure we had matthews feeds and stuff ready, we woke up the kids and got them dressed, transfered them over to the car and TOOK OFF to the airport by 4:30 am!!!! oooooohhhhh....we were sooo happy and EXCITED!! following behind us was matthew's nurse, S, and i know that she was so happy and excited too!!! sooo, it was RAINING, LIGHTENING AND THUNDERING (we have been in a DROUGHT since FOREVER so we really needed this rain, but TODAY?!?!?!?!)!!! yes, not the BEST weather to be leaving in and i can say it made me NERVOUS!!!! I thought for sure that the kids were going to have an issue with it but NO...they all seemed FINE!! SOOO, we got off the car and have to unload ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE!!! our family ended up checking in 3 suitcases, and each of us carried on a carry on bag (4) PLUS we also had his feeding pump AND a camera case.....WITH A CAR SEAT, A WHEELCHAIR AND A STROLLER!!! unfortunatly, they were unable to get us more than one car seat in florida so we had to bring our own!! not a PROBLEM!! :) so we check in with PLENTY of time (5:15am) and our plane didn't leave until 7 am! so after doing all of that, we were able to move onto the security check point...boy, this was probably the part we all dreaded!!! the GREAT part about it is that we got to go thru the FAMILY LINE which made us FLY thru it all!! we were in and out of there within about 15 mins or less.....it was kinda funny...we had to all take off our shoes, take the baby out of his stroller, matthew too and just putting all of our stuff on the belts to get them checked....CRAZY!!! if you have ever flown with 3 kiddos and TONS of stuff, you know what i am taking about! then, because we had matthews cans of food, we had to be stopped and the cans checked to make sure for security reasons....matthew had a FIT because they had to to a CHECK his stroller and he HATES GLOVES so they made him soooo mad and upset!!!! well, we were done with that and now, all we had to do is WAIT to board...wowowowow...the excitement of being in the gate terminal....walking to our gate with ALL OUR STUFF!!!!! james and the boys decided to get some breakfast at LAS PALAPAS while we waited......it was such an amazing feeling being there...knowing that in a couple of hours you would be in another STATE with all of your kiddos!!!! sooo, we were able to board (after much mishap)....it took alot of manuvering because we had to take both stollers out and break them down, get the CARSEAT inplace to put matthew in and then get the rest of our gear (all our bags) and baby in!!! well, what we didn't know was that once you got IN the plane, you could NOT get OUT!!! sooo, when daddy, went to come back to get the kids, NOPE, he couldn't do it!!! sooo, we had to figure out how to get everything in the plane without JAMES to help! it was not fun....well, after all of that, we were FINALLY on the plane in FIRST CLASS, no less!!! THANK YOU GOD, we started a "bag check" and found out that we had LEFT HIS FEEDING BAG right there where the strollers had been left to put under the PLANE!!! OMG, HOW CRAZY AND SCARY that would have BEEN!!! ANYWAY, our ride went with out a HITCH and the boys LOVED THE PLANE RIDE!!! here are some pics of us on the plane...

daddy and josh....our lap baby!


matthew and his nurse S


me and my boys!!!


well, we landed in ALTANTA and we had about a 2 hour wait....unforutnatly, somewhere in san antonio, they did NOT check us in for the 2nd part of our flight and we were all SCATTERED around the plane for the 2nd leg of it....but THANKS to some AMAZING families in the plane, we were able to get our seats all together!!!

DADDY AND HIS BOYS...


mommy, nurse and matthew!!!


the second part of the flight went wonderful too...and before you knew it....WE WERE IN FLORIDA~!!!! james was SALIVATING seeing all the ponds, lakes as were flying over FLORIDA....he kept saying, we are COMING BACK just to FISH!!!! WELL, we got off the plane and after getting all our our carry ons and such together, we were OFF to find the GREETER...but first, we had to board this supper fast shuttle to get us to where the BAGGAGE area was....well, we get there and see the most BEAUTIFUL SIGN....our GREETER MOE holding up a sign that said, 'WELCOME MATTHEW!"...I can tell you this, it got me GOING and i started to get all teary eyed, emotional....you just don't have a CLUE unless you realize that your MIRACLE CHILD got a WISH GRANTED by the WONDERFUL PEOPLE at MAKE-A-WISH and we were THERE IN FLORIDA together as a FAMILY....the emotions of it all where just something else...we had gone thru SOOOOO MUCH with our son that to be there, in FLORIDA, getting ready to go on an ADVENTURE, a ONCE IN A LIFETIME THING together....no words can describe how it felt for us!!!

OUR GREETER with MATTHEW'S SIGN...


when we talked to our GREETER from GIVE KIDS THE WORLD (i will be using the abbrev GKTW), he told us that he and his other fellow GREETERS were meeting 36 FAMILIES that were coming over to GKTW!!!!! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW....

here are the kids waiting for our car with ALL OUR LUGGAGE!!!


sooo, we meet our greeter and he leads us on our journey to find our vehicle...a DODGE CARAVAN 2009....VERY NICE!!! it was so awesome and amazing...we get loaded up with all our carseats and baggage and off we GO...where??? well, to GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE!!!! ok, i am SO SORRY i don't think i EVER mentioned where we were going to be staying and all i can say is AMAZING....I will write a post JUST on GKTW as soon as i am done and link it to HERE....as soon as we turned on the street, there it was....i started to cry again!! here are some pictures of the place...

here is the ENTRANCE SIGN there....TO WELCOME YOU HOME!


HERE we are in front of our BEAUTIFUL VILLA HOME!!


here are the boys tearing into the GIFT BAG of goodies that were left on our table for them!!!





sooo, we got HOME and started to unpacked and realized that we had had NOTHING to eat since about 6:30 in the morning!!! so, we were told that we could ORDER PIZZA whenever we wanted and they would have it delivered...and we DID!!! it was amazing...we paid for NOTHING....i placed the call and they were like, "how many and what would you like on it?" we placed our order they said, they would be by in a bit to deliver it and WHALA!!! they came by in their little cart and gave us our 3 pizza's!!!! AMAZING!!! and everyone has been just soooo nice....i can't express that ENOUGH! we ended up going to WALMART that was SOOOOO CONVINENTLY RIGHT DOWN THE BLOCK!!! to get some supplies that we said that we would get once we got to florida....soooo, i had to go to ORIENTATION that night at 7:45 pm...so we decided that the kids and daddy and S would go SWIMMING...while i went to the meeting....the meeting was so informative and we were given our TICKETS to our PARKS!!! we got,3 DAY HOPPER to DISNEY PARKS, 2 DAY HOPPER TO UNIVERSAL AND ISLAND OF ADVENTURES, and a ONE DAY PASS TO SEAWORLD!!! oooohhh, the GENEROSITY of everyone...no words again....

well, we all got ready for the next day so that we could GO TO OUR FIRST PARK!!! we are going to go to DISNEY ANIMAL KINGDOWN with a side trip to DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIES!!! WOOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!

we are ON OUR WAY!!!

just a quick note to say, WE ARE ON OUR TO DISNEY WORLD!!! :) THANK YOU to any and all prayers and thoughts as we do our first PLANE RIDE as afamily!!! i will definetly post later to say how things are going!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

we are on our way THANK YOU MAKE-A-WISH!!

ANYWAY, just wanted to post right before we left home for the airport! take care and GOD BLESS!!!

LOVE,
US

2 more DAYS LEFT!!!

OMG, it is coming SOOOOO QUICKLY!!! i can't believe that in a couple more days, we are LEAVING FOR DISNEY WORLD FLORIDA!!!! i haven't been able to really post because i have been sooooo busy getting everything together....we have been packing since this past weekend!! and with EASTER and all, well, time has just FLEW!

well, on MONDAY, the wonderful people at MAW gave matthew a GOING AWAY PARTY at CHUCK E CHEESE!!! awwww..it was sooo nice of them!! we had a GREAT time eating pizza, having cake and then playing games with the boys....also, they matthew his backpack full of goodies and







we just had soooo much fun!! it was just amazing. what MAKE-A-WISH does for their families, is just AMAZING!!! i am going to try to be a VOLUNTEER for MAW someday...i think for everything they do, i would DEFINETLY want to help them to do what they do best and that is make WISH KIDDOS get their WISHES GRANTED!! oh what a FEELING that must be!!

anyway, i am so excited and happy....we leave on SAT AT 7AM!!! :) soooo much to dooooooooooooooooooooooo...........

music on my IPOD....

SOOO, TODAY, my beautiful son ALEX had a dental appt....i just THANK GOD that daddy was able to take off and go with him because last year was sooo traumatic for me!! this time, since daddy was home, he was able to do it...he did AMAZING!! he had shots, laughing gas (and that he LET them PUT it on him was amazing), and they did a filling and some sealants and such...anyway, it was about 1.5 hours long and he did SOOOO GREAT!!! anyway, i prayed so hard that he would not be scared and that GOD would be with him and comfort him because i couldjust imagine how scared he really was! he doesn't like dentist but he has done amazing this last couple of times!!

anyway, i started listening to the IPOD for some inspiration and relaxing music...so i decided to let you in on what i listen to just to see if you have heard that music before too!! I also put the link to the lyrics if you want to read them!!! must hear music!!

sooo, i love the song by MARTINA MCBRIDES song "GOD'S WILL"...this song ALWAYS brings me to tears because i actually think of my beautiful son MATTHEW...one of the lyrics says

"Will don't walk too good
Will don't talk too good
He won't do the things that the other kids do,
In our neighborhood"

and of course i think of my boy...knowing that right now that is HIM....and there is another part which says "And she said each day that I have him, well it's just
another gift" and OH HOW TRUE THAT IS!! THANK YOU GOD!

THEN, since i was listening to MARTINA MCBRIDE i had to go ahead and play "I HAVE BEEN BLESSED" and of course, that is a song that i have had on this blog because that is EXACTLY HOW I FEEL EVERY SINGLE DAY!! BLESSED!! and of course my favorite part is the CHORUS:

"I have been blessed
And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given"

soooo true!! :) i just love GOD sooo much and i THANK HIM for EVERYTHING that he has blessed us with!!!!

so then i went on and listen to MERCYME "I CAN ONLY IMAGE" AND of course this one also gets me everytime...why? because i always wonder and KNOW that MATTHEW actually met JESUS...i can only IMAGINE what he must have been like and what he saw those first 5 days of his life when he was so gravely ill....i KNOW that that is WHY he is such a HAPPY LITTLE BOY every single day and that is why he is the little guy that he is!! i KNOW he met JESUS and i KNOW that he was HELD in HIS arms and THAT is why he is soooo happy....anyway, i always think of him when i hear this song...and it actually always makes me happy knowing that he met HIM....

then went onto SISTER ACT 2 "OH HAPPY DAY" sung by The St. Francis Choir Featuring Ryan Toby and if you haven't seen that movie in a while, it is a MUST SEE...or at least i think so!! :0 i love these kids and how they sing soooo joyfully! and LAUREN HILL as a little girl is on that too! anyway, such a joyful song!!

and theni moved on to another SISTER ACT 2 song called "HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW" such a BEAUTIFUL SONG! and this one reminds me of my mommy....this is one of the last songs that i got for her before she passed away because she just LOVED this song......

then onto MICHAEL W. SMITH "AWESOME GOD" this song, well, it just brings me such happiness just to sing it knowing that i am PRAISING GOD...i am just sooo happy in HIS love....and know that he DIED for US....anyway, just a good strong song!!

soooo, then i had to round it out with MICHAEL W. SMITH "GREAT IS THE LORD" why? well because it always makes me feel soooo good inside when i sing this song at the top of my lungs and my babies sit there and rock to it and smile!! just such a JOYFUL song!!!

anyway, i just wanted to share with ya'll!! GOD'S BLESSINGS!!!

FAMILY UPDATE!

HOLA FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

How is everyone doing?? I hope everyone is doing WONDERFUL!! As for us, well, I just KNOW that ya’ll have been just ITCHING for a long update letter from the Gonzalez family so HERE IT IS!!! I know it has been a long time (Christmas time) since I updated ya’ll…if you have not kept up with our blog (www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com), then here we GO!!

Ok, first, let me reassure everyone that we are doing fine, THANK YOU GOD! Ok, other than the last 2 out of 3 months….that is not too good huh?? But REALLY, it is fine! We have been sick on and off for 2 months and no, it has not been fun BUT IT COULD BE WORST, right???? So really, I am not complaining….promise! J anyway, we started the month with Matthew getting sick, then Joshua back and forth! Yes, they LOVE each other!! Then we started the month off the month of March with Joshua getting PINK EYE (where did THAT come from??) and I can say that that is ONE illness we have not had in our family!!! Then later that week, him getting a VIRUS from somewhere, passing it along to me the next day, then onto MATTHEW….and here we are, 2 weeks later and we are all still coughing and blowing but MUCH MUCH BETTER! Joshua ended up on antibiotics for an ear infection and Matthew was started on oral steroids because he was sooo congested! Anyway, BETTER is all I have to say for ALL of us…I was basically coughing up a lung and blowing out brain matter all last week plus sounding REALLY sexy (or at least I thought so!) and this week….BETTER! J It is never easy when mommy is sick but we got thru it!! And of course, the one week that I had laryngitis I had a MILLION phone calls that I had to make!! And to top off the LAST week of March, ALEX got PINK EYE TOO!! Yes, just a crazy past 2 months!! I PRAY that that is IT for us in the sick department for a LONG time!!

Well, let me impart some WONDERFUL NEWS to everyone….some of you might have heard but……..

MATTHEW GOT HIS WISH GRANTED THRU

THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION!!!

And we are going to

DISNEY WORLD FLORIDA

APRIL 18-24, 2009!

Wowowowowowowow!!! We are soooooooo excited and we feel SOOO BLESSED!! Can you say that we are way excited?? It is a little over 2 weeks away and we have SOOO much to do! We have never traveled by air with the family (6.4.1) so this should be REALLY interesting! The stuff we have to prepare for Matthew has been a bit crazy. That BIG blessing that we have is that Make-A-Wish (MAW) is going to RENT the equipment that we need there in Florida for us so we do NOT have to take it here from home!!! That means they will provide the suction pump, car seat, nebulizer treatment and his cans of food will be delivered there!! J That means more space for CLOTHING!! J but needless to say, we still have to make sure we have everything that he needs…I don’t know how his lungs will react to the humidity there at all so that should be interesting…we will try to prepare for what we can! We still have buy some luggage, some new clothing and try to get lodging for our dog….wow, so much to do! I start to panic just a bit when I start to think of it! But over it all, the EXCITEMENT is just CRAZY! We are doing a count down every day and amazing that it is a bit over 2 weeks away!!! Sooo, please, if you can…say a prayer or keep us in thought as we make our MAGICAL JOURNEY TO FLORIDA!!!!

Alex is doing very well! He is getting so BIG!! Hard to believe that he is now almost 7 year old!! Yikes! He is just such a CUTIE and I am just sooo proud of him. He is doing great in 1st grade here at home and he proves everyday that we made the right decision to home school him. When I see what he can do and how smart he is, I know that he would be probably bored in school and also be too ANTSY sitting still for such a long time!! But he just amazes me how he quickly get’s the lessons down! The only thing we are having a problem on is that recently, with the WISH trip going on, he does not want to work as hard and wants to NOT do his work ESPECIALLY on MONDAY! He is just such a stinker these last couple of weeks!! But after the drama, he is onto doing WONDERFUL! He has some new friends (our neighbors) that he loves to go and play with as often as they can. And then he also has his home school buddies that he plays with once a week too! We are hoping to get him in a co-opt next year at FEAST so that he can have a classroom setting once a week! I know he will enjoy learning with others once in a while!! He does REALLY well in CCD class at church every Sunday!

Well, onto Matthew….Matthew is doing well… BETTER today than yesterday…he is finally getting up to speed on his feeds. It has been crazy trying to get him WELL! I don’t know WHAT happened…he had been doing amazing but all of the sudden, he started getting sick in February…after 2 months on and off, I PRAY that he will just stay well! He has had strep throat, chest colds, etc and we have just been CRAZY tired! Well, I PRAY we are through now!! Overall, he is doing amazing in school..He is so smart!! He knows most of his ABC’s and 1,2,3’s, colors, shapes, objects…he floors his teachers and therapist! Ok, and ME TOO! He is really grasping so much now. We found out he knew so much when we would read to him and ask him to point to certain things and he was right! Awww…we are so proud of him! He is also getting stronger and more stable. He has a new walker called the KID WALK and BOY it is amazing to see him in it! He has so much fun having the freedom that it gives him. Here is a link to a short video of him walking in his walker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB4DhfwvcNI just an amazing piece of equipment! He is getting so much stronger when he uses it. But his ALL time favorite thing now is to chase his baby brother. Yes, he is THAT brother! They are forever yelling at each other or one or the other is crying because someone took something that the other wanted!! Yep, that is Matthew. And it is so amazing to watch! He use to just stay in his area in front of the TV with all his toys…well, no more! He is all over the house usually chasing Joshua or a ball…both my boys are ball freaks! They are just the cutest!!

Ok, onto JOSHUA! What can I say about this BEAUTIFUL little boy?? He is a MAMA’s boy!!! Yayayayay! Finally, 3 boys later….I love that little boy sooo much! He is just amazing and we have been so blessed having him in our lives. He is DEFINETLY not like our other 2 little boys…he is his something else!! I had a friend that use to say JOKINGLY, if she had had her 3rd child 1st, things would have been DIFFERENT in the # of kids she would have had!!! And of course, it was just a joke and I kinda say it here too…this little guy is EVERYWHERE!!! He climbs on the TABLE and STANDS on the table and he loves to try to get EVERYTHING his little hands can. He loves to put stuff in his mouth. He loves to take stuff from Matthew and have him chase him and he loves to have whatever everyone else has. Case in point, this video from CHRISTMAS 2009 where he had such a fit cause he didn’t get the STAR WARS LIGHTSABER..it is pretty cute.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Q88gRrP_A He is my first soda drinker (yeah, I am sooo bad) and he is still my little guy! He weighs in at 20 lbs 14 oz and can still fit into 9m to 12 m clothing and he is now almost 20 months OLD! We FINALLY got to flip his seat around to forward facing after his 18 month visit when he weighed in at 20 lbs 11 oz!!! yes, he is a little guy!!! But he is SOMETHING ELSE…he is a charmer and loves to throw kisses and give hugs. He loves to be carried and loves to sit on your lap if you are on the floor. He loves to be around his brothers and play with them and loves to play with BALLS!!! We think we got our SPORTS guy!! He loves to throw things and loves to play and throw balls too!! He is such a CUTIE!!

James is doing great! He has loves being back home and we have LOVED having him home! He recently got a NEW position in the military. He went from RETENTION in the military to now being a READINESS NCO….with this comes a promotion for him to an E7!!! Yes, we are VERY PROUD OF HIM! He is just amazing at what he does and he has ALWAYS given it 110%...the soldiers have totally loved the way he does things. He has gotten some great commendations from the higher ups on the way he does his reports and how he has basically changed the way things are done in his area…again, SO PROUD OF OUR GUY!! Well, we still don’t know what the future holds but it MIGHT hold another tour over seas as early as next year. Still don’t know, those are just RUMORS but so was the tour in 2007!!! So, we just PRAY…on an EXCITING note, this weekend, James is doing his first ever FISHING TOURNAMENT with a friend of his and I am sooo excited for him!! And boy, you should SEE HIM! He is over the MOON excited!!!

As for me, well, I am doing GREAT!! I am loving my family and am enjoying being together with everyone. I finally got over my cold almost 2 weeks later!! And no, I didn’t go to the drs…all is well! I have been struggling with my FIBROMYALGIA recently…I think it is all this change in weather but other than that…just dealing with it! I have had sooo much fun with my family. I am enjoying just being together KNOWING that sometime soon, he might be gone again. So is the life of the MILITARY!! And I am SO PROUD to be in this life!!

Well, we have been doing A LOT of trips in our RV. It has been so nice just being together as a family. We have traveled 3 times to the gulf coast and have enjoyed FISHING out there. There is a REALLY nice RV park right under the bridge ON THE WATER that we go to just for fishing. We park our RV about 20+ feet away from the water and can just sit there and fish….and BOY have we been catching!! The other RVers were all out there cheering us on as we caught and released roughly 20 fish of all varieties…it was just so much FUN!! Just spending family time is just so PRECIOUS to us!! The boys all have so much fun being out of the house and being in our RV. I know that Matthew enjoys having Joshua THAT MUCH CLOSER to him when he is chasing him!!

Well, that is just about it for us. We are so excited about the upcoming DISNEY TRIP and just excited about going over there. I am a member of a online group of other WISH trip families and to see what they have experience…I can only get EXCITED for my family to go over there!!! Soooooo EXCITED! Please, if you can spare a thought and prayer for us, we would appreciate it! First plane rides for most of us!! Should be INTERESTING!!


Ok, TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS!!


LOVE YA!

JAMES, MARIA, ALEX, MATTHEW & JOSHUA

BETTER is the word of the day!

yes, our family is SLOWLY getting better...day by day! but of course, we could not have one more crop up of PINK EYE!! alex picked it up on tuesday and it is still bothering him....poor little guy! but he is such a trooper taking his eye drops!!

joshua is MUCH better now and so is matthew...as for me...ME TOO!! just the occational coughing fits i get....my throat is still a little raw but BETTER than last week!!

we have been trying to get things done before out BIG TRIP!! who knew there was soooo much to PLAN for??? well, we are slowly getting our things together....buying panchos, shirts and everything else....all is good! we are soooo excited and happy to be BLESSED with matthew's MAKE A WISH WISH!!

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we also JUST GOT WORD that matthews FEEDING CHAIR was APPROVED(MYGO SEATING SYSTEM)!!! long story short on this item...we have been waiting PATIENTLY for approval/denial now since SEPTEMBER and when i would call and ask how things were going, the DME would state that they have put in all the paperwork to medicaid AFTER TRICARE DENIED and now they are just waiting to see what happens....the DME guy was VERY VERY VERY sure that it would get denied and that we needed to look at another piece of equipment to get....i was not happy with that but HEY, we needed something...sooooo, last week on WED we got a phone call from our TRICARE CASE MANAGER and when i asked her about WHY it had been denied, she said SHE HAD NEVER RECIEVED THE PAPERWORK FOR THIS EQUIPMENT!! ooooohhhhh, i was soooo UPSET about it!! so i immediately called the DME and told them and they assured me that they HAD....but as they searched for the paperwork for the DENIAL, they COULD NOT FIND IT!!! soooo, come to find out ALL THESE MONTHS (6 MONTHS) they had dropped the ball and NEVER SENT THE PAPER WORK TO TRICARE!!!!!!!!!! yes, i was upset!! so, the set about doing that on MONDAY and by THURSDAY (4DAYS!) they got the approval...the DME guy said he was sooooo EMBARASSED about it!! he apologized for the mix up....i just told him that the main thing is that he FINALLY got it!! we are excited!!!