Our Goal

I am so excited to announce that the Memorial Trust set to help our family get genetic testing has reached it's first huge goal. I say first because the fight will never really be over...whether for our family or another one. We now have the needed $14,000 to get the genetic test through Ambry Genetics, with the hope that they will be able to pinpoint a genetic mutation that was likely to cause Drew's disorder. From there the road could be long if it is a mutation that has never been seen in a human before.

I owe this big feat to my husbands family. They embarked on the task to help us raise the final $5000...through a fundraiser in Utah! They did more than raise that...they raised a total of $6000! It truly brings tears to my eyes to think that individuals who live on the other side of this country would be that generous to our family.

Drew was the most beautiful and special little boy. When I held him, I felt a deep sense of peace and joy from being his mother. I have to admit that I frequently hogged him because it was so hard to put him down. The one person I shared him with openly was my husband, Robert. He is still so proud to be his father.

Thank you everyone....Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews....for making the sacrifice of time to raise money for our family. I know that Drew is proud of the family he was born into. We all are making him proud.

Baby Tress and Garden Stones

This year we tried to establish a small tradition that we know we can follow through with and do ever year. We decided to have a small evergreen tree in our home for Drew. I know this doesn't seem like much but the baby tree we bought was real and planted. We bought a real tree because there is an old folk tale from a group of early settlers to America. They were amazed at the Evergreen tree because during the harshest of winters, it remained green and beautiful! They called them immortal trees. Due to their nature they would gather branches of these trees and put them in their home during the winter to remember the loved ones they lost and to decorate during the most difficult months. Our baby evergreen tree is a tribute to our baby Drew and his immortal soul! His body may not have stayed with us very long but his spirit will be apart of our family forever!

We plan to eventually plant this tree when the ground defrosts and we hope by then we can put it in the yard of our own home!

For Christmas one of my very best friends gave my daughter and I a fantastic present. She is an OT at a preschool and by nature she finds awesome project kits! She gave us a kit to create a garden stone. It had beautiful stained glass and stamps to write a message in the stone. I gave Alexis the option to create this stone however she wanted. She was very excited when she woke up over break and I asked her if she would like to try to make the stone. She replied "yes!! And I would really like to make it a Drew stone that we can put in a garden someday with our baby Drew tree!"

She loves and misses her little brother so much. At these moments it reminds me that she is mourning too. It makes sense but I forget. She is a smart little girl! I am so grateful for her.