Transplant Date is December 23, 2009

It is official! The transplant is in TWO WEEKS! Thank you all for your love and support over the last 16 months!
I want Jimmy to know how much I love him and his selfless act to save my son's life. Thank you Jimmy, words cannot ever express my gratitude for your sacrifice.
It has been an extremely emotional day.
Love to All!
Malaine

Happy Birthday Mr. Teenager!

We know it's a little late bud, but we wanted you to know how much we love and appreciate you!
You bring so much laughter and joy into our home, we are proud of the young man you have become and look forward to many more days of Michael Jackson impressions :)
(p.s. just because you are thirteen doesn't mean you are way too cool to hug your mom goodbye in the morning! really, nobody is watching...)


We love you Graysoni!

LOVE is a tender act of endless
forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
Peter Ustinov

Happy Birthday Elijah Caine!

Here it is, the big TWO-ZERO!


Your Peeps love you! Love, Becca and Grayson



A Mother's love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .

It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .

A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.
~Helen Steiner Rice

I love you Eli...

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Becca Boo!

Today is Becca's tenth birthday! I hope the next year is full of happiness... I adore your smile and the freckles that sprinkle across your nose. You are growing so fast! You are such an intelligent, gentle and kind girl. I am so thankful for YOU! I took lots of pics of the party. I hope to get to the store tomorrow and get them transferred to a disk. That is the only way I can figure out how to download them to the new computer, I've lost all of my cords from my camera, or should I say, haven't unpacked them. I'm not very computer savvy :)

I hate that life just keeps going when you have a son that is so ill. I want to stop time, get Eli better, then start the clock again. I know how silly that sounds, sometimes I am driving alone and start thinking too much, i guess.

Eli is doing ok... has not gone back to the hospital. He is taking an arsenal of medication, which seems to be working better. I think he takes 26 pills a day. He has no appetite so the eating is not going very well. I made pancakes and bacon for Becca's birthday dinner and he ate five! woohoo! (I will make pancakes every day if I need to)

Meatballs with Lingonberry Sauce... too yummy!

I was able to meet Connie at IKEA today! We had such a blast just hanging out and looking at all the fun things. We had dinner there and it was scrumptious! Oh, the chocolate cake was very good too... Can you tell I don't get out much anymore? (I just had to put up a picture of the meal!) It was exciting!

A Bright Light

We found out today that the transplant will take place in December... Jimmy Shreeve is donating a kidney to Eli!


The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. -Felix Adler

Jimmy, thank you for being a light for our family... i love you. malaine

Our second home... the kids love their big brother!

Feeling very blessed today!

Today has been such a wonderful day... I knew I needed to sit down and write a little bit. We have been here in Casa Grande for three weeks now. It has been an easy transition, Gregg and I were just joking about it tonight. His exact words were "I keep thinking we are on vacation"... I think it's because of the pool, maybe?
I have been having a lot of stress with getting the children into school. It seems that everyone I talk to has a different suggestion about a "good" school. I feel very bad that we moved them from their familiar surroundings, especially Grayson. He starts seventh grade this year! Becca will be attending Legacy Traditional School. She is excited to meet new friends, not so excited about the uniforms!
The school that I have been wanting to get Grayson into finally called today! YAY! He starts Villago Middle School first thing in the morning :) I guess vacation is over.
Eli just walked in from hemodialysis... He is doing so well. His blood pressure has stabilized quite a bit, it is almost too low! What a turnaround! The doctors say it is because he is getting better dialysis. There is a lot to say for clean blood :) He goes every other day for around four hours. His energy level is much higher and his mood is much better! He has some coloring again, he doesn't look like I took him out back and blackened his eyes. He still doesn't have much of an appetite. His 40 pound weight loss is shocking to most that haven't seen him in awhile.
Our ward in Saint Johns showed up in droves to help us pack the Uhaul! It went so fast! We are so thankful for all of the amazing people that have helped and supported us through all of this. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of finding out about Eli's kidney failure. It has been a year of many twists and turns... I don't like to think back because I want to focus on the future :) Which brings me to Jimmy.
This is where I have a hard time... I can start bawling in an instant when I think of him. Many of you know him, he graduated with Eli. They have been friends since Mrs. Proctor's sixth grade class, when they would argue with their friends which was better - the gamecube or the play station.
We went for the crossmatch on Monday. It was such a great day! I love listening to them reminiscing about the past (maybe because I like to do that a lot too). They are so fun to be around, I hope I get to go on all of the appointments! I have such admiration for this 19 year old boy who so willingly wants to help his friend.