Heavy on my heart

I got news yesterday that one of our little patients at the Chiropractors office I worked for in CLT lost her battle with cancer on Nov 1st, one month shy of her 7th birthday. She was diagnosed in Jan 07 (at the age of 4) with a growth cell tumor on her tail bone and after many chemo treatments, relapses, and even a stem cell transplant (she was the first child in CLT to receive one) her little body couldn't fight anymore. Her family decided to donate her body to Duke in hopes that with medical research her body will one day help unlock the secrets to this horrible disease.

I just cant stop thinking about this precious family. Victoria had 2 brothers, one older and one younger who are now having to learn to live everyday life without their only sister. The surrounding support, love and prayers their family received from the Ballantyne area in CLT was unbelievable. I remember back in the beginning phases that the area, neighborhoods, churches, schools, etc rallied around them with meals, transportation, money, babysitting, etc. And after reading the news article from her death, the support and love haven't stopped.

I guess at this time of year it has hit me even harder, trying to think about and pray for this family who have to hurdle Thanksgiving, Victoria's birthday, Christmas and New Years without their sweet little girl.

It makes me SO thankful for the blessings in my life, my precious, healthy daughter and the love and support of our entire family. We all have so much to be thankful for and we need to remember what the holidays stand for and are about. So please over the next few weeks as we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, tell the ones you love that you love them, are thankful for them and enjoy every memory you get to create with them.

God Bless that sweet little girl and the lives she changed by showing such strength & courage and the hope she left behind.

Americas Next Top Model

Claire had her fall/holiday pictures taken yesterday and here is a "sneak peak" at some of the pictures on the photographers website:

http://anceletphotography.wordpress.com

I have to say she is quite the subject! She had so much fun laughing, posing and setting Tracie up to capture the perfect shots! It was a cold & rainy day here, but you would never know it from looking at these pictures! It was a great day in the photography business!!

Enjoy!

Fun day at the Zoo

We spent a beautiful afternoon at the Knoxville Zoo on Monday and here are just a few (yeah right a lot) of our favorites!

This big guy was inside getting a bath

Claire calls them Zebe's

Loved the tall giraffes!

An ostrich, yes she knows that word!

The big lion just like Alex on Madagascar

Oh the gorilla taking a little swing

And then just chillin at the window saying hi to everyone

The baby chimp playing

A quick snack break while still on the move (as you can tell from the blurred pic)

The tiger (which she thought was another Zebra because of the black & white stripes)

Two of a kind rhinos

Another quick photo op on the way back to the bears

At last her favorite..."bears!"

Weekend Visitors

Having fun with Gam ma & Gam pa

Ah the life...

just relaxing & watching Madagascar for probably the 18th time today!!

First trip to the salon

Getting my first hair cut (more like a trim, but the sucker was much more fun!)
Of course I loved all the attention!

Even got my nails painted pink...checking them out!

Showing them off again after washing my hands

Dont pay attention to no pants...if they are too big, she pulls them off instead of up! At least we are home when she does it!

My stylish do

Shorter in the back & on the sides....looks so much like a little girl, bye bye baby!!

Having fun with daddy

Daddy got to go to music class with Claire on Wednesday morning and then they had a fun afternoon playing around. We decorated for Thanksgiving, she's pretty good at doing the window clings and her favorite is definitely the turkey. She'll run up to it, pat it and say "turkey, gobble, gobble!" Then we made turkeys from our hand prints and decorated them.

Don't pay attention to the crazy outfit she's wearing...she pulled off her jeans and brought me these purple pants to wear with her pink shirt!

Her new thing she loves to do when someone is outside or we're waiting on someone to arrive...she sits and peeps out this little cat door to the garage!

Chris had taken the trash out and she's looking for him!