Mia's Blood Drive

Today we held another blood drive in honor of Mia at Desert Palms Church. This is the third drive we've held, and it was by far the best. Mia was there to say thank you to everyone who took the time to donate, or to just stop by for support. To date, Mia has had 64 life sustaining blood transfusions.

Terri was the first one to show up! I love this girl, she is always so supportive of our family, and anything to help out with Mia.

Mrs. Baxter! This was Ashley's 2nd grade teacher...and now look at Ashley below. I can't even remember her being Mia's age, that's so weird! She had never donated before and thought, why not, so she stopped on by.

The girls coloring...

Terri getting ready to donate 'power red.' Basically they get 2 units instead of one, and put the platelets and white cells back into you. Awesome, because this is what Mia gets when she's in the hospital.

Even Auntie Kirsten came by! Matt had just picked her up from the airport so they swung by to say hello. She was here for the Hopewalk back in September.

Look who else stopped by! Miss Ava from school. It is so nice to have the support of your friends, at any age.

My friend Remy stopped by too...just showing up even if you can't doante means a lot. Aww, so sweet. Mia and I love them so much. They also brought lots of toys for the Cardon Children's Toy Closet.

Fellow bootcampers...oh yeah!

Technical difficulties...Terri (who is also a fellow bootcamper & blogger ) had problems with the power red machine. So it turned out that they couldn't use her blood afterall. I'm sure she will try again in January when she can donate again. Terri, what a bummer and I'm SO sorry that happened.

Me, Mia, & Ginger

Susan always shows up to our blood drives, thanks Susan! Um, and get to blogging! ;)

Speaking of blogging, I am SO happy there is someone other than me who is always taking pictures. I am very sure you will be able to see more pictures on Kim's blog! I ran into Kim at school (Mia's substitute teacher) and told her about the blood drive. She signed her and her husband up.

Thanks Kim & Jeff for taking the time to donate, it really means a lot to us! And I can't wait to see your blog!!

Way to go Ginger...I'm so glad the machine worked for you. Terri will not be using whatever that machine's ID number is next time. (lol)

Giner's room mate Erika was a first time donor...whoo-hoo!! Erika, you did great...thanks so much for coming out to donate :)

Ginger did power red...yeah baby!!

Karen Graham came again, her family donated at the last blood drive. Her son Troy wasn't in town for this blood drive but he went and donated before Thanksgiving. Awww, so sweet.

Mikele & Heather came out to donate after I sent out an e-mail looking for more recruits. Thanks ladies...and Mikele is going to make sure Heather eats some flinstones vitamins because her iron was off by 1 point to donate. Argg. Next time Heather ~ but thanks for coming out anyways. (Mikele is another fellow blogger - which I've seen Heather on it many a times :)

Karen & the kids also came by. She hadn't donated in forever so they had to look her up by her madien name. Ha! ha! Thanks Karen...so awesome of you to be there for us.

My turn...Mia held my hand the whole time.

Mia took a picture of my A+ blood.


Dads turn...

Layla's Aunt came to donate blood. Oh this was so sweet. You can read more about Layla here.

Another friend stopped by...McKinley.

The last person that came through was Mary Lisa, my mom's neighbor. Thanks ML! We had a great turn out, about 40 units were collected. A huge thank you to my mom who stayed with me the whole time!! Also, another HUGE thank you to all the UBS staff. This team was truly great, and helped us with anything we needed. Thanks to ALL who took the time to donate blood. It's a gift where you don't get anything in return.

I didn't get a picture of Lauren at the blood drive - but she came over to pick up McKinley so I had to get a picture, even in my pink sweats. She had the busiest/craziest day and yet she still donated. Sigh...thanks Lauren.

We collected so many toys for the toy closet...Mia will be bringing them there soon for other kids who are in the hospital. Thanks everyone!

We are thankful for...

...our Faith, Family, & Friends. After Matt played in his annual 'Turkey Bowl' (Flag Football game) we packed up the car and headed down to Tucson to spend Thanksgiving day with his mom and dad. As you may know, earlier this year Dennis was diagnosed with NHL. We are so thankful that we are able to spend this time with him.

Mia wearing Grandpa's hat...

Ashley's hair is getting lighter every time she washes it.

Happy Thanksgiving

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at 12:30 pm in the Mountain View Club House. It was a lovely buffet, and this was a rare moment where we all were sitting at the same time. I don't know how many trips the girls made to the desert table...for chocolate covered strawberries. Dennis got a little tired, so Matt drove him home, and then came back for one more plate. Oh how I wish I had a picture of him walking back to the table with the biggest smile on his face, for round #5.

Dennis has to wear his hat because he isn't supposed to be in the sun. He goes for a walk around the yard for a change of scenery. He feels tired all the time, but then when he gets into bed, he can't sleep...and on and on that goes. (For all of you Seattle folk, it IS cold here....that's why Dennis is wearing his robe over his clothes - but ok maybe it isn't as cold as there!)

The girls love to help Grandma, Alyssa helped make the pumpkin pie. Of course they are also busy making cards and crafts.

Here's a riddle:

How many McPoland's does it take to screw in a new vent filter thing?
Apparently quite a few! Even Grandpa had to help...but we did it. Matt is busy fixing things around the house and yard. Way to go honey! (If you were wondering about my outfit, I'm going for comfort.)

We played a fun game of Apples to Apples...and guess who won? Grandpa...Mia came in 2nd place. The game was full of laughs.

Ashley & Madison played with the web cam on the computer and took pictures and made a video. They really could be twins, just 9 years apart.

" Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
~ Philippians 4:6

A Little Update...

All the girls birthday's have passed for this year...it was so much fun to watch them get excited for their very own special day. Poor Madison had to wait through all her sisters birthday's...until finally it was her turn. So precious.

Ashley's 8th grade soccer team

I am so proud of Ashley for 'rising above' and trying out for the girls soccer team at her school again. She didn't make it last year for 7th grade which was a bummer but that didn't stop her from trying her best again this year in try outs. She made it! We prayed about it, that either way it was up to God if it was in His plan for her life. (I think it also helped that Matt stopped Alyssa's soccer practice and all the girls on Alyssa's team prayed for her...SO cool.)

My friend Karen, who is a 3rd grade teacher, always swings on by to watch the game and chat. It's so fun hanging out with her.

It's also fun having coffee...and fall is the perfect coffee weather. Madison loves seeing my friend Miss Remy.

Alyssa's 3rd Year with the Angel's - Coach Dad.

I love watching Alyssa's soccer games. They are so fun to watch and now they are getting ready for a tournament next month. Go Angel's!

Mia got to have a special day with her friend McKinley last week...they went to the 'mall' and got lip gloss and a brownie bite.

#64

Mia had her 64th transfusion on the 19th...she wanted to make sure Jesus was there so she brought a little 'stuffed Jesus' - you can see him sitting on the desk. It was so funny...because randomly you could hear, 'Jesus is here today' all throughout the day. It was cute. That's right, and He is always with us. You can read more about her day on her caringbridge site:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/miamcpoland

She had fun playing with Spencer again...and the Wii again. I'm pretty sure they won against the nurses. Spencer is a great driver on Mario Kart.

Before

After

Can you tell anything different? Yep, Ashley wanted to dye her hair. Sigh. I'm sad her beautiful natural hair is gone, but you have to loosen the reins slowly. And besides, in light of eternity, it doesn't matter. I will say when I was looking for her on the soccer field, it was hard to tell who she was, but we all are getting used to it. She's beautiful no matter what.

She likes it...

It's that season now...time to shop. Whew - and let me tell you, these girls know how to shop.