Kayleigh's Senior Recongition Day

Kayleigh was one of several seniors awarded scholarships and recognition at Reagan High School today.  It was beyond bittersweet!

One special scholarship being awarded was the very first Nicholas Doub Scholarship in memory of her dear friend, Nick, who died after a tragic car accident last January.  The scholarship went to someone who exemplified the same qualities Nick had...  faithful, friendly, loving, strong, courageous, and so much more!  Mitch and Carla Doub were there today to award Kayleigh with that scholarship!  She cried many tears and so did we!  This was so much more to her than "just another scholarship", it was about remembering her dear friend whom she misses so very much!

Kayleigh was also recognized for earning 2 scholarships to the Arts Institute of Colorado (one for the Storyteller's Contest, and one for the High School Senior Scholarship), and for earning an admission scholarship to the University of Chapel Hill at Charlotte.

She and two of her close friends, Luke and Peyton, had the opportunity to sing Rascal Flatt's "Stand" during the presentations, and then she sang "Good Riddance" (aka "I Hope You've Had the Time of Your Life") in a group at the very end.  While she was on stage with her friends that last time it hit me...  this is the last time I will ever get to see my baby girl perform on that very stage, and then it became hard to fight back the tears!

Yep...  it's happening...  our second child is graduating and we couldn't be more proud fo her!!

They Finally Meet.... Face to Face!

We "met" Kayla through an online support forum called "Dinet" almost a year ago.  It's a place for patients and families of Dysautonomia patients to come together for advice, support, and friendship. For the last several days, Kayleigh has been facebook messaging and texting Kayla like crazy because Kayla has been in a children's hospital after an acute episode of her disease.  She's had a tough time this week with unanswered questions and doctors who just know little about the disease.

So....  Kayla's Mom and I arranged a big surprise for this afternoon.....  the girls FINALLY met face to face!  Kayla's Mom, Crystal, met us in the lobby and took us up.  She looks more surprised than Kayla!  I think Kayla was just in shock and not sure what to think! 

The girls talked for almost 2 hours about their disease, what they've experienced, their frustrations, what's worked for them, what hasn't, and more!  I'm so very thankful that they have eachother to lean on with such an "invisible" disease that isn't understood by many!  Certainly a blessing for them both to have eachother!

3 Months in 1 Post!

Wow...  I have REALLY been slacking on this blog thing!  I'll try hard to wrap up 3 months of Life in the Lyons family in one post....  So here goes it!

We spent a great weekend in February with Mike's family in Cleveland, OH to celebrate his Dad's birthday!  Kayleigh, Grandma, Aunt Tricia and I visited the Art Museum in downtown Cleveland while the boys went to Zach's basketball game.  After returning to the house....  it was chili cookoff time!  Mike came in 2nd....  but we had a blast watching his Dad be fed while blindfolded!

Devin left Cleveland a little early and went to visit my Dad in Kentucky for a few days.  On his way home he had a bit of an accident....  he hit a deer less than 5 miles from home!  Poor kid crunched the front of his Rodeo!!

March 11th Kayleigh had her senior pictures done by Ramie Lossman from Love Lee Photography.  Little did we know what a blessed day this would be!  Not only was Ramie AWESOME, but she is going to start having Kayleigh help her out now and again!  This will be GREAT experience for Kayleigh, who plans to make a career in photography. 

 

My Dad and Cassie came to visit for Easter this year.  We enjoyed a nice walk through Tanglewood Park and a relaxed Easter just visiting.  Of course....  Grandpa had to be a big kid for a little while though...

April 12th and 13th were somber days.  April 12th marked 1 year from what we call "D-Day"...  the day Kayleigh first collapsed and it's thought it was the first time her heart stopped.  April 13th marked 9 years since my Mom left us.  On both days we remembered what we are thankful for though.  We are thankful that here we are, 1 year after that dreadful day with Kayleigh, and she is doing well with her treatment plan and as healthy as we could ever hope for after all she's been through.  We are also thankful for the many years we had with my Mom, and for all that she taught us about loving and living like you may not have tomorrow.

April 17th....  well....  that's a day that we never though we'd see....  but we will always remember as one of the proudest days we've had as parents of Devin.  It's the day that he officially swore into the Unites States Army!  Currenlty, Devin is scheduled to leave October 2nd for Fort Sill, OK for Basic Training, and after that he will go to Fort Lee, VA for a 38 week AIT in explosive devices.....  WOW!  I'm sure I'll post more on this in the future as things happen and as we process it all!

April 21st we lost Mike's Grandma Lyons.  She was a beautiful, Christian woman that taught us more in her final hours about forgiveness than we've learned in a lifetime so far!  Why?!?  Well....  she was the victim of a senseless mistake at the nursing home she lived in on the 18th of April.  This mistake caused injuries that she simply could not recover from and left many of us in the family angry and resentful towards the CNAs who were responsible.  BUT...  in her last few hours of being awake, Grandma asked for prayer....  not for her....  but for the CNAs!  This was her way of saying she forgave them for what happened....   afterall.....  doesn't Jesus want us to forgive those who trespass against us?  What a lesson she showed us!

After getting home from saying our goodbye's to Grandma, I was able to escape on a weekend with the girls to Myrtle Beach.  What a BLAST!  We had fun at Broadway at the Beach, sang karaoke, rode a mechanical bull, ate lots of good food, enjoyed the sun, and even did some shopping!  Lots of memories and made many new friends while I was there!!

That brings us to Mother's Day Weekend!  I had a great Mother's Day!  The kids fixed me breakfast and Devin later took me to a Mother's Day Brunch at Riverbirch Lodge.  After we got home we watched The Muppets together (all of us) and then Mike fixed one of my favorite meals, "his" pork stir fry!  YUM!  Felt very loved by all!! 

So......  there ya have it!  3 months in 1 post!  I'll try to do a better job from here on out!