Wish Ball

Last Saturday the UM Stars (a student run organization that supports Make-A-Wish) held their annual Wish Ball. The event was a formal dinner and dance to get support for fulfilling more wishes. Izzy was one of the honored guests, and the UM Stars did a fantastic job.

Izzy sang "I am Like A Star" in front of 200 peole--belted it out loud and clear.














(Izzy and Kevin, a doting UM Star) (Wyatt, Izzy, and Brooklyn dancing the night away)

People were very generous in providing silent auction and raffle items and in bidding on them.
Some of the items included sports memorabilia (e.g., signed Tiger's baseballs, Red Wing jerseys and a Rich Rodriguez signed football). It was an inspiring thing to see so many people willing to sacrifice for someone else.

As it turns out, Kerri was also one of the honored guests. She was the keynote speaker and got a standing ovation at the end. It was a great feeling to see Kerri be recognized for all of the amazing things she has done this last year (i.e.,mother a daughter trying to survive cancer, help two other children thrive and support a husband trying to fulfill his dream all at the same time).

Kalahari Waterpark and Easter

We continue to try and party as much as possible with Ann Arbor friends before we move and while Izzy is feeling well. We spent Thursday night in a 3-room suite at an indoor waterpark in Ohio with the Maynors and the Ingmires. We had such a fun time! Izzy was full-on swimming (coming up for air when needed) for the first time.

We celebrated Ryan's 2nd birthday and Willa's first while we were there.

The girls have loved the Easter festivities!
Friday Night / Saturday Morning the Easter Bunny came and hid our shoes (a long-time Kofoed tradition) and each girl's treasure hunt notes and dropped off some candy.
(The candy has put them into a trance apparently.)

I thought this was a cute shot of Izzy's hair growth.

One Year Anniversary and Ode to Red Blankie

Today is a fitting day for a little story as March 9th marks the year anniversary of Izzy's diagnosis. I let the Disney post linger a bit before telling the sad tale of Izzy losing Red Blankie on our trip:

The blankie I made her as a newborn, the blankie that has been her friend through all the rough times was lost (and I mean lost regardless of my blood, sweat, and tears trying to find it) in Florida. The first night without it she sobbed 'til about 2 a.m. But then amazingly she has not shed a tear for it since. I think she sucks her thumb less and has more energy without it here to lull her. So as much as I miss it :) I think it has been a positive thing altogether.

Izzy has a way of turning things postive as I was reminded today at church. Laura Hall told a story of babysitting Izzy once a few months back in which Izzy started really wanting me. Instead of crying, she found a toy keyboard of theirs and started singing a made-up song "I want my Mommy back." I thought it was a good example of Izzy's amazing coping skills.

I explained to Izzy today that it has been a whole year since she got cancer. I asked her what she thought about the last year of her life. She mentioned being at the cancer center a lot. I asked if she remembered all those leg shots we had to give her..."oh yeah I remember that." Then I said, remember when you couldn't talk for a while... "that was kinda funny," she said. Then when I asked if she remembers her seizure and ambulance ride and the doctors cutting her shirt off, she had absolutely no recollection of it. Strangely we had a nice little chuckle about it all as a family. And now, as recommended by Grandpa Costley, I think we're going to "cork it all like a bottle of fine wine and put it on a shelf: far far away!" :)

Red blankie used to have stripes on one side...
Red blankie used to be shiny and soft...

Red blankie got played with a lot...


Red blankie gave a lot of comfort...and got a little scuzzy...


Red blankie gave a last hoorah to Izzy and possibly found a new friend to cheer up...thus marking the beginning of a new year of feeling better and apparently not needing Red Blankie anymore.


THE END.

Disney World: Izzy's Wish Came True

We had an amazing trip to Disney World this last week. Thanks to everybody who helped us get excited about and ready for the trip--UM Stars, Disney bucks, Disney toys, Make-a-wish, Give Kids the World and the amusement parks. Izzy was feeling great which made it possible to really suck the marrow out of Orlando.

Warning: Slew of pictures to follow.

Monday
We knew that we were in for a fantastic vacation when the limo showed up to pick us up in the morning and take us to the airport.



We spent the rest of the day at the Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) that was a mini Magic Kingdom where we stayed for the whole week.



(They had free ice cream at GKTW, and the shop was open from 7 AM to 9 PM. You can guess how many trips we made there.)

Tuesday
Tuesday we took the Magic Kingdom down to china town. They gave us a permanent fast pass to use on all of the attractions which was incredible, but it also made for a day of little breaks as we went from ride to ride to ride.




(Izzy and Jack Sparrow)

(A pretty freaky little roller coaster)

(We had a sweet Florida rain storm hit us as we were heading to our car for the night--Yes, I was excited)

Wednesday
We spent another fun filled day at Disney World, specifically Animal Kingdom in the morning and then Magic Kingdom in the afternoon when Izzy had her dinner with the Princesses.




Thursday
Thursday morning we spent some quality time with Mickie and Minnie and then headed to Sea World to hang with the dolphins and friends. The girls loved feeding the sting rays and the dolphins. That night GKTW had a Christmas parade during which Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up.


(Dang I look good in this one. The girls were wearing me out.)

(Izzy and Haley--a fellow leukemia fighter at the UM Hospital)

Friday
We decided to take a day trip to the East Coast and let the girls get their first taste of the ocean and a little sunburn. That night Izzy and the girls had a Princess party at GKTW.




Saturday
Our plane didn't leave until 7 PM so naturally we decided to spend some more quality time at Disney World after one last ride on the GKTW carousel. We rode on this carousel literally 5 times a day, every day of the week. I got close to puking a few times. At the Animal Kingdom, Lorin and Izzy got to be in a Lion King Festival show.




An Amazing Trip
After 24 carousel rides, 10 rounds of Buzz Lightyear's Coaster, 2 rides on It's a Small World, 1 ride on every spin in a circle and go up and down attraction, an African safari, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shamu, sting-rays, dolphins, a trip to the beach, 3 days at Disney World and one day at Sea-World our little Izzy's wish was fulfilled and our family has more strength to keep fighting.

Thanks again to everyone who made the trip a reality.

More Photos

Here are a few more shots that Myra Klarman, Izzy's photographer, posted on her blog. To see the full post go to: http://relish.myraklarman.com/make-a-wish-princess-izzy

Make-A-Wish threw Izzy a great party at Jump City to get her excited for Disney World. She was on steroids all that week and so took it a little easy at the party. But she was definitely excited and had a great time getting to meet 3 of her Make-A-Wish Stars (The group of U0fM students who are sponsoring Izzy's Disney World trip wish). I'm waiting for some pictures to post of it.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for Disney World pictures . We leave in 5 days! YEAH!!!!

Fairy Princess Photo Shoot

Isadore was really lucky to be invited by Make-A-Wish to her very own photo shoot with a professional photographer. (Http://myraklarman.com) Myra and Izzy became friends very fast and got some great shots! She sent me a "sneak peak" of the pictures:


Elephant Ears (http://relish.myraklarman.com/elephant-ears-kerrytown)--an adorable kids clothing shop at Kerrytown (in Ann Arbor) was so awesome to let us come and model their clothes (the fairy costume Izzy is wearing was one of them) thanks to Myra's hook-ups being their photographer. The 2 owners treated Izzy like a star and showered her with gifts. We had so much fun! Stay tuned for more of the photo shoot. Izzy will be featured in Make-A-Wish brochures and possibly the Elephant Ears store.

And while I'm at it...Cory and I got to go to MBA formal. Like High School prom, the girls all met together to do hair and make-up before. Then we danced until we couldn't dance no mo' with our good friends the Ingmires and the Maynors. We had a blast! (I would just like to say thank-you to my wardrobe coordinators, the Costley Women; my make-up artist, Elizabeth; my hair coaches, Sara and Megan; my child educators, Ben and Telia; and my dashingly handsome Man in Black...who made this all possible :)