On a Wing and a Prayer

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

We got notification Wednesday evening that they are processing a potential donor for Brent's patella transplant this week. (fresh osteochondral allograft transplant)

The news is bittersweet. Some family somewhere, has lost a child in the prime of life.

That family's generosity in their time of deep unexplainable grief is overwhelming.

Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to them in sorrow and

we hope that the healing balm of the Lords hand will be upon them,

that He will encircle them about in the arms of His love.

We will not know if it is a good match and the tissue is healthy until the week of October 6-10, with Brent's surgery either the end of that week or the beginning of the next week.

but we ask you, our friends and family to keep the family of our potential donor in your

hearts and minds and prayers.

We don't know who he is, but he is someones son,

and God knows where and who this family is.

I can not imagine their pain.

Love, Lisa

Plano Balloon Festival 2008

Saturday was a beautiful day. Dave and I went over to the 29th annual Plano Ballon Fest. 40,000 to 50,000 of our dearest friends were there. It was a huge, very well behaved crowd.

It was lots of fun to see the balloons up close and personal and watch them fly just overhead.

I do mean JUST OVERHEAD. You could hear the conversations in the basket!

It was fun to watch the crews unroll the balloon, attach the basket and fire up the gas.

Before long, they were sailing in the beautiful blue.

We heard there were over 70 balloons participating.
We watched the balloons inflate and fly away.
There were balloons of every shape and size.
As it got dark, twenty two balloons remained on the field and the darker it got

the prettier it was when they filled their balloons with hot air. The flames illuminated the balloons in the clear night sky, creating quite a spectacle.

Every few minutes, they would count down from ten and all the balloons would fire up the gas at once, and all the balloons lit up. It was neat- the darker the night got, the prettier the show. This was about the last photo I got before my camera battery died. Not quite dark, but you get the idea.

You will need to stand on your head to appreciate this photo, but it was fun to see them all so close up as they took off.


A fireworks display capped off the evening perfectly.

Ft Worth Zoo

We loaded up the twin stroller and took the kids to the zoo.

It was a gorgeous day in Ft. Worth, the perfect day for a picnic and walk thru the zoo.

D and Ryan are so affectionate towards each other. Sharing a big Smooch!
I have never seen a gorilla this up close and personal, but

we were just a pane of glass away. Eyeball to eyeball.

I was kind of suprized that neither of the kids were scared.

Meeting Mr. Sloth & Mr. Crocodile...quiet as can be....

Last week we got to the Dallas World Aquarium in time to see the Sloth in the tree
up close and personal. I think he is smiling at us!


Mr. Sloth moves sooooo slooooowwww.

He moved so slowly he wasn't even scary even though he
was so close.

The aquarium has two gigantic crocodiles. The mating variety.
There are always young'ins there to watch too. Today we saw
five or six babies. As Delaney watched the Croc's closely, Emily said
"watch out Delaney or the crocodile will get you"
Totally deadpan, Delaney looks at Emily, glances at the Croc's
and looks back at Emily and says totally unruffled....... "Or Not"
...............I wonder where she has heard that. She has such a good sense
of humor for such a little girl.

At the Aquarium

My birthday celebration

On my birthday, my dear daughters tooke me out to lunch to our favorite Thai
place just down the road from Katies house. The place is nothing fancy, just great food
and lots of it. It started out pretty good. Everyone was in a great
mood. Three adults, three kids. no problem. Almost as if she had a plate delivery sensor for her
mom, Reese, started squawking the instant her moms food was delivered. After a few moments of
soothing the squawking, Katie moved outside with her plate of food and the baby while the rest of us
quickly tried to finish the meal inside with two active toddlers wondering why Kate and the babe were
outside and they weren't. We wolfed down what we already had on our plates and packed
the rest to go, and decided as we drove away, that maybe our days of a nice lunch out together with the
kids, may be a thing of the past..... We took a solemn vow.... of TAKEOUT!

After the lunch, Em and I took the big kids to the nifty aquarium in Dallas. We had a great time.

On My Birthday Emily, Ryan, Delaney and I went to the Dallas World Aquarium



Needless to say, Ryan had a great time at the Aquarium....
Ryan ALWAYS has a great time....



The DWA has a wonderful glass tunnel that you can walk through
with the sharks and lots of other Hugely Interesting Creatures swimming
by so close you can almost touch them.