Tyson Hugh Hooper

Tyson Hugh Hooper
Our son, Tyson Hugh Hooper, was born with coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic arch, and a transitional avsd. His first open heart surgery reconstructed his aorta and was on day 9 of life. His second open heart repair was not anticipated to be needed until two or three years of age. Ty had other plans. We spent the vast majority of his first 3 months of life at Vanderbilt as he went into heart failure and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. As a result, the medical team concluded that he needed the repair much sooner than usually recommended, and at just shy of 3 months old Ty underwent his second life saving open heart surgery. God has already worked so many miracles in Ty's life and the life of our family and we know he is using our story. Because of this, we are grateful for Ty's special heart and feel beyond blessed that God chose us to travel this road. We ask for prayers as Ty continues to heal. We are praying for a full recovery and life without restrictions for Ty. We are praying for God to use our family and Ty for His glory.

Thank you to each and every person who supports us through prayer, giving, or just by loving on our family! We are humbled and blessed by all of the ways the Lord is providing for us and know that he is using Ty and his story to do great things!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Great Outdoors...

Many of you who already know me or have come to know me through blogging probably realized a long time ago that I am not an "outdoor" kind of girl! I love being outside, but I don't enjoy getting dirty and doing outdoor-sy things like hiking, camping (the rustic type), etc. What many of you may not realize is that I was raised in the relative "country" and I do have some tricks up my sleeves!

I still enjoy fishing - although I'm not about to touch live bait and I frequently request someone else to take my fish off the line! I love picnics, "walks" in the woods or outdoors - not a "hike" mind you! I have been white water rafting and that was a fun adventure too! I love bonfires and s'mores, and all those kinds of things too! I'm not afraid to sit in the grass or get a little mud on my boots... just not on me, lol!

This time of year seems to beckon me outside and it also causes memories from my childhood to tumble into place... which brings me to my question... what was your favorite childhood toy? Whenever I am asked this, the first thing that pops into my head is always, "The Great Outdoors!"

I grew up on a beautiful piece of heaven in Ooltewah, TN. We didn't' live in a subdivision, but back off the road with a HUGE front yard, a barn, a pond, and the side of an entire mountain of trees to play in! As I remember my childhood, it seems I spent more time outside than in.

My favorite fall play-time activities included...

Putting on Mom's high-heels, and getting all my "teacher" stuff and heading to the back porch to play school. I loved doing this (when the weather was nice) because on the wood floor of the back porch my heels would make the click-click sound that "real" teacher's sound like!

Ken, Sarah, and I played in the loft of the barn a lot when the fall wind was a little on the brisk side. We would also build forts and tee-pees in the woods, start camp fires, and take big long hikes in the woods.

I also LOVED to go down to the barn and play "cook." My ingredients for the most part consisted of the horse's oats, the dog's food, berries, cat-tails, weeds, grass, and water! Oh, but in my mind I made all kinds of wonderful gourmet dishes!!

I have the fondest memories of playtime outside as a child! Some of my favorite moments with my siblings took place outside!

So... what was your favorite childhood toy? Share some of your fall play-time memories!

7 comments:

Sarah said...

Oh Gee....memory lane!
Remember the "indian village," the writing rock, and the tent blown into the pond and our attempts to rescue it before Mom and Dad got home? We're lucky Ken didn't drown! And then it had a fish in it when we got it in! Thanks for the smiles. I had so much fun playing with you and Ken!

Lindsay said...

Fall around here means packing up all the lake stuff and bringing it back to town....sad, really. So I don't know why I like fall so much either, but I do!!

Megan L Hutchings said...

I LOVE your new background ;)!!!!

I would have to agree with you 100% and say THE OUTDOORS was my favorite toy as a child. I am so glad that Vance will be able to enjoy God's country too!

Leigh Ann said...

We played outside all the time. I wish things were still that innocent. My sisters and I could go outside early in the morning on a Saturday and listen for my mom to call us to come home for lunch and dinner. Besides eating meals, we were rarely indoors. It was the best. Now, I would never let Evan and Ella Grace do that, but I guess it's just a different time. Evan is an outside kid though and they both love to play in the backyard.

ariel said...

lovin the new background Meag! So I was doing a little organizing this weekend and found a box that contained a 3-ring binder full of Meagan stuff.. notes, pictures, postcards, etc. all from you! I went through it and read all the notes and was CRACKING UP! All the memories of Sears, Rod and Rocky, parties at your house, fishing, our dive-in movie in your pool, dances, football, our crushes, etc. too funny! Anyway, I cant wait until we can get together and read them together. OK sorry about my tangent..

Back to the topic at hand.. my favorite childhood toy is definitely the great outdoors as well! The playhouse in my backyard, the woods in my backyard, kickball with the neighbors, etc. I just hope more parents encourage their children to get away from the computer and video games and play outside like we did!

Betsy said...

I stayed outside ALL the time when I was little!! And I am like you...being outside brings back memories of being a child. I used to love to play house outside, or ride my bike or play freeze tag, catch lightening bugs, run through the sprinkler, pretend "cook" using leaves and dirt, etc. We stayed outside all day and even after dinner we would go back outside until bed time! We even camped out in our backyards over night! Fun times!!

Hope you have a great week, Meagan!

Lauren said...

Playing "touch" (I use that term loosely since I know we all got tackled) football with the "gang" during high school in your front yard!!