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!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Satisfying Sunday...

I have kind of been in a funk over the past few days, but this weekend I seemed to shake it and enjoy some (healthy) me-time.

I have been reading Widow of the South (as some of you have seen on my sidebar) and I reached the, "can't put it down" stage this weekend.

I cleaned quite a bit and that always gives me a healthy feeling of accomplishment.

I completely de-germed my house. I had done this already, but after being sick I have to really deep clean and sterilize and air out to feel comfortable again.

Today (Sunday) was the most satisfying of the weekend though. I didn't go to church this morning, but I certainly did my share of praising my God. I made a new play list on my ipod titled "praise" and I listened to it over and over and over (practically all morning and much of the afternoon) singing and crying and smiling and praying and praising my amazing Lord and Savior. Music moves me to the core.

I put the finishing touches on my clean home, and enjoyed being here thoroughly.

And I read my book, drank a good Chardonnay, and tried a new recipe which I will now share (it was really good! and really easy!!!)



Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 chicken thighs, skinless
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon-pepper
Hot buttered rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken, meat-side down first, and turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate to reserve.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan.
Add onion to the pan and saute until tender, roughly 3 minutes. Add the stock and wine and stir, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high and reduce by half, about 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the dried herbs and lemon pepper. Add the chicken thighs back into the pan.Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 40 minutes.
Remove chicken from liquid and serve on hot buttered rice. Ladle the sauce on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Basically, it takes less than 10 minutes to get this going and then it simmers on the stove by its self while you... um... drink good wine and read a great book! lol. YUM.
Hope your weekend was wonderful and I hope your Sunday was as satisfying as mine!

7 comments:

Megan L Hutchings said...

I think this was the perfect way to end a rather rainy weekend :)!

I can't wait until Friday!!!

Lauren said...

That chicken looks sooo good...do you think it would be good over fettucine instead of rice?

I'm really glad you're feeling better.

Sarah said...

I agree with Lauren. I'll have to write the recipe down and try it next time we're home. And I think it would be fine over noodles of some kind. Nice idea!
I used to think you and I were very different, but we're actually a lot alike. I am the same when I'm sick. Once I recover, the house has to be cleaned and aired out. I feel icky till I get everything fresh again!

Betsy said...

First of all, I'm so glad you've got your "groove" back! That always feels good.

Next, I love a clean house and a good book. Those two things can bring a big smile to my face anyday!

And, third....that recipe sounds amazing. You are such a good cook I can tell!!

Have a great week, Meagan!

ariel said...

Sorry again you werent feeling well but glad you got in some me-time! You definitely need that every once in a while! That chicken looks amazing! I will definitley try it out!

Rachel Wheat said...

You are going to make me short out my keyboard with the drool! :)

Lindsay said...

Glad you are feeling better, finally! And seriously - you're a cooking fool! You can come cook for my family anyday :-)