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!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Feeling Crafty?

About every-other-month me and my favorite ladies get together for a visit... and a craft!  Lena came up with the original idea!  We wanted to all get together to catch up, but if you go to dinner and/or a movie, your time and conversation is limited and it often blows the budget.  So, Lena  came up with the idea of getting together for a meal IN and a craft!  She hosted the first craft night at her house and we each made a Christmas wreath!  It was so much fun, we decided to made it something we do every couple of months!

(Dawson, Courtney, and Lena)

I volunteered to host next since we knew I'd have Ava Grace!  Because our house is a drive for everyone we scheduled a brunch instead of an evening event.  Everyone came over at 10 am for a craft and a brunch consisting of mini frittatas (sausage & cheddar as well as spinach & goat cheese), hasbrown casserole, thick and crispy bacon, and mini caramel pecan sticky buns!  Lena brought the makings for mimosas also - YUM!  It was so much fun!

(Lauren and Dawson)

The only hiccup was that about 30 minutes before everyone arrived Chris went to turn on the kitchen sink, only to discover a trickle of water!  We lost water for the entire visit from everyone and got it back about an hour after they all left!  LOL.  I was so embarrassed, but that's part of living in the county and being on spring water!  It turned out to be a very simple fix, but we are still learning how the whole system works!

(Betsey and Megan)

Despite the water issues, we all had a wonderful time eating, visiting, and crafting!  It was SO WONDERFUL to see all of my nearest and dearest and to catch up!  I am really honored that they were all willing to make the drive to come to our home and enjoy a morning together!
Here we all are {Megan, Betsey, Courtney, Me, Lena, and Lauren} with our completed crafts!
It was also a special day because it was the first time that Lena, Betsey, and Courtney got to meet Ava Grace!  :-)  She was a bit fussy, but she still enjoyed all the loving she got! 

Chris took advantage of the craft day to spend some quality time with the girls!  He took them to the library and to get lunch!  But before they left and when they returned there were lots of snuggles and visiting for both girls from all of my favorite "big girls!"
(Lena, Ava Grace, and Dawson)

When everyone loaded up and left, Lily was feeling a little crafty!  I told her she could make her own craft just like ours!  We had each made one of our whole family, but I encouraged Lily to make one of just her and Ava Grace for Chris to put on his desk at work!


She did such a  good job, don't you think?  And now Chris has a constant reminder of his little girls when he is at work every day!

I can't wait for the next craft day!  The hostess always picks the craft and keeps it a secret until the day everyone comes!  The only hint we get is the list of supplies to bring!  :-)  With Pinterest, I think we have a lifetime supply of craft ideas... I wonder what the next one will be?

1 comments:

Allyson said...

Love the craft! So cute! And love Lily's :)