Welcome to the World, Baby Rylee!

 

Little Rylee Lorraine was born today! It must be a good day; today is Jacob's birthday too! Lily was so excited to meet her new cousin, she loves babies oh so much, and this one is super special and ever so loved.

Girls Only Getaway

A couple weekends ago Lily and I got away from the city for an overnight stay in a cute rustic cabin in the woods by Christopher Creek. It was a super fun break from our usual routine and something we decided we need to do much more often. How amazing is it that we only need to drive up out of the desert for an hour or two to be in the forest, surrounded by pine trees and the beauty of nature?

My little pixie with her handmade "sprite"

Shortly after Lily and I checked into our cabin, the fun arrived. Fellow tree-loving-wild-women Lindsey and Julia met up to help us spend the day relaxing and frolicking by the creek.




Lindsey took these wonderful photographs. Check out her website.

In the evening, Lily made us tin foil hats just in case there were aliens lurking about who wanted to read our minds. I'm sure our cabin neighbors thought we were nuts, but we had a blast making a delicious quinoa and veggie feast, dining outdoors, going for a long walk, dancing in the dark, and laying in the road as countless stars emerged from the night sky.  We marveled at how tiny we are as Lily explained our planet's position in the galaxy. We searched out satellites and were surprised by falling stars. The sounds of the forest blended with the music from a nearby live band as we giggled and just enjoyed each other's company.

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. ~Lao-Tzu

Clothing Drive Fundraiser

My friend and fellow teacher, Cami Kistemann, is organizing another clothing drive for Lily. This is going to be a really awesome event!

Lily and I are especially excited about the art show. During the clothing drive, we will be showcasing Lily's artwork and selling some prints of her drawings!

These are a few examples of some of Lily's recent clay sculptures:



Mushroom Man





Baby Fairy



Here is the flyer for the event:  

The “We Love Lil Clothing Event”!!

Last year we held a “Back-to-School Clothing Drive” event for our favorite girl Lily.  Although she was in remission for a brief time, her cancer is back, and we will be repeating this event on September 15th,  from 10: 00am-2:00 pm for Lily Lopez.  The Clothing Drive will be held at the LDS church located on 1010 S Recker, between Warner and Ray.  We will also be adding an art show of Lily’s original, fabulous art, as well as a bake sale. 

Lily Lopez was diagnosed in January of 2011 with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer.  She is now 12 years old, and a joy to all who know her.  You can read more about Lily and her family at http://welovelil.blogspot.com/.  In order to help offset the cost of her treatment, and try and ease the burden of her family, we will be holding this clothing drive.  It will be really easy to participate.  As you clean out your children’s closets in preparation for school, please bring clothing that you no longer need to Cami Kistemann’s house, 2895 E Cathy Drive, Gilbert, AZ 85296.

We would like to have all donations before September 15th.  If, however, you also want to bring your clothing to the church on the day of the event (September 15th), it will be happily accepted at that time.  We will be selling the clothing by the bag.  All the clothing you can stuff into a bag provided for $5.00.  Please donate your clothing, and come to buy a bag or two.  Even if you don’t need the clothing, please come and lend your support.  Please forward this to anyone who you know would like to participate so that we can make this beneficial for everyone.   If you would like to help out further still, please contact Cami Kistemann at 480-626-1405. 

Lily's Wish

Lily's wish to have a playhouse in our backyard was granted last month by the wonderful people at Make a Wish.

I can't even begin to describe how inspired I am by the tireless efforts of Make a Wish volunteers who give of their time and resources to make dreams come true!

Our wish granters, Michelle and Linda, were just the sweetest ladies and went above and beyond planning everything and even decorating the house with Lily's own artwork in 100 + degree temperatures. They thought of every detail: curtains, pillows, wind chime, live flowers- they even named the house "Lily's Pad" and had a beautiful sign made for above the door.

  The playhouse was provided by Colby Earl at WoodManor Playhouses. Colby and his daughter brought the playhouse from Utah and actually built it in about 8 hours! The craftsmanship of the playhouse is amazing. It has real working windows, a staircase, a door with a key, and even a swing on the porch!

A large group of firefighters from the Phoenix Fire Department spent their entire Saturday painting the house exactly how Lily wanted it. They also donated money so that Lily could have air conditioning and her playhouse landscaped! They dug up grass, trimmed bushes, re-routed sprinklers, bought and planted plants and even put real wood flooring inside the house! Luckily it was a cloudy day, but it was still hot and humid and they worked so hard! What an amazing group of people. Some even brought their kids to come and help and meet Lily. They also gave her a real firefighter helmet. Thank you Tommy and everyone else who helped. Our hearts are full of love and gratitude for you!

The following weekend, Phillip's best friends came out to help run electricity out to the house and install the air conditioner. Now Lily's house has lights and cool air. Thanks John and Tripper!

Hawley Lake

At the end of July, we were able to get away for a few days to get out of the heat and enjoy the beauty that is the White Mountains. We stayed in a cabin at Hawley Lake. It was wonderful to have a little road trip adventure, enjoy the peacefulness of Nature, and spend quality time with our family.

Unfortunately, Phillip had to work so he wasn't there, but the kids and I caravanned up with my parents and they brought Lily's cousin Shae.

I, of course, brought an obscene amount of produce and my heavy duty juicer.

Lily didn't feel well the first day that we were there; luckily she started feeling better, was able to have some fun, and I was able to get some photos of her.

We got to experience both a cold, rainy day and a bright, clear sunny day. Colorful flowers, busy butterflies, baby ducks, noisy cows and (lucky me!) mice in my bed- oh my!

All of these made for an adventure I won't soon forget!

Lily fished, both on the shore and in a boat. She played with her cousin and at night they both kept us laughing with their hilarious infomercials about random objects.

Jacob and I got to spend a lot of time together, which made me happy. Can you believe he is 17 this month? It's not often that he wants to spend time with the family, but a sweeter, more responsible 17 year old would be hard to find. I try to give him his space; there are a lot of things he doesn't like and me taking his picture is one of them, but I was able to snap a few without him noticing.

I spent much of my time obsessively making huge quantities of organic, healthy food that everyone good-naturedly ate despite the fact that it was a bit bland without salt or oil.

However, I did get up early the last day we were there and spend some solitary time by the lake, meditating on this crazy thing called life and my own role in Lily's journey. We are so close and I tend to be overly empathetic, literally feeling her pain, discomfort, or sickness. And while being empathetic isn't necessarily a bad thing, the constant worry and fear that I was also experiencing didn't have me in a good frame of mind. Every second of my day was consumed with thinking about, talking about, reading about, and watching about cancer. At night, I had vivid dreams. During the day, I rushed around frantically trying to do everything I could. I spent most of my day in the kitchen, where I was so hurried that I broke countless dishes and accidentally cut myself slicing vegetables on several occasions.

I realized that while I felt very strong and centered about our decision, I wasn't taking the time that I needed each day for myself to ground and recenter my own emotions. I still find this balance difficult with all that I need to do every day, but during this trip it came to me that the best way I can help Lily is to be a supportive presence, not to attempt to live her pain for her.

I've always tried to shelter Lily, but by taking on too much I've ended up simply exhausting myself. And the fact is, she is becoming a very mature, very wise young woman. She needs a mother who is mindful, who feels and gives from her heart, not a mother who is mindlessly spurned on by fear and worry. In the situation I find myself in, it hasn't been easy for me. But I'm trying to be that person.