June 2013 Benefit Concert

Well last week was a trying week with Jordy, he was running high fevers and having small seizures as well as refusing fluids. We plugged through and he is in great spirits this week. Full of smiles and really looking forward to summer. I am going to try and attempt to take him to another baseball game either this week or next. I miss how much he used to love being social and going to ball games but still hopeful if we do it little by little maybe we can get that spark back in him. After all we are a baseball family.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support sunday at the charity concert. Hurtin Merv, Shelly Rastin Band and Bender, you are all class acts and you provided entertainment like no other. Dave Cobain for your tenacity and ability to run with this idea and make it a reality. EastSide Bar and Grill for hosting the amazing event and all of the volunteers, Ami Reed for putting the bug in Dave's ear and helping him run with the ideas, Tracy Wilson-Peakman, Pat Crawford, Lisa Dobbie, Alicia Grant and many others that I am still learning their names.....thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your time, talents and support means the world to us all. To all the family, friends and friends and family we never knew we had....THANK YOU Your support means more than words can express. I will be posting videos and pics of the spaghetti dinner and the benefit concert soon...I promise!!

To my parents, my husband and our amazing children, thank you for always being there for me, thank you for never asking why I need help or questioning you when I call in the middle of the night. Thank you to our friends that bring me food and coffee when I sit in the hospital for hours or have pulled all nighters with Jordan. I know I have said it before but really I would not be half the woman I am today without you all. 

On one last note, I have been approached by 3 separate people in the last few days about doing more fundraising for Jordan and I am going to say thank you sincerely for thinking of us but no thank you. I want everyone to focus on other families that need help, there are over 320 special needs families in the London Area and over half are without any gov't assistance or funding. We will likely always need help with providing equipment for Jordan however we have made it this far I am sure with the generous donations we have received we will make it even further. Our family is still collecting poptabs and we are well on our way to being able to provide another wheelchair to a special needs child that desperately needs one (even more so than Jordan). Keep your eyes peeled for a poptab update in the next 2 weeks....I am very excited to share this with you all. If anyone wants to donate to help special needs children in the London Area I encourage you to donate to Easter Seals, CPRI or Thames Valley Children's Centre. Please don't take this the wrong way because we appreciate every cent donated to help support Jordan and every minute people have given us of their time but we would like to pay it forward and be able to help others as well. Jordan's Journey might be working on another benefit at sometime in the future but for now we are going to relax, enjoy our summer and smile knowing how many people in our community have touched our lives.

I have attached a video link that is for all of you, even though it is a love song it really speaks volumes for how I feel about each and every friend we have, because I couldn't breathe without you all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9wKi1keg8g

May 2013

Jordan has had a great month so far. He has started eating and drinking more regular again. He is sleeping much better and seems to be in a happy mood. We are still stressing wondering when the next bout of seizures is going to hit or when the meds will take an ill effect on his liver and kidneys but for now we are happy with any small amounts to progression. A happy Jordy is a happy home.

Summer is almost here and we have some fun things planned for the summer. Sam will be home in 2 weeks for a short summer visit and we can't wait to see her. It has been since Christmas since she was home. We are flying her home especially for the benefit concert June 9th. It should be  a great day. Shelley Rastin, Hurtin Merv and Bender. Starts at 2pm and there are some great door prizes and auction prizes coming in as well. Zander starts t-ball in 2 weeks and hopefully Jordan will love watching. We have taken Jordan to a few ball games this year and so far he has not enjoyed them. Here's hoping once the weather gets warmer he will love it again.

Travis will have all of his heart tests shortly and we are waiting for the date of his surgery. All we really know is the surgery will be between Sept-Dec and it will be in Toronto. Fingers crossed the 3rd time is a charm and he won't have to endure anymore open heart surgeries.

Our family is as always busy and lots going on right now but we are happy to report the chair lift is fixed and our backs no longer have to strain carrying Jordan up and down the stairs. Now can't wait to have the bathroom and bathlift completed.

When you have a bad day, week or month remember there are people struggling everywhere and maybe your story can help just 1 person. Remember:

It's not about waiting for the storm to pass it's about learning to dance in the rain!!

Boy oh Boy do I love dancing in the rain!!

A Long List of Thanks, Sponsors and Volunteers for the Spaghetti Dinner

Slo-Pitch City (Fred, Dave, Marnie and staff)
Big Top Tent Rentals
Pat-A-Cakes/ Tricia Nevill-Gebel
Ray D Livestock/ Donny Ray
Tim Hortons- Dorchester/Kitchener/Tillsonburg
BX93
Tammy and Trevor Woodhouse/ DJ and Great Music and Lights
Cranberry Country Market
Saunders Pro Home and Billiards
Marlena's Hair Styling
Anytime Fitness/Shawn Finch
Nana's Pantry/Bill and Deb Riley
Keys Thanks/Tara Jones
Labatts
Hustler Billiards Staff and Patrons/Ami Reed
The Grande Theatre London
Palasad South London
The Palace Theatre London
East Park Golf Gardens
The Toronto Raptors/Jessica Harris
Simply Said Photography
Sam's Place Port Burwell
3:16 Restoration
Rocky's Harley Davidson
Sherri Hughes/Tom Weston
KJEM Kreations
Planet Playground
Otterville Custom Golf Carts
Artistic Spa
Sweet Stellas
Montana Silversmiths
Fewster Appliances
Starbucks Downtown London Location
Theatre Tillsonburg
Brandon Prust/Carla and Eric Alexander and Families
Two Men and a Tent
Subway St. Marys Location/Dianna Youngson
Herms Sports
Joe Thorton
Degroot-Hill Pontiac
Corry Hill-Davis and Ron Davis
Hully Gully
Jockey Canada
Household Plumbing
Delta Faucets/Chris Ginty
Epicure/Jade Somers
Suzanne Jackson/Debbie Leben and Families
Autrans Office Staff
Autrans Production Employees
St. Marys Cement Maintenance and IT staff
St. Marys Cement Corp
United Steel Workers Union Local 9235
Mike and Francine Santos/Costco
Lynne Rushton/Avon
Beverley Allen and Harold Taylor
The Rebekah Lodge St. Marys
HiLightes Hair Salon/Janet Neeb
Melina Miller/Arbonne
The Emily Morgan Foundation
Heather Haug. Becca Davis, The Cole Family, Dr. Paul Catania, Charlena Russell, Melina Miller, Steve and Nancy Lightfoot, Leslie Owen, Tracey E White, Marla Poirier,Steve Byron, Ami Reed, Jeannie Bourgon, Jan Avey-Thomson and Bill Thomson, Carla and Bill Davison, Jason and Emma Dayment, Dr. Dan Cass, Myla Robertson, Tiffany and Dave Lewis, Theresa Landry and co-workers, Jamie Maudsley, Barb Coleman, Tim Israel, Lisa Dobbie, Pamela Chrysler, Aaron Lightfoot and Alyssa Van Vliet, Jared Lightfoot, Emily Bass and Seth Lightfoot, James Riley, Dave Cobain,  Kayleigh Riley, Emily DeLuca, Travis Walters, Joe and Linda Dippong, Ginger Peters, Jennifer Heffernen, Christine Cheavers........

Please forgive me if I have forgot anyone, send me a message and I will gladly add them to the list. I have tried to keep track but with donations flying at me even to the very last minute it was sometimes impossible. Thank you all so very much from the bottom of our hearts. I can't express how much you all mean to us. Thank you isn't enough but still I am in awe and don't know how else to express my gratitude.

Spaghetti Dinner

I would like to send our deepest thanks to everyone that attended, supported or donated to the spaghetti dinner. It was a HUGE success. We had a few small hiccups the day of but everything turned out great.

I wish I had time to meet with everyone that attended and thank them personally but there was not enough time in the evening. Thank you to all of my volunteers and our amazing bartenders that stuck the night out. Thank you to Big Top Tent Rentals for coming through at the last minute with a tent to accommodate more people and to Tammy and Trevor Woodhouse for the amazing DJ and music services. Everyone had a blast.

A final thank you to Slo-Pitch City, Dave, Marnie, Fred and staff for hosting this event. Jordan had a great time and he hates crowds of people so that was surprising to us all.

Thanks to all of our amazing friends that have helped us before, during and after the event, we couldn't have done it without you. 

We raised enough money to complete the bathroom renos and have the bath lift installed and hopefully to repair the stairs and stairlift so that is 2 big things off our list. Still lots more but every bit helps.

Thank you to everyone you are all amazing and our family loves you to the moon and back.

FYI BX93 has a post about the event and I think that was so awesome, our total # in attendance was 256

2000 Views

YAY!! We have hit and surpassed the 2000 views for Jordan's blog. I am so happy this is reaching so many people. 

What started out as an outlet for me and a memoirs of sorts has now touched so many lives and for that I am very thankful.

2000 Views and 18 Countries!! Thank you Everyone!!

1 Week till Benefit

Well we are 1 week away from the spaghetti dinner and silent auction. I am so overwhelmed with emotion today. Jordan has had a very rough week and a half with being so sick it had him in bed for a week straight sleeping almost 20 hours per day.

I am happy to say he is on the mend and doing much better

I could list all of the sponsors and donations made to the benefit but it would take me days to type it all out. I will be posting a huge thank you to everyone and listing everyone in the following week of the benefit. I can say from my family to all of yours, THANK YOU!! We have felt the warmth of the whole community come together to support us with this adventure for Jordan. We couldn't be happier. THANK YOU doesn't seem to be enough but some way some how I will find a way to repay each and every one of you.

Thoughts and Prayers to a very special friend that will be having a GREAT FRIDAY tomorrow and not just a Good Friday as she is heading into a Kidney Transplant. Keeping our positive thoughts and prayers coming your way!!

Support means Everything!!

ok I have talked to several friends tonight, old and new and I wanted to share something with you all:

If you don't know how hard it was for Jay and I to ask for help then you don't know us very well. Call it pride, embarrassment or whatever you want. It was nearly impossible for either of us to conceive reaching out to friends and family to help with expenses to do with Jordan. 

With that said it has been brought to my attention without asking for help we would be putting Jordan's name on a very long list for a group home. A HOME.....I made a promise when he was born that I alone and nobody else would care for this child for his entire life as best I could and I would do anything to keep him at home with his brothers and sister. I wouldn't be able to safely care for him at home without new equipment, some renos to the house etc. It brings tears to my eyes to know so many of you have made it possible for me to keep this promise to Jordan and myself. I don't know any other words to say and I feel THANK YOU is not enough but without crying like a baby I am speechless. Thank you all from our whole family, I truly feel without this help we could not have done this, I just hope one day we can repay our community, family and friends ♥