Teresa's Fantastic Summer

Teresa is having a fantastic summer! She is feeling great . This is the longest period of time she has ever gone without a fever, cough , runny nose , virus ...nothing !
Summer started with Teresa's Wish trip to Disney . We were a little apprehensive about the plane ride and exposure to so many people at Disney , but she stayed perfectly healthy .
Summer Bible school was another great experience . This was Teresa's first exposure to a classroom setting with other children . She loved it ! She talked about all her new friends daily . Again no illness!
For three days we were able to go to Grandma's beach house . ( unfortunately Ed could not go with us because of work. One of the many joys of being self employed.)Teresa had never seen the Ocean before and this was an experience we did not want her to miss.
Seeing the beach and ocean for the first time , priceless... "Look at all of the snow!"

Thanks to Give Kids the World , Teresa was able to go to Hershey park and have fun eating endless chocolate. ( for one year after a Wish , the family is given free tickets to amusement parks around the country. Luckily Hershey is close to where we live ).
Thanks to a wonderful ballet teacher , Teresa and Gemma were allowed to become ballerinas once a week .( thank you Miss Lisa for giving the girls this opportunity !) Teresa loves showing off her dance steps to anyone who will stop and watch.

Thanks to a very caring Horse instructor , Grace was able to continue riding and competed in her first horse show in 7 years. She loves to ride !

Our summer days were also filled with fun times playing at the pool, enjoying the company of close friends and just hanging out at home . We met new friends on their adoption journey too.
Our nights were complete with snow balls and catching lightning bugs. Gemma loves her bugs, she has quite the collection in her bug cage.
Gemma also had a very healthy summer. She has been able to hold onto her blood long enough to allow her to go 4 weeks in between each transfusion .Her ferritin levels still remain dangerously high (normal is between 10-300 and hers is 4,000)but she is taking baby steps in the right direction .

Mama Mia is the movie of choice this summer for the girls . They all love it and know all of the songs.

Sunday Aug. 14 , will be a very special day for Teresa . She is making her First Holy Communion . As she likes to say , " I am going to marry Jesus."
The Catholic Church is making an exception for Teresa to receive this sacrament early . She has shown an understanding for the sacrament and a very strong love for Jesus.
All week she has been telling everyone that she is getting married. Most people just smile and say "that's nice", but the few that ask her who she will marry are a little surprised when she says "Oh, I am marrying Jesus" . She is so excited.

This summer has also brought us to a peaceful realization for Teresa's life. We are no longer searching for the BIG cure all. We are content to let God be God .