Monday, February 25, 2008

Surprise!!!

Hey everyone- I had an incredible weekend! I was totally surprised Saturday night with a lot of my closest friends at the lakehouse. Doug and I were supposed to have a night out at the lake by ourselves, so we grabbed take out from Cheesecake factory, got a movie and headed out to the lake Saturday night. When we pulled up, there were all these cars in the driveway. By that time, I knew something was going on! I could see faces peering through the windows and the lights went out in the house. As I opened the door, a bunch of my friends yelled suprise. I glanced at a lot of my great friends around the room, my best friend from growing up, Julie. My lifetime friend Dustin. My sister, my friend Angie who lives with us and just disappeared that afternoon, mysteriously! Some of my friends from the neighborhood. A couple friends from Children's Mercy Hospital, my cousin-in-law (Mary, is that what you are called?). And then... I saw two of my great friends from college who came from Chicago to be there! It brought tears to my eyes. It was such a great night! I needed it so badly! Thank you to all of you who were there for me! I cherish each of your friendship! We had soooo much fun! We giggled, played games, hehe, ate (a lot) and just had an incredible time. This is what I was wanting to plan before my surgery, but hadn't gotten around to it. So thank you to Andrea, Angie, Doug and whoever else planned this incredible surprise. I love you all sooo much. I, then got to spend the rest of the weekend with my friend Sara from Chicago. I love spending time with her! She is one of those friends who I can talk to about everything. I also want to thank my parents who got the lake all cleaned up, all the christmas decorations down and allowed us to go out there for the night! To top it all off, it started snowing! After it had been snowing a little while, I took Lexi (my dog) out to go potty and it was like a winter wonderland! I just sat there in the snow and looked up into the ski and felt so blessed. It was just an unforgettable night. At that moment, I knew, everything is going to be alright!
I do have pictures, but I think some of you would absolutely come after me if I posted them, so I don't know if I will be posting any of them. or will I?.....hehe
Anyway, we also celebrated Doug's grandpa's birthday. He has been in KC in an assisted living facility for several months now due to his tongue cancer and issues. It was great to celebrate his birthday, so Happy Birthday Papa!

One of our daycare providers is sick this week, with Pneumonia, KEllista I hope you get better soon! So, Ella is with me all week, which I was thinking I was going to do anyway. I want to spend as much time with her before I leave as possible! It is going to break my heart leaving her in a week! Even when I took my friends to the airport today, Ella thought I was leaving too and she started to tear up and her bottom lip started to stick out. It was so sad, and I wasn't even leaving. I will probably be a wreck when I leave her. I don't even want to think about it!!!!
Anyway, enough babbling. I just had to share my incredible surprise and tell everyone who was there that I appreciate it so much that you all came. Each of you are special people in my life and I really hope we can do that again soon!
Have a great week everyone! Until next time....
Oh, I have a doctors appointment with my oncologist tomorrow, so I will let you know if there is anything to report! Shawndra

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think everyone had a great time. Some I know are still trying to recover two days later. HA! I'm glad you had fun and you are absolutely right....we do need to do that more often. It is good stress relief, right?
You have a beautiful smile and a wonderful positive attitude. I am in awe of you and your courage. You are truly remarkable.
Lots of love and peace coming your way!
Miki

Anonymous said...

I'm happy to hear you were (mostly) surprised and even happier you had clothes with you! ;) I hope you had a wonderful weekend, especially your alone time with Sara, and I'm sure I can speak for everyone - we wouldn't have been anywhere else but with you. I really enjoyed spending time with those I've known forever and those I just met. You have a great group of friends and I hope we can all do that again sooner rather than later.
I hope you and Ella have a wonderful week together. I'll be thinking good thoughts for your appointment tomorrow and will be in touch later this week. I was serious about being an Ella backup...I love having little redheads in my life! :)

Have a fabulous week you gorgeous gal!

Love, d

Anonymous said...

I'm so, so happy that so many people made it out-especially Sara and Hillary-thanks for flying out girls and it was nice to meet you Hillary! I still can't believe it snowed! That was the one thing I was hoping for while I drove out! Wheee!!! You have so many people in your life who love you and hopefully the next time you're feeling lonely you can remember that great night and give some of those girls a call! ;-)

Thanks again to the Beauchamps' for helping get the house ready and letting us use it!

Ang

Anonymous said...

Just what you needed! What a wonderful husband, family and friends you have, of course!
Have a wonderful week with Ella. I will praying for you!
Thanks for sharing your life with us all, as always you are such an inspiration. And the wonderful friends you have made through this blog, it brings me to tears almost everytime I read...the support is amazing! Deb
Deb

Anonymous said...

Your happy weekend puts my "blog life" on cloud nine. Along with your blog, I follow our neighbors on their journet of adoption in China. They too ahd a wonderful post this week as they are in China and posted their first photos with their daughter. I am not alone in the sense that these are the kind of posts we look forward to, I pray for all of you that there are many many more positives to come. Your inspiration while walking the dog is something vey powerful, I think it is so good to allow these moments and untilize them as they were given to us. Try not to dwell on the upcoming separation from Ella. I know you both will do just fine, surrounded by all that love. Enjoy this SUNSHINE, no guarantees on how long it will be out. But spring is on it's way......Please! Peace & Love to you all.

Anonymous said...

Shawndra-

I am so glad you had a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. You deserve all the happiness. Please know we are here for you! Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

The Mudge's

Anonymous said...

BLESSED WED MORNING TO U,
JUST READ YOUR POST FROM YOUR FANTASTIC WEEKEND....I AM SO HAPPY THAT U WERE ABLE TO UNWIND AND ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH YOUR DEAREST FRIENDS....DOUG, ANDREA AND ANGIE...U ARE SO VERY SPECIAL...GOOD JOB!!!! TAKE SOME TIME THIS WEEK AND LOVE LITTLE ELLA LIKE U ALWAYS DO...REMEMBER WHILE U ARE AWAY THE GOOD LORD WILL HAVE HIS LOVING ARMS AROUND HER..KEEPING HER SAFE, HAPPY AND HEALTHY....IT WILL NOT BE AN EASY TRANSITION, BUT ONE THAT WILL BE WELL WORTH IT IN THE END....KEEP THE FAITH DEAR SHAWNDRA AS I CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR U, YOUR ANGEL OF PRAYER IN KC, MO....JEN MILLER

Anonymous said...

Shawndra,

I am not sure if you will remember me, but I married Phil Rayson, one of Doug's firends from college. Anyway, Kriss has periodically sent us updates in the past year and we added you to our church prayer list when you were first diagnosed. We think of you often and wonder how things are going. Krissy emailed me the ling to your blog yesterday so I have been catching up. You and Doug as well as Ella and both of your families will continue to be in our prayers. Phil would love the chance to catch up with Doug and see him. We ran accross pictures of the ski trip we all went on several years ago. So tell Doug to be on the look out for an email from Phil. Our prayers and support are with you!

Kristal Rayson
email-krayson@allsyskc.com

Anonymous said...

It was such fun to see some of your friends I hadn't in a while and meet some new ones. It is great connecting faces with names. I am so happy you have such a great support system of family and friends, and that I can be one of them. You're never far from my thoughts!
Prayers and love, Julie

Anonymous said...

Shawndra,
It was so fun seeing you at your party! I was thrilled to be included. How nice it was to spend time with your family awaiting the surprise! Your friends are so nice and a lot of fun. I am glad you enjoyed it and I can't wait to see you again. Thank you for taking us to the airport, too! Angie, it was so nice to meet you! Mr. and Mrs. B - thank you for taking Sara and me to lunch and spending time with us. Andrea, thank you, too - your kids are adorable and your chocolate chip cookie dough is the best thing I have ever had! Doug, it was nice to see you again! Thanks for taking such good care of Shawn-d for us. :-) Sorry you didn't get the romantic night! Tee hee! Shawndra, you are an amazing person - the most courageous woman I know. I cherish our friendship. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.
Hillary