One Year Ago

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since Lilly completed her mission here on Earth. It was a year ago today that Josh and I held our sweet baby during the final moments of her life. It has been the hardest trial we have ever experienced. We have experienced many tender mercies over the past year. These moments come at a time when we need to feel our Heavenly Father’s love the most. We have both experienced special dreams of Lilly. We take these precious tender mercies and treasure them. My favorite dream was of me holding Lilly against my chest and she was smiling and giggling. I can hardly wait for the day when this dream will come true. We have been blessed with amazing family and friends that have supported us throughout the year. We feel so blessed to have them apart of our lives.

We celebrated Lilly’s birthday 1^st birthday in August. It was a day of bittersweet memories. We laughed how Lilly entered the world screaming. How Josh and I cried because she was alive and breathing on her own. My girlfriends and I released balloons at the time she was born. They were our way of sending hugs and kisses to her in heaven. Later in the evening our family gathered with us at Lilly’s grave. We sang Happy Birthday and Summer and Bryson blew her candle out. We ate Great-Grandma’s Hot Water Chocolate cake and sweated our guts out. Lilly was always dressed for every occasion and a princess crown seemed the most fitting for her on her birthday. We placed the crown in her flowers and had to laugh. It was sooo Lilly.

We thank Heavenly Father everyday that he gave us twelve beautiful weeks to be with our baby. We had begged Heavenly Father to please allow us to hold our baby alive for an instance. We had been told we may only get a small moment in time with her but Heavenly Father granted us twelve beautiful weeks. We will treasure every memory we have of that time we had with Lilly.

We are so grateful to everyone. Everyone has been so supportive, loving, generous, kind, and wonderful to our family. Thank you for everything that has been done to help our family get through this past year.

We have a Lilly & Nathaniel & Reese Team. We race again in Ethan’s Run 2012. It’s a great family event that raises money for Scott & Laura Eller Congenital Heart Clinic. If you would like to join our team please feel free to contact Kim.

We have kept the blog up so people could remember our sweet baby. We understand that her blog has touched people across the world. Lilly had a special mission here on earth. We are grateful that we were able to be her earthly parents.

We love you baby Lilly. You are an amazing little girl.

Ethan's Run

It has been three months since we lost Lilly. Although we have returned to a somewhat normal life we definitely feel heart ache everyday for our sweet baby. Summer and Bryson had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to all who generously and anonymously dropped gifts at our home. The kids loved everything. Josh and I feel so blessed to have sweet friends who help during a time of need. Josh and I continue to struggle but that is to be expected. Our hearts ache for our baby but we are at peace that she is no longer struggling and finally is free.

On Saturday morning a group of us will be walking in Ethan’s Run in honor of Lilly and Nathaniel’s memory. (Nathaniel is my friend’s grandson who also died of Congenital Heart Disease). Ethan’s Run benefits the Scott and Laura Eller Congenital Heart Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital. If you would like information about this precious event or like to make a donation to help families who are walking down a path that Josh and I have walked please visit http://www.ethansrunaz.com. We are excited to participate in something so dear to our hearts.

Thank you again for your love and support.