Baking Memories 4 Kids

I've had a secret!!   A big one!!!  And I managed to keep it from the kids and that is a pretty darn near unqualified miracle around here.

Let me backtrack a bit.  To about the summer/ fall before.  Our family was nominated by another awesome family for a trip to Disney World.  This trip is expenses paid and we stay in the Give the Kids the World Village.  It is an amazing opportunity and a very big blessing for our family.

Baking Memories 4 Kids is non profit and is an awesome organization.  You can lean all about them by clicking here.  They are also on Facebook and you can find them and like them there.

So how do they send kids and their families on these trips.  By baking cookies.  And they are darn good cookies!  So good this gluten free lady committed a big no no and ate one (or two I'm not telling!!).  They are yummy, home made, and every container of cookies people buy help send families with terminally ill children or children with life threatening medical conditions to Disney.

We are excited to go.  We go in February.  Today was the big reveal.  We were allowed to invite friends, family, and the mail man (she was busy though lol) to Panera in Charlottesville.  They have been so amazing in supporting Baking Memories and hosted our reveal party today.  They also gave us lots of yummy food!  Always a plus in my book!!

We arrived at the Panera and Frank was already there with the news!  We got to be TV stars:).  I don't think Marvin quite realized what was going on at first since I told him we were taking a day to celebrate my birthday and meeting our cousins.  Even bumping into my two friends didn't tip him off. Now that full realization has sunk in he's making plans on what he is going to do (and Amanda, I'm sorry to say he doesn't want to ride an alligator.  He's worried it will eat him, lol).  Here are some pictures of our day!

Here we are with Frank.  He lives to surprise the kiddos!!  It was worth keeping the secret for so long to see the look on their faces!!

Cary Lynn, the star of the show, got plenty of attention.  Amanda, my friend, whose family is going with ours the same week loves my little girl.  And Cary Lynn loves Amanda.  Just mentioning her name brings smiles to my little girl's face and that means a lot to this mama.  Grandma also got lots of cuddles too!  For a little girl who spent so much of the beginnings of her life in a sterile hospital with not a lot of attention she makes sure she gets it now!

Marvin is hanging out by the camera.  My little man who is so charismatic in small groups was a bit overwhelmed today with all the attention, but he did great!

I love my kids.  This vacation is a chance for our family to live a normal life for one week.  One that doesn't involve doctors, therapies, and all that jazz.  For a family like ours these moments are precious.  Because we don't know what's going to happen in the future.  Every moment we can spend together is precious and when you live with a medically fragile child it's something you don't take for granted.

Thank you Baking Memories 4 Kids.  You have given us an amazing gift.  I'm so grateful for this chance and we are so ready for this trip.  Marvin is packing a backpack as I write this:).  We are ready and so excited!  Thank you seems inadequate but you will never know how much this means to us!!  Look out Disney, here we come!!


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Amy Fields is ready for Disney!!!  While she is waiting you can follow her on her blog Many Kinds of Families.