AMAZING Grace!

Let me start off on a note about the weather. The calender says Spring....however the weather man says blizzard....Well for some of you on the planet, Spring may have sprung...however here in ND we are experiencing what is to be a week of massive winter storms....So I REFUSE to discuss the weather today....onto a happier subject!

Last night I attended a benefit for AMAZING Grace Bittner in Dickinson. She is about 10 months old and cute as a button! In my days I have attended many a benefit, however this was BY FAR the largest one I had ever seen. I cannot tell you how awesome it was to see the generosity and love pouring out of people from all ends of the earth! There were sooooooooooo many great silent auction items and a wonderful raffle and people donating left and right not only to Grace but to her great parents & brothers too! :)

I saw a lot of familiar faces, it was nice. The place was PACKED PACKED PACKED! I wish I could have stayed all night and chatted, however I wanted to give up my seat so others could eat! I know at one time the line was down the block, OUTSIDE! :) I was moved to tears on more than one occasion last night.....not only the outpouring of generosity from everyone but also by the multitude of people who came in support.

Andrea & Cory you should be very proud as AMAZING Grace has touched many lives! It was just wonderful! I cannot imagine what you guys are going through, but know you are blessed because many many many many many many (and still more) people are there for you and lifting all of you up in prayer everyday! :)

My day started out rough....insert super full diaper and poop all over the place here. I literally hosed Kynlee off. It was rough, then she was being really needy when I needed to pack and get ready to leave. (Why does that ALWAYS happen!) Anyhow we got on the road on time, which was a miracle! We had lunch at Badlands Brew with one of my favorite people....Annika. 5 minutes with this wonderful woman and your whole life will feel uplifted, she radiates awesome-ness! :) I always leave time spent with her in a better mood! :) Then we ran into a flower shop that a friend of mine runs and surprised her! She was so excited, so were we! So we shopped together and had a blast catching up! I always enjoy laughing with Tara! :) Then we went to Wal-mart to run some errands and kill some time. Well that is about the time (in the check-out line, of course) that the melt down started.....I knew it was coming, she only had about a 30 min nap in the am and nothing yet for the afternoon... I got in the van, made her a bottle and started to drive. This went on for about 45 minutes. I just drove and drove and drove....the only thing missing was Lacey, some cheap hot dogs, and a couple mello-yellows. I drove by all of our old stalking, oops I mean, spying, oops I mean "viewing" places! :)

I was planning to go visit with Tami & kiddos, but I chose (for my own sanity) to let Kynlee sleep a little. We then went to see if baby Rae (I know shes not a baby, I just like calling her that!) was home and she arrived within a few minutes of us. The girls were a little scared of each other but it wasn't long before Kynlee wanted to lick, I mean kiss, her face! :)

Next we headed to the banquet....once again...super awesome outpouring of love! :) Then Lacey had both her kiddos and so we headed to Rae's house for a quick catch up. I decided with this lovely weather we were having that Kynlee and I best be heading home. Not that I minded being stranded at the Espinoza's, but I knew we needed to get home. So Kynlee played for a while and wouldn't share with Jackson and I held and snuggled Carly for a while and it was time to head home. My lovely child threw a fit when she saw the ba-ba and wanted it ASAP! So I got her snuggled in the car seat and headed down the highway. Right before I did that, I reminded Kupper and Haus (AKA Lacey and Sarah) that I am not gonna be the friend who tells them they need to come to Beulah (only an hour away) and visit me, but I WAS GONNA BE THAT FRIEND! :) Love you guys, just come visit! :)

It was wonderful to get home but even better to spend time at a great cause for AMAZING Grace and see many familiar faces! I love laying in bed at night knowing I had a day filled with love.

Thanks to Kameron for getting the crib ready for bed (we had to put new sheets on!), Tara for the giggles, Sarah for the hospitality and fun, Lacey for the laughs (as always!) Tami for understanding Kynlee needed a nap, Annika for always brightening my day!, and everyone else for the smiles on familiar faces! :)

In closing.....GO GRACE GO!

Hug your kids extra tight, they are a blessing, even when they poop all over their crib first thing in the morning. Oh boy, I hear the beckoning of my princess upstairs...lets hope we don't repeat our Monday morning.

Love ya, thanks for taking a minute to read....

Cass :)