Three more for 99 Memoir of Me in 33 days!  Michelle nominated her children and here is her story. “I LOVE the books that you create and think that they are an amazingly special keepsake for anyone!  I also think that what you are doing for the 99 in 33 is so neat.    I also wanted to share with you the story of my special little one.  I am married and the mother to 3 precious children.  My middle son, who would have been 3 this month, went to Heaven to be with Jesus in June of 2008 due to an accidental drowning.  Life has not been the same, and our family will never be complete again since we lost him.  Brayden was special in so many ways.  He touched the lives of many in his short little 17 months he shared with us and is missed terribly.  I would love to have a book in his memory to share with his older brother, who was 3 at the time of the accident, and his younger sister, who never has the chance to meet her big brother.  We try very hard to keep his memory alive and know that he will live on in our hearts forever.  There are so many things I wish I could say to him and this book/letter may be one way for us to express some of that. I would love to have one of these special books for my other children as well one day and will keep your site book marked for possible future gifts!  Thank you again for your heart of generosity!  We are very excited for you to get your Memoir of Me books and keep Brayden's story alive.

The next book goes to Colby.  Erin says, “I'd like to nominate my son Colby. He was two when he had a stroke from e.Coli poisoning. He is such a fighter and a trooper. He inspires me daily. He was healthy before the stroke but because of it he has lost all of his motor skills. He's basically a fully mentally functioning four year old trapped in a body that won’t cooperate. He's nonverbal and has a feeding tube but he is such an expressive boy with just his eyes. If you'd like to read more about Colby this is his two year survivor story blog post.  Thanks for listening to Colby's story.”  Erin, thank you.

This is the last week of 99 in 33.  I've connected with so many people and so many touching stories.  Love, Michelle

On the second day, I received a bunch of child nominations for 99 books in 33 days gift giving frenzy!  I am so grateful and excited to share their special stories.

The first was a nomination by Marina who has been following Abby’s story told through her adoptive mom, Michelle.  Abby  has cancer and here is an excerpt from Michelle’s blog “Abby has been fighting cancer since she was 3 years old. With less than a year to go, she is on the home stretch. Jumping ship now when she has fought so hard would be like quitting the Super Bowl as the 4th quarter started. Ain't happ'nin.  Now is not the time for quitters, not as parents, not even as a 5 year old.

We (Brent and Michelle) have talked many times about "when" we would stop all treatment. We aren't the "no expense is too great, no suffering too much just as long as she lives" types. We struggle knowing that we could let her simply go on to heaven where she would wait for us and play with Jesus for a while until we get there. But... we selfishly and naturally want to keep her here with us.”  You can read more about Abby here http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ 

The second book goes to Haley who was nominated by Jessica.  “I would like to nominate Hayley.  Hayley recently lost her mom to cancer.  Before her mom died I showed her my daughter's Memoir of Me book and she was really excited about making one for Hayley --unfortunately time ran out before she wrote her letter for the book.  In Leeann's honor, I would like to write a letter to Hayley from our family.

Dear Hayley,

You will always hold a special place in our hearts.  You were one of Hannah's most special friends in preschool and she will never forget the way you offered her your friendship. In preschool Hannah never said one word out loud to you because her Selective Mutism hindered her from being able to talk.  Despite that fact, you would sit together, coloring and doing art, side by side and without expectation.  You never left her side to go play with others that did talk, you were content and had an unspoken language, the two of you.”   

Lastly, here is my first unsolicited child nomination from a really special Dad to his son Will.  His Dad worked with him to swim for the first time and here is Will’s story:

Will’s got "mad skills" and sledding in the snow, always wants to help shovel when I'm snow blowing, loves to play baseball, football, and soccer with me (his dad) in our basement and is the best 3-year-old tackler I've ever seen!  Though we limit his "screen-time", somehow he's managed to learn how to play his games on my iphone, even though I put a password on my phone!

Please send all your love and prayers to Abby and Hayley.  Look for more stories tomorrow!  Love, Michelle ps here is a pic of Abby.

The cutest Christmas tale by Russell and Lillian Hoban.  Harley, Delver and Emma are the cutest nearsighted characters ever.  Almost as cute as becoming the main character in a Memoir of Me personalized book!

Before: Here is a "Believe" my favorite ornament nestled neatly in our family-cut, blue spruce Christmas tree. The tree has a crooked trunk so we placed it in the stand crooked to appear straight. This caused the stand to be imbalanced and crash down at 1 a.m. last night. After: "Believe" nestled among the broken glass on the floor. Should I be gleaning some symbolic insight? PS Eric still has sap in his hair from having his head stuck up the tree.