A little over a month ago, I received an inbox message on Facebook from a longtime friend who works in the Marketing Department at Loma Linda University Medical Center. In addition to attending our previous church together, Shelly was one of my church camp counselors when I was around twelve years old.
Anyways, we talked on the phone later that day about a project that she is working on at work and Rachel came to mind when the project started to evolve.
In the main corridor of the hospital, on the ground floor, the hallway that leads to the cafeteria, they are working to create a project for the halls of that hallway. It will become the "I AM HALLWAY...".
They were searching for past and present patients that had a story to tell, obviously one that included Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Each patient will have an "I am" statement. For example a cancer survivors statement might be "I am a Survivor". And then they will place that statement with the patients picture and include a paragraph about that patient and their "I Am" Statement.
Today, we went to the professional photo shoot! It was pretty exciting. It's always been my intention to share Rachel's story to give hope and encouragement for other parents walking the same road, and always giving the Lord the glory for what He's done in her little life. So to be a part of this project is exciting!
When we arrived, of course there were consents to be signed. And then Rachel and I were given a list of "I AM" Statements, whereas we had to pick five that best described Rachel. I read all thirty of them to her and the ones she came up with were, and in this order : "child of God" (and I explained to the lady taking Rachel's story that not only does Rachel have Jesus in her heart, but for each and every one of Rachel's surgeries and throughout her journey, Rachel had people praying for her), "loved", "confident", "beautiful", and "brave" (for having gone through 5 surgeries already in her short life). The project team will go over all the statements that people chose, etc, etc. And then once a statement is chosen for Rachel, a short paragraph detailing her story and tie in with her "I Am" Statement will be published with her photo and placed on the wall!
Here Rachel is in make up. The make up stylist applied some powder to help with the glare of the lights on her face and a little bit of shimmery lip gloss.
Shelly had told us to feel free to bring a couple outfits, and/or a stuffed animal, etc. What ever Rachel wanted to do to make the experience more comfortable for her.
I wasn't worried about Rachel not cooperating. But after watching her today, she's a natural for the professional camera! LOL. I stood there almost wondering if modeling or something even greater might be in her future. Here she is in position for her session with the camera.
The teddy bear she is holding is the one that Papa gave to her last year, the night before surgery. This bear not only went with Rachel to the hospital, but he got his own ID band and got to go to surgery with Rachel! The people we shared that story with today really got a kick out of that! And it is for that reason that Rachel chose to bring this bear with her to her photo shoot.
And here, the photographer makes some adjustments and repositions Rachel for more pictures. She had changed outfits by this point.
And here is Rachel at the end of her session with Shelly! Thank You Shelly for thinking of Rachel for this project! We are honored and cannot wait to see the end result!!
Half way through Rachel's session, they wanted me in make up so that the photographer could snap some pictures of me with Rachel! I was NOT expecting that! Otherwise I would have dressed in a different shirt! But thankfully, after being assured by my Mom over a phone call on the way home, she loved the color shirt (lime green)I was wearing today! So I got make up and my hair softened up just a little bit. And hopefully in this day and age of technological magic, photoshop can work a little magic on me!
We cannot wait for the project to be finished and for the day we can go see our little Rachel gracing the walls of an institution that has played a major part in her life thus far.
I have a feeling Chewbacca will be making many more journeys with us to Disneyland...
The inscription on her picture reads:
Because of their age, Rachel and Haylee's gift card covered both a pedicure and manicure. Rachel said she could get used to this type of pampering. That's my girl!!!
After being treated to a pedicure and manicure, the six of us girls went to lunch together!! It was a fun morning indeed!
Every year, our school puts on a big production. Last year, it was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Rachel really wanted to try out, but the auditions were to begin two weeks after her bone graft surgery. Our Speech Therapist thought it was really best that she not do it, due to the fact that she'll have just had major, major surgery, and we weren't really sure what the recovery would be like for her. So she did not try out last year. So this year, once the posters started being posted about auditions for Beauty and the Beast, there was no doubt in Rachel's mind she was going to try out this year! And thus, that's how the afternoons of the last week of school were spent, auditioning for Beauty and the Beast. By the end of the week, students were sent home with a letter informing them whether or not they'd gotten a part. And indeed, Rachel had gotten a part!!! We will learn exactly what part at a parent meeting when we return to school!
We celebrated the beginning of our three week Christmas break and the girls each getting a part by visiting the newly opened Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in a neighboring city. Rachel not only enjoyed her ice cream, but she enjoyed watching the balloon man make her this silly hat!
The first week of our Christmas break found the girls spending two separate nights at Gramma and Papa's house as Mommy and Daddy had functions to attend. It also found us spending and afternoon and into the night at Disneyland with good friends. We knew the parks would be busy seeing it was four days before Christmas, but it was a must to enjoy the sights, sounds, and festivities one more time before Christmas! We dressed our kids in festive shirts and went about the Disneyland Resort snapping pictures with the festive backgrounds and decor. It's hard to believe we've been coming to Disneyland since the two oldest were just months old!! 
Christmas this year was different, as it fell on a Sunday. Our church had a Christmas Eve Service as well as our normal Sunday morning service. We attended both. Here is Rachel dressed up for singing on Christmas morning at church. 
The girls all got new robes and fun hats from Gramma and Papa for Christmas, together they make a great fashion statement, yeah?? 
One of the things Rachel has wanted for months and months has been a Chewbacca backpack. They can be purchased at Disneyland. Steven had told her on several occasions that he'd buy her one if she just would give Pirates of the Caribbean another try. She's not one to make deals real easily. Therefore we got it for her for Christmas. She absolutely loves it!
On New Years Eve day, we ended at The Long Beach Aquarium. We had free admission tickets and they were expiring that day. Rachel loved seeing all the fish and beautiful sea creatures. She was picked to help participate in the sea otter show and loved it. It was a nice way to end the year, and end the busy month!
My van was due for an oil change this month. Usually I take the car in while the girls are in school, but this time Rachel was with me. Our mechanics were happy to see Rachel and let her in on the fun of adding oil to my van! She LOVED it!
Taking a few minutes to slow down and take a picture with Papa. 
Shelly had told us to feel free to bring a couple outfits, and/or a stuffed animal, etc. What ever Rachel wanted to do to make the experience more comfortable for her. 
And here, the photographer makes some adjustments and repositions Rachel for more pictures. She had changed outfits by this point. 
And here is Rachel at the end of her session with Shelly! Thank You Shelly for thinking of Rachel for this project! We are honored and cannot wait to see the end result!!
Half way through Rachel's session, they wanted me in make up so that the photographer could snap some pictures of me with Rachel! I was NOT expecting that! Otherwise I would have dressed in a different shirt! But thankfully, after being assured by my Mom over a phone call on the way home, she loved the color shirt (lime green)I was wearing today! So I got make up and my hair softened up just a little bit. And hopefully in this day and age of technological magic, photoshop can work a little magic on me!
And here is an up close shot of our big girl. She was so excited to get a special pizza lunch today and all the goodies that come inside this folder! 
Rachel has had speech therapy on a weekly basis since May 2010, with the exception of maybe four or five times we went two weeks between therapy, and those times were due to vacations, Rachel's surgery last November, as well as another time or two. But for the most part, it's been every week for the last 18 months!
She had already taken off all her gear by the time this picture was taken.
