Happy Easter!

Our Miracle came to visit for Easter!

So, we did all the things we normally do when Christian comes up. (and then some ...)

 First off, he and Paul Paul planted some potatoes. 

Then there was the family egg dying activity - you know, art at Nana and Paul Paul's.

I just couldn't stop grinning - the whole time the Hall family was visiting! BLISS 

My beautiful daughter, Jenn preparing the egg dye for our impatient little fella ...

Our handsome and ever so patient son-in-law, Victor - who sacrificed relaxing for Easter weekend to drive all the way up here and back to Atlanta in about 24 hours so he and his family could visit with us for a few hours.  Incredibly generous in my opinion.

And the miracle man in his 7 year old splendor.  PRICELESS.

Our beautiful eggs - we are SO good!  They were great with brunch also!

Physical therapy for Christian includes a bit of karate action - so intense!

Paul Paul and Christian got up bright and early and went geocaching Sunday morning! This bridge was to be crossed to get to the treasure!  AND he did it!!!!

But, before they went there was an Easter basket to attend to!!! One happy kid!!!

Yahoo! King of the mountain!

More bridge time! Yikes!

Climbing with the best of them!

Skipping rocks - apparently he is well versed, now ready to practice.

More with the bridge - you have to go over AND back!

Serious business, this geocaching!

Makes you need to take off your shirt!  That, and the fact that it was simply GORGEOUS outside and warm!! WARM!!!

We are so delighted to see Christian jump to the sky 

And run like crazy down a hill, up a hill, and around a hill

Finally brunch on the porch! Told you it was gorgeous! No coats required! Life is good!

Some other people ... ha!

Sulu, thinks he hiding!!!

 We have tulips blooming ---- and green stuff sprouting! Gorgeous, I tell you!

But this beauty wins the prize --- a Jane Magnolia bloom from Ms. Title's yard.  Gorgeous.

It's official, We are blessed.

So many wishes for your blessings too!

Paul & Cheri

Miracles!

 It's happening FINALLY!

We are beginning to see some signs of spring and with it - COLOR!

The beautiful pure and quiet landscape of all white is beginning to burst into COLOR and songs brought to you by birds and such!

With this comes much JOY!  And a fresh look at life.  I'm quite sure that is why there is SPRING!

And with it many blessings and shouts of gratitude!

We made it through the absolute hardest winter I have EVER lived through.

No, it wasn't just the weather this year. 

And now, we are greatly blessed and deeply grateful!

This little guy has kept us giggling and on our toes! Here he is, thinking he can go for a ride in the car!

He's gobs of fun and some where around a year old now!  He had a close call with an illness last week, bad mouse or something.  He's ALL better now though, and left us a sacrificial bird on the doorstep to show his gratitude.  Oh, the joy of outside cats!

 The cherry tree is beginning to blossom! It is simply gorgeous! Hopefully it will get to fully bloom as we are expecting some frost tonight.  Old man winter is truly hesitant to leave us.  I told him he could come back next year.  I even baked him brownies and kissed him goodbye.  I hope he gets the message and lets our beautiful blooming plants do what they are meant to do!

I think Sulu figures if he can't sit up front, maybe he can ride in the back seat!  He's a clever/curious/toddlerish boy, our Sulu!

Here he is helping me do our taxes.  Need I say more? I'm still working on them.  Sulu's eyes are the most beautiful blue in the world, but they ALWAYS photograph red.  Boo!  He's quite the looker!  But the "big boys" don't think so - STILL!  I will be glad when the warm weather stays simply for peace in the house amongst the feline population!  Gracious!

This beautiful woman is my daughter, Jenn.  She just celebrated her birthday last Friday.  I am so very proud to call this lovely lady my daughter.  She is gorgeous inside and out.  She is smart.  She is successful in her career and in her personal life.  She is loving and God fearing.  Jenn has an amazing testimony to the healing power of God.  She is a wonderful wife to Victor and an incredible mother to her and Victor's son, Christian.  She is a lovely daughter and has always made sure I know she loves me inspite of our differences in whatever they may have been/are.  She's been generously tolerant of my free spirit and gypsy-esque ways.  She is a sweet and priceless friend.  If I had a thousand pages to fill with the things I love and admire about Jenn, it wouldn't be enough. So, I will just say, Happy Birthday to the most beautiful, thoughtful, loving daughter any mom could ever be blessed with.  I love you, Jenn.

This is my son-in-law, Victor and his and Jenn's son, Christian.  Victor just celebrated his birthday Saturday before last.  Victor, you've come a long way, man! This man is a precious, loving, living and willing disciple of God.  He has worked his way through a virtual jungle to come out on "this" side and be able to share his enlightened thoughts and beliefs through his own "remixed" words to all of us about the word of God.  He offers a "Soul Food" article several times a week that sends my brain whirling with thought and self examination.  I am just as proud of Victor as I am of my very own blood children.  He is one strong man, with his own testimony of healing.  He is a good husband and a very devoted daddy.  Victor, happy birthday to you.  I know this year will be the year you are given the gifts you need to "make it all happen" as is in God's plan.  I love you too!

Christian, our grandson!  Most of you know everything there is to know about him.  But just as an update, he is doing SUPER! He will be released from his daily rehab program next week and sent on his way back to his regular school! Just so you know, this in itself is a MIRACLE.  He is excited to be back with his buddies and his regular world, albeit a tad changed now!  Christian was very instrumental in healing a lot of "junk" in amongst all of the families involved during his illness.  Thank you, buddy!  We will keep all things as they should be in honor of your wishes and sacrifice.  We love you Christian!

I have begun working out with Jillian Michael's (shred in 30 days) DVD because Paul & I have all plans to run a race in honor of ECMO in September.  ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) is the lung by-pass procedure which saved Christian's life, well along with voluminous other factors.  The ECMO team of Children's Hospital of Atlanta, Egleston has a reunion in September every year.  We all plan to attend this year.  Hopefully, it will be a great gathering of all kinds of miracles (included miracle will be me running a race - but that's another story!).  Christian was the 801st patient to receive ECMO.  The run I personally run will be in his honor, but there will be others there running in honor of all ECMO patients and technicians.  I can't wait!  Hope it's a nice day!  Fall in Atlanta is beautiful too!

This entire blog today was brought to you by miracles.  Don't you just LOVE spring miracles!?!

Count your blessings!

Happy Wednesday,

Paul and Cheri

Just what the doctor ordered!

 Well, on Friday mornings the time goes to pottery class! And it is absolutely a WONDERFUL way to pass some glorious time.  I will post some of Paul's creations soon ... he is FAR more interesting than I in his pottery.  Nevertheless, this is my first attempt at something useful and clever. Thankfully there is no deadline as to the learning process!  For now I'm just enjoying the process.  Our instructor, Patti, keeps reminding me that there are no rules and regulations in creating pottery, but honestly, having been a ballerina for all of those years, and then an instructor after that, the whole concept of no boundaries is just absurd to me! I'm working on it though.  I'm having one heck of a time with the glaze on this piece, so as I struggle Patti tells me to just live with it for a week or two before I change it.  She's so much fun. :-)

 In celebration of Paul and I surviving the first quarter of this very tough start to 2011, we had a dinner with good friends.  (l to r, Mark, Janine, Patti, Dan & Paul) For all you foodies, we served Coq Au Vin (and very much missed Beth being here for it - everyone was actually saying "hi Beth!" in this picture) and a good time was had by all!  the food was a collaborative effort and it was all delicious, as was the wine!  We played a few rounds of Scattergories and laughed HARD!  The evening was absolutely delightful and pretty much JUST what the doctor ordered! It really has been a nail biting kind of year thus far. However, always the optimist, we know it's getting better and that all of the endurance has been for good.  We continue to be blessed and life is good.

**---**

In other good news, Christian continues to improve by leaps and bounds.  He and I played football together a week ago this past Saturday.  We also played Monopoly Jr. (with his daddy, too).  Christian and I took a walk, played the wii, did an art project, talked about important things (like if I thought God or the fairies came first!), and we watched a movie.  It was the sweetest visit I can ever remember and I am the most grateful Nana ever!  It is so amazing how the blessings of life work.

My brother in law, Paul, remains hospitalized while they try to figure out the inner workings of his heart.  He's really had a challenge of it with a blood clot and some out of rhythm issues and has logged some hard days.   They transferred him from the local hospital to a heart hospital in Nashville and feel he is in much better care at this point.  We continue to pray and send good thoughts to he and Cyndie, and know it is just a matter of time before they find the answers for his perfect healing and he gets to go back home.

My sweet friend Teresa is hanging in there and doing quite well under the circumstances.  She lost her  husband, Britt, just 3 short weeks ago very suddenly.  I did get to go to Atlanta and spend a little time with her and it was wonderful to get caught up and spend some time together.  Although I just cannot imagine what her little heart must be going through, I am very impressed by the manner in which she is approaching surviving it all. Teresa, we love you. God bless you. AND Teresa just passed the 4th part of the CPA exam! CONGRATULATIONS! I love knowing such smart people!

I also was able to have coffee and gossip time with Sabrina whilst in Atlanta.  Oh, so sweet!

May your tables be filled with bounty.

May your lives be filled with goodness and grace.

May your troubles be few and your joy be great.

And maybe you will be as blessed as we are and have wonderful friends to share it all with!
Paul and Cheri

They did it! 10K!

So, Nina talked her dad, PAUL, into running a 10k!  There was a little healthy competition between them and one thing lead to another ... before long they were registered for the Chasing Snakes 10K in Johnson City.  SO ... Nina landed Friday night and Saturday morning she and Paul were standing at the starting line ready to run! I am thoroughly impressed!  I, unfortunately was not able to participate as I had to take my art to the gallery ... but that's another story for another time...

So, here they are, father and daughter, numbers 503 and 502, all fresh and ready to run a 10K!

As I understand it, Nina had a great pace and just ran until she finished, which was 68 minutes after she began.  Did I mention that I am totally impressed?  Holy smokes!  (I would still be trying to finish!)  Paul did a few of those manly "go as fast as I can" and "gotta catch my breath" kind of things ... and has self professed to be "not at a steady pace" ~ but still finished at 75 minutes.  I am so very proud of both of them!  But I will point out here and now that Paul did NOT beat Nina and Nina actually won the race between the two of them!

Apparently Paul found this gentleman, Neal, who helped him set a pace and get himself in a zone.  Thanks, Neal.

THE FINISH LINE!

10k!  Good job, honey! You ROCK.

Nina, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to take your finish line shot. :-(

Next time I will BE THERE ~ probably not in running clothes tho!

So here they are, finished and smiling!

I think this was at the awards ceremony.  Look at those big ole grins! So cute!

Paul was amazed that the winner had already showered and changed to accept his award by the time they all finished the race.  HA!

Post race Paul. :-)

Life is good!

Happy Trails and many blessings,

Paul and Cheri

Now, Where was I?

First order of business, of course is our precious Christian!  Here he is on Monday, March 7th.  He took cupcakes to his regular school for sharing to say thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers the kids and their parents sent.  They all sent cards and letters, and jokes on the care pages.  They were all very concerned about Christian.  Now he is his silly little self, as you can see!!!!  Wish I could give out cupcakes to all of you for your kindness to all of us during his crazy illness.  But please know, in our hearts, we've made each of you a special cupcake filled with love and goodness.  Really! Thank you all!

This is the piece I want to center my gallery space around.  The frame is an old antique mirror frame that originally went on a buffet.  The mirror was broken out of it and Tammy (who owns the antique store) gave me the frame when she heard I wanted to mosaic inside it.  Now I tell you, when I told her that I had a big sunflower image in mind.  BUT between Tammy and Chrissie making all their bird pieces, and Jenni Horne's influence, I started thinking I should do a bird cage.  When I started babbling about it to Paul (that poor man, he must really feel like stuffing cotton in to his ears some times!) he came up with "I think you should do wire for the cage" ... and this is what has come out of all of that.  Things like this kind of create their selves, but I would be lost and sunk without Paul's input. (thanks, honey)  This piece has been great fun to work on.  I must admit, putting those teeny tiny glass pieces on the bird sort of felt like surgery at some points ... but other than that, it's been easy and lovely to work on.  Today is grout day and I am procrastinating like a pro!

Please check out the new page for my art at http://www.artsymatilda.com/.  I'd love to hear what you think!!!

It's pouring the rain and it's cold.  Will the grout dry?  I'll keep you posted!

I am feeling a little less wobbly today than I have been since Feb. 3rd.  Each day delivers more strength, more clarity and some heart healing.  Whew!  So grateful for THAT!  There is no way to prepare oneself for having the "rug yanked out from under neath you" as did happen with Christian's illness.  We have been blessed repeatedly since that day and we offer thanks and gratitude at every turn.  But the best way I can describe how I feel is:

Remember when you were a kid?  You would close your eyes and some of your friends would spin you around in gobs and gobs of circles.  Then they would let go and you were supposed to open your eyes and just continue on in a straight line.  It was a bit wobbly at first just trying to stand up, then attempts at walking were "pitiful" at best.  Then time passed and everything returned right back to normal again.

Well, I think I've almost returned to the walk a straight line phase again.

Reminding you that Hugh passed away just a week ago yesterday.  The service was lovely and well done for such a mighty fine man.  Still will miss him ike crazy.

My sister's husband, Paul (who is my brother-in-law-to make that easier) was hospitalized and taken in to ICU for cardiac troubles this Monday.  It was determined he has a blood clot in his heart.  Gadzooks!  They've medicated him and are confident in his treatment and have sent him home so Cyndie can take good care of him while he heals and gets stronger.  Please send him some good thoughts, as he is still very uncomfortable and weak.  He is very lucky to have been diagnosed quickly and having a plan of treatment is a blessing. Heal quickly Paul! We're sending all good thoughts your way. 

SO: breaking out of THAT cycle with good news:
Paul's Mum and Dad celebrated their wedding anniversary on March 7th.

Happy Wedding Anniversary to you two lovebirds!!!

Nina will be arriving this Friday (amongst the snow flakes) to run a race with her dad on Saturday in Johnson City to benefit the Women & Family shelters.  Yay for Nina coming!  It's always wonderful to see her.  I'm glad they're running and not me! Going to snow Friday ... blue legs do NOT look good on me! :-)

The gallery opens on the 15th, so we exhibitors will take our work in on Saturday ... which means I will be on my own for this trip.  Upstairs Gallery is located in High Point, NC  (http://www.upstairsgalleryhp.com/) and here I go!  G.U.L.P.!!!!!

That's the news from the home of Sir Paul in Elk Park!

Happy Trails to you!

Paul and Cheri

My friend

Last night the world lost the most incredible Ambassador it has ever known.

I had the good fortune to know this man and I count my lucky stars for it.

Hugh Fields (2nd from the left) was a great friend.  He was warm, kind and loving.  He was never too busy for anyone who dropped in to say hello. ("Well, hi Partner! How are you doing?") He was a perfect Southern Gentleman.  He was passionate about Dewars Scotch and Winstons.  He was also absolutely over the moon about his family: Eleanor his wife; Sarah, his baby girl; Lawson, his precious son; and Brian, his adored son-in-law.  Last but not least, his faithful dog, Isabel, Izzie, whom he loved dearly.  He was also crazy about his extended family and it often included people who were absolutely no blood relation at all.  Hugh was an avid golfer and I have no doubt he will be hitting the links in heaven by week's end.  He was a genius in real estate and was hugely responsible for the great success of Grandfather Golf and Country Club's membership.

Hugh, EVERYONE will miss you.  But I personally will miss our phone calls over the past year, the ones we had  when we talked about all kinds of things like solving the world's problems and horse racing, raising kids and favorite pastimes, and just leaving our own troubles out of the mix.  I will miss your advice and your jokes, your giggle and the twinkle in your eyes.  Most of all I will miss your optimism.  And all those "great meetings" you had in your life.  As Emily said, the world is just not the same without you walking around in it.  The stars are absolutely twinkling tonight in your honor.  It's your kind of night here in the High Country.

Rest in peace, Hugh Fields. 

We love you.

Paul & Cheri

Three weeks and 2 days ago

This little guy scared us to pieces.  Today he is standing on his own two feet once again.

We are so blessed.  And we are so grateful.

Life is good!

Paul & Cheri

Miracles and Giggles!

As most of you know, our grandson Christian has been fighting one BIG battle to return to normal after a very wretched case of the flu, which landed him in PICU in a coma, lung bypass and all kinds of yucky stuff.  He was on lung bypass (ECMO) for 7 days, in a coma for 8 days.  He was kept heavily sedated for 14 days.  He was still sedated (medium to lightly) until 8pm last night, which was his last dose of the heavy duty stuff.  He no longer needs sedation!!  He was transferred from the PICU of Children's Hospital of Atlanta to Scottish Rite's Comprehensive Inpatient Rehab Unit on Friday of this past week.  He has begun to sit up alone, regain his strength, take a few (assisted) steps here and there, eat and drink slowly and has otherwise just blown our socks off with his healing.  I am not at liberty to give out all the details, as it is his story and he and his parents should get the honor of telling it.  But we are eternally grateful to have been a part of his adventure and are in awe of his progress thus far.  He has been an incredible teacher to all of us who have been in his life ... and we thank him with all of our hearts.

Today when I walked in to his room, Christian smiled that little boy mischievous sideways grin at me, and flashed his gorgeous big black eyes and I knew he had been fully restored FOR SURE.  He tried to wrestle me away when I tickled him and we had a down right giggle fest for a few minutes.  It is an absolute celebratory day!  He has some physical therapy to finish, and then home! Whoo hoo!

So, I just wanted to say to all of you who have been following this story:

THANK YOU FROM OUR HEARTS AND SOULS for the energy, good thoughts, prayers, food, kind words, housing accommodations, love, support and all the other things I've left out because I'm exhausted and elated and way too tired to think in a straight line.  We appreciate each and every one of you.  And we are so blessed!!

Life is good!

Paul and Cheri

Thank you ... one and all!

Greatest gobs of thanks to you ALL for your sweet blessings, good thoughts, wonderful prayers, incredible energy and love that have poured out to this beautiful child, Christian.

And, by the way, all those prayers, good thoughts, energy and love have brought him through this amazing week with miraculous healing.  As my daughter says, he will come through this fire not even smelling of smoke as a testimony to the Grace of God.

And we are oh, SO grateful.

Onward ... Christian, Soldier.

Life is good.

Cheri & Paul

Happy 9th Birthday Cade!!!

CADE!!! Happy 9th Birthday!!!

This young man is our middle grandson.

He is vivacious, precocious, creative, talented, fun and loving.

He is a complete and utter joy to know and love.

He is a regular American boy who loves sports and pulling for his teams.

He is always willing to jump in and help out with whatever needs to be done, even if it's hard manual labor.

We are SO proud of you, Cade, for the young man you are becoming!

We love you gobs and bunches!

Happy 9th Birthday, Caderman!

Love, Nana & Paul

Christian

Our sweet grandson, Christian (my daughter & son-in-law's son) has been admitted to Egleston Children's Hospital's PICU.  He has asked for us all to "pray over" him.  We would certainly appreciate any prayers and good thoughts of positivity you might have to offer for Christian, as well as his mom Jennifer, and his dad Victor; and the doctors and staff whose care he is in.

My daughter has written a carepage to keep everyone updated on our Christian.  Please visit his page by following the link:

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/227781/invitations/1336760/e36db1e228ee271e925d4310dac43ac99da6375b?client_code=choa&ipc=miv

Paul and I are in Atlanta for an undetermined length of stay.  We are responding to text message and emails as we can, as well as phone calls.  Everyone has been so very kind and supportive and we haven't had to worry about any of the "mortal" things.  We appreciate all of the kindness so very much.  It has freed up our energies to concentrate on helping Christian heal and get back to his precocious, precious self.

Many thanks,

Paul and Cheri

(aka Nana and Paul Paul)