Chick Fill A Day

    Cow day at Chick Fill A. Free food for anyone who dresses up like a cow. Great day with fun friends. :) 

Erika M. 

Hawaiin Falls with friends.

Got to go to Hawaiin falls with some awesome friends and siblings. Thank you guys for making and fun day at the park! Had a blast!!

Erika M. 

Happy 4th of July

:)

Happy Independence Day y'all. 

So this year, my pictures of the fireworks weren't what I wanted them to be but they will work for now. 

Hanging out with our long time neighbors on top the shed!!

Surprise, surprise, I saw it in your eyes. Got to go and see this kid at his work for the 4th after we finished lighting stuff up!! Hope we made your nigh, John!!!

Happy 4th to all and hope you are blessed!!

A Safe Haven (Last year of Out on A Limb Camp)

    So I attended my last year of Out On A Limb Camp out of 9 years this year! Man, I am feeling old.

I don't think there is any way I can describe this camp and have my readers get the same feeling or excitement I get every time I hear of it unless you've been there.  There is truly no other place like Peaceable Kingdom, Out On A Limb. 

    I have been to many places in my life that have made me feel comfortable, but this place has a special feeling, smell, sound, comfort, joy, people and I could go on and on!!! I've been attending this camp for 9 years and this was my last. It was a fun but a hard year, knowing that on Friday I would say goodbye to the people I absolutely love and have grown up with; to my family! I would say good bye to the Kingdom!  The Peaceful one, filled with acceptance and focusing on what we could do. The safe haven. The many trails I've walked and ridden on, the lake I fished on and often times told to kiss the fish, the cabin that gave us rest, the gulf carts that carried us from place to another (as well as the driver, Robert), the lodge that was always filled with drinks and gave us our 3 meals (Mrs. Angela the cook) as well as awesome dance parties!, the pool that was splashed and jumped in every day, the rock-wall that had seen many faces climbed for the last time and the zip line, the swing that gave me butterflies in my stomach every year, and the theater that heard many laughters and screams of joy if you had beaten some one at air hockey, aswell as the stage that had seen so many kids perform!!!! The PKRC staff and volunteers that have put up with us ever year, and even the new ones who got tickled like crazy! The TSRH nurses, staff, and volunteers who gave us meds and band aids! All the campers that made laugh and cry SO hard this year! I cried so much that if Tony and Zack were there they would have teased me as they did Kylie on her last year!  

     Thank you guys so much for making my last year so memorable, as well as all of my other years! I will be back as soon as I can Lord willing! I love you guys all very much!!!

Here are some pictures of my last year, but I have a lot more coming!!!

Camp pictures. 

All the graduates of 2015

 Camp Out On A Limb

 Kash and I.

 My camp Papie

 Pool Time

 Culinary Arts.

 Caught a fish!!

 Put Put

 All the staff and I from 2015

I hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I've enjoyed the people and the camp!!

More to come!!

Sweet 16 for a sweet young lady

       Wishing a most blessed birthday to this most amazing sister. 

 Guess who's 16 today!!!! 

    I can't tell you in words what I feel to be able to be with you when you turn 16!!! Sarah, you are my treasure! I have known you since you were 3 or 4, I have seen you go through trials beyond belief, I have been with you for most of my life! I have seen your tears and your beautiful smiles, I have heard your cries (which have often times caused me to cry) and have loved your wonderful laughter! I braided your hair and got a brush stuck in it once! I watched you leave the orphanage as you were given the chance for love and family, leaving me friendless and without hope (not trying to make you feel bad or anything)! I had lost you!
    Who could have imagined what God had planned!. A year later, I was given something I never imagined!!!!!. I was not only given a family, but I was given my best friend as a sister!. Wow. I'm still in awe of that!. It was too good to believe!. I saw pictures of you smiling and enjoying life in itself!!! Something I couldn't wait to do, and I would be doing it with you!.
    Then, there I was, at the airport standing next to and hugging the friend I had lost!!. From there, started an amazing adventure! I saw you, my sister, and looked up to you as an inspiration and example! You inspired me, gave me hope, showed me joy in the midst of trials, and made me laugh when more hardship came!
    I love watching you dance and sing, especially when you don't know I am! I love braiding you hair, I love dancing with you, I love taking random walks with you, I love filming movies with you, Alli, Stevie and friends. I love capturing images of your beautiful face, I love our little secret talks, I love being able to make you smile and laugh when you're down! I loved it when you were younger, the times you would get scared because of a dream or because you were the last one awake, you would wake me up, ask to sleep next to me or just have me stay awake until you fell asleep! And most of all, I love being able to see the beautiful young women you have become, how you have grown in the Lord, and how beautiful that heart of yours is!!
    Today, we went bowling with some friends to celebrate your Sweet 16! I saw that beautiful smile and heard your wonderful laughter! I saw you dance with your friends and sing songs that you knew, as if there was no care in the world, celebrating your gift of life!
   I love you very much and so thankful you are MY sister!!! Happy Sweet 16 girly!!!

Here are some pictures that I love of you!!!

You're such lady!!

Happy Birthday sista!!!

Erika M.

2015 Amputee Ski Trip - Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

    I don't think I've posted enough times about this trip. This video will sum up about everything I want to say!  Yuri said it well, "You guys went from not knowing anyone in this room to knowing and loving one another, to becoming a family."
    We lit up and let it go. We soared like eagles flying like nothing could stop us, and did the things that others said we couldn't ever do! We became fast friends, laughed and joked about the things people never joke about, told stories no one hears and acted like a family. We were ourselves and didn't hide the differences that people often stare at, we skied down mountains and laughed like we've never laughed before. We understood each other, we impressed people in the hot pole so much that they came and joined us. We celebrated a sweet girls 18th birthday and heard Zacks never ending voice filled with complete joy! We rolled in the snow after swimming, we teased Dr. Smitt endlessly and impressed Dr. Herring with our accomplishments. We thanked our amazing Ski trainers with Hernando's pizza on Thursday night! We cried together on the last night, not wanting to go home to people who don't understand the hardships we often face everyday. We gave our hugs, said goodbye and parted our ways; ready to face another year!
   Dr. Herring once said, " What we're proving is, it's not the differences that matter, but it's how we're all alike."
Thank you so much Dr. Herring for giving me this week for a third time and for so many other abilities you have given! Thank you for showing me not to look at what I don't have, but to see what I do have!
And to all you other 13 skiers, thanks for making me laugh all week!!

Amy. You did amazing on this video! Like I've watched it 10 times! No kidding. :) Thanks so much for being there to capture every moment!

A Man With A Vision

2015 Ski Trip                                    

There once was a man with a vision

A vision for Scottish Rite

He took patients across the country

On an American Airlines flight

The mission was to teach them to ski

To snowboard and to have a ball

To try new things and have no fear

And to get up after every fall

Marylou mastered this mission

A smile her expression of choice

Lauren was never deterred

Not even by losing her voice

Erika’s heart is as good as gold

She’s a true inspiration to all

Taj really likes his chapstick

But be careful, he might take a fall

It’s always fun to celebrate a birthday

Chelsea, thanks for being the one

Watching Sarah go over big jumps

Was really such great fun

Jazymn and her beautiful smile

Can brighten anyone’s day

Zack can make anyone laugh

You never know what he will say

MaBeth, wow...what a role model

Truly one of a kind

A friend you have made in Yuri

But watch out, he has one crazy mind

The energy Josiah has shown us

So uplifting and inspiring to all

A great example to Ryan

To push through the pain and forget the fall

Selam kept us laughing, so witty and funny

A true pleasure in every way

Cruz has embraced this week like a boss

Life long friends he will always have at bay

Thank you Dr. Herring for having this vision

You’ve really made dreams come true

These memories will last for ever and ever

Without you, we wouldn’t have a clue

Written by: Kara Davis & Sandi Greenberg

Memorial Day

   Happy late Memorial Day to all! Thank you to the men and women who have served and died and to those who continue to serve our country for the freedom we have.

Thank you and may you never be forgotten! 

Thank you Grandpa!