"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
--Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Ann Arbor Visit

Conway, Mookie, my dad and I flew to Ann Arbor for a quick weekend getaway to tour the new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. We were invited to the Creator's Preview since Mary Kathleen made a clay tile that was used to decorate the interior of the new building. Her bunny tile that she made in Conway's honor back in 2007 is at the check in desk of the Michigan Congenital Heart Center. To access the photos, copy and paste this link into your browser. From some reason it's not letting me link it. http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3842718012/a=97017826_97017826/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ It was the first time for the kids to fly that they remember. The last time was that 2007 surgery trip.

The kids really enjoyed the trip, especially going into the O.R. and playing with the sink the surgeons use to scrub in. They got to see the Physical Therapy gym, indoor playground, Ronald McDonald house, therapy dogs and so much more. One floor had a life-sized game of "Operation" and Mookie was quite skilled at removing the pieces without making the buzzer go off!

It was nice to go for a good reason this time and not a scary one. We didn't even go near the old hospital building. I really didn't want to conjure up any of those old feelings and I figured it was a time to celebrate and not relive the pain of the past. Hopefully the next time we have to go for a surgery we'll have this experience to look back on and go with positive feelings.