Officially a 5th Grader

Shayla and I received a glorious wake up call- Mrs. Smith's plane had arrived from Columbus and she was waiting to get on the train to come into the city. We met her at the train station and walked over to CHOP where we found Christi sleeping soundly. (Shayne reported she was up drawing and watching movies until 2AM! I'm filled with joy that she remains feeling so very well!)

Caroline took Shayla and kept her occupied for well over an hour so Shayne and I could make plans and pack up Christi's hospital room while Christi dozed on and on and on. (Did you know Shayla loves green tea frappachinos and will drink every drop? And Mrs. Smith is quite the "Cat-opoly" player.)

When Christi finally woke up, Mrs. Smith presented Christi with her grade card in her hospital bed and told her she was now a 5th grader. Christi was happy and it probably comes as no surprise that she received straight A's in reading all four quarters. We thank Mrs. Smith for being a fabulous teacher and we are so fortunate that Christi was her student this year (just like Shayne was also her 4th grade student many, many years ago).

Shayne gave Christi the dreaded shot, unloaded us at Ronald and then left for Ohio. (I missed him as soon as he left!) Caroline and Christi conducted very cool science projects back at the Ronald House. Tonight the girls briefly used the squirt guns at Ronald to help cool off as the temps are in the high 80s. When I last spoke with Shayne all was going well with his travels and he was nearing the Ohio border. I hope the holiday traffic was kind for his entire 500 mile journey home.

As always "Thanks" is a very inadequate way to express the blessings you have lovingly and generously bestowed upon our family during Christi's journey over the past 3 3/4 years. Please know we are filled with gratitude and appreciation for lifting Christi up in prayer and for supporting and loving us during these challenging times. We hope you all had a nice Memorial Day. God bless you.

A CHRISTI SCARE: "Mom, there are two bumps on my head." (Oh, no! My heart fell.) Trying to act casual, I walked over to where she was playing and discovered two mosquito bites. Whew!! (The past two nights, Christi & Shayne walked back to the hospital at dusk so she must have picked them up then. Shayla and I were also out late last night returning from the Bubble House with "the team" and Shayla has them on her legs- she'd probably have them on her head if it were bald too.

PS: The picture of Dr. Maris transplanting the stem cells back into Christi is now on the blog (May 26, 2006) if you'd like to see how it was done.