Spun sugar, horses & candy, candy, candy

'Tis Halloween and we've done our fair share of waltzing around Wewa in search of sugary goodies. Our plan was to just hit up the trunk or treat at the elementary school, but when we ran into some friends from church and their daughters, our one stop turned into an all out trick-or-treating adventure.

Initially, Addie, or "Adelaid-y bug" as she was tonight, was pretty shy. Despite our explanations throughout the day and her excitement about dressing up as a "wadybug" and getting candy, I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first. However, by the time we left the trunk or treat and started hitting up houses, she was breaking into a run and holding out her Elmo treat catcher with the best of them. At some point during our candy quest we lost an antenna out of her hair (which we found, but she refused to let me put it back in), some of her dots made their way onto daddy and she never ended up wearing her wings. She really had a lot of fun.

The ladybug herself.

The anticipation!

Missing pom pom.

The wings that weren't.

Before tonight's candy haul we'd already taken in our fill (and then some!) at our church's Fall Festival last Saturday night. Games, bounce houses, s'mores, hot dogs, cotton candy (my favorite!), face painting and more ruled the evening. 

Addie's favorite part? The horses. I was surprised and proud of my girl when she rode with our friend, Hayley. Just this summer when Hayley stopped by our house with one of her horses, Addie would not have anything to do with riding it. Saturday night was a different story. She first rode with Hayley and later she rode all by herself. Sigh, such a big girl.

We have waaay too much candy in our house and a little girl who has waaay too good of a memory to forget about it all by morning. I'm chalking it up as free potty training treats while Sabian, as I type this, is already raiding the stash.

I am thankful for a fun weekend and night with our sweet ladybug.

A kidney, from the heart: Update

My sister wrote an update on Facebook today:

"September 6 came and went, Dan still with two kidneys. The surgery had been postponed at the last minute. The phone call came while we were sitting on the couch watching TV. We had spent Labor Day doing the sort of contradictory things you do before a big event--hurrying up and making last minute arangements while trying to somehow stockpile relaxtion time. 

We were later told the recipient was sick, sicker than the transplant coordinator had been led to believe. So, the surgery was on hold indefinitely until the recipient got well. Dan got up and went to to work the next day. He said it was surreal; he'd spent the weeks prior to the surgery getting his work projects to a point where he could hand them over. Then he walked in the door that Wednesday having to figure out how to take them back. It was all disorienting.

The recipient got well. The surgery was rescheduled for Nov. 1. Back into anticipation/preparation mode. Then, weeks later, another phone call. A glitch in scheduling that now meant Dan would have to wait for his recipient to be ready--probably after the first of next year--or he could stick with the Nov. 1 date and donate to someone else.

He called me, sounding nearly frantic. "I don't know what to do," he said. Loyalty to his original recipient made him want to wait around until the scheduling worked out. But he was mentally geared up for Nov. 1, and he knew there had to be other people who needed a kidney. He called the transplant coordinator back. "If I choose to give to someone else, how many people are on the waiting list at Barnes?" he asked. "Eight hundred people," she replied. When he told me, I said, "Give it to someone else. There are too many sick people waiting who are ready now."

He called back with his decision and was told the transplant team would begin the cross-matching process to find a new recipient. Within days, he heard back from the coordinator. She was so excited, she couldn't contain it. Organ donation is a completely blind process--when an altruistic donor offers a kidney, he is told no details about his recipient. Everything is kept confidential until the process is over and until both parties decide if they want to meet. But this was big news. This recipient had been matched with people before, and 97% of the the available donors were incompatible. Until then. Dan was a match. He was told the surgeon called the recipient and said, "You've won the lottery." I still get choked up every time I tell the story. I can't even imagine that phone call.

At times I've pictured the process as sort of a dramatic movie montage--some doctor in a lab, wearing a white coat, entering long series of numbers into a computer and then seeing some equation appear on the screen that means this person has now been given a new lease on life. I picture the lab where they mix the blood from Dan and this complete stranger and watch and wait and see that nothing's going wrong, which now means a surgeon gets to make a phone call he never expected to make. It makes all of this feel like a miracle, not science.

If altruistic organ donors are the rarest of the rare, and this person had a 3% chance of ever getting a kidney, I can't even wrap my head around the improbability of it all. My heart is full, and I am in awe of a God whose plans are so much better than anything I ever imagine."

So there you go. That's the latest! Thanks for your prayers.

A kidney, from the heart

Tomorrow, my brother-in-law will be a life saver. He will arrive at the hospital bright and early at 5:30 a.m., go through surgery prep, and a few hours later one of his healthy kidneys will find a new body in which to work.


My brother-in-law, Dan, has a calling on his heart that will finally be fulfilled.


Dan is donating his kidney to someone he has never met. This surgery was to happen several weeks ago but due to unforeseen circumstances it did not take place. As all things work together in God's perfect timing, he is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. He does know that the recipient is someone who had about a 5% chance of ever receiving a kidney and Dan happens to be a match. Again, perfect timing.


It's wild, knowing that someone has a desire to donate a kidney to a stranger. More likely is someone willing to donate to someone they already know. I'm proud of Dan and I think it's special that he's finally going to be able to fulfill this calling that took root in his heart.


My sister says it best (taken from a note she wrote on Facebook when the first surgery was scheduled):

"Have you ever had someone give you something because they "had an extra"? I've received lots of things this way--kids' clothes, gardening tools, beach towels. Generosity is often prompted by recognizing that you have more than you need.


My husband, Dan Angenend, recognized this a while ago and has decided he is ready to part with his extra. His extra kidney, that is.


If you ask him, he'll say this idea took root a long time ago. His best friend has polycystic kidney disease, a disease that often requires a transplant. What started as a joke--"If I ever need a kidney, you'd better give me one"--became a calling. Turns out, his friend isn't going to need a kidney any time soon, but somewhere around 80,000 other people in the U.S. do. So, even after learning he'd probably never need to help his friend, Dan says the drive to donate a kidney never went away. He says he can't explain it, but he just knows without question that he is supposed to do this. And on September 6, he is going to.


Altruistic donors--organ donors who give to complete strangers--are sometimes referred to as "the rarest of the rare." But it seems they all share very similar sentiments--the feeling of just knowing deep inside this is something they are supposed to do, the desire to bless someone else as they have been blessed in life, the recognition of simply being able to fill a need.


From what I've experienced so far, being an altruistic organ donor makes lots of people uncomfortable. While those in the donor medical community often say, "You are a hero," people outside this circle say, "Are you crazy?" This has been a difficult path to navigate. Full support on one side, sanity-questioning on the other.


Facing the widened eyes and shocked expressions on people's faces can be wearying. I have learned that pursuing an untraditional calling, even when it's for a good cause, can result in a person simply being labeled a weirdo. 


But, along the way, there have been those other moments: Periods of complete peace washing over me, excitement expressed by someone who knows personally what this gift means, the simple assurance of the words, "It's OK. We're going to take good care of him."


I can't say that I fully understand Dan's desire to do this. He says he doesn't really, either, but that the only explanation is that something much larger than himself is behind it. Sometimes he simply says, "It's a God thing," when people ask.


I do know, without question, that this is something that has been placed on his heart and is not going away. We all have different convictions in life. Mine might not make sense to you, and yours might not make sense to me. But I am thankful for and humbled by those people like Dan who recognize theirs and follow through. Grace and peace to them."

So, if you think of it, tonight, tomorrow, whenever, please say a prayer for Dan, my sister and their family. Pray for the kidney recipient and the road ahead of them, as well as their family.

A kidney, from the heart.

I am thankful for Dan and for his example of following through with his conviction. 

The Chronicles of Adelaide

A few photos from Addie's latest adventures.

Friday night football date with Daddy.

Climbing trees at the park.

Cheese! Caterpillar.

Transporting a "friend" we found inside the house to outside.

There he goes!

There he is! No fear.

Waiting for Wewa's Homecoming parade to begin.

Candy action!

Showing off some of her parade wares - while proudly supporting the Cardinals!

And a packed weekend ahead!

I am thankful for some fun days.

Baseball Butterflies

Tonight is it. Game 7 of the World Series. If the Cardinals pull out a win tonight, we've one it all.

While I'm not the world's most devoted (or knowledgeable) baseball fan, I've certainly learned more about the game and have come to appreciate it more and have more fun with it since I met Sabian. He's a hard core Cardinals fan, as are his two closest friends from college. I can't count how many phone conversations I've heard, from Sabian's side, about players, plays, errors and the like. I kind of marvel at these conversations, that they can go on forever, are so detailed and fervent, but it makes you realize that this game - baseball - really is an American passion.

Fair weather baseball fan or die hard believer, this has been an exciting World Series. First, that the Cardinals even made it at all, and now, to be playing for the world champion title after last night's game. I have to admit, I wasn't watching the game. I couldn't. I was too nervous. After reading a few stories and going through the normal bedtime routine I retreated to our office. Sabian was camped on the couch, talking to the TV. I may not have been watching, but I could gauge how things were going by Sabian's outbursts.

My stomach was in knots. I had a headache. I was trying to concentrate on other things, but I had an ear out for the cheers coming from the television. I kept thinking, "Really? Is this me?" And it was, and I was hoping for a win.

And it happened. 11th inning and one strike to go. And then this.

Sabian and I had our own hugging-jumping-up-and-down celebration in the living room. I almost wished Addie was awake, as she has been randomly yelling, "Go Cardinals!" throughout the series and asking to watch baseball. So while she slept soundly in her bed, we celebrated with the rest of the Cardinal Nation.

How fun it would be to be in St. Louis right now. How great it would be, even without game tickets (which my brother-in-law has for tonight and was there last night - jealous!), to head downtown, hang out around Busch Stadium, and take in the excitement and energy coursing through the city.

We'll rally as best as we can down here in Braves country, cheering our guys on and hoping for a win. Win or not, the Cardinals have already made history with this World Series.


Fellow Cardinals fans, aren't you just biting at the bit, to at some exciting point in your life, not matter what it might be, to be able to say..."I feel like David Freese in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series?" 


I am thankful I'm not a Rangers fan! Go Cards!