Sunday, January 27, 2013

twists and turns...

It's funny how life has twists and turns......since I joined the Heidi Swapp media team it has been like a dream come true. When Heidi asked us to join her at CHA this year all the girls on the team jumped at the chance , what an incredible experience to meet Heidi and the rest of the team and be with her at CHA. Since I was going to be in Anaheim we decided to take the whole family on our very first family holiday. We left Australia and headed to Lego Land  and Disneyland in early January. The highlight for the boys was of course Cars Land .




We were lucky enough to meet Heidi and have a class with her the night before CHA started.

 


 I stayed with the girls that night...


 

The morning of the show, just 15 minutes before it was due to open,  we had to take my eldest son to the hospital, he ended up having emergency surgery at the childrens hospital for a burst appendix. What an incredibly scary couple of hours for us. My other son was unable to visit the hospital due to the influenza outbreak in California ( my husband had to stay at the hotel with him) so I was unable to return to CHA. We spent 6 days in the hospital and had to delay our flight home by a week as he was unable to fly. I was so proud of my son who had to deal not only with being in hospital in a diffrent country but having to deal with the pain and confusion of his first surgery.


One evening I was called down to the foyer of the hospital to discover Heidi and the team waiting for me. How incredible that they would take the time to come visit me, it was a very emotional time. I could never express my gratitude to the girls for making that trip to see me at the hospital. A true testament to the loving spirit amongst the team.


Once we were able to leave the hospital, we visited Disneyland again this time with my son in a  wheel chair and saw the Space Shuttle in person.




So my trip to CHA did not go as planned, I am grateful for the short amount of time I did get to spend with Heidi, Jen, Maggie, Jamie and Lindsay, I am grateful that my son is now home and ok and I am grateful for the fun times we did manage to have while on holiday!
Photobucket

28 comments:

Jennifer Shaw said...

Oh KIm, what a stressful time. :( Thank goodness your son is fine and that you all got through this. Sorry you missed a happy time at CHA. :( The ladies are so lovely to visit you at the hospital. Always stressful to be sick away from home. :( Bet you are glad to be back. I had my appendix out at 12 years although it didn't burst. I guess life always has it's own plan for us.

Lizzy Hill said...

Oh No! You just never, ever know what's around the corner....that was one VERY scary time you must've had.....what a shame about CHA....but thank goodnesss your son was OK. Appendix are NOT to be mucked around with.....next year???!!!!!!!!!!

Rachael Funnell said...

WOW! Some great photo's!!
Twist & turns for sure.... glad to hear that your boy is OK & that you did get to some Fun times!!!

Kerryn said...

It was certainly a crazy,unexpectedly stressful twist on your plans but thankfully you are all home now safe and sound. x

Lauren Hender said...

Wow Kim, what an adventure you have had! I am glad to see that you had some amazing moments with all the hospital craziness. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Chloe said...

Oh my goodness, Kim! What a holiday!! Glad your little man is better now, what a scary time!

Lindsay Bateman said...

first...beautiful family photos of HAPPY times with you and your family. second...meeting you was and forever will be a dream come true for me! third...although life throws us curveballs that can be so difficult and hard to understand please know that you are SO amazing and such an incredible person, mom, scrapbooker, friend and artist! love you SO much Kim! XOXO

Susanne Perry said...

What an adventure. Glad everything turned out well for your son Kim. Can't imagine how stressful & scary it must have been for you all. Hopefully some day soon you will be able to go back to CHA. How special to have been visited by your fellow team members in the hospital.

Anne P said...

Not as you had hoped, but you are all safe and sound in the end.

Michelle said...

Aww.. I am sorry to read your little one got sick!!! So hard when you are so far away from home in an different country. So so sweet that the girls came to visit you!! I am glad you are home and hope he is feeling much better!!!

Treesa said...

Hi Kim So scary for you! Glad he is ok. Sooo jealous you got to meet Heidi!! Thanks for sharing your pics :-)

jamie said...

it is emotional just to read your words. who knew what this journey would have for you. i, and the rest of the team, were just baffled by these set of circumstances you found yourself. but you came through it beautifully, kim. sooooo thankful to have met you. attended Heidi's class with you. scrapped with you. ate breakfast with you. and the chance to pray for you during a very trying time. may we meet again soon.
~j

Leanne said...

so glad you managed to get home safely..x

Lizzyc said...

Oh Kim, it sounds like a time you will not forget and you do have happy memories to scrap.. I do hope Addison is on the mend now, and yes how lovely to have a visit from the team to cheer you up.. lets hope you can go back again next year!!

patty said...

hope you are all feeling better and caught up on some rest...

the few stolen moments with the "team" and family holiday i am sure are ones you will treasure!

xoxo...
~p

queenof913@gmail.com said...

You must be one strong woman to get thru all that stress... I hope you are all feeling great and back home with a healthy boy! thankful he turned out OK!

Beejay said...

Your son and I are kindred spirits! My two older daughters and I went to visit the youngest in Italy during her semester abroad. I had appendicitis on the plane on the way there! I spent five days in the hospital and believe me you were lucky to be in a clean US hospital! We never were able to leave Rome to travel!
Hugs to your son and you! CHA was great and I am sure you are enjoying all the videos!

Natalie said...

I was so excited to read about your time in the US and the wonderful things your had done and were to do until I got to the very sad photo of your little boy. Oh dear what a terrible thing to happen on what should have been one of the most memorable trips with your family. Of course now it's memorable for other things. SO lovely to see Heidi and the girls turn up at the hospital for moral support. Love happy endings.

Tarrah McLean said...

So so glad Addison is all OK now and that you managed some fun times even though there were some hard times.
What incredible memories you will have of THAT trip!! Take care, so glad you are all home safe and sound xx

orfanannie said...

I'm so sorry that your holiday was full of not so good twists and turns. I'm happy to hear your son is doing well, but sad that he had to spend his holiday in the hospital! Happy to find out that Heidi and her team are as caring and wonderful as they appear on their FB posts and Blogs! A wonderful group you've become a part of! Hope your next trip to California is full of better memories!

Marelize said...

What a journey Kim! You certainly can never predict what life is going to throw at you. So happy that your boy gotis okay and that you had time for fun as well. xx

Keri said...

Oh Kim, what an overwhelming experience...most importantly, I'm so so glad that all went well for your son and that he is on-the-mend. And what a wonderful gesture on the part of Heidi and the rest of the DT to take time out to come to the hospital to support you!
I'm hoping that another CHA visit will be in your future, next time without quite so much "adventure"! :)

Jennifer Evans said...

Love you sweet friend!!!

Rebecca Keppel said...

I cant imagine how frightening and stressful that time was for you all. I am so glad you were able to squeeze in a little fun. I was so bummed I didnt get a chance to see you! But glad to hear your son is recovered and you all are home safe and sound :)

Nerrida said...

Oh my Goodness! 6 days and in a strange place! What a crazy, scary and unepected time you had!!! I can only imagine how stressful it was. I'm thinking some 'good to be home' thoughts might be in your mind, although I can see even those few short hours were amazing with Heidi and the team - the photo at the hosiptal speaks VOLUMES!

lisa said...

Kim, this has made me feel so tearful. What a journey!! It was lovely to be able to catch you quickly at CHA and say a quick 'hello' even under the difficult situation. I was so excited about meeting you when Sharmaine said you were there. I'm so pleased to hear your little one is making a good recovery, that's great news. I was so touched the the girls on your team came to visit you at the hospital. How sweet. so pleased you are home safe again. Looking forward to seeing lots more of your beautiful creations on your blog again this year xxx

BabyBokChoy said...

What a fun post and how fortunate you are to go to CHA!! Wonderful post!

Chantal Vandenberg said...

Oh Kim, what a stressful time! So glad all is okay now. At least there were some great moments in there too. The photo with Lightning McQueen is awesome!!! :)