Happy Easter everyone! I uploaded a few pictures of Jackson and Ally's Easter egg hunt. They had a great time. The Easter Bunny put money in their eggs, so they are looking forward to spending it. When I asked Ally what she was going to buy, she said "Toys R Us". She has a little over $7, so I'm not sure if she can get all of "Toys R Us", but we already have about 1/2 of the store in our living room anyway.
They colored eggs yesterday and finger painted, so we had a bit of a mess, but it was worth it. I think that Ally may have misunderstood the idea behind finger painting - put the paint on the paper, not on you. She had a lot of fun!
I want to thank the Todd Krampitz Foundation for inviting us to come out and speak about bone marrow donations. Their website is www.ToddKrampitzFoundation.org. I wasn't able to attend, as I had a conference that was already scheduled, so Steve had to go by himself. They made a huge poster of Jackson that they had at their luncheon. We have it in our kitchen right now. It's a picture of Jackson in his Blue's Clue's halloween costume. Steve was a guest speaker at their luncheon that followed their golf tournament. We appreciate the opportunity to speak about Jackson and to discuss the importance of donating bone marrow.
Some of you may be aware that our friend Ken Merrick was playing poker for Jackson. He plays in tournaments, and decided that he would donate a portion of his proceeds to help support Jackson. He won the preliminary tournament in Reno, and took 31st place in the final. As a result, he made a significant donation to help us pay for our treatment for Jackson. I was very surprised and touched by his generousity. This will get us well on our way to paying for our next IVF treatment.
So many other have provided support to us lately, either by organizing bone marrow drives, donations, getting the word out etc. We are overwhelmed by the support. It would be impossible to mention everyone, but I'd like to mention a few.
Soltex Federal Credit Union posted a flyer about Jackson's condition and is taking donations at their branches. I'd like to thank both Soltex FCU and all of the members who have supported our cause.
Mira Bryant contacted the Deer Park Chamber of Commerce and they have distributed a flyer with their monthly mailer to all of their members explaining our situation and telling them how they can help.
The Hampton Inn in Deer Park has ordered several items to support our fundraising.
Tanya Battle is organizing a bone marrow drive at her church (more details to come) and has made buttons with Jackson's picture to bring attention to our cause. She's done so many other things to help us, it would be impossible to name them all.
Lisa Adams and David Calvo, in addition to being a sympathetic ear for me, have helped support our fundraising efforts.
Tracey Tinnermon, Joe Marzullo, Viola Chapa and Melodie Cook are all Going Green, by wearing their wristbands.
My Aunt Dee and her granddaughter, Brittany, have supported our fundraising efforts, and also sent Jackson and Ally an Easter care package. It had toys and candy for the kids as well as adorable letters for both of the kids from Brittany. The kids really loved it! Ally is eating a marshmallow bunny from the package right now.
There are so many others who have helped us in our efforts. We are so touched by the number of people who want to help. Thank you to everyone.
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has added Jackson to their prayer lists and who are individually praying for him. I'd like to ask that you continue to pray for Jackson and to add him to prayer lists. We strongly believe in the power of prayer. I would also like for you to pray for two little boys who have recently undergone bone marrow/stem cell transplants. Both Jack Hagelin and Simon Gutierrez have a NEMO mutation, just like Jackson. Jack is 3 and Simon is 7 months. They are both fighting for their lives right now. Please pray that both of them have engraftment and don't have any serious complications from the transplant. They are tough little guys.
Jack's website is www.cure4jack.org and Simon's is www.cure4simon.org.
--- Brenda