Meet Wendi, one of the most amazingly positive and cheerful people I have ever met. I don't want to embarrass her, but I wanted to introduce her to you.
...And these are her darling children. Aren't they sweet?
I took them to a little local park to take some photos of their family.
The girls weren't too crazy about sitting still for any formal photos, but they loved exploring the park! Don't worry, we didn't let them eat any of the wild berries. :-)
Here she is deep in thought ..."Hmmm.... to eat the berries or not eat the berries? That is the question..."
Or how about just showing them to the camera for documentation? Sounds good to me!
Big brother loved to collect the leaves and wad them into his enthusiastic little fists, eager to show me his stash.
Love that hair.
Twin power, unite! They were quite interested in trying to move that boulder for awhile - it was so cute.
Wendi and I had been talking about my taking their pictures for awhile now, but we were waiting for the gorgeous autumn weather and fiery leaves. The weather has officially arrived, but the leaves haven't quite transformed yet. It was time to take the pictures, though, because next week Wendi goes in for brain surgery to remove a tumor that has been wreaking havoc with her health. The doctors only recently discovered it and it needs to be removed right away, obviously. For some strange reason Wendi wanted to get these pictures done before they shave half her hair off and create a large scar across her head.
Dealing with the prospect of such a daunting operation would be enough to send me off the edge, but Wendi has remained remarkably solid and characteristically happy. She is such an inspiration to me. Their family is well acquainted with challenging health complications. Among other things, one of their beautiful daughters has a life-threatening genetic condition that keeps her white blood cell count to a level that is lower than that of a chemo patient. They have to isolate her from the public every winter because even a common virus could be very dangerous.
Yet through it all, Wendi remains as upbeat and positive as if she hasn't a care in the world. She is determined to get through this with flying colors and a quick recovery. If you're the praying type, would you mind keeping this special family (and the doctors performing the surgery) in your prayers? Wendi, I hope this doesn't embarrass you, but the more prayers the better, right?
...And the faster you'll be able to get back to these darling little kiddos of yours. God bless you all.
What a beautiful brave woman!! I am adding my prayers for Wendi and her family to yours and all of the others.'
You took wonderful pictures!!
Posted by: mindy | October 12, 2010 at 05:29 AM