MIRACLES FOR MCKAY

A great Quote

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:55:00 +0000

My friend sent me a baby announcement and inside it was this little quote.

"the child must know
that he is a miracle,
that since the beginning of the world
there hasn't been,
and until the end of the world
there will not be,
another child like him."

I think this is so true. and it's directed to all the children. They are so individual- so unique in their own way. and all are so special. I am grateful for the 4 children that I have been given. And I'm grateful for what they all teach me.

McKay

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:45:00 +0000

On January 8th
over a year ago McKay had several hip surgery's. During the first surgery they did both the right and left hips. Later finding out the Left one didn't take- we had to do it again. The plan was to remove the hardware earlier but because I had little Ty and McKay got sick two different times the surgery was planned.... we had to wait until now.

He has recovered really good. He'll have a good day and then the next might be not so good. He just got back from school today(early out) and seems very comfortable. I need to go get him out of his wheelchair and lay him in his bed. He is just sitting here pulling all sorts of faces. Sometimes I really wonder what they all mean. The little boy also needs a haircut. I could go take him in somewhere- but then that would be a lot of work..... Maybe john and I can just do it here later tonight. But then that's quite the process too! it's cheaper.... so that's what we'll do.

He's my big baby
I love how McKay gives me some relaxing down time

Miracles are everywhere

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Today has been a day of many thoughts..... There seems to be so much going on. It's election day... I've got two sick kids with colds- Tyler and McKay... John's in Logan finishing up some paper work with the purchase of the new van... rescheduling McKay's surgery to remove the pins from his hips- I had to cancel due to his congestion and fever... and so I took a break and grabbed a book. This book that was given to us on our Make-A-Wish trip. It's written by the man who came up with the whole idea of Give Kids The World (where we stayed in Florida). Families get to stay here when a child wishes to see Mickey Mouse or wish to go to Disney World. The whole idea is amazing. But in this book you get to know him and some of the history behind it all. He is a survivor of the Holocaust and his story is very interesting. Today I was touched again when thinking about this whole experience we just went through a few weeks ago.

The rest of what I've written is taken from the book "Gift of Life" By Henri Landwirth.

Every life is touched by miracles. Sometimes people just don't recognize them, but that doesn't mean that what they are experiencing in not a miracle. My own life has been touched over and over again by events, by happenings which I cannot define any other way, but to call them miracles.
There were miracles in each of my six lives, but none as profound as what I'm experiencing today. When the Castle of Miracles was under construction, Bob Richards was the general manager of J&N Stone and they were doing some work on the castle. Bob was 46 years old then with five children, and he was battling terminal colon cancer.
"I'm a Christian," Bob explained, "and I believe what happened to me at Give Kids the World is a miracle from God. The more I got involved at the Village, the better I felt. The less I worried about my own health, the more my health improved. I'm cancerfree today and I think working at the Village is an important part of the reason why. Wonderful things happen to people who help at the Village."

When we were first opened, we didn't have any blankets or pillows. I gave my assistant, Jan Silver, several hunddred dollars and asked her to go to Kmart and buy some pillows and sheets and blankets. As I finished saying that sentence, a big tractor trailer filled with pillows and blankets pulled up right outside my window.
These connections of faith seem to happen all the time. Small wonders. Since Give Kids the World began, I've witnessed dozens of things I would call miracles. As I look back at my life, I can see a steady strem of events, from the survival of my sister and me, to the Mercury Years, to Give Kids the World. Miracles happen. They are real and tangible. There's no question about that. We just have to be willing to see them.
At Give Kids the World, every child, both the wish child and siblings, receives a toy each day when the family returns from the theme parks. This means that we use more than 60,000 toys each year. Because we use so many toys, I wanted to buid up an inventory. I asked Julia Hobbs to write a letter to every toy company in the country asking for donations for the kids. The very nextday , a man called from Roxbury Toys in New Jersey. He had a tractor trailer full of toys for us.

The Village provides a library of videos for the children to watch. One day, as I walked through the administrative building, I noticed our video supply was low. I asked one of the staff to call disney and see if they could send us some more videos. A big box from California waited for me on my desk. That's right, it was filled with videotapes for kids.
The greatest miracle is building Give Kids the World on a handshake and a prayer. The companies have taken the business side out of it. They benefit from the goodwill, but they remove the business from it. This is a uniquely American story.
Our foundation is unique in other ways also. No other foundation gives a vacation for the whole family. None. This is the only one in the world. Our Village is unique because it is the only place tht offers the gift of memmories for each member of the family individually and the family unit as a whole.

In 1996, our corporate sponsors will provide over $12 million dollars of services and incidentals for the families. The number of people that Give Kids the World serves continues to grow. This year, more than 4,500 families will come to Give Kids the World from 45 countries across the globe and no one will be asked to pay anything. By the end of 1996, we will have served more than 27,000 children and their families.
We have no contracts, no legal agreements. We do this in the spirit of generosity which makes America unique among all the countries of the world. Such kindness, all rooted in our collective love and caring for the children couldn't happen anywhere else.

Some things McKay did this Fall

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:51:00 +0000

We celebrated McKay's 8th birthday along with Daddy's 35th and Tyler's 1st with the family at the Layton Park (the duck park)

Sweet little McKay is 8!!

McKay's first day of 3rd grade. He's getting all strapped in on the bus. The bus picks him up at our drive way around 8:15 or somewhere around there in the morning and gets dropped off at 3:30 . The bus ride puts him to sleep most of the time.

This is the look he gives when he's not to sure about something. By the looks of it one would think he doesn't like his new head rest! hopefully over time he'll just get used to it. We got this one because it was time to try something different. He has gained a lot of neck strength and would constantly lift his head up and off, and get it stuck underneath it. This headrest stops him from going off the side. I think it's a great headrest....I just don't like how his little ears are always folded up. We'll give it some time and see what happens....

this is how McKay flew in the airplane! He would either lean against the plane or John. Here he looks comfortable....but by the end of the flight he was all crouched up. We tried hard to keep him comfy though.

The kids watching something on stage at Give Kids The World

On Oct. 22 we went to Shriners Hospital to get new dafo's for his feet and ankles. We also put a new headrest on. It didn't bend his ears so that was good. within the first day of him trying it out we knew it wouldn't work....he just wouldn't keep his head up. He knew how to get his head stuck behind this headrest too.

and new shoes! They are so cute!

We also picked up his back brace. His Scoliosis is about 60% curved. Not very good at all. The doctor said to plan on putting a rod in his spine most likely in the next 2 years. The brace is to help slow down the curving and to stretch him out a little. When he wears it, it makes him look so tall and older.

Meet the Oppermann family. On Thursday October 30th we officially bought our new wheelchair accessible van from this family. It was a very neat and tender experience from the very beginning. We all know that it was meant to be.

So now he's back to this head rest and actually looks comfortable. His lips also look better than they have for a very long time. I found some new chapstick that is awesome. Neosporin lip treatment LT. It's great! It healed his severly chapped lips over night.

He's all dressed up (dad did his hair all handsome) and ready to go to church. I think he looks excited.... it could be because..... He's taking his first official ride in his new van!!

Bon Voyage Party

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:31:00 +0000

oooooh boy!!!

When these two princesses sat next to him he started
to stretch his arms out- it was as though he knew what he was doing!

back of the star

front

McKay's very own star!

our family with the Make-a-wish group who have done all of this for us

Eli and Jordan

Grandma Linnea

Jim and his two boys
Nan and 3 of her kids

Tara

Riley

Jamie Smith and her girls

Tara poll and her kids

Todd Willey and his kids

Brett herbert and his fam
JD Hucks and his boys

Chang Family

Libby family

Here we are getting ready to raise His star.
With a little bit of team work, cooperation and family
unity......we raised it to the top! Where it will forever stay.
What touched me the most is the fact that the kids who make wishes are usually terminally
ill. Which means they have either passes on, are still living... hanging on dealing with something most likely, or made it through and are doing fine. But really, most of those stars probably represent some child who is no longer living any more. It really makes you stop and think for a second. So here we are trying to live in the moment and yet we realize that McKay will not always be with us. We understand that. When? we have no clue. I know that at sometime or another we all will pass on, but with him - it's just a little different. It is something I think about daily. I wonder how and when and why..... but I'm not going to think about that right now. For now we are just going to soak this all in and enjoy every minute of it. In 8 days we will be off! We are going to have the time of our lives!! We are going to squeeze in as much fun as we possibly can. This was such a fun night!!! Thanks to all you family and friends that came to share this with us. We love you all so much!

Garage sale update

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Here's me, Becca P., Kelly B., Kelly P. Showing off some of our nice lookin' treasures we found!

All right, so I know the garage sale was forever ago! And I haven't updated his blog for a while... so now I'm just trying to play catch up for a bit.
The garage sale was awesome!
It was such a huge success. A huge thank you goes out for all those that made it possible. Especially to Kelly Pierce and Becca Parkinson who was in charge of it. There were so many kind people who donated things. Even random people who read about it in the newspaper would just drive by and drop things off. I think that is so nice. They didn't have to do that, but they did. There were several times through this whole event when John and I would just look at each other and say WOW! People are so nice! Aunt Cindi dropped by for several hours to offer her help- Her truck came in way handy, they used it to deliver a piece of furniture for someone- Nice service huh! Family on both sides spent a little time cleaning out and brought us a bunch of stuff to sale. There were also many friends in the ward and Neighborhood who also donated and even stopped by to see how it was going and to see if there was anything they could do to help. People are just so kind. I think there is one thing I'm learning from all of this.... and I am learning it from the examples of so many. And that is....the willingness that others have to serve and help. It amazes me. Seriously thank you all so much.
McKay sends his love to all of you!

Garage Sale!

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:34:00 +0000

All right here it goes... The next Fund raiser is coming in two Saturdays. Two friends from the ward Kelly Pearce and Becca Parkinson are putting together a garage sale. It will be located close to our home, at Becca's who actually lives in the neighborhood right behind us. They announced it in Relief Society last week- and they are putting it in 3 newspapers... so it's starting to get around, but we thought that if everyone could help by spreading the word that would be awesome. So start telling anyone you think would be interested and all your friends and family!

Date: August 16, 2008
Time: 8:00-12:00
Location: 1342 N. 60 W. Layton

If you have any items that you would want to donate to the garage sale you can drop them off at her house anytime between now and then. If you have larger items that you need help getting transported let us know and they will arrange something with you. So good luck, and have fun cleaning out your homes and garages! IT'S CLEAN UP TIME!!!

If you have any questions fill free to call anyone of us: Kelly- 529-1308 Becca- 544-5552 Tauna- 498-7216

We can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere :)

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:28:00 +0000

Here is an article about McKay posted in the Standard Examiner. Click here to read it.

McKay is turning 8!

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:15:00 +0000

I just realized that on this blog I have never written anything on the background of McKay. I did about a year ago write a little history on our family blog. Click here to read it.
When I sat down to do this it had not yet hit me that McKay's birthday was tomorrow. Now I realize that this is perfect timing. At least for me it is. I can read over it and think about McKay and how his life all started and remember how the last 7 years has been.

We are off to a baseball tournament in Cedar City for Matthew and we will celebrate McKay's special day tomorrow at the hotel's pool side. He most likely won't swim... but than again it's his birthday maybe he will!

Doctor Visit

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Have you ever taken 3 children to the hospital- I dare you to try it!! Thank goodness for the toys

Last month we met with McKay's Neurologist at Primary Children's Hospital. The reason for the visit was to go over what you call- Status Epilepticus. what that is, is a continuous seizure activity that lasts at least 15- 20 minutes or a series of seizures that occur in rapid succession over a 20-30 minute period. Back in December he had a seizure that lasted about 60 minutes. Then in January he had one that lasted 70 minutes, and then in February he had another that lasted 80 Minutes. He has not had another since then. They increased his medicine quite a bit so hopefully that has solved the problem. He's currently on 7mls of Trileptal and 20 mls of phenobarb.
A drug called Ativan was given after each one of these seizures started- but for some reason it didn't stop it right off. The nurses and doctors still can't believe that he made it through that long of a seizure.

Givin' brother big loves!

Here we are all crammed into the tiny room

Doctor Filloux was so sweet to McKay and was so glad to hear that he has been seizure free for four whole months. I hope it never happens again... It's such a scary thing. When McKay has these seizures he never stops breathing. So that's one good thing. He just twitches all over, His eye's twitch really bad and his upper body twitches more than his lower, and his head shakes.

Drug levels may be obtained for the medications. A drug level is a blood test to determine how much of the prescribed drug is in the body. Blood can be taken every once in a while to measure the drug level. We went to the hospital today to do this. We should hear back shortly for the results. The last time we did a blood test the numbers were a little low so they increased his phenobarb from 10 mls to 20 mls. So we'll see what they say this time

Voice Male Concert Update

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:24:00 +0000

The evening started at 5:00 p.m. with the committee and others setting up.

Brad setting up the candy, cookie, and water table. Everything here was sold for a 1$.

About 5 days before the concert my mom Linnea got a hold of Macy's and through associated foods found a way to get this great picture done. Isn't it great! They did an awesome job on it.

Grandma Judi, Jim Roe, Nan Stucki, Kara Roe, Tyler and Emily Stucki

Tiffany, Brad, and Greg over seeing the candy table.

Amy, Tara, and Krissy at one of the two ticket/donation tables

Heidi and Jeremy at the other ticket/donation table.

7:30 rolls around and the concert begins

We think McKay enjoyed the evening. He was so comfortable and looked so peaceful.

the Song "rubber ducky" is a Voice Male favorite. Tradition has it that when they sing it the crowd throws rubber ducks at them. John chucked the first duck at them and well.... he caught it. soon ducks were coming from all angles!

They introduced McKay and had our family come up on stage. They gave John the microphone and had him introduce the family and say a few words. He thanked everyone for coming and also thanked Voice Male for putting on the concert.

So....we're all getting up on the stage and I realize that we're missing someone. I'm looking around and Tyler is no where to be found. My Sister Tara than jumps out of her seat and runs out to the hall to see if Tyler's out there. She finds him with Nan! It was great! I tell ya... four kids are hard to keep track of!

they had a short intermission about half way through.

McKay and his dad- they look so much alike

Aunt Mary and My mother

Voice Male then introduced one of there "Voice Male Grandmother's" Which happens to be my grandmother Leah Johnson.

This just made her day. My 86 year old grandmother just loves these guys so much.

They let her choose a song of her choice.... She chose "the one where it sounds like he is playing the harmonica". Of course she would choose the one they haven't practiced for 5+ years. They were troopers about it. They could have told grandma to choose again but no, they pulled it off. It was great! They had everyone laughing all night. They really are funny!

Closing number

On the right is McKay's cousin Kaylee- I know he loves his cousins so much!

cousins Taylor and Brock Warren were helping Voice Male pack up.

(ward friends) Taylor Moulding, Alexa Benton, Hannah, Caleb Moulding, and Kaitlyn Moulding

McKay with his new friends- the "Voice Male" guys!

Thanks again Voice Male for such a great evening. You provided an evening filled with memories that won't be forgotten. It was a moment in time where we got to celebrate life... McKay's life. These moments are priceless. And when they happen I just want to push pause. We are so grateful. It was such a happy, positive, fun filled night! You all are so talented- thanks for sharing it with all of us- I know everyone left feeling good inside.

McKay is saying good bye to family and friends

cousins Richie, Alicia, Emily and Aunt Nan
Happy Birthday Nan!

The committee- from left to right. Linnea Earl, Jeremy and Heidi Kjar, Amy and Scott Jensen, Tiffany and Greg Ralphs, Tara and Brad Poll.
And we want to thank you for all you did to make this night happen. Like Mom and Tara said... It wasn't completely over whelming for anyone in particular, but they never did stop thinking about it- it was a lot of brain work. Their brains never completely shut off! You guys are amazing- When we think about last Friday and all that happened for that concert to go on- we are amazed! Awesome job everyone. You guys are so great- we love you all!!

Easton, Davis, Meg and McKay
McKay's facial expression is great in this picture. It makes me wonder what he's thinking.
Such sweet little kids!

I think he's thinking something on these lines-
thank you everyone... And just know I love you!

Benefit Concert Coming!

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:51:00 +0000

Voice Male
Summer Concert
Friday, June 6, 2008
7:30 pm
(doors open at 7:00)

Layton High School
Auditorium
General Admission
$7.00 or $35.00
for a family of six

Ticket Sales

Layton High School
440 Lancer Lane
801-402-4800

Lees Market Place
2645 N. Washington Blvd.
Ogden

Proceeds go to
"Miracles for McKay"

**For those of you who don't know much about Voice Male you can check out their web site for more information. They also posted something about McKay on there. These guys are awesome and so neat. The fact that they live all over and are flying in to do this is amazing. This really is a fun concert to attend and so kid friendly- a concert the whole family would enjoy (maybe no babes in arms). Come and join the fun and we'll see you there!
voicemalemusic.com

taunaroe97@msn.com (Tauna) — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:48:00 +0000

McKay Roe teaches us everyday and continually reminds us of that which is most important. For not being able to speak, McKay has an uncanny ability to always draw attention to his beautiful blue eyes calm expressions, and the magical gift of life. He is such a sweet boy and has a special influence on all who meet him.

McKay was born with a severe medical condition wherein a brain malformation has caused cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, seizures, hearing loss, cortical blindness and other physical disabilities. He does not talk, has never cried, but will randomly coo. He is fully dependent on others for his personal care and is confined to a wheelchair. McKay lives at home with his mom, dad, two brothers, and a sister.

This year, McKay celebrates his 8^th birthday. Due to his growth and physical development, his needs are becoming greater. He is growing out of his car seat and his wheelchair is too heavy for his mom to lift in and out of a vehicle. As friends, we have noticed the family’s need of a handicap accessible van which, due to high expense, is a purchase difficult for them to acquire alone. It is our goal to raise enough money to help this family afford what has become to them a necessity, a full size handicap accessible van. McKay and his family all deserve this miracle.

Davis Education Foundation
Miracles for McKay Fund
PO Box 588 Farmington, UT
84025-0588

All cash and check donations to the
Davis Education Foundation
must specify the
Miracles for McKay Fund.