On December 19, 2011 I walked out of Raffles Hospital in Singapore completely against the odds. It was a turning point in our family's gratitude for life. The hospital happened to have a little coffee shop with pretty good hot chocolate. A year later we decided to go back to the hospital as a symbolic gesture and found ourselves at the coffee shop drinking hot chocolate and talking about all the amazing experiences and memories we were able to share and remember briefly just how close I came to missing it all: Jon's first words, his first steps, sleeping on the beach in Thailand, petting a koala.
So we declared December 19 Raffles Day, and made it a family tradition. We go to a coffee shop for hot cocoa and talk about all the things in the last year we loved, enjoyed, or were glad to be around for. I write them down. And then that night in family prayer we give thanks that our family has been able to spend a little more time on earth together. When the boys are bigger, I hope to tell them how Raffles Day came about, and all the tiny miracles that summed up to me walking out those hospital doors; but this year Jon ate a cake pop at Starbucks and kept insisting we add "fighting bad guys" to the list--again. And that was perfectly alright.
And so without further ado, the Raffles Day 2014 List:
Ben being born!
Visiting the Stices
Christmas trees telling Jon to think about Jesus
Custard at Culver's
Getting a paper published
Getting first paper into print
Fighting the bad guys
Chyz family visited
Speaking at primary children's baptisms
Swinging in the backyard
Naynay playing
Fighting bad guys
Mommy's roomba
Peppermint cake pop
Katie catching a goat
Family racing at Boondocks
Ben's belly laugh--and his smiles
Ben's kisses
Family workouts
Jon learning how to read
Family scripture study
Fighting bad guys
Driving to see the tractors
Eating at Villa dolce
Morning snuggles
Planes 2
Walks in Pheasant Branch
Jet room breakfasts
Buying a bed
Fighting bad guys
Paying off the Amex
Selling our newly wed stock
Sports class withJonathan
Discovering Peg+Cat
Jon yelling in sacrament about Jesus being resurrected
Fighting so many bad guys
NayNay getting out of her wheelchair and walking again!
Watching the World Cup as a family and Jon knowing who Neymar is
Katie discovering Instagram and deleting Facebook from her phone
Leaves in Wisconsin in the Fall
Happy Belated Raffles Day to one and all! We are so grateful for the grace of God that has given us a little more time in this sweet, rich, amazing life!
This is so beautiful Katie! I'm so glad you blog and that you continue to inspire and uplift me even though you are thousands of miles away. The kids go to school right by Raffles hospital (it's our toilet stop on the way home more often than not!) and I often think of you and your perfect example, I told the kids about a wonderful friend I had n Singapore whom I am reminded of each time we pass the fountain/pond at the hospital.
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