Hand Stamped By Lacey

High Hopes Challenge: Color Challenge

Hello stamping friends!

Today is a new High Hopes Challenge:

Blue, Green, and White/Cream

One random participant will win 1 Free High Hopes Stamp.

However, you MUST use a High Hopes Stamp to enter the challenge.

Here is my project... 

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you might have heard about "Pray for Luke". He was a good friend of my son's when they were just little boys. 3 years ago he had a seizure that caused some permanent damage. He was told he would never walk again. However, Luke is a strong boy and has defeated the odds. Not only can he walk, but he showed us that he can boogie-board as well.

In the beginning of the summer, we met up with him and his family at the beach.

He still goes to therapy twice a week mainly to work on "lefty" (his left arm is tight and ridgid so he continues to work on his mobility).

A close up of the left side... 

The right side... 

I used Surf Scene Dudley from High Hopes Rubber stamps... 

Here's a picture of the group (My daughter, her friend, Luke, his brother, and my son)...

Now it's your turn! The challenge runs through 7pm EST Monday, July 28th. 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

 

Prayer request for Little Luke

If you follow my store's blog for awhile, you probably have noticed the cute little boy in the picture in the righthand column. This is my former neighbor and friend's son Luke. 

His mom is currently asking for Prayer Warriors to pray for him for the next 30 days as they travel to another state to see a new Specialist...

http://www.prayforluke.com/journal/2013/1/25/seeking-30.html

Here is from her blog...

Seeking 30!

Friday, January 25, 2013 at 10:19AM

The next 30 days are HUGE for Luke.  Without a lot of deal, we are seeking AT LEAST 30 people to commit to praying for Luke for the next 30 days (one person per day); however, we would LOVE 30 million.  Big decisions will take place in 30 days that will change Luke’s life forever.   I am seeking prayer warriors.  I know this posting doesn’t allow for a lot of detail, but God knows all the details surrounding this prayer request. Our family will be happy to share more information after 30 days, but for now, if God is tugging at your heart to pray for Luke for 30 days, will you? 

People ask our family all the time, “how can we help?”  Here it is … you can pray with us; for us.

30 days … for Luke.

If you know prayer warriors (people who pray without ceasing; without doubt; people who pray even without us asking), can you PLEASE pass along this posting?  Can you share this posting on your Facebook page, so that every willing person will pray for sweet Luke.

 

30 days … for Luke.

 

And this is from the other day that explains it a little more...

Treatments ... Appointments ... Prayer

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 07:16AM

I haven’t shared a lot with friends about Luke’s treatment and therapy.  I guess my thinking is: it’s Luke’s life and I don’t want to put too much “out there.”  This past week we had a follow-up appointment from Luke’s recent treatment.  As the Dr was going through everything, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was talking about another child or someone else’s life.  We were discussing what’s the next step for Luke.  What’s best for Luke.  To make a very long story, short; we are being referred out of state.  We will leave in March. 

Oh, how this referral brought back a flood of memories … even the same month.  When we were being referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, I remember really dizzy all the time – like the world around me was spinning out of control, but I was standing still watching it all whirl around me.  I couldn’t make myself cry any tears – I was numb all over.  It was March 2011. It was going to be “our answer.”  It was the trip that would cure Luke and we would bring our little boy home – healed- healed completely.  During that trip, we got answers.  Answers that we were not ready for; answers that broke our hearts; answers that were for another family, not ours.  The Dr looked at us and said, “Your son may not walk, may not talk, may not recover much more than this.  I just can’t say.  Children surprise us all the time.  However, the prognosis isn’t great.  It’s not what you want to hear, but be blessed that you have a child.”

Ouch. 

I remember looking at that Dr eye to eye with tears flowing down like heavy, uncontrollable  rain and challenged, “Then prepare yourself for a surprise because this isn’t good enough for us.”

God has worked through Luke in so many ways – big and small.  God has shown our family that He knows the plan He has for Luke.  MRIs, specialists, and out of state referrals can’t compete with our Father who is all-knowing – our Great Physician.  We have watched small miracles like little fingers moving ever so slightly – we have watched bigger miracles of feet walking.  God has been so good to our family.  Blessing us with miracle after miracle on His time, which has always come at the perfect time.

Luke along with our “unit” will be traveling again … in March … again, out of state.  This time, my world isn’t spinning around me like a blur.  This time I can let my tears fall freely.  This time will be different.  I know this trip will be different because God has given our family all the answers we desire; all the answers we need.  God has shown us that Luke IS our little boy – no matter what Drs say, MRIs say, or even the people in the world around say – Luke IS our sweet, little boy.  I go with a new confidence and a peace within my soul. 

Even though we aren’t putting the name or location “out there” for everyone, we are seeking prayer from anyone and everyone.  We believe in prayer.  Please pray for safe travel, please pray for the Drs that will evaluate Luke, please pray for God to be ever-present in the minds of the specialists we will see … please pray.  You can join us now … it’s never too early to talk to God.  If Luke is brought to mind, please pray for this trip.

As always – thank you –

I wanted to include this silly video clip of Luke.  This is Luke at Wolfson Hospital before his last treatment.  He’s such a silly boy with a giggle that melts my heart.  You would never know how incredibly scared and anxious he was before his treatment  - a treatment that physically hurts and one he dreads severely.  Luke has nightmares weeks and weeks before & after treatments … often cries during the day just thinking of it.  Luke will often complain of stomachaches because of his anxiety of treatment.  Recently, he was asked if he had 3 wishes what would they be: Luke responded with 1.  Everyone should know Jesus; 2.  I wish I could play all day everyday with my friends; and 3.  I wish I didn’t have any more treatments.  For a little boy who lives with pain, Luke refuses to complain.  We love this glimpse of Luke and we hope you do also.  Luke is one sweet boy who loves to laugh.

*********

Please pray with me for Luke and his family.

Although we don't know the whole story of what they will be going through, God knows. And God hears our prayers.

I have chosen to read a chapter of the Book of Luke every day for the next 30 days in honor of Luke Akerstrom. I will end up reading a few chapters a second time since there are only 24 chapters in Luke. 

You don't have to do this as well. But if you would at least say a simple prayer for Luke, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

~Lacey

Football Luke

Hello stamping friends!

If you've been following my blog for some time, then you probably have heard of my little friend Luke. Luke suffered a 30 minute seizure on Dec 31, 2010 caused from a rare form of Encephalitis. The doctors basically said that Luke would never walk again. But Luke is a strong boy and their family is filled with Faith so through prayer and dedication, Luke IS walking...in fact he is RUNNING!! 

On Luke's 6th birthday, he was in the hospital; it was one of his sickest days during this ordeal. So when planning his 7th birthday, his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said "snow"! So, so in Florida it did!!

My son Ryan is the one on the right leaning over.

I have a ton of pictures from the party at the end of this post. But first, I want to show the card I made for Luke. He's a huge Jacksonville Jaguars Football fan because "Jaguars don't walk, they run" so here is his card...

I tried to get the colors as close to the Jags colors as I could (their teal is a little darker IRL). The image is the adorable Football Bart from Whimsy Stamps. I found some fun football paper from AC Moore that's perfect for this image. I also used Pennant Banner Dies from Whimsy and You are my hero sentiments from WOJ and Starlight Lace die from Magnolia.

Bart was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

I embossed a 2nd football, cut it out, and attached it with dimensionals.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from High Hopes and the quote is also from the You are my hero sentiments from WOJ.

Now here are some pictures from the party...

From left to right: Luke's brother Abram, Ansley, Luke, and Ryan (Ansley and Ryan are wearing their "Team Luke" shirts)!

Abram, Luke, Ansley (aka AnTsley as said by Luke),and a friend posing for another picture. 

For some winter fun, they rented a snow slide!! How cool is that? Did you notice that Ryan and Ansley are in shorts? Its was in the low 70's the day of the party.

Here's Ryan going down the sled...

How fun!!

Here's Ansley (this picture was taken from someone else with a zoom lens)...

That's Luke's father Magnus on the right. He stayed at the top of the slide the whole party helping the kids!!

Look at that face! Do you think she liked it?!

Here they are signing "Happy Birthday" to Luke...

Luke was too far away and at an odd angle to blow out the candles so Ryan helped him (at his mom's request).

Here is Luke going down the slide...

Who said he wouldn't be able to walk again?! I think not! Not only can he walk and run, but he can snow sled as well!! "Lefty" held on tight! Luke's left side was severely affected by the encephalitis but is doing great and getting stronger each day! 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

The card is for the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments: Happy (on the inside of the card)

Craft us Crazy: Favorite embellishment (dies and punches)

Cute Card Thursday: Winged Things

Crafty Creations: Fancy Folds (Center Step Card)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

Luke walks across the field!!

If you've been a follower of my blog for any time, you have probably heard about my little Buddy Luke. Luke used to live across the street from us and he and my son Ryan learned how to walk together when they were little ones. We played together almost every day for 4 years before we moved away.

On New Year's Eve, Luke had a 30 minute seizure caused from a rare form of Encephalitis and has not been the same since. The damage to his brain caused him to loose his speech and a lot of his mobility.

But God is good!! Luke is defeating the odds and is overcoming challenges when the doctors said he never would. 

On Sunday, Luke walked across the Jacksonville Jaguar's Football Field to participate in the coin toss. 

Would you like to see Luke walk?

http://www.news4jax.com/video/29435953/index.html

It brings me to tears!! I love that little man!!

(I snatched this photo from Luke's mom's facebook page). Do you see the BIG proud smile on #63? That's Luke's friend Brad Meester - Brad made this day (at least the coin toss) possible for Luke. 

You can read about Luke's story here.

~Lacey

Update on Luke (www.prayforluke.com)

I know many of you have prayed for my little friend Luke many time since New Year's Eve. And many have sent him cards of encouragement. 

If you don't know Luke's story, go to Pray for Luke.com to read his story. But a quick summary: On New Year's Eve Luke suffered a 30 minute seizure caused from Spinal Meningitis and encephalitis (swelling on the brain). He was in the hospital for months. He wasn't able to control his right side of his body or move his left side of his body. He couldn't speak, walk, or even sit by himself. But through the healing hands of God (and very hard work at therapy), Luke is doing much better. 

You can read the most recent update here...

http://www.prayforluke.com/journal/2011/8/2/healing-is-my-bread.html

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of seeing Luke walk in person. I was picking his mom up to go out to the movies and dinner (I had been trying to get together with her since we moved back to the area, but our schedules never worked out). Anyway, when I arrived, Luke was outside holding his mom's hand talking and walking. He can't project his voice yet, but very quietly he said "I missed you Ms. Lacey and I miss Ansley and Ryan". He told me he wanted to walk so he held my hand and we walked along the sidewalk. A few minutes later his father came home and I got to see Luke take a few steps to his father for the first time (with no assistance). It was such a wonderful moment and I was so blessed to see it! 

Now you can see Luke walk for yourself in the link above. 

Praise God! Thank you all for your prayers!! God hears every one of them!!

High Hopes Challenge: 3-D

Hello stamping friends!

Did you see my post yesterday with the early sneak peek of the new Wags 'n Whiskers Princess digi release? What do you think? The release will be on Friday along with a Blog Hop with prizes.

Today I have a new High Hopes Challenge to share. 

The new challenge hosted by Debby is to:

Create or alter something 3-D (box, decorate a bag, alter something, etc).

For my project, I created a box for my little friend Luke. He has come home from the in-patient rehab for the first time since New Year's Eve!! I am scheduled to make his family dinner on Friday so I wanted to make a little gift for them. 

I thought, since they have received so many handmade cards, maybe they would need a box to hold them! Or they can use it for anything they want!

I used the adorable Super Dragon.

My box measures 6 1/4" square and 2 1/2" tall. I used my tutorial here, but added an inch so that that the overall size is 6 1/4". 

 

Speaking of cards for Luke, I received a new card for him... 

This adorable spinner card using one of the Pray for Luke Fundraiser Digital stamps illustrated by Dustin Pike.

I also realized that I never posted this card either. It arrived at our new house before we did!  

Isn't it so cute!!

You can see the fundraiser stamps here.

Now it's your turn! Let's see your High Hopes 3-D project!!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

Fire Ball Dragon - Fundraiser for Luke

 

I'm so excited and honored that the super talented artist Dustin Pike(one of the artists for High Hopes Rubber stamps) has donated these awesome Dragon digital stamps to the Pray for Luke Fundraiser!!

I've always been in love with Dustin's dragons. So I was thrilled when he agreed to create some for Luke! Luke loves Star Wars, Super Heros, plays soccer and violin.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Luke, he was my son's best friend when we lived in the Jacksonville, Florida area. On New Year's Eve, Luke suffered a 30 minute seizure caused from Spinal Meningitis. Luke has been in the hospital since New Year's Eve and he has a LONG road of recovery ahead of him.

Luke still has encephalitis (swelling on the brain), he can not sit up on his own, walk, or talk.

On Sunday March 6th, Luke will be transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for additional treatment.

I am selling these Digital stamps to help raise money for Luke's medical and travel expenses.

You can read Luke's complete story on his Blog here.

He was on the local news on wednesday night which you can see here.

Last year Luke was able to play the violin for the former First Lady Mrs. Bush during a fundraiser in Jacksonville...

(Luke is the small blonde in the front)

And yesterday, Luke received a surprise visit from former President George W Bush!!...

How awesome is that?

President Bush was at the Hospital for a Fundraiser and was able to visit 3 patients!

I had to use one of these adorable dragons right away!!

 

I created this double layout using the team pictures from Ryan's soccer team this year. Yes, "Daddy" is coach. 

I use the Fireball Dragon! Isn't he cute?!

 

The DP is retired Stampin' Up!

You can purchase the stamps here.

It felt so great to scrap again!! I really miss it! But I just don't have too much time to create lately with our move next week. Hopefully once we move I can find the time again.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

ABC Christmas Challenge E: for Embossing (plus 3 Embellishments)

Hello stamping friends!!

I'm back today with the ABC Christmas Challenge. But before I get to it, I have some new digital stamps to show...

The awesome Dustin Pike designed, illustrated, and donated these digital stamps for the Pray for Luke Fundraiser. You can read about Luke's store on his blog here. And see my card drive for Luke here.

These designs are basically "on loan". Dustin Pike still holds the copyright and has donated them to raise money for Luke's family. So I'm not sure how long I will be able to offer these stamps - grab them while you can!!!

I created a scrapbook page using one of the soccer images. Here is a sneak peek...

I'll show the whole layout here later, in the mean time if you would like to see the whole layout, you will have to check out the digital stamps in the store here.

Ok, on to this week's ABC Christmas Challenge...

We have reached "E" so our challenge this week is:

E for "Embossing plus 3 Embellishments".

Just remember, this IS a CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - therefore, your card must be a Christmas card. 

We are sponsored this week by 2 sponsors... 

Sponsor Simon Says Stamp - $15 shopping Voucher

and

Stamp Boutique

1st Prize = 3 digi stamps

2nd Prize = 2 digi stamps

For my card, I used one of the adorable Sarak Kay images...

This is Noel Shepherd. The papers are some old Basic Grey papers. 

For my 3 embellishments, I used: 1. ribbon, 2.charms, 3. pearl brads.

I heat embossed my image (although I didn't do a good job taking a photograph of the heat embossing. Plus I also added some dry embossing in the circle using a cuttlebug embossing folder. 

Come play along!! Also make sure to check out the rest of the awesome DT cards on the challenge blog.  

Thanks for stopping by!! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Little Luke for my little Luke

I have purchased an image to sell as a fundraiser for my friend Luke. 

I have posted about him here, with a card drive here, and his blog here.

Meet "Little Luke"...

Little Luke was illustrated by an 18 year old young man from Canada. This is his first stamp design.

Click here to go to my store where you can purchase "Little Luke Digital Stamp".

And here is a more recent picture of "my" Luke...

Unfortunately, Luke has had some setbacks and is back in the hospital. You can read his updates here. Just click on the last "page" so you can read the most recent updates.

I made this card for Luke using his image...

Here are some cards that were sent to Luke last week...

The card above was created by Tina Russell (owner of High Hopes Rubber Stamps), from Canada

The card above was created by my friend and fellow ABC Christmas Challenge DT, Samantha from England.

 
This card was created by my fellow Wags 'n Whiskers and High Hopes DT, Karen Goguen from Canada.

Luke also received these wonderful cards (I'm sorry, I don't know who these are from. But if you let me know, I will be more than happy to post your name and information. Also, if you sent these and didn't receive your free digital stamp through the Card Drive, please let me know as well...

And here are the next round of cards that were received...

From my ABC Christmas Challenge DT Helen from the UK.

The above is from my Wags 'n Whiskers partner and co-owner Nikki from the UK.

From Sweden (Luke's father's home country).

All the way from Indonesia!!!

The cards above and below were both from Nikki for Luke (below is an early Easter card)...

Thank you all so much for these fantastic cards!! I know Luke is really enjoying seeing them and seeing how far these cards have traveled just for him.

If you sent a card and haven't received your free digi, please email me at [email protected]

~Lacey

Ebay Auction Fundraiser

I have posted about my little buddy Luke before.

You can read about his card drive here and his story here.

But to quickly summarize...

On New Year's Eve he suffered a 30 minute seizure caused from Spinal Meningitis. He has been in the hospital or inpatient rehab ever since. He has loss of movement on his left side, uncontrolled movement on his right side, loss of speech and swelling on his brain. Recently he had some setbacks and is now back in the hospital again.

Luke just turned 6 years old yesterday. We lived across the street from Luke for about 4 years and he was one of my son's best friends.

He will be transferred to Mayo in Rochester, MN in a few weeks (which will not be covered by his insurance).

A friend of ours is hosting an Ebay Auction to raise funds for Luke's growing medical expenses (plus the cost of plane tickets and housing while in Minnesota).

I have donated 4 $50 gift certificates to the auction

I have also donated a new/in-box Stampin' Up Color Caddy as well...

If you are interested in getting a great discount on the gift certificates or if you are in need of a SU color caddy, you can go to Ebay and see the items for Auction for Luke here...

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=auction+for+Luke

I will probably have more items to add later. But those were items I was quickly able to provide for the Auction.

If you would like to just donate money to Luke and his family, you can send me a paypal payment using my paypal email address at [email protected] - just write in a comment that it is a donation for Luke and I will give 100% off the donation to Luke's family.

It just breaks my heart! There were no warning signs...one moment he was fine, then the next he was seizing and has not been the same since. Luke is a BRILLIANT boy (at the age of 5 1/2 years old he read the novel "The Chronicles of Narnia"!! My 6 year old is still learning how to sound out the words he reads!!). Luke also plays the violin - even playing for the former First Lady once.

Thank you so much for your help.

Cards for Luke

Yesterday I sent out the first package of cards and gifts for my little buddy Luke. You can read about the card drive here and about his story here.

Here is a quick summary of Luke's progress...

~ His left side is still very stiff and he can not move it.

~ He can not control the movements on his right side.

~ He has regained some of his speech, but most of the time it's "inappropriate" (He told someone "so long sucka"; which is totally out of character for him).

~ He was transferred to a rehab facility last week and has different therapies throughout the day (PT, OT, Speech, etc...). You can see some of his therapy photos here.

~ He is being transferred to Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota on March 6th. 

~ There is a great article on the Jacksonville Jaguars's blog (professional Football team) about a special visit for Luke.

~ A friend of Brandi's is having a fundraiser for them by selling shirts designed for Luke.

**Prayers**

Please keep Brandi, Magnus, Luke and his little brother Abram in your prayers. Please pray for the team of doctors who will be treating Luke in Minnesota; pray for wisdom and knowledge on how to treat Luke's condition. Please pray for a safe and easy transition to MN for Luke and his family. Please pray for strength for Brandi and Magnus (this is such a long journey and they are already weary). For Luke, please pray for healing of his brain and his body, peace and rest, for returned "conversational" speech, and strength and coordination for his body. Please pray for Luke's little brother Abram since he is also affected by Luke (missing his brother, not having as much attention from his parents since they are busy at Luke's therapies; he told Luke the other day 'It's ok, I'll be the big brother now"- how sweet!). And please pray that God will reveal his presence to the Akerstrom family so that they know that God is with them every step of the way.

Now here are the awesome cards that were mailed off to Luke (3 more cards arrived yesterday after the package was mailed - I will ship those out, and post them, later)... 

 

Check out the dimension on this card!!!...

Debby is on my High Hopes Challenge DT and she will be creating a tutorial for her 3D cards next month - make sure to check it out because these cards are AMAZING!!

Leigh in the UK sent Luke this personalized card!! I love it!

Jules in England made a very special birthday card for Luke! 

Kristine above is also on my High Hopes DT. I love her Thomas the Train card!!

Julye in England made this adorable Monster card for Luke including some wonderful stickers!!

Ruby from the UK sent 2 cards. The above card is for Luke's family. And the wonderful card below is for Luke...

Sabina in Italy made this very special card for Luke. Luke has a dog named Tipper. Although he's a mean and nasty dog (seriously, he is), I am sure Luke really misses him.

I love this great personalized card from Sinikka in the Netherlands.

Heidi, my friend and Design Team on both the Stamp and Create and Magical Monday challenges made this card for Luke. Luke loves Star Wars so I KNOW it will make him smile!!

What a great idea from Terri in Oregon, USA - "Ticket to good health"!! Amen!

And last, but not least, is this fabulous train card from Bobbie in Arizona, USA!! It is an uphill battle for Luke, but he is gaining strength, courage, and success...all with a smile!!

I also received a "store bought" card from Wilkinson in Baton Rouge, LA (I assume this is a family friend). Plus my card here. I also sent Luke a super hero PJ set for his birthday and a Valentine treat for both Luke and Abram.

If you sent a card to Luke and have NOT received your free digital stamp, please email me at [email protected] . I need to go through my saved emails to make sure I have sent them all out. But if you email me directly, that would be easier!!

The card drive is on-going, so please feel free to send a card if you would like! His birthday is Feb 16th, but if you are mailing internationally, it may take 2 weeks to arrive so keep that in mind. Also, I am moving on March 12th, but will change the mailing address in a few week so that we don't have any missing cards. 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!
~Lacey 

A gift for Luke and family

This weekend, I went to Jacksonville to look for houses and got the chance to visit my friend Brandi and sweet Luke in the hospital. If you haven't been by for awhile, I posted about Luke here. 

I have a Card Drive going for Luke for encouragement as well as for his birthday on February 16th. Some cards have started arriving. I have taken some pictures and will post those very soon. 

The most recent update on Luke's blog explains the most recent change and plans for treatment. They will be going to Minnesota to Mayo Rochester for additional treatments. You can read about it here...

http://www.prayforluke.com/journal/2011/2/2/waiting.html

I was so happy to be able to see Luke and Brandi. I was VERY encouraged about his progress after seeing him in person. He has gotten some of his speech back and was able to communicate more than I expected. In fact, he recognized a picture of my kids and said "Ansley, Ryan", then he said "I love her" pointing at Ansley :-) He's definitely all BOY!! LOL

They have a LONG road of therapy ahead of them, but I have confidence that the Lord WILL give him 100% healing over time.

Friends are trying to set up a fund for them to help pay for medical expenses. As soon as I have more information about accepting donations, I will let you know. 

In the mean time, I made something for Brandi and Luke and gave it to them while I was there...

These pictures were taken before the Holidays last year. Luke is the older boy (on the left in the family pictures) and the boy in the hat on the left. I'll be honest, these aren't the "best" smiles from Luke - he's usually all smiles- he must have been in a "serious" mood during this photo shoot! And I want to just eat up his little brother Abram! Abram is really shy, but always let me hold him when we lived across the street. Not sure if he would remember me now though since we've been gone for 18 months.

Anyway, I made the scrapbook page with the intentions to hang on the wall in a shadowbox frame. Brandi can either hang it in her house, to put it in Luke's Hospital/Rehab room. 

The only decorative element I added is a cluster of ivory flowers and pearls.

Here is a photo of the page in the frame (it was hard to photograph without getting a glare from the glass)...

The title came from something Brandi wrote on Luke's Blog about being a "family unit".

And since it's hard to photograph a photograph, here is a better picture of the largest family shot...

Aren't they the most gorgeous family?! 

There are a lot more pictures of Luke in the hospital and with his doctors on their blog...

http://www.prayforluke.com/our-special-pictures/

Pray for Luke - Card Drive

I posted before about my sweet little friend Luke. Luke was Ryan's best friend and our neighbor across the street when we lived in Jacksonville. He moved across the street when he was only 8 months old and Ryan was only 12 months old. They played together almost every day until we moved a year and a half ago.

On New Year's Eve, Luke suffered a 30 minute seizure as a result of Spinal Meningitis. 

He is now on a long journey of treatments and therapy to fight the swelling on his brain and to regain his movement and speech. 

His wonderful mother Brandi has created a blog to document his journey towards healing as well as a way to update his progress to family and friends. 

You can read about how it happened on the opening page.

You can read updates on each day's treatments on the Updates Page. 

For the most recent posts, you will click on the largest page number at the bottom of the page (the blog shows the posts in chronological order, not with the most recent post first).

First, please pray for Luke, his mother Brandi, his father Magnus, his younger brother Abram, his doctor Dr. Salehi, as well as all of this other doctor's, nurses, therapists, and technicians. Please pray for movement on his left side, control of his movement on his right side, speech and total healing.

Second, please feel free to share this with anyone you know who is willing to pray for an adorable almost 6 year old boy!! 

Third, I am collecting cards for Luke to send to him. I hope to be able to bring a smile to his face and to let him know that people are praying for him ALL OVER THE WORLD!!

For each card received, you will receive a special Wags 'n Whiskers digital stamp - you can not purchase this stamp (It is an edited version of Ansley's Surprise - yes, you can do this yourself if you own the digital version of Ansley's Surprise. But I wanted to give you something for sending a card to Luke).

**I am moving the week of March 9th. So cards are not lost in the move, please ship to the following addresses...

USA - Cards can be mailed to (through March 1st):

Pray for Luke

c/o Lacey Stephens

12623 NW 6th Street

Coral Springs, FL 33071

USA

Cards mailed within the USA AFTER March 1st or OUTSIDE the USA- cards can be mailed to:

Pray for Luke

c/o Lacey Stephens

4507 Gray Hawk St

Orange Park, FL 32065

USA

Luke will be 6 years old next month (Feb 16th). He plays the violin, loves super heros, soccer, and Star Wars. 

A "Get Well Card", Birthday Card, or a funny card would all be perfect - just please make it age appropriate for a 6 year old boy.

To ensure you receive your free digital stamp, please email me at [email protected] with your email address so I can send you the digi once the card arrives.

Also, when you sign your name to your card, please include where you are from so Luke knows how far the card travelled just for him!!

Thank you so much for your willingness to pray for Luke!! And thank you in advance for sending a card to help brighten his day!!

~Lacey

Please pray for "Little" Luke

I need to ask you all to pray for a dear friend of mine. "Little Luke" as my son calls him (because my 18 year old nephew is "Big Luke") was Ryan's best friend when we lived in Jacksonville, FL. Well Saturday Luke had a 30 minute seizure and was diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis. Luke will be 6 years old in about a month. 

He's been in the hospital since the seizure. Today his mom posted on facebook that he was able to take a few steps with help and even did the "Gator Chomp" (that's University Florida Football for those who don't know what that means). 

I have created this card to send to him today...

This is Lying Matthew from WOJ. The sketch is from Critter Sketch Challenge and the papers are "Wanted" from Cosmo Cricket.

Here are a few pictures of Ryan (and friends) from over the years. Luke moved across the street when he was about 8 months (Ryan had just turned 1)...

The kids above were our immediate neighbors (from left to right): Luke, his brother Abram being held by Colin, Ansley with Princess, Haley, Morgan (Colin's sister), and Ryan. Looks like Haley's brother Grant didn't make it in this picture). I think this was taken right before Haley and Grant moved to Texas.

Ryan, Grant, and Luke (the night Grant moved to Texas). 

Wow! Look how young they are!! That's Ryan's bald head on the left, Luke in the back, and Grant on his back. Ryan is 4 months older than Luke and I think Luke is 4 or 5 months older than Grant.

Ryan and Luke at Luke's brother's 2nd birthday party (a few months before we moved to South Florida).

Luke and Ryan at one of Luke's birthday parties (I think his 4th). 

Luke and Ryan at Ryan's 4th birthday party. 

Luke and Ryan at Luke's 3rd birthday party (I think). See Ryan's curly hair? That's why we shave Ryan's hair now - it's curly in the back, but still "bald" in the front. 

I love this picture! Ansley, Luke, Ryan, and Carson (in the orange shirt) playing ring-around-the-rosie in my backyard. Look how curly Ryan's hair is in this picture!!

Here's another really young picture. This was before Luke and Ryan were walking!! Ryan didn't walk until he was 15 months. So that means that Luke (on the left) was younger than 11 months and Ansley was just turning 3.

Another young one!! This was at Haley's birthday party. I think Ryan was about 18 months here (and Ansley 3 1/2). They are sitting on a horse-drawn carriage. That's Luke's mom Brandi in the pink shirt in the background. Ryan was completely bald until right after his 2nd birthday.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of them!! Not sure how old, but I think Ansley is 4 and Luke and Ryan are 2 here.

And here is the most recent picture I have of them. This was taken over the Summer when we went to Jacksonville for a visit. That's Ansley on the top left with her friend Amelia. Then Ryan wearing brown. Luke is holding his younger brother Abram in the front.

Please keep this little cutie in your prayers!!! Please pray for 100% recovery with no long term complications. And please pray for strength and peace for his parents Brandi and Magnus Akerstom. And please pray for all of Luke's doctors as well!!

Thank you all so much!

~Lacey