Meeting Scarlet's Bone Marrow Donor

Scarlet had her BMT on September 18, 2007; She was just 5 1/2 months old. It really doesn't seem that long ago that we were together at Children's awaiting the life-saving marrow. It's amazing what our bodies can do...but, it's even more amazing what our Father in Heaven can do. We owe the life of our little girl to Him and Ralf, our German hero, and of course all the doctors and nurses who cared and continue to care for Scarlet.

It was an exciting weekend when Ralf came to visit. It was kind of funny because somehow I thought he was coming on the 23rd and when that weekend came and went with no-show we were worried. We finally made contact and he told me that he was actually coming memorial day weekend. Kind of funny now. We ended up having 2 barbeques, 2 weekends in a row; we really broke in the BBQ for this summer.

Scarlet took to Ralf almost immediately. We'd been talking to her about him for sometime before he came, trying to explain to her who he was and what he did for her and our family. I would tell her that Ralf made it so she wasn't "sickie" anymore and now she gets to be here with her family and do lots of fun things. By the time he came she understood that, "Ralf made me sickie."

(Scarlet on Uncle Dan's 442 getting prepped for Apple Blossom. I think Ked's and a princess dress will definitely be in when she's old enough. )

I was anxious to learn exactly how Ralf had become a donor. I had been told by someone that all German's were required to be registered donors. Not true. Ralf is a rescue helicopter pilot in the German Navy and a soldier needed a BMT and he and others decided to register to see if they were a match. He unfortunately wasn't able to help his friend, but because of him he was able to help Scarlet.

(Aunt Amy holding baby Ginger at our Family BBQ to meet Ralf. Uncle Sonny looking very handsome in his Church clothes.)

Ralf has 3 kids: 2 boys and a girl. You could tell that he was a dad because he was very kind and gentle with Scarlet and even held Ginger for awhile when she was fussy. We got to learn a lot about him in a short time. He, unfortunately, came 4 weeks after Ginger was born and I was still half-zombie from lack of sleep but I tried very hard to stay awake and learn all about him.

(Charlie in his fab Spidey apron and his mom Debbie. We had a lot of family come over to meet Ralf that day, it was great!)

Ralf came to church with us that Sunday. We weren't really sure how he'd feel about us going and leaving for 3 hours while he was only there for such a short visit, but he said he'd go. He wore his "Blues", I'm not really sure what you call the nice pilot outfit of a German Navy officer.

Ralf sang a song for RockBand Saturday night and he made it pretty clear he doesn't like to sing, but he sang all the hymns in the sacrament meeting and even held Scarlet on his lap while they sang the closing song. It was so sweet. I was really impressed with his willingness to give anything a try even if it made him a little uncomfortable. Scarlet dragged him with her to nursery and then Charlie took him around with him for the rest of church.

My dad came over for the evening to meet Ralf. It was great because my dad flew helicopters in the Army and had a lot to talk with Ralf about that sort of stuff. Len, Charlie's dad, was a submariner and they had lots to talk about, too. It was really neat.

Just a cute picture of Charlie and Scarlet.

Ralf , Uncle Dan, and Scarlet in front of his 442.

I didn't realize how cold Ginger looked after her shower...

Playing RockBand, our family's favorite pastime.

Ralf and Scarlet watching "Strawberry Cake" and sitting on a giant Dolphin that Ralf brought back from Seaworld for Scarlet.

Scarlet loves trains and she and Ralf agreed to come with us to let her ride on a mini-train.

It was a good time followed by dinner at Red Robin, Scarlet's favorite place to eat.

Not looking too happy, this was her first meeting with Ralf and I think she was a little shy at first. It didn't last too long, she was grabbing him by the hand and yanking him around shortly after meeting.

Thanks for coming to visit us Ralf!! We had a great time!

This big girl loves riding her bike! Charlie cleared the garage so now she has enough space to ride seeing that we live on a busy street and it terrifies me to have her riding in the driveway. When we had our house painted a couple years ago the painter parked his car next to the sidewalk and it ended up totally getting slammed by a driver who wasn't paying attention to the road. So, you just never know. I think we'll start going over to the church parking lot and riding there this summer.

Debbie took Scarlet to the park and brought these pictures home. I got a little wide-eyed when I saw that my little 3 year old was going up the ladder without someone behind her. I guess it's a good thing that she went with grandma and was allowed a little room to grow up. I might be a tad too over protective sometimes...

How cute is this? Theses two are becoming good buddies and I think that's great. They kind of have a love-hate relationship, but they are mostly ok together. Hopefully Scarlet will start feeling more inclined to potty on the potty chair and get into pre-school with him.