Sunday 14 September 2008

The Party!

First of all, apologies for taking so long to post the next installment of our trip to Tonya's. We all know how hectic life can be but there's really no excuse to keep you all hanging. Sorry!

On the second day we were with Tonya, she organised a party for us and invited some of the people we'd been in email contact with. This was great fun and certainly another fantastic highlight of our trip. It was really nice to be able to finally meet in person all the people we had been emailing.

So here are some quick introductions!

First up there is Cat, Dan and their son Owen.


Cat has a blog which we started following very soon after we found out Theo had Achondroplasia. If you haven't check out their story, please do (or at least check out the latest set of pictures they've posted... Owen is so cute!). Just to prove the point, here he is!


Next there is Jennifer, Cat's mum. Jennifer has been tremendously supportive and regularly checks our blog. She always has time to send us a thoughtful email or post an encouraging comment. Unsurprisingly, she bought us a little present of a Willow Tree statue to add to the many in Clare's collection. We were very touched by this gesture. It was also lovely to meet Jennifer's mother who, just like her daughter, kept us entertained with humour and wit!


This is Clare with Sarah and Kaela. Check out her blog here. Kaela is such sweet little girl and it was nice to meet her family (including Dad and brother Will) and talk through their trials and joys.

We also got to meet Aiden's family and so, all in all, it was quite an overwhelming experience!

The party was fantastic! As you would expect, there was a fair amount of eating done. My personal favourite was the giant cookie that Jennifer had made for us (but then it would be!)

It was great to get to know all these people a bit better. We all talked the afternoon and evening away, comparing our stories and discussing the differences between America and the UK... hours of fun!

A big thank you for all those who travelled to see us and to Tonya for organising and hosting the day. We were incredibly touched by your hospitality and friendship.

Next stop: Chicago!

3 comments:

Candi and Skeet said...

Looks like so much fun! I wish I could have been there!

Jennifer said...

I can't believe I haven't commented before now! Usually I'm so chatty! It was a great party wasn't it! So much fun. I miss you guys and hope life is good for you and you're enjoying yourselves every day.

Greene Family said...

Hi Andy & Clare,
I've read your blog a couple of times from Tonya's blog, and I just wanted to leave a quick message. It looks like you had a great time visiting everyone in the US! The party that Tonya had looked wonderful, and I can imagine how much fun it was to finally meet some of the people that you had been e-mailing!
Jenn