Tag Archive for 'children'

Mia

I hope you don’t mind me (Cristi) getting fairly personal here for a moment. But I believe strongly that this is a story that can touch us all. My college friends John and Mimi McDonald’s sweet little girl Mia was born with a heart defect and received a heart transplant when she was an infant. 4 years later, thanks to the miraculous gift of life and her donor, she was a vibrant, beautiful little girl. For her Make a Wish, she decided that she wanted to meet Minnie Mouse. So five days ago, their family (Mia, her mom and dad and her 3 siblings) flew to Florida to visit Disney World. But as soon as their plane landed, Mia was unexpectedly rushed to the hospital. Her little miraculous heart was in dreaded and shocking rejection. The doctors did a biopsy and while doing the procedure, something went wrong and Mia was put on heart and lung bypass machines to keep her alive, fighting for her life. Late Friday night, John and Mimi found out the agonizing news that their precious daughter’s brain function was gone and there was no hope or chance for her survival. Today, with her family gathered by her side, sweet Mia McDonald was taken off of the life support machines. Their sweet little family has now spent almost a week far away from home, loved ones, and their regular and familiar doctors. And their other kids, instead of going to Disney World have been in a hotel room and in a hospital, praying for and trying to understand what is going on with their sister, just wanting her to wake up. Those of us who know the family are in complete shock. A donation was set up to help with Mia’s medical expenses. Now that we know sweet Mia has joined her heart donor and returned to the arms of her Heavenly Father, the McDonald family is still going to need help with this great financial burden. Perhaps now even more than ever. Now they will have to not only pay for this hospital stay, but also cover the cost of a funeral and burial for their dear little Mia (in what is already a stressful and heartbreaking time). If you can give even just $1 or $5, that is wonderful. And please, even if you are not in a position to contribute financially, consider sharing their story with others. Every little donation and prayer will help. And I guarantee it will not go unnoticed.

Here is a link to the McDonald family donation site:
http://www.giveforward.com/achangeofheart

And here is a video I made for the family on Saturday evening.

(Credit for the song: “The Robe” recorded by my friends Soni, Whitney and Brooke of Mercy River. Written by another dear friend, Jenny Phillips.)

The family’s story was also recently on our local news channel, KSL. Here is a link to view that:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=22461236&nid=148&title=midway-family-says-goodbye-to-daughter-who-falls-ill-in-florida

Published on October 8, 2012 in Whatnots. 1 Comment Tags: children, heart transplant, love, make a wish, mia, organ donation, utah, videos.

The Permann Family

I’ve known Rock and Whitney since college. We are all still dear friends. (In fact, there are some of those friends that you are so close with, you consider them like family. That’s the Permanns for my husband and I.) Just a couple of weeks ago, we ventured to Disneyland with them and their kids (now that is something I should post pictures of on here!). Maybe it’s because we’re all such great friends so the emotions show through easily in pictures I take of them or maybe it’s because they’re all just so gosh darn cute and gorgeous and emotive and beautiful and angelic and photogenic and (insert whatever other fantastic adjective you can think of here) _________. But I have to say that this is one of my favorite photo shoots of all time and I have been absolutely GIDDY to post it to the blog! I can’t wait for the world to see their loveliness! And truth be told, I know that it has nothing whatsoever to do with me being their photographer and everything to do with their spirit and love for each other, which you can see shining through in every shot.

PS – these guys are a great example of wearing colors that POP in family photos. Whitney and I spent a good amount of time texting color ideas and pictures back and forth to each other. If you’re not sure of what to wear, don’t be afraid to talk to your photographer about it and get their opinion and ideas. It ends up paying off in the end!