Emma's Miracle Champion Surprise

Keeping a secret is no easy task.  Especially when it is one announcing that your child has been chosen to represent the state of Florida as the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Champion.

I remember receiving a phone call from our CMN Hospitals team telling me they had big news.  Once they told me that Emma had been selected as the CMN Hospitals Champion of Florida I was so excited I cried.

Once I was able to control my excitement we had to decide on how we wanted to surprise Emma.

Emma's birthday was in just a few short days.  I had already planned to take a birthday cookie cake to school for Emma's class to share and that was our way in on the surprise.

With a few short days of preparation we were able to gain the support of the staff at Emma's school along with a few family members and friends to help with the announcement.  In addition to family, friends and our CMN Hospitals family we had 2 special people from the school in attendance for Emma's announcement.  Emma's first grade teacher was my Kindergarten teacher and she was very honored to be a part of this day.  We also asked that Emma's music teacher attend to sing Happy Birthday as he was Emma's music therapist at Arnold Palmer Hospital during her last two heart surgeries.  Amazing how small of a world we live in when you run in to people from your past all in one place ;o)

On Emma's birthday I came to school with her birthday cookie cake as planned.  We had the CMN Hospitals team come to Emma's school along with a few others for the big announcement.  The tricky part now was making sure Emma didn't see us before the big reveal so where else do you hide people in a room...the closet, of course :o)

Upon Emma's class returning from lunch I was there with cake in hand along with Emma's Grandma and her music teacher to sing Happy Birthday.  After we finished singing Emma realized that she had a few extra visitors besides Mommy, Grandma and a few friends.  She saw the CMN Hospitals team and didn't really know what to think seeing them there with flowers and balloons for her.

We asked Cathy Droke, the Greater Orlando CMN Hospitals director, to tell Emma about her new role as Miracle Champion and Emma's response was priceless...She simply said, AWESOME with a big thumbs up for the camera.

After letting the kids dig into their cake Emma's music teacher had one more surprise for her.  He sang two very special songs to Emma - You Are My Sunshine and Beautiful by Bruno Mars.  You Are My Sunshine is so special as when Emma was in the CVICU she was very depressed and was refusing to talk, eat or communicate with us in any way.  The hospital staff requested that the music therapist visit Emma to see if he could lift her spirits.  You Are My Sunshine was the first song he sang to her and she smiled.  That was the first smile we saw in nearly 3 weeks and just thinking about it right now brings tears to my eyes.  Beautiful was a selection of the music teacher himself as when he thinks of Emma he thinks she is beautiful just the way she is - I have to agree 100% with that.

Over the last 7+ years we have been through some of the most trying and joyous times.  Without the support of the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children we truly have no idea where Emma would be today.  We are blessed to be a part of the CMN Hospitals family.

We love CMN Hospitals so much and are committed to raising funds for all of the children treated at CMN hospitals for the rest of our lives.

We look forward to all of the fun and excitement planned for this year and cannot wait to meet the other CMN Hospitals families from across the US.
Heart hugs to all
Shannon

Emma's 7th Annual Miracle Golf Invitational

From the moment we became a CMN Hospitals family my husband Chuck decided that we needed to host an event to raise funds for the cause so near and dear to our hearts.

During college Chuck participated in a charity golf tournament for CMN Hospitals so it was clear that we had to host a golf tournament of our own.

This past April was our 7th Annual Emma's Miracle Golf Invitational.

Hard to believe we have hosted this event 7 times but as the old saying goes, time flies when you're having fun.

Emma and Brandon hit the ceremonial first ball to start the event and during the tournament we drove around taking lots of pictures with the teams who came out to play.

With the support of family and lots of friends we were able to raise $4K for CMN Hospitals.  

Every dollar raised is an important dollar to a child who needs to be cared for by a CMN hospital.  Hopefully next year we will continue to raise even more money for CMN Hospitals and continue with our tournament for many years to come.

Heart Hugs

Shannon

Emma and Brandon with Daddy's team - Dr Munro (Emma's anesthesiologist, his wife, plus Miss Orlando Amanda Harris )

Emma and her cousins, Jon, Bella and Dylan along with Miss Orlando and her friends from UCF

Emma wearing Miss Orlando's crown - do you see a future princess in the making

Miss Orlando Amanda Harris and Layne Davidson from CMN Hospitals

UCF Knight-thon

Let me start by saying that we absolutely love the University of Central Florida Knights and all the students that participate with their Knight-thon fundraiser for CMN Hospitals.

This year was I believe our fifth Knight-thon event and it was better than ever!!!

UCF set a pretty big goal for themselves to raise $116K as this is their 16th Knight-thon event.  Not only did they hit their goal which put them roughly $30K above last year's total but they exceeded their goal for a total of $118K raised for CMN Hospitals.

This year was the first that we felt like we would be at the event all night as neither Emma or her brother Brandon wanted to leave.  The kids had a blast on bounce houses, playing all sorts of games and the most fun of all, the morale dance.  Both kids were on stage every hour on the hour dancing with the Knights and the students loved it.  We've even promised that next year they will be back on stage dancing their hearts out.

Each year we tell the students how important their support of CMN Hospitals is to Arnold Palmer Hospital and Shands Childrens Hospital.  I also ask them to never forget the children they meet each year at Knight-thon and to continue their fundraising efforts long after their college days are done.  It is amazing to see how much love is given to the CMN Hospital kids by the UCF students.  I truly hope the memories the students make with our special children at Knight-thon last them a lifetime and that they too become lifelong supporters of the organization.
Heart Hugs
Shannon