Monday, June 29, 2009

Overwhelming

As promised, I am posting again. A quick post on Ally and then a longer one on our hair party. First of all, Ally. She is still not doing well. I hate to say it, but she just had horrible stomach pain all day. No luck with making it any better. The doctor told us if she was still in pain on Monday, we should call. So I am imagining we will be back down at the hospital tomorrow. It is just not right. She is suffering way too much. If the breeze blows by her the wrong way she is in complete tears. I am keeping this short, because who really wants to read about a sweet girl suffering, anyway? I had to work really hard just to get the few pictures/videos that I could today in between bouts of crying. So it looks all happy and cheery here, but let me assure you it is not.
With that said, I am in complete amazement at the wonderful act of kindness and love that I witnessed today. My heart was just completely filled with emotion today....I was crying off and on throughout the haircuts. Not because my daughter was losing her hair. No, I already have dealt with that and come to terms with it. I am not sure what the tears were for..joy..compassion..gratitude...but never have I felt such love for my friends (and Uncle Gavin). Remember how I keep mentioning my family of 13?? It is the Barnett 5, the Booher 4, and the Winger 4. Well, we are pretty much inseparable to the point that people think we are a little weird. (yes, I know you do) Well 8....EIGHT....8!!!!!!!!!!!! of the 13 are now bald just like Ally. And Ally's sweet Uncle Gavin walked up...shaved his head...no questions asked. He said if it brought her even one minute of happiness, it was worth it to him. Then Grandpa Booher (Larry's Dad) showed his support by doing it. Madison, one of the girls in the group, had a few inches chopped off of her hair. And then I hear through the grapevine that our personal trainer, Kevin, has also shaved his head in support. Jerad's parents even drove two hours from Junction City just to witness it, and they had just seen her yesterday. OVERWHELMING. OVERWHELMING, I tell ya. I am not exactly sure how to get my feelings across here...but you could feel the love flying around the air for our brave little girl. Here is a picture of all the courageous supporters. I hope you can see they painted the back of their heads with the words ALL 4 ALLY.

I am feeling like some friends and family will want to see pictures and video of this. Hopefully, I don't share too much!
This is a before shot of the little boys

And here they are after....pretty cute.

Joshua and Madison get their turn

Before Shot of the 3 big boys

Let the wives commence cutting


I think Jerad's high school and work friends will like the mohawk picture!



And Ally's Daddy is bald.

Uncle G's turn...

It was finally Ally's turn...our neighbor Karen helped us out
She is pretty cute, and yes, I know, she looks like my Mom.

Can you tell from Bobby's shirt? This is the Winger fam.

I did forget to get an "after" picture of the big boys. I just can't think of everything!! Actually, most of the picture credit goes to my neighbors..Dave and Holly Holstein who took care of it for us.

And here is the video I promised:

And that post just took me two hours to do!! I hope somebody likes it. More later...

10 comments:

  1. Like it? No, LOVE it!
    So happy to be there...we would do anything for our family :-)

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  2. Of course, great post at always! We all love our Ally girl and would do anything for her!

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  3. Absolutely amazing! Such a wonderful support team. We read your blog every day Janel! You do an incredible job keeping us all updated. Don't feel bad if you miss a day or two. We also just got our Allys Army braceletes in the mail and are wearing them proud. I even gave some to my friends! Thinking and praying for you all every day!!!

    Love, cousin Lauren

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  4. Love the pictures but loved being there even more. I know this was hard for you. Ally is as beautiful bald, as she was with hair. (And our men are quite handsome as well!) I don't know how you were still awake at 12:00 am to do this post!

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  5. AMAZING... UNBELIEVEABLE... What an outpouring show of love and support. I am sitting here crying and smiling all at once - Ally looks beautiful. You do such an incredible job of letting us be a part of your journey. I wake up every morning and my first stop is the computer to see how Ally is doing. I will be praying for good news this Thursday. Take care. Sheri Cobler

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  6. Wow! It is so wonderful to see the love and support of such amazing friendsand family.

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  7. I am a high school friend of Suzanne's and have been following Ally's journey even though I don't know your family. I am praying for you guys and hope that you find strength and hope throughout everything. I was moved to tears when reading and seeing the pictures of the hair party. You are definitely blessed with wonderful family and friends.

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  8. LOVE everyone's new do's! Looks like you turned something difficult into something a little bit more fun. Ally's sweet face shows more than ever!

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  9. thanks for the post. so glad that the guys joined in. Ally looks beautiful, really, angelic. hoping today she found some stomach relief. thinking of ALL of you.

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  10. Great post, great support - and so many more people are with you during this time.

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