December 10, 2013
6 years ago I gave birth to a very special little boy. We were not sure how much time we would get with him. He surprised us in SO many ways. Zachary came into this world fighting and left this world fighting.
We are so thankful for every second we were able to have with our little guy. It still stings so bad when we think about him and miss being able to give him kisses and hugs. I miss hearing Josiah ask EVERY morning if he could go wake up Zach. Mind you, Josiah is usually up no later than 6am so my usual response was “let’s just wait a few more minutes”. He would ask about 30 seconds later and I usually gave in because Zach was always excited when Josiah came in and snuggled with him. I miss those moments.
Now, as Micah and Josiah grow up, it is hard to watch. I do not have babies anymore. All my memories of Zach are of him as a little boy. They will always be memories of him as a baby and toddler. It is a weird place to be. My older two are growing, but I still feel like I have a little guy around but he’s not here anymore. None of that makes much sense, but it doesn’t to me either.
We continue to remember our precious boy every day, especially as his 6th birthday approaches. We wanted to do something to remember Zachary this year. So, in his honor we would like to collect a TON of toys to take to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
PCH allows all inpatient families to come “shop” for a few toys for their kids at Christmas time. They wrap them for the families and the families get to take them home or keep them in their children’s room at the hospital. Phoenix Children’s Hospital goes through hundreds of thousands of toys every year. We thought it would be a great way to give back to PCH as we were able to be a part of the toy drive when Zach was in the hospital over the holidays.
Here’s what we would like to do, collect AS MANY toys as we possibly can and deliver them to PCH. We have an amazon list and we will have a day in November where you can drop the toys off at our house so we can take them down to the hospital.
Here are the parameters and the kinds of toys they usually run low on.
Guidelines for Toy Donations
All donated toys/items must be new and in the original packaging. Used toys & items cannot be given to patients. For the health and safety of our patients, please do not wrap toys.
Please avoid donating items such as:
Play guns or war toys Latex balloons Candy, gum, or other food Scary or violent action figures Stuffed animals Used toys or books
Infant and teen toys are the most needed, but they will take any age.
Please feel free to purchase items elsewhere as well.
We are SO thankful for all the support we have had over the years. It really is amazing how many people came along side our family and walked us through some dark days and continue to be by our side.
I can close my eyes and see Zach’s eyes light up when he sees all the toys we will take down to our second home, PCH!
THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our wish to collect these toys!!!! LETS GET HUNDREDS TO TAKE DOWN!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!!
December 7th between 10am-3pm you can drop toys off at our house!
You can also order from our Amazon wish list and it will be shipped directly to our home.
We will deliver the toys to PCH on Zach’s, birthday December 10th!
Thank you for your support.