Sunday, October 9, 2011

Light of Hope Event

I am so proud to be a part of the Saline County CASA Board of Directors. I began my journey with CASA several years ago I guess you could say. Let me take you back a bit.

I began working for DHS in June of 2009 and spent a year working there. One day during court, I was sitting in the jury box with the other caseworkers and CASA Volunteers. I began talking with one of the volunteers and talked about my girls and showed her their photos. She immediately recognized them and began to explain that she had been their advocate when they were in foster care. We were so glad to meet one another. For me, it was comfort to know that the girls had her watching out for them and for her, she was so happy to see that the girls are okay and have a loving family.

CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The court system appoints these volunteers to visit with children that are in foster care and to present the judge with what is in the best interest of the child during court hearings. They are amazing people that give their time and put the safety of our (my) children first.

Then I left DHS to stay at home and began my journey as a member of the Board last October. My focus on the Board is fundraising and I got the opportunity to help with our first event of the year. 

We decided on an event called "Light of Hope" in which we would invite everyone in the community to find old light fixtures and "flip them". We picked the Farmer's Market Pavilion in Bryant in order to display the lights in the evening and allow them to light up the night! We then auctioned off the lamps in a silent auction and raffled off some pretty good items. We had an autographed Cliff Lee baseball and an amazing light fixture (valued at over $300)  donated by Lewis Lumber, just to name a couple.

We had a great time and appreciate all of those that supported us this year. We hope that our event grows with each year and is some day "a pretty big deal".

Enjoy the photos from that amazing night:







   "You shoulda been there!"



And of course, the girls had some fun too.

I hope to see some of you out next year for this event that supports the children of our community!

chasing foof

Andrew and the girls have had some fun with the bunny.
We let her hang out on the back deck with them one day.
As soon as they opened the cage and tried to get her out, she scratched and ran away to hide.

She hid anywhere she could find.

And Livi was always right on her tail.

She fits in quiet well as a 4th sister.

happy birthday jackson and wps






My mom has a picture similar to this one of me and my great grandma Katie when I was little.
I just couldn't help myself.


Makayla made a new friend
and learned that they were both going to see Taylor Swift soon!

Jackson had a good birthday party and we were so glad to able to be a part of it.
We loved seeing Memaw, Nana, Lindsey and her family.

Foo Foo

This is a photo of the girls standing in front of a large square object that is covered with a blanket.
I asked them what they thought was in "the box"....

Makayla's answer was " a horse"...

Olivia thought is was snakes....
      and Abi thought it could be an American Girl Horse.......

Then they saw her....

And her name is Foo Foo.

As in "little bunny Foo Foo." We call her Foof sometimes too.
She is a cute little bun. But she is not fond of people. She often runs and hides behind things. The girls try really hard to get her to play but she doesn't really want to have much to do with them.


Foof stayed in the house for a couple of weeks and then she moved out into the garage. I think she is happier when we leave her be.
Welcome to the Hill Home little Foof!