Sad November

Sunday November 15th the parents of Cody's good friend Brandon came over to talk to Joe and I. They told us that one of the boys friends, Cody Reetz was missing and wanted to know if our Cody had heard from him at all. It had been rumored that the stepdad had killed him, but we all remained calm and worked with the police to make phone calls to friends and try to and see if anyone had heard from him. Cody Reetz did call our Cody that morning, but he missed his call. He tried to call him back several times that day but could not get a hold of his friend. We were in contact with the other parents back and forth to see if there was any news, but unfortunately all we could do was pray and sit and wait. None of us got a good night of sleep Sunday night. We all said many prayers hoping that Cody Reetz would be found safe and that the rumor would not be true.

On Monday morning the Grafton police confirmed when we called to follow up that Cody Reetz had been murdered that Sunday night. Most of you have seen this in the news and have watched as this awful story had unfolded. Cody wanted to go to school on Monday, but we had to pick him up for a doctor appt. for later that morning. When Joe and I got there, we walked into a scene that no parent ever wants to see at their childs school. The school office was filled with crying students, grief counselors, and police. Grief counselors were taking students one at a time into the library while other students were on the phone asking thier parents to come and get them. Cody was quiet, not saying much or showing much. While he went to his locker to get his coat, Joe checked him out for the appointment and I just began to cry and went out to wait in the jeep. When we dropped him off after the appointment, Cody went to see a grief counselor and did not go back to class the rest of the afternoon. On Tuesday, Cody had a breakdown and he stayed home from school that day. His friend Brandon who was also having a tough day stayed home, so the boys got together and made a big poster in Cody Reetz's honor and it distracted them for a little while. We cannot say enough how wonderful Principal Greg Kabara has been and what a great job he did in handling such a horrible event. The school has been doing everything they can to see that the students get through this the best they can.

I won't go into specifics about the event. If you have not heard this story by now, you can find it on jsonline or on any of the news stations web sites. Cody Reetz was a very kind, very respectful and very fun kid. He was one of the boys that I described in an earlier post who was sitting at my kitchen table sucking down the mt dews and inhaling food. These boys had become very close playing xbox, skateboarding, having sleepovers, tech decking and playing football. Cody Reetz had a smile that made you want to just grab his cheeks and tell him what cute little dimples he had. Our Cody felt that he was the nicest friend he had and the nicest kid at school. The Reetz family is and has been in our prayers and we can only hope that they can some how find some peace and comfort in this very difficult time.

Slowly, Cody is realizing that Cody Reetz is not just "out sick", but that he will not be coming back to school, calling any more to hang out or be able to have anymore sleepovers. All of Cody Reetz's friends and the parents have been devistated by his murder and the entire week has been so sad and so difficult.

We attended the funeral services and burial on Friday, November 20th and it was very difficult to get through. Cody smiled when he saw that the poster that him and his friend Brandon made was displayed at the funeral. Cody placed a little tech deck skate board that the boys would play around with in the casket with his friend as did other friends. Later in the evening the town of Grafton had a silent walk and a candle light vigil in honor of Cody Reetz and his family. It was absolutely one of the most sad, but beautiful things that we could have been a part of. The boys were all interviewed by every news station, it was strange as a parent to see Cody with the bright lights of the cameras in his face and knowing that he was having to describe the memories he had of a good friend that is dead. These kids are so young and it is just awful for the family, but also for these young kids to experience the murder of a young friend. The boys had all gotten together at our house before the walk and made t shirts to honor their friend. Some of them wore buttons that had Cody Reetz's picture on it. Cody Reetz had left his blue adidas jacket by our house after a sleepover, when our Cody told his mom that he had it she told our Cody to go ahead and keep it. Cody wore it with his button on it to the walk & vigil. It really meant a lot to him to be able to keep the jacket.

After the interviews the parents of Cody Reetz along with his brothers and sisters lead the way through a lighted trail and started the silent walk. Once at the park, candles were handed out and a choir sang. At six o'clock the bells from St. Josephs church rang and that began the vigil. The lighting of the candles began with Cody Reetz's mother and spread around while family and friends lit bag candles that were placed on the ground and spelled out "Cody". There were special speakers that read poems, our Cody and other friends spoke about what a great friend Cody Reetz was. The choir sang a beautiful version of "Amazing Grace" and then the vigil ended with a balloon release, and the balloons twinkled, so you could see the cluster of twinkling lights go on for so long.

Cody was on channel 4's 10 o'clock news and he did such a good job. It was really hard for him and he said it was really hard not to cry while speaking on camera. He said that when he spoke at the vigil he started to cry so he handed the microphone to another friend to speak.

Attached is the link for the news clip, and I'm not sure if it will work. If it doesn't work then you can get to it on http://www.todaystmj4.com/ and click on the Cody Reetz vigil to view it.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/70676487.html?video=pop&t=a&bctid=clip_ID_150279

Thank you to those who have prayed for Cody Reetz and his family and who have said prayers and sent condolensces to our Cody. Every time we hear the bells ring at St. Josephs church we will think of Cody Reetz who's life was ended way too soon and we will all miss him.

God Bless!

Fall, 2009

Fall is our favorite time of year! We love the colors, the cool weather and the change in season. Not such a fan of cold and rain, but we have really been liking the Indian summer!

We had a good time at the pumpkin farm with my brother and his family. We couldn't get the older boys to come with because they were having more fun with thier friends so we just went with Courtney and AJ. We got some nice pumpkins and hot apple cider! It was a good time.

October is also our anniversary, but after the news of the baby, that was as big of a present as we could have given each other, so we enjoyed sweetest day and our anniversary basking in the happiness of our news.

Cody and his friends went trick or treating on halloween. Cody dressed up as a banana, it was pretty funny. We went trick or treating in Grafton and my brother/sis in law met up with us and we all went together. Once the Grafton time ended, the older kids went to Cedarburg to do more damage there. Joe & I went to a halloween party later and Cody hung out with his cousins over night.

On a much sadder note, Joe's family dog Alex passed away on October 25th. We had just recently found out that he had cancer and he did not have much time. Joey really loved Alex and it was really hard for him and the family. Alex is in a good place now and cancer free, but we sure do miss him!

Baby Rebro coming June, 2010

Just when I said that things could not get anymore perfect, they do!! We found out early October that I am pregnant!! This has been a very personal, long and heartbreaking road for us. Some of you know what we've been through, but because it is so personal, I realize that not everyone knows what a true miracle this child is.

Our first obstacle was my breast cancer because the treatment killed my ovaries, put me through menapause and I was never supposed to be able to have any more children. We knew this going into our marriage, but after a year of chemo, mother nature came back to visit me and although we were shocked, we thought that it just had to happen for a reason. Long story short, we had been seen by 4 different fertility doctors trying to see if we could have children. I am at a high risk for a cancer reoccurrance if I got pregnant, so Joe and I made the decision that if we couldn't do it on our own, then it wasn't meant to be, we didn't want to force the risk and we would explore another option because any fertility treatment was putting me at a higher risk by taking hormones. We were blind sided by the news that Joe also had a fertility issue and he went through a surgery that did not improve things for him afterwards. We explored everything from egg donation, to even having my sister in law Genell offer to carry for us, but when we found out that we couldn't concieve biologically, we decided to go another route. From here we sat through hours and hours of adoption meetings on domestic, international and embryo adoption. Finally, we had decided to become Foster parents to adopt a foster child. Cody being older, we just felt that it was a good fit for our family and there are so many kids without homes. We attended the classes and had our reference packets out to family and friends and those were all ready to go. We needed to have a home study done, but we had to put it on hold because of our move to Grafton. Keep in mind that over these 3 years, we have been on an emotional roller coaster every time I was late, we were slapped in the face with a negative pregnancy test. I was irregular since it returned and so it really made for a lot of false hope at times. Once we moved so much was taken off of our shoulders. I had gotten the body aches, chills and felt like doo doo. It was a little unusual since I don't get sick often at all. Jokingly, Joe bought a pregnancy test and asked me if I had taken a test. I did not want to given how the last 3 years of them had turned out. Monday morning after Joe left for work, I got up for work and decided to give it one more shot while I was getting ready and the results turned positive right away! I thought that I had gotten a false positive, so I used the second test about an hour later and that too was positive. I was now in shock and disbelief, thinking the whole box of tests were bad. I left for work but instead of going to work I played hooky and drove myself to my Doctors office instead. With no appointment, I went in and they were nice enough to run a test for me. When my Doctor came in she confirmed with tears in her eyes that I was pregnant. I put my face in my hands and cried for about 10 minutes! Happy tears, but ones of shock and disbelief as well.

I called Joe who was working and told him things were fine but since I was on this side of town I'd meet him for lunch. I bought him a baby gift and presented it to him at work. It took a second to connect the dots, but he got it. We laughed, cried and sat there sort of speechless because we just couldn't believe this was happening. We took Cody out for ice cream later and got him a book of stories about brothers. His first response was "Did we get a foster child?" We said, no not exactly, then he said "adoption?" and we said, no not exactly...then with tears in his eyes, he looked at me and said "You?" I shook my head yes and we all cried a little more and once again had few words other than this is just some serious divine intervention.

Just after finding out, we heard from my parents that they were going to come in from Florida in November. We had decided that this was too big of news to tell them over the phone or email and since they were coming, we just had to tell them in person. This is why the news may be getting to some of you late, because we were afraid that the surprise would leak out somehow, so we kept it a secret. Now that our parents know we can share the wonderful news with everyone. We did ask our parents to help spread the good news just in case we missed someone.

I am now 3 months along and our expected due date is June 12th, 2010. I've been very naucious, which is a good thing for pregnancy, and have been extememly tired. I am high risk and will be followed throughout by my oncologist. It is just such a miracle! No fertility help after all was needed. Three out of the 4 fertility Doctors had told us this would never happen, and the 4th Doctor gave us an 8% chance with fertility drugs. I guess we proved them all wrong. Had we known, we would have moved to Grafton sooner!! We are just so happy and are really feeling blessed right now. And no, we are not going to find out what the sex of the baby is....we'll all just have to wait and be surprised!

Our Move to Grafton

For those who do not know this already, we are now living in Grafton and just love it here. Unfortunately things with our house and move did not go as planned and really turned into one huge nightmare, but family and friends were there to help us out.

Before we could even move into our new place it needed a serious scrub down because it was not left for us in move in condition! We had a huge dumpster in our driveway for a while until we got the previous owners property out, then we began the scrub down. Uncle John, cousin Vicky and her daughter, my brother Tony, sis in law Genell and the kids all came over to help Joe, me and Cody clean and paint so that we could move in. This was just the inside of the house, the outside needed much work as well, but we had to be out of our Milw. house so the inside and getting moved was the priority.

The move was not as smooth as we would have hoped, but thanks to Uncle Bob, cousin Ryan & his friends, Uncle Richard, Aunt Kelly, cousin Dan Rebro, Brian Lerch, and Tony & Christa, we did mangage to get everything into the basement of our house. Why the basement? Well, the carpet was not being put in until after the move so we had to leave the bedrooms and living room open for them to install it. Once the carpet got in we were able to move our things from the basement upstairs and I can't tell you how good it felt to sleep in our beds again.

My Aunt Kelly (my cousing Tyler) and her sister Kathy came by the Saturday after we moved and suprised us by volunteering to be our landscaping crew for the day! They worked soooo hard all day, it was unbelievable. We had weeds up to our knees everywhere plus a crazy tree that was growing where it shouldn't have been. They cleaned everything out, did flowers and made it all look great. We are so grateful to all of their hard work.

This whole experience was so stressful, but with everyone's help and generosity we managed to get settled in. We moved in August and just love it. Cody is in 8th grade and is going to John Long Middle School. He wasted no time making friends! He is able to ride his bike, skate board or walk to any one of his friends houses. He rides his bike to school everyday, his grades are great and we have not seen him this happy in a while. He has made some really incredible friends and it is hard to get him to stay home with us because he is always on the go with them. He's really gotten into skateboarding and tech decking. The boys get together to play football or basketball at one of the near by parks, or else they just hang out at somebody's house, but it always seems to be in groups. Sleepovers consist of a couple of friends and usually all weekend. I have to say that these teenage boys can really inhale some food though!! Joe and I really enjoy having the kids hang out over here though because they are all so nice and really a lot of fun. Joe will go out with them and play football once in a while too. I usually do the cooking and listen to the crazy stories they tell while downing mountain dews and inhaling the food. It is all worth it though. This is exactly what we had hoped for by moving here and nothing could be more perfect!

Happy 4th of July

Hello family and friends,

Things have been pretty crazy since our last blog update, so we will do our best to get you up to speed with what's been going on. We're going to do this in sections so hopefully we won't forget anything.

In July we were just trying to enjoy our summer. Cody went to a basketball camp at Whitewater University and had a really good time. We were really proud of him for going because he did this without any other friends going and it was the first time he'd spent a weekend away from home, literally all by himself.

For the 4th of July we headed out to Saukville and had a nice cook out with my brother Tony, sis-in-law Genell and their family. We watched the fireworks in Saukville too, not as good as Grafton's last year, but they were nice.

I am still plugging away at school and work, Joe is working at St. Francis ER still and we have been having showings like crazy on our house that we are selling. It has been a real treat keeping the house clean and driving around with 3 dogs in our jeep and then having to clean all the dog hair out of the jeep. We have had a couple of showings a day at least 3-4 days a week, so this has really monopolized our time and made work and school a challenge.

Other than that, all is well and we're all happy and healthy.

Easter and Mothers Day

Easter came and went really fast, especially with having my surgery so close! The adorable bunny photo is my Uncle John, he is a silly wabbit I tell ya! We were able to spend Easter with my Mom while she was still in town and had a good time in Grafton with my brother, his family and other family!

Mothers day was very peaceful. Joey & Cody spoiled me as usual and we went out for a really nice dinner when Joey got done with work. Cody had a make up soccer game that day, so all of us Mom's froze on the side lines at the soccer game. Unfortunately, I do not get any breaks with my schooling, so I also had some homework to do, but other than that I was able to put my feet up and relax!

Cody's 13th Birthday!

Cody also had a birthday on May 23rd! 13 YEARS OLD! Oh my, we have a teenager in the house. The funny thing about that day is that when Joe & I looked in the mirror, Joe had a lot of gray hair, and I suddenly noticed all the wrinkles around my eyes!! What on earth is that about? I have to say Cody is a pretty darn good kid! He is finishing the 7th grade at St. Roman's and had maintained honor roll all year. He is now in soccer season, and is finally done with the very long basketball season. My younger brother Tony turned 32 on May 13th and so we had a get together with his family to celebrate both Tony & Cody's bday's. Cody also celebrated with some friends who had a great time keeping Joe & I up all night. He is really looking forward to his bday present from us, he is going to a weekend basketball camp at Whitewater University. I just cannot believe what a little man he is turning into, we are very proud of him and ready to embrace this new adventure of teenage years!

Joe's 30th Birthday!

I cannot believe how time has gotten away from us! So much has been going on since the last post, some good, some bad, but all in all we are all well and happy! March 23rd, Joey turned 30 years old! We celebrated this mile stone birthday with a wonderful surprise party at the Grafton Ale House. Joe was very surprised and really touched by the family and friends that were there to enjoy the event with him and everyone seemed to have a great time. It was really nice to see him have some fun and unwind a little. He works so hard in the ER and is always working long and crazy shifts, if anyone deserved this it was him!

April fools day I had emergency gallbladder surgery! What a day to go under the knife, but I figure if my twin uncles were born that day, it couldn't be all that bad =). It is a long story, but the short of it, I am feeling better and recovered very well. I was really glad to get back to work because I love, love, love my job! No, seriously, I love my job! I have been working as an Activity Assistant at an elderly residence and they are just awesome. I feel like I'm volunteering, but I actually get paid! I can't begin to explain how precious each resident is and how much they tug at my heart strings. During my recovery my Mom came in from Florida to help out. I did ok, but she helped fill my shoes, like taking Cody to & from school, soccer and other events, not to mention helping so that the house didn't fall apart and so Joe & Cody had clean clothes to wear! It was a really good visit and we are very blessed that she loves us enough to come and help!

Our Chocolate Lab, Harley had a minor surgery in April as well, to have a small cancerous growth removed from his gum. He got his chompers cleaned while we were at it and he's great now. Miles (our Golden retriever) turned 4 in May & as usual we all celebrated! I'm not sure who ate their cake faster, Joe or the puppies =). Lola is doing great too, they are sassy and full of spunk! We love em'.