Laurie Fitzsimmons

On September 26th, we got an email from my sister-in-law, (Tim's sister) Kim telling us some very shocking and unexpected news. Their sister, Laurie, had been to a doctor who thought he saw cancer spots on her liver, but a biopsy was being done to confirm it.

It came back positive for cancer, but we subsequently learned it had not spread. This generated a small amount of hope for a liver transplant or some other new procedure still in experimental stages. Without intervention, she was given about 18 months to live. At 49 years old.

Chemo ensued, but infections put that on hold.

By Thanksgiving, she was drastically weaker, but still looked to be in good health.

One week later, we left for Disney World and were told she might not make it until we got back.

We returned to find her condition much deteriorated. She had no energy, even for talking, and it was time to face the harsh reality.

Last Friday she was given a week or two.

Monday, she died.

She leaves a husband and three children, Josh, Nichole and Lauren. It was this daughter Nichole who just got married. She moved the date up so her mom could be there. The picture above was taken 10 days before her death. I felt a desperation that day to capture her, to give a very small remembrance gift to her family. I wish they all could have been in the shot, but as Laurie was so weak at the point, the picture was too rushed.

Laurie was fun and full of life. She loved my girls. She was passionate about her family and was so proud of her kids. She was her sister, Kim's, best friend and was always up for an adventure with her, whether it was getting up before dawn for the day after Thanksgiving sales or heading off to Disneyland for a shot at seeing a Pirates of the Caribbean star.

Like all the Lasch siblings, she worried about getting Alzheimer's, not cancer!

It's not fair.

I told God that, but my heart wasn't in it. I could hear my mom's voice saying, "Life's not fair." I always hated that when I was a kid. She was the mom. She could make it fair if she wanted to.

Now I know better.

Life's not fair.

The strangest part of all of this for me has been the surrealness of it. I don't know if I was in denial, or hadn't given myself time to really think about it, but the whole thing felt like it wasn't really happening. Maybe it was too fast. Maybe it was too unbelievable.

I'm beginning to think it was the peace of God.

Going through any hard time, a lot of Christian platitudes come to mind: All things work together for good, God's in control, She's going to a better place, Pray for peace.

I know all of that is true, but having been through some small trials myself, I find trite sayings don't bring me much comfort.

I need to experience the truth of these words for myself before I can own them and believe them. I think Tim and I and many other members of the family genuinely experienced God's peace.

I know, I didn't ask for it. I didn't seek it. I didn't know I needed it. I didn't even recognize it when it came. It was just there.

That's cool.

So now I know. We have lost a loved one to a terrible disease, with no warning and no hope for recovery. Yet God poured out His peace on us like He said He would.

Laurie has gone home. She's with her mom in an amazing place standing in the presence of God.

I believe that. It's not an empty platitude. I have to believe it, or there is no hope.

We're still here however. We have to keep on with a permanent hole in our hearts and lives.

But if God kept His promise to us, to give us peace, I know He kept His promise to Laurie, and welcomed her home with open arms.

And I know He'll continue to comfort those of us left behind.


Left to right, the Lasch family: Scott, Kim, Tim, Gene (dad), Terry, and Laurie

The Office: Jim's Declaration of Love

This is the MOST amazing television moment!! I LOVE this!!!! I think I've watched it at least 15 times on our DVD...

MGM Scrapbook Pages

MGM is similar to Universal Studios. It's Disney's nod to the movies.


The first ride we headed for was Rock 'N' Roller Coaster, which speeds you through simulated LA freeways to the rockin' sounds of Aerosmith. It was a huge hit and since there was no line, we went back again.

Next was Tower of Terror. Like all the rides which exist in both California and Florida, it does have it's differences. Specifically, it takes you through the "attic" before dropping you 13 stories!

But the biggest draw at MGM is the shows. We saw Beauty and the Beast, Fantasmic and Lights, Motors, Action. The last was a high speed, very loud display of stunt driving. It really made me want to be a stunt driver when I grow up.

Finally, the sun sets and the Osborne Family Lights come on. These lights were donated by a family after being told by the state of Arkansas that it was too much! Disney decorated their cityscape with them and you have never seen anything like this. The best part was when the music began the the lights "danced" in sync with the tune. It was unbelievable how many things they can do by turning on and off lights. Gorgeous!

Final Animal Kingdom Pages

I hope I am not boring everyone with our Walt DisneyWorld trip! I know it's taking a while, but I am trying to show you everything we did!

Here are my final pages from Animal Kingdom. The Kilimanjaro Safari is the big attraction. You can see some of the animals here that we got to see up close in a very realistic trip through an African game reserve.

The newest ride is the Expedition Everest. It's like the Matterhorn on steroids. Not only is it much smoother and faster, you go BACKWARDS for much of the ride! The monster is much scarier, too. Notice the broken track in front of Chandler. Apparently the Yeti doesn't like visitors. It was so much fun, I think we went on it 3 times...

Of course we saw the Lion King show again this time. It's FANTASTIC!

Finally, we saw the new Finding Nemo show. It's done with puppets, but their handlers are actors as well. It's a wonderful combination of acting and puppetry. My favorite character was Mr. Ray who came gliding in on a bicycle. Animal Kingdom really boasts an amazing aura. They have done such a good job of making you feel like you have journeyed to far parts of the earth.

Christmas

Another Christmas come and gone. It was a good one as it usually is. We spent it at my mom's house and it is so fun to see Josh enjoying his gifts. He's at a good age for that.

Tim got a Disney Treasures DVD with all the behind the scenes stuff he loves!

Josh got this set of books, which he loves.

But even more than the books, he loves Buzz Lightyear, so everything else was Buzz!

Regan, who loves all things Hannah Montana, got a calendar...

... and High School Musical 2.

Malia got her first set of ears from Chandler.

But the funnest part of the day is the big gift from my dad. He sends out 3 clue letters with obscure and irrelevant clues and the girls have a chance to guess what it is. The correct guess wins them $5. They always guess, but not because of his clues!

Regan guessed a Nintendo DS and won! She guessed that because it is what she really wanted!

Chandler, on the other hand, takes the ridiculous clues very seriously and made up a poster detailing each nugget of information. She showed it around to whoever would look to try to discern the prize.

You try it. Here are the clues:

It will keep you small

Can be used in day or night

Not too big or too small

Not very tall

Several ways to enjoy

She will like it

She will not forget it

She could get it at a mall

Will always be "new"

Color is not blue

Two parts

One is very small (less than half size of the larger)

The other is larger, but not tall

Doesn't stand still

Parts move at will

May need a battery or two

13 letters?

Did you guess???

She did! - a digital camera!!

Clowns for Christ

Suffice it to say we will NOT be visiting this church anytime soon.

Here is the article:

TAMPA, Fla. - The clown walked into church like he owned the place.

KoKoMo stood proudly in the sanctuary of Carrollwood Baptist, his huge white shoes planted firmly, his head-to-toe sequins glimmering, his nose and wig as red as a Christmas bow.

It was no joke. KoKoMo was decked out for God.

The Rev. Tom Rives adopted his alter ego about 35 years ago and has used it ever since. The message delivered in his high-pitched voice is weighty for a clown: It is of love and salvation.
Rives believes clowning is a means to teach about Christ. "People who wouldn't talk to a preacher will talk to a clown," he says

Nichole's Wedding

On Saturday, I shot my niece Nichole's wedding. It was beautiful and bittersweet. I'm posting some photos here, quickly and I'll blog about it later in another post.

It's Christmas Eve afterall!!!! I have things to do!!

Top This Party

Because my dad shoots for Servite, he was invited to shoot for a very high end party being thrown by the family of the quarterback. The house was unbelievably gorgeous, something us mere mortals cannot attain to. It's the kind of house and landscaping you see in a very high end magazine and think, "Who really lives in a house like that? Do people really spend hundreds of thousands on landscaping?" Well, yes they do.

The party was being filmed for a T.V. show called "Top This Party." So there were camera crews running around everywhere filming the 1200 plus guests enjoying themselves. I can honestly say, I don't think you can top this party. They had the Beach Boys play the warm up act, the real Beach Boys. The main act was the guy who won America's Got Talent - Terry Fator. He was good. You should book him for your next party!

Since the father is a Hollywood agent and manager, we were told that there would be celebrities at this party, but not to waste time shooting them. Afterall, the family sees them all the time. I recognized Ace from American Idol, but I wasn't going to shoot him until he asked if I could get a picture of them. Then Kimberly Caldwell joined us! I took the shot and acted all cool. Didn't let on that I recognized them at all, but all I could think of the rest of the night was Ace's version of Father Figure... Dreamy...

Notice my dad in the background. He's so not star struck. He didn't even realize what was going on!

There were others there... I shot Mike Scioscia without even realizing it. I'm sure there were people I didn't recognize, but I wasn't looking for stars, just a good shot!

To see more from this party go to my dad's site.

Animal Kingdom

The third park we visited was Animal Kingdom. It features a realistic safari trip through an African savanna with real wild animals. We are able to see them very up close.

I love the architecture and feel of this particular park.

Final Epcot Pages

Here are my final Epcot pages. I especially loved the Holiday Storytellers. I think you can click on the layout and be able to read what I wrote.

On the other side of Epcot is Future World. It's an educational type place with structures dedicated to the Land and Sea, Innoventions and Imagination and some crazy rides like Test Track and Mission Space.

One fun thing was taste testing Coca-Cola from around the World. The Italian soda called the Beverly was a particular favorite. Just check out Rick and Dawn's faces!!

The kids really seemed to love Test Track. It is supposed to simulate the GM Test facilities. The car goes through a series of "tests" and finally speeds down the race track. It's a thrill!

I LOVE Epcot... someday we'll go back...

Epcot

I haven't had a ton of time to scrapbook, what with Christmas and all, but I manages to sneak in a couple of Epcot pages.

We went to Epcot the first day in DisneyWorld. What I love about Epcot is the side of the park called the World Showcase. It has microcosms of cities throughout the world. Just when I think one is my favorite, we go to another. I think my favorite, favorite is the U.K., but it is closely followed by my other favorites France and Italy. And my other favorite, Canada. Hopefully, I'll get some time to do more pages soon.

The best part about the World Showcase however, is the food!! We enjoyed "eating around the world." On our first day, we had reservations at the Rose and Crown pub. Rick enjoyed saying, "We're at the Rose and Crown eating bangers and mash" in his best cockney accent. Oh, I want to go back!!!

Last Magic Kingdom Pages

Here are the last two pages of our Magical trip to the Magic Kingdom.

We had a very good position for viewing the fireworks and it was amazing to watch the castle light up in so many different colors. My dad even caught Tinkerbell flying right over our heads.

Emma got to see Santa for the first time. Unfortunately, he wasn't the real Santa (he's at Disneyland!) and he wasn't very jolly. But he looked good in the pictures.

What an amazing time!

Magic Kingdom Part 2

Here is my next batch.

We had lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern, which is a replica from Revolutionary day. It is so cool to see this bit of "history". The food was amazing, but all Emma cared about was my cup.

We found a sleigh out front which was perfect for pictures.

We went on just about every ride there. It wasn't very crowded, which made it nice.

I love these pictures from Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. I was so proud of Dylan. He normally shys away from some of the "scarier" rides, but he jumped right into everything without complaint. However, his face on Splash Mountain gives him away!!