Our good buddy Lydia, whom you've seen here a lot because we spend nearly every waking moment with her and her family, was diagnosed earlier this year with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).  RP is a degenerative eye disease that can lead to blindness, and there is currently no cure for it.  Our dear little Lydia has lost much of her sight already, and she and her family have been prepping a lot this summer for life (and Kindergarten!) with vision impairment. 

With this prepping for day-to-day challenges comes the need for equipment.  Expensive equipment.  So, some lovely friends from Laura's hometown hosted a benefit in Lydia's honor to raise funds for some much-needed tools to assist Lydia and her family.  And the kids and I were so excited to get to be there!

We travelled way up north (it felt like the end of the earth...really) to stay at Lydia's grandma's house for a few nights so we could be at the benefit with them.

Our kids were as excited as if they were going to one of their own grandma's houses!  We were counting down the days.  When we got there, the kids made themselves right at home, as if it really was their own grandma's.  And the kids had fun playing together as usual, but in an unusual place.

We got to go to church, hang out with Lydia's extended family, and then we all got to go to the benefit together.

Lydia was the princess of the day.

There was a silent auction and root beer floats!  Sophie really liked the "root beard floats" (that's not a typo!).

And we all played lots and lots of BINGO.  That's Lydia's grandpa helping her out.

Even the little guys (Drew) got in on it, with a little help.

But the favorite feature (for the kids) was the fan in the corner and the air-conditioned hallway.  It was hotter than super-hot in that gym!

After the kids had all the fun (and rootbeard and suckers) they could stand, I walked them back home to chill out for a while...literally.

We put on a movie and basked in the air conditioning, and these two little peeps promptly fell asleep.  It had been a tiring day.

The kids and I were so glad to be a part of the special benefit for Lydia.  We had fun hanging out with all of Lydia's family and getting to make new friends.  And we were so overjoyed to hear, when all was said and done, that the benefit helped to raise abundantly more than was needed to purchase the special equipment for Lydia!! 

God is good...all the time.