Operation of Hope

\As some of you may know, in a few short weeks (October 3) I will be leaving for Harare, Zimbabwe for approximately 2 1/2 weeks to assist with pediatric cleft lip/palate and facial reconstruction surgeries. I am very excited, but also very nervous!! I am going to share in a following (protected) post some of the more personal details of my trip---but I wanted to share a little bit about the organization that I am going with!

Meet George

Baby George is one of the 45 proud children Operation of Hope recently helped in our first ever trip to Zimbabwe, Africa.

With plans to return next October targeting 80+ new children, George is the picture perfect example of a beautiful baby and how your $250 dollars can change the path of a child forever. George and his family traveled over 6 hours by bus with the deep hope they could correct their childs condition which the mother incorrectly believed was a result of the child sucking his thumb in the mothers womb.

With a total income of $10 dollars a month, George’s family knew they could never afford the surgery needed for their child. After connecting with Operation of Hope and their visit to Africa, George and his family left knowing all efforts were truly a blessing.

And here's George 3 days after surgery!



Another child that has become very special to Operation of Hope is Beloved.



Beloved was in a horrible accident at the age of 10. After the recent war in Zimbabwe, Beloved was playing in a field and accidentally encountered a land-mine which sadly destroyed the lower portion of his face and mouth. At the time, the local doctors tried to help him but as you can see, despite their efforts, results fell far short. In a futile attempt, local doctors even used a portion of his stomach muscles to reconstruct his lips.

Fortunately, a team of surgeons at UCLA have agreed to volunteer their time and talent to help Beloved. He will be spending a year in Southern California living with the Director of Operation of Hope (who was recently voted one of Oprah's "60 Most Influential Women"--and got to spend a weekend with her!) During this year he will be undergoing several major operations to correct his face--including a live tissue transplant. Imagine being in a country so far from your own, without your family and having to deal with this? I cannot imagine. We will be bringing Beloved home with us when we return on October 22 and he will hopefully be undergoing his first surgery some time during the first few days after arriving in the U.S.

I will keep you all updated with more upcoming details!

YOU Have the Power to Donate Life

I don't mean to sound preachy, but I wanted to take a moment to write an entry about a topic that I am very passionate about. On a daily basis I work with children who have had an organ transplant or are desperately waiting an organ transplant. Unfortunately, many of those kids will run out of time before an organ is found for them. While I pray that none of you will actually have to ever make this decision for a loved one, this is something that I hope you will think about now. Here are a few facts about organ donation:

Fact: Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history.

Fact: All major regions in the United States support organ, eye, and tissue donation and see it as a final act of love and generosity towards others.

Fact: If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye, and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.

Fact: When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial or celebrity status.

Fact: An open casket funeral is possible for organ, eye, and tissue donors. Through the entire donation process, the body is treated with care, respect, and dignity.

Fact: There is no cost to the donor or their family for organ and tissue donation.

Fact: Signing a donor card or a driver's license with an "organ donor" designation may not satisfy your state's requirements to become a donor. Be certain to take the necessary steps to become a donor and ensure that your family understands your wishes.

Go to www.donatelife.net to find out your state's requirements--it generally takes about 30 seconds to register with your state. And please don't hesitate to email me with any questions! I'd also love to know if anyone decides to register after seeing this post!
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Now on to my personal story for the day. Aaron and I both decided to go donate platelets today....although Aaron ended up not donating because he wasn't feeling very well so we thought it wasn't the best idea. But he came with me anyway. The process of donating platelets takes about 2-2.5 hours with about 60-90 minutes of being hooked up to an apheresis machine that spins out different components of your blood (plasma, platelets, etc...) and then returns the red blood cells back to your body. It was pretty cool because UCLA has these really awesome "e-chairs" in which you can surf the internet, watch DVDs (they have hundreds to choose from) or watch TV.

Not only that, but they give you free movie tickets and meal tickets for the cafeteria.....I can also get paid 4 hours of comp time every 2 months or so (you can donate platelets every week). Here's where it gets interesting. I proceeded to completely overdo it afterwards and ran a bunch of errands on foot--and it was pretty hot out. I then passed out in Westwood Village and was lying on the sidewalk with my purse as a pillow for about 10 minutes.....soooo embarassing!! Luckily Aaron was with me! I declined any further assistance though--I really just needed to lie down for a few minutes. And after 10 minutes I got up, dusted myself off and continued on my way. Yikes!

So Aaron and I are both feeling a little wimpy today. When we got home we made a big palate (sp?) in our living room with our futon mattress and a bunch of down comforters/pillows and pretty much lay around for the rest of the evening. Neither of us has to work tomorrow so we will probably lay around tomorrow too! That's all for now!

Santa Barbara and Wine Tours

We spent Memorial Day at Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu.....super fun! The next day we drove up to Santa Barbara and had lunch at Brophy Bros. Oyster Bar at the marina. Then we headed up to Los Olivos and went to a few different wineries. We ended our day by getting dinner at a ramshackle Mexican restaurant (that was frequented by Julia Childs) called La Super Rica Taqueria.



Our first stop was the gorgeous Sunstone Winery.


Our second stop--Zaca Mesa Winery




Our final winery--Fess Parker (for you Sideways fans, this was the fictional Frass Canyon Winery)--Fess Parker played Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett in the old Western movies....then he moved to Santa Barbara and opened a winery.

Olivia and I trying on the coonskin caps.



Thanks for visiting Emily and Aaron's blog......see ya later!

Greystone Mansion (and Aaron's first poopy diaper change)

We spent a fabulous afternoon at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. It has been featured in many movies and now is a public park. Olivia and I gathered a picnic in the morning at the Studio City Farmer's Market and then we went to Sprinkles Cupcakes and got dessert!


There were a lot of stairs--it became necessary to evenly distribute the weight of the baby

The gorgeous mansion

Olivia and Kai at our picnic site

Aaron and I with a gorgeous view of the L.A skyline







A turtle pond on the property

Aaron picked a turtle up from the pond and got it out for Owen to check out.




What do we have in here??

Oh boy.....this is worse than we thought

Aaron used about 5 wipes during the diaper change.....Olivia was trying to ration the wipes

After originally putting the diaper on backwards, Aaron finally figured out which side Elmo goes on

Success!!

Universal CityWalk

One night after dinner we decided to take a walk to Universal Studios (less than a mile from our house) and stroll around CityWalk.


Swapping stories.




Whoa--look at all the lights!!!

The Schons and Van Voorhis' Do Hollywood

We had an awesome long Memorial Day weekend with some of our best friends, Kai and Olivia Schon, and their 10-month-old son Owen from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Enjoy some pictures of our weekend!


We were trying to be Shirley Temple.

Look how tiny her feet were!!

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"--Marilyn Monroe

Arnold (aka The Governator)

Graumann's Chinese Theater

Point Lobos State Park/Big Sur

Can't see them closely--but here are some otters in the kelp off Point Lobos--they were everywhere in Monterey Bay!

Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write Treasure Island while at Point Lobos Beach in Big Sur.



Lots of seals resting on the rocks off Point Lobos.
Mama seal and her baby on a rock right off the beach in Point Lobos.





Bixby Bridge over PCH in Big Sur


View from Nepenthe
The view from our table--gorgeous!!
Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur off PCH