Clint's Bucket List Disneyland Vacation Part 1

You know...I have never liked this time of year. I hate it because I'm sick of the snow and cold and the weather keeps giving you false hopes of a better future lying ahead but it toys with your emotions. One day the weather is warm and beautiful with the hopes of spring and new life around the corner and then another day it stomps on those hopes and spits in your face with a huge snow storm. There's nothing to look forward to, it's miserable and winter seems to have a hard time letting go and allowing spring to take over and present new life and warmth to the earth. Due to a recent turn of events, these feelings at this time of year will forever be symbolic of what we are feeling for our dear friend and cousin Clint Layton.

Just as a recap for those of you who have forgotten or who are new readers to our blog, Clint and Todd are best friends and have been since they were born. Todd and Clint are extremely close and have always, always been there for each other. What's even better, my favorite cousin married Clint and we have been inseparable ever since. It's been so fun to have them with us and have had some many dear memories with them. On March 17th of 2009, Clint was diagnosed with cancer. It's been a lot of ups and downs and I don't know how he and his sweet wife have handled things so well without falling apart. About a month ago, his doctors told him he was 100% in remission. We all sighed with relief, thanking God that this battle was over. He and Kelly have literally been to hell and back.

Last week, Clint was having some problems with his kidneys and went back into the hospital. The doctors examined him and found polyps in that area of his body. These polyps contain a very aggressive form of leukemia which has spread through some of his body and unfortunately there are no more medical procedures that can be done to help him. Medically speaking, this is a lose, lose, lose situation. At this point, it will take a God given miracle for him to survive and we are all hopeful and praying like crazy that if it is God's will, Clint will make it somehow. The doctors have estimated that he has couple of weeks to a couple of months left at the most. His doctor told him that while he is well to enjoy life and do the things he would want to do. Clint called us yesterday with the bad news and he has requested that we go with him and his family to Disneyland. He wants to spend time with those he loves and he wants to see his daughters have a good time.

We have some great things in store for our dear friends on this vacation and we plan on enjoying as much time as we can with him. We are going to celebrate his life and our memories with him and this trip will be something we always hold dear to our hearts. We pray to have the faith and the courage to know and understand God's will for Clint and to have the faith and courage to accept whatever that may be. We know whatever God's will is, will be and when God has made up his mind, there is none who can stop him.

Right now, our posts will be positive and up beat and we will deal with the heartache, loss, and disappointment later. While we still have Clint, we are going to enjoy our time with him and speak of fun memories, laugh, and love each other. For the next couple of days, many family members and friends have requested that we post pictures of everything we are doing so needless to say, our posts are going to be over loaded with pictures. We arrive in Anaheim tomorrow afternoon and we will post some pictures of our adventures together tomorrow night. We are going to have a great time and will love and enjoy every moment we share with Clint Layton. Stay tuned! :)

In love and faith-

Rachel, Todd, and Gabbie