Just Kidding

NBC informed us that they will be airing Aidan's story tomorrow (Wed) not today at 5:00 pm on Channel 5. Apparently they did not receive the footage in time to edit and air. So...check out the news tomorrow!!

In the News...

NBC 5 (in Chicago) will be running a feature story on Aidan tomorrow(Tues, March 31) at 5:00 pm. Check it out! Enjoy! Still working on pics, by the way!
Hugs to all-

Back to reality

Chloe is asleep. Randy and Aidan are at school. I am trying to sort through piles of clothes, papers, and bags. Back to reality. I am not sure if any of us will be able to really explain/describe what this experience has been like for us. We have returned totally humbled by all of this. What a kid we have. The love in his heart for other kids, some who are really struggling, was an awesome sight to behold.
Our last night in D.C was a blast! We went to ESPN Zone for one last party with all of our friends. Country singer, Mark Wills, sang some incredible songs for us. One song in particular, "Don't Laugh at Me", broke all of our hearts. There wasn't a dry eye in the place, including Mark's. The song related to all of us. Whether our kids were/are bald from chemo, missing limbs, being burned, being disfigured, etc, we could all relate to the cruelty that our kids have faced. On top of everything else they have to suffer through, just one more obstacle to face. I haven't been able to get that song out of my head. It's right up there with "He's My Son", by Mark Schultz, for heartbreakers.
Miss America entertained us with our friend Elmo from Sesame Street! The kids loved the surprise of Elmo. After an awesome dinner, we were turned loose to play on gift cards supplied by Wal-mart. The kids had a blast. So, at the end of the night, Team South Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois were left! Our 3 families closed down the place! We are total PARTY animals! The dads might have had more fun than the kids! LOL. We said goodbye, exchanging emails, tears, and hugs. We really met incredible people.
We woke up early, caught our flight home, and were greeted by Grandma Stotz with "Welcome Back" balloons for Aidan! Thanks for those, Grandma! We raced home to Chloe, who couldn't stop screaming and laughing at us! We cried and hugged her. She then started chasing Aidan and Cooper around the house. How we missed our little lady.
I do have some more pictures to post. When my computer is willing to work with me, I will post some final pictures of our "Champions Celebration".
I want to give a huge THANK YOU to the Children's Miracle Network. What an AMAZING organization they are. Their passionate dedication to children is inspiring. I thank them for allowing the little Stotz family from Illinois to represent the over 17 million children they treat each year. They are just incredible. I will post again with pics later.
Till next time and many loads of laundry later-

Umm. Hi Mr. President!

Guess what we did this morning? Ummm. We MET President Obama! Woo-hoo! And not only that, but Aidan played on Sasha and Malia's new playground! Am I kidding? NOPE! It was unreal. I am grinning from ear to ear right now. We arrived at the White House, only to be told that the Prime Minister of Australia was currently with the President so we would have to wait. I guess that's okay. LOL. Finally we were able to enter the White House and walk through many rooms. How cool. The history! The artwork! The furniture!
We were led outside for a group picture on the steps and then President Obama came out. He shook every child's hand (Aidan's twice, but who's counting) and took a picture with us all. He then allowed the kids to answer questions. One of the champions asked what he was planning on doing about children's health care. Yes! How I LOVE these Champion kids! He said it was his goal to ensure every child has access to quality health care. Then, he announced that the kids could play on Sasha and Malia's playground! Check out my pics. Unbelievable.
Tonight is our farewell party. We are going to the ESPN Zone. Country singer, Mark Wills, will be performing for us. It should be a blast. We are all getting so sad about leaving each other. What a blessing these families are to us. How better of people we are to know them. I will try to update later. We head out to the airport early tomorrow morning. We can't wait to see our Chloe girl.

Senator Stotz, I presume

Well, our Senator Stotz has been busy today. After a quick bus tour of our nation's capitol, we stopped by Grant's statue for a great picture of the Champions and their families. It was fun to see them all together. Next, we headed to the Dirksen Federal Building to have a Senate luncheon. We were eager to see if anyone from Illinois would represent. Senator Burris send as assistant to meet us. Of course she was from the North Shore and grew up close to where I teach! Weird.
We then went back to the hotel, changed, and headed off to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Aidan had fun exploring all of the offerings. We are now back at the hotel and ready for a night of swimming at the pool and hanging out with new friends. We are loving some of the new families we have met. What great fun they are. Tomorrow will be thrill...as we are meeting President Obama in the afternoon. I will try, Miss Shaban's 1st grade class, to deliver the wonderful letters you wrote. Security is tight, but I will try! Tomorrow night is the send-off party at ESPN Zone. We are so sad to think about leaving these wonderful families. Thanks for the nice notes many of you are leaving. I share them with Aidan. He loves it! Can't wait to update everyone tomorrow. What a thrill!
Till next time...

Private Jets and more

We took a PRIVATE jet today to Washington D.C! Delta Airlines provided a jet for the Champion families, Children's Miracle Network employees, and of course, Miss America and Mark Wills. Such is life. After a great lunch in-flight (it WAS good), a movie, some candy and beverages, we landed! We then got on our sweet tour bus and headed to our hotel. We are staying literally down the street from Barack (he prefers to keep his friends close, so considerate!). Tomorrow we lunch with our state senators...hmmm. Durbin? Burris? Scandals?? Many with us on the trip get a good laugh over our political crises. Tuesday we go over to White House and hang with the Pres! Wowsers.
We are feeling pretty exhausted today. Yesterday, we DID Disney. We began our morning at Epcot, then headed to Magic Kingdom. We literally closed the place. We finally went to bed around 1:00 am. Oye. It was a blast. Our Disney resort, Coronado Springs, was wonderful. We had a totally incredible time in Florida.
Good Night to all our friends and family. I will be posting some good pics tomorrow and I am sure I will have some good stories about our lunch! Ha! Nitey Night.

Illinois' 2009 Champion!

A Day in the Sun

The first picture is from todays medal ceremony. Yes, that is Miss America with Aidan! Ha! The next picture are Aidan's proud parents... And finally, Safari Aidan, as we traveled to Animal Kingdom today! It was a perfect day: sunny and warm. The rides were great, although I should have reconsidered riding the "Everest" roller coaster. Ugh. I am still queasy. We opted to come back to the resort early and have tomorrow be our marathon day. We are planning on Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It should be a blast! Tonight there is a black-tie gala for all the sponsors. Aidan's video, created by 101.9 The Mix for the radiothon, is nominated! Who knew! As I sit outside the banquet room (this is the only place I can get online) I am amazed by the excitement and enthusiasm of the sponsors. How blessed we are to be supported in such a way.
If any of you are interested in reading about the other incredible families here with us, you can search "Children's Miracle Network" and once on the site, click "Meet the Champions from your state". You can choose different states and read about them. Aidan has become buddies with Hannah from South Carolina, Landon from Alaska, Nathan from Maine, and of course, many others!
Thanks for checking our blog! Have I mentioned how incredible this is yet...
Hugs from Florida!

Gold Medals and Celebrities!

Last night we were entertained by Dancing With the Stars dancer and Country Music singer, Julianne Hough. It was a super fun concert and before we knew it, Aidan was up front, on stage, dancing, and taking pictures with Julianne! It was too hilarious. Only Aidan.
Randy and I are completely overwhelmed by this experience. The kids, families, activities planned, everything...it is just incredible. We had a wonderful dinner last night with the families and were able to spend some time getting to know them. Each child gives a "gift" for the other champions. Aidan passed out his super-cool Aidan Stotz trading cards. We then got a chance to meet and thank all of the sponsors for the Children's Miracle Network. Organizations like Walmart, Remax, Dairy Queen, and many others are huge supporters. Aidan was asked to autograph their books, and to take many pictures. After that, we had the huge party! Football player, Steve Young put on a puppet show, and then we rocked out with Julianne. Aidan was exhausted, sunburned, and ready for bed.
This morning was by far, them most emotional and memorable of all. Each "Champion" was brought on stage, in front of hundreds, and was given a medal. Mary Lou Retton spoke, and Miss America and Country singer, Mark Wills, introduced each champ. Aidan received his medal, waved, and danced off the stage jumping up and down. Even as I write this, tears are streaming down my face. How unbelievably proud I am of him. What he has overcome, well, he is such a miracle. We are so grateful to be here. It is a DREAM!
WE are heading out to Animal Kingdom today. I will update later. Oh, and we did receive a personal invitation from Barack Obama. He wants to meet each of the Champions at his house, The White House. Seriously? Wowsers.

If any of our Millburn friends are reading this, Aidan misses you all! Oh, and Miss Shaban, Aidan is obsessing about getting his homework done! Haha! And my Marie Murphy students: you better be good for Mrs. Swoboda! LOL.

Hugs to you ALL!!
With Love from sunny Florida- did I mention it's 83 degrees today? ha!

Beyond incredible!

I really can't think of better words than those. I promise I will post more later tonight, as we have a special dinner to attend in 5 minutes and I just now was able to get a wireless connection. Aidan is having THE time of his life. We are meeting the most incredible kids and families. Wow!