What a big day…
 
We had some “fans of Ella” come visit us for lunch. Jeanie and Alfred drove from Melbourne, Florida and they brought along a surprise. Doug and Laura (our friends from Orlando) hitched a ride with them and totally surprised us!!! We had no idea they were coming up, and in fact, they hid outside while Jeanie and Alfred came in first. After about 5 minutes, Alfred said he had to get something from the car, and low and behold, Doug and Laura appeared behind him.
 

 
Jeanie is the long time best friend of Laura. They’ve known each other since 10th grade which is a total of 25 years of best friend bliss. Jeanie started following Ella’s story in October of last year, and has been in love with our girl ever since.
 
This was our first time getting to meet her and her husband Alfred, and it was absolutely fantastic. I’m so glad she got the chance to see the Bun in person before we head back to CO. She has been so incredibly sweet to us and she has such a love for our girl. By the slideshow below, I’m pretty confident that Alfred is a little smitten too ;-).
 

 
At the end of the visit, Jeanie had another little surprise. She gave Ella a beautiful bracelet with a forget-me-not flower charm. It was such a sweet gesture and something that the Bun will cherish for years to come.
 

 
Speaking of forget-me-nots…
 
This post is dedicated to the memory of Charlotte Rehrig (1933-2008). For those of you who don’t know her and may not have recognized her comments on the blog, she is the mother of our favorite Uncle Cliff, and a huge fan of Ella Renae. She experienced a severe stroke a few days ago and went to be with our Lord today.
 
Thank you dearest Charlotte for all the love, prayers, and comments, and for following our baby girl’s story from day one. Even though we only met once, I knew what a gift you were from God. Now, He has brought you back home to be with Him.