today my blog is dedicated to my friend rob. (please forgive me if i get some of the details wrong, rob...i'm not up on all the medical jargon:) it is hard for me to even approach this subject without getting emotional sometimes...but here goes. rob and stephanie toon are some of our very best and closest friends, not to mention family, and leaders in our new church. they have four beautiful kids, michael, jack, lily and averi, who are some of lucy's favorite people! over a year ago rob was diagnosed with leukemia, and underwent all kinds of chemo treatment to get rid of it...which he did...until around december. they found out it was back and started the search for a donor so rob could get a bone marrow transplant. they've found a match and he has already had one transplant, a few weeks ago. however, it didn't work, due to a viral infection. after a few very rough days for rob and steph, they finally got word that the donor was willing to donate again. this is very time sensitive and has to happen immediately. they are currently having people donating white blood cells to hold him over until the transplant. hopefully everything will work this time. they will get more cells this time and the viral infection should be gone, so they can do what they need to do. this transplant will take place august 11.

i must mention that this whole process is taking place in houston. which means that their kids are back home with stephanie's parents in bryant, ar. on top of the sadness of not getting to see their kids for months, stephanie is not able to work so she can be with rob in houston. thus...no income. this is obviously a very stressful situation for everyone involved...rob and steph, the kids, grandparents...you get the idea. and now that rob has to have another transplant, their stay has been extended into mid november at least. the whole situation just makes me sad...

i am asking anyone who reads my blog...to help, if you can. here's how:

1. please pray for this family and rob's transplant and recovery.
2. if you live in houston, rob may need more people to donate blood for him before or after his transplant. he needs more white blood cells. i'm not sure when, but if you are interested in giving, let me know and i can get you the details.
3. if you would like to donate any money, i know they would greatly appreciate it.

thanks for reading this and helping in anyway possible. rob and stephanie mean so much to us. we are hoping to go visit sometime soon and maybe even donate some of our blood, if they need it. which terrifies ryan...ha. you can keep up with rob on his blog. please email me if you have any questions about anything or want to help, christen@christenbyrd.com. here is a picture of their family i took right before they left for houston.