Paul Cardall's Benefit Concert

Living For Eden.....Paul's darling 3 year old daughter. The benefit concert was for Paul who has been waiting 231 days on the heart transplant list.

Backstage with Ryan Shupe, Paul Cardall and Kurt Bestor . We originally weren't going to bring our kids to the concert but Paul talked us into it and told us he wanted us to come back stage before the concert with our kids. They had a great time and wore their back stage pass badges to school the next day!

Backstage with Peter Breinholt and David Tolk.

Me and my hubby


Max is wearing his 'Gracie necklace' that Liz and Heidi (angel heart moms) made him and my other kids......thanks you guys :)

Taylor and his ring pop. My kids are sugar addicts.


Hmmmmmm.....is this the face of an innocent girl? Think again! :) Callie was SUCH a stinker at the concert!! She ran up and down and up and down the aisles almost the whole night. We had to take her to the bathroom once, and another time to get a drink (even though I made sure I took her to the bathroom right before the concert started!). No amount of bribery would work. We tried about 5 different kinds of treats. She would eat a little bit of her treat and then off she went to run free!!

Me and the kids.....Tom was missing in action.

Callie salivating over the Cinderella dress up that was in the silent auction.

Me and my friend (of 30 years!!) Marci.

Me and Brytten, Teagan's mom. We met Brytten in the hospital right after Gracie was born. Her son was born 10 days earlier. The picture below is of them together when we went to visit Teagan after his Glenn surgery. We always said they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Now Teagan will have to find another gal :( :( :(
Our family had been looking forward to this concert for a long time. It was worth the wait!! We had an INCREDIBLE night. We saw so many of our friends and family and had a GREAT time. I wish I could've gotten a picture with everybody! We are so grateful for all of you who came out to support Paul (and Gracie!). The musicians were great. They had Kurt Bestor, Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band, Peter Breinholt, Sam Payne, David Tolk, and Colors.

My sister Stephanie recorded the song/tribute (thanks Stef!!!) that they had Peter Breinholt do for Gracie. It was so surreal to see a huge slideshow of my sweet baby for over 3,000 people to see. What a special experience. You could almost hear a pin drop when the song was over.

Take a look: (you can pause my playlist music at the bottom and then hit the play button at the bottom of this little video clip)



When I met Paul's mom earlier in the evening, she told me that Paul was probably going to play at the end of the concert and that he was planning on playing 'Gracie's Theme'!!!!! My heart sank with the weight of emotion I was feeling. I told her that I would for sure be needing some Kleenex and I forgot to bring some!! She very thoughtfully tracked down a pack and split it with me!! :) Here is the video clip of Paul playing 'Gracie's Theme' in honor of Gracie and all of our other little heart buddies. It was awesome to hear him play it live.

This was a night we will never forget. I will never be able to express how thankful we are to Paul. The fact that he has only written ONE song since he has been listed for transplant and that song is for Gracie is overwhelming. We have been so lucky to receive so much love and support. We want to thank Paul for sharing his big night with our girl. We want to thank him for helping keep Gracie's memory alive, a memory that will live on through this song.

In regards to the blog entry that Peter Breinholt read before the tribute, I too wish I could've attended one of Paul's concerts with Gracie on my lap. But I do look forward to attending his concert POST TRANSPLANT with Paul feeling a whole lot better and having a new lease on life.

Please pray for Paul, we need him around for many, many more years to come!!