A bittersweet weekend

On Saturday morning really early Bianca and I flew to Wellington to attend a very special birthday party. It was little Kyah's birthday party. Her parents decided to move her birthday celebration forward as they don't know how much longer they have with her. I am so happy for them that they had this opportunity.

Terence planned our whole trip in terms of flight, time to catch the airport bus, the train and so on. And he did a wonderful job as all the timings were spot-on. For some reason Bianca and I got better seats and that was so cool. We even had foot rests!

And at some point we spotted the most beautiful snowcapped mountain.

Wellington had a wonderful sunny day and it was good to catch up with some of our friends again. I have to say it was like catching up with family, but then these people have become our family since we all joined the same "club". I was so pleased for Shanell, Jason, Kaleb and Jordan that Kyah was awake for most of the party, she asked to go outside and even wanted her dad to take her on the bouncy castle. There were face painters, a clown and a tiny little lamb. It was such a wonderful, beautiful and special celebration. A tribute to a wonderful and amazing little girl!!!

Bianca was so excited to see Kate and Jo from Wellington hospital and she was trying to negotiate how to bring them back to Auckland. Can't say I blame her - they were some of our favourites when we were still at Wellington Hospital and I have to say that Kate is probably THE best play specialist in New Zealand. I'm sure the others are very efficient, but Kate certainly is so much fun, knows how to fully interact with the kids.

It was also a bittersweet day and whilst it was great catching up with people we met throughout our journey and meeting people we haven't met before, I just feel so sad and heartbroken that this will most likely be Kyah's last chance to have a birthday. This is when life just feels so very very unfair and I will never understand why little kids have to get cancer. Kyah became our hero and her journey is such an inspiration and it was amazing to see how many people she brought together. You can read this newspaper article about the party. Please could you keep Kyah and her family in your prayers and thoughts! They are such special and amazing people and they certainly do not deserve this challenging time!

Thank you to Catherine and Rebecca who dropped us off at the airport for our flight back and they kept us company for a bit - the flight ended up delayed for an hour (lucky us) and then a hello to Andrew Brown who sat next to us on the plane and kept us company all the way to Auckland. I hope you managed to sort out your connecting flight in LA.

Kyah and family, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us, thank you for sharing this very special celebration with us and know that we are keeping you in our prayers and thoughts. You are so amazing and special to us!