I can't stop thinking about Stephanie + Christian Nielsen. I don't know them personally, but I started reading Stephanie's blog NieNie Dialogues a while back and became an instant fan. Her energy, craftiness, faith, and pure devotion to her Mr. Nielsen and their 4 lovely babes is what it's all about. She makes an art out of being Mom. Life is short. They live it. I love that. So when I heard the couple was in a horrific plane crash on August 16 I felt heartsick. Those kids! Thank God they were not on the plane. Christian's flight instructor Doug Kinnear died shortly after arriving at the hospital, but Stephanie + Christian survived and are currently in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center in Arizona. Christian with burns over 30% of his body and Stephanie over 80%. That's 80%. Of her body. Burned. I cannot even imagine. They are in for many months of recovery and several expensive surgeries. You can visit her sister Jane's blog here for medical updates. Love this old post of Stephanie's about motherhood.
The always thinking Design Mom declared today, August 28, NieNie Day and proposed we each host our own silent auctions with 100% of the money raised going directly to the Nielsens' recovery fund. Wonderful idea. I'm doing it, you can do it, and you can click here to visit everyone else who is doing it. To quote Design Mom,
"I told Ben Blair that I'm hoping people are in a public radio mindset. Like when you hear the NPR commentators say: "pledge your membership of only $75.00 and we'll send you this canvas tote bag with our logo on it." You know the tote bag is worth maybe $5. But it's not about that. You're looking for a way to be generous and supportive. And the tote bag is just a bonus."
In 1994 my mom was the one in the burn unit. All of the painful skin scraping + grafting surgeries. The long road to recovery. She was the bravest woman I knew... and still I had no idea what she would endure that year. No clue. So please pray for the Nielsen family first and then participate in an auction or two. Or three or four. And host one yourself.
Here's how this silent auction works:
01. I have some amazing companies donating goods to my auction. PeaceLoveMom and Twisted Silver. Plus a Designers Guild bag and bright orange German photobooks Nie would love. The next 6 posts are the 6 items I'm auctioning off NOW.
02. Please place your bid by leaving a comment with your Bid Amount and how I can reach you {email or blog or some other way} in the comments section of the item you are bidding on. I will start the bid for each item at $10. Then it's your turn to leave me a comment with your Bid Amount {$11, for instance}. Check the comments for the most recent High Bid.
03. Please bid in whole dollar increments only, please.
04. I will keep the auctions open until midnight on Thursday, September 4. I'll close them sooner if response isn't there. Once I have closed the auctions I'll contact the winners of each. They will pay for their item directly via the Stephanie and Christian PayPal fund. The winners will then forward the PayPal receipt to me at bubysplace@yahoo.com. And I will put the winners in touch with the companies, who will ship out the products directly.
05. Thank you for participating! Have fun. Do some good today. Spread the word!
Sample Comment Format:
"$17. Sue, lovinglife{at}yahoo{dot}com"
The Nielsen Family 
Orchard photos: Blue Lily Photography
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