{"id":187,"date":"2025-12-26T16:49:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T16:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?p=187"},"modified":"2026-01-02T17:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T17:36:35","slug":"christmas-with-evelyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas with Evelyn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-evelyn-woke-up-so-excited-to-see-if-santa-came\">Evelyn woke up so excited to see if Santa came&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"santa coming into hospital room to deliver toys\" class=\"wp-image-188\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6670012695226004;width:323px;height:auto\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"h-evelyn-woke-up-so-excited-to-see-if-santa-came-and-yes-he-sure-did-we-jumped-out-of-bed-turned-on-the-lights-and-headed-to-the-christmas-tree-that-was-filled-with-gifts\"> and yes, he sure did! We jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and headed to the Christmas tree that was filled with gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"818\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-tree-2025-e1767373298237-818x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-189\" style=\"width:347px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-tree-2025-e1767373298237-818x1024.jpg 818w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-tree-2025-e1767373298237-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-tree-2025-e1767373298237-768x962.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-tree-2025-e1767373298237.jpg 1153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, we couldn\u2019t all be together this morning. Little brother Raylan tested positive for Influenza A even being vaccinated. He&#8217;s been given medications to help ease those symptoms. He was still able to open some of the gifts Santa brought him, and we saved the rest for when he\u2019s feeling better and can visit his sissy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next year, I\u2019m hoping for the simple joy of being home \u2014 all four of us, healthy and opening gifts together. It\u2019s times like these that remind you to dig deep and be grateful for the cards you\u2019ve been dealt. On Christmas Day, I did just that. Both of our kids had smiles on their faces, and that\u2019s what truly matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our hearts are overwhelmed by the generosity of our community; because of you, our kids did not go without this Christmas. Wishing everyone a fun, safe, and blessed rest of the year filled with love and gratitude.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/16.0\/2764_fe0f\/32.png\" alt=\"\u2764\ufe0f\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/16.0\/1f384\/32.png\" alt=\"\ud83c\udf84\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"577\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025-577x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025-577x1024.jpg 577w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025-768x1364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025-865x1536.jpg 865w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-christmas-2025.jpg 1153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1018\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"191\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345-1018x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-191\" style=\"width:365px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345-1018x1024.jpg 1018w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345-298x300.jpg 298w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345-768x773.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/raylan-christmas-2025-e1767373249345.jpg 1153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1018px) 100vw, 1018px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evelyn woke up so excited to see if Santa came&#8230; and yes, he sure did! We jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and headed to the Christmas tree that was filled with gifts. Unfortunately, we couldn\u2019t all be together this morning. Little brother Raylan tested positive for Influenza A even being vaccinated. He&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2374,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christmas with Evelyn - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas with Evelyn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evelyn woke up so excited to see if Santa came&#8230; and yes, he sure did! We jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and headed to the Christmas tree that was filled with gifts. Unfortunately, we couldn\u2019t all be together this morning. Little brother Raylan tested positive for Influenza A even being vaccinated. He&#8217;s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-26T16:49:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-02T17:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-683x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rosethompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rosethompson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/\",\"name\":\"Christmas with Evelyn - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-683x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-26T16:49:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-02T17:36:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/c49d51d24154156eacf9c9aaa9edda2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-e1767373313891.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-e1767373313891.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":650,\"caption\":\"Santa visits kids even when they are in the hospital!\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christmas with Evelyn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/\",\"name\":\"COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/c49d51d24154156eacf9c9aaa9edda2a\",\"name\":\"rosethompson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aac6cde6d331417782eb01176efda1a7e9c07f4cafb781ef841f88b3de8d1ad1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aac6cde6d331417782eb01176efda1a7e9c07f4cafb781ef841f88b3de8d1ad1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rosethompson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/author\/rosethompson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christmas with Evelyn - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christmas with Evelyn","og_description":"Evelyn woke up so excited to see if Santa came&#8230; and yes, he sure did! We jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and headed to the Christmas tree that was filled with gifts. Unfortunately, we couldn\u2019t all be together this morning. Little brother Raylan tested positive for Influenza A even being vaccinated. He&#8217;s [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/","og_site_name":"COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart","article_published_time":"2025-12-26T16:49:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-02T17:36:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-683x1024.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"rosethompson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rosethompson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/","url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/","name":"Christmas with Evelyn - COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-683x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-26T16:49:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-02T17:36:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/c49d51d24154156eacf9c9aaa9edda2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-e1767373313891.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6643\/2026\/01\/evelyn-santa-2025-e1767373313891.jpg","width":1024,"height":650,"caption":"Santa visits kids even when they are in the hospital!"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/2025\/12\/26\/christmas-with-evelyn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christmas with Evelyn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/","name":"COTA for Evelyn&#039;s Heart","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/c49d51d24154156eacf9c9aaa9edda2a","name":"rosethompson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aac6cde6d331417782eb01176efda1a7e9c07f4cafb781ef841f88b3de8d1ad1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aac6cde6d331417782eb01176efda1a7e9c07f4cafb781ef841f88b3de8d1ad1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rosethompson"},"url":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/author\/rosethompson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforevelynsheart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}