Faith's Mom's Blog

Faith and I had the best 4th of July ever! We started the day bright and early to go to the parade in Mandan. We haven't been there for many years, so I was surprised that she wanted to go. I think maybe it was because she heard everyone at her day program talking about it and making their own plans.  Faith's grandpa went along with us, as well as her auntie Dawn (my youngest sister). Thanks to Dawn's connections with people who live in Mandan, we were able to park the van at her friend's house and then he drove us down to Main Street. Then, thanks to another friend of hers, we were able to enjoy the parade underneath a canopy right in the front row. I could not be more grateful to her friends for making it such so convenient for us! One reason I was glad not to go to the parade in the past, was all the planning, parking, and walking it takes, not to mention sitting in the sun for almost 3 hours! Someone might wonder why it takes all that just to go to a parade. Mandan

A snowy Century Ave. Last Tuesday at this time, most of North Dakota was getting blasted with a historic blizzard that lasted 3 days. We have experienced blizzards before, but this was probably the worst most people in the state had ever gone through. For me, it brought back memories of the catastrophic blizzard that occurred at the beginning of April in 1997. At that time, I lived in Fargo.  What made that storm so bad is that many parts of the state had already received 100 inches of snow throughout the winter. That wasn't the case this year, as the central and western parts of the state have had severe drought conditions. While most people were thankful for the moisture this blizzard brought, it didn't come without its challenges (especially for the ranchers who were in the midst of calving). The good news is, the storm was not unexpected. As a result, people could make preparations in advance. The most I needed to do to prepare was make sure we had plenty of groceries and

Every year in May, Faith and I run into the same problem. It's hard to focus on school this time of the year! I know most families are probably in the same boat. What makes it extra hard for us is that Faith's homeschooling group, Inspire Collective, ends the last week in April.  In her mind, Faith is already done with school! This beautiful weather does not make doing school any easier. However, it is great for doing some fun activities, like the things we have done this weekend. On Fridays, Faith and I usually take a trip to the library. It was during this past Friday that I realized in the evening the Band Day Parade would pass close by the library.  We have gone in the past and Faith loved the marching bands! This might sound strange considering she gets startled by loud noises, but for some reason, she just loves them! She also really likes parades. It was the perfect evening for one.  Faith and I enjoyed "dog watching" and seeing all the different kinds of dog

Finally, on November 4th, the day the elevator in our building was fixed, I was able to take Faith downstairs so she could check out her new van! It happened to be a beautiful day, close to 80 degrees, which is rare for North Dakota in November. We had respite care that day, so I had her record me getting Faith loaded up for the first time.   Faith is all smiles about her new van! Faith is ready to roll! After loading her up, the three of us went for a fun drive including a trip through McDonald's so Faith could get a chocolate chip cookie. Faith was having so much fun as we drove around. She kept randomly shouting out things like, "Happy Birthday!" and "Merry Christmas!" (I am looking forward to driving around and looking at Christmas lights with her this year!) I guess she really does think her van is the best gift ever!  Faith inside the van. Earlier this week, we used the van to take her to an appointment with the general surgeon. She wanted to check Faith&#

As I'm writing this blog post, it is currently 25 degrees outside. With the windchill, it feels more like 12 degrees. That's cold for October. Even in North Dakota! Winter definitely seems like it's here. Earlier this month we had a historic blizzard that dumped 13 inches of snow on Bismarck and over 2 feet of the white stuff in other parts of the state. As a result, the public schools had their first official snow day. I was ready to give Faith the day off from her lessons at home, but she still wanted to do them! First major snowfall of the year - in October! (Thanks mom for the pic!) It could have been a snow day for Faith but she still wanted to do school! It did warm up soon after and all the snow melted but the October blizzard created quite a mess for farmers and ranchers who still had crops in the field and cows in the pasture. I was very grateful that we didn't have to go anywhere - for school or for work. I am still freelance writing from home. Rec

Summer. It sure doesn't last long in North Dakota. And since Faith started school earlier this week, I figured it was a great day to reminisce about the summer we had. In June we took a trip to Fargo and somehow ended up at Tim Horton's in Grand Forks. Faith and I figured it was a great way to celebrate Father's Day a little bit early! While my brother and his wife were away for a couple of weeks, we went out to their place to check on their dogs for them. Faith loved her new role as dog sitter. She especially enjoyed reading Clifford the Big Red Dog books to them. Besides dog sitting, Faith also enjoyed house sitting her grandparents' house while they were on vacation. Unfortunately, Faith wasn't feeling the best over the 4th of July so we didn't make it to the parade this year, or any other fun festivities, although she did get to see the fireworks from our parking lot in our building. Later in the week, we made it up to Grandma and Grandpa'

I’m not usually one to want summer to linger. And yes, I get that as a North Dakotan, this does make me a little strange. Usually, I cannot wait for fall and the cooler weather, the changing of the leaves, the pumpkin spice lattes, and all that comes with autumn. This year is different and even though it has been one of the hottest summers we’ve had in a long time, I wouldn’t mind holding on to summer for just a couple more weeks. Or maybe even another month. I’m finding it truly odd that I feel this way. But I think I’m beginning to understand why. My little family doesn’t normally do a lot during the summer months. We might go the park or down to the river, or go for walks, but that’s about it. And that used to bother me. I would look on Facebook and see everyone’s vacation photos and all the summer activities they’ve been involved in, and I would feel like I was missing out or something. This year though, I became content with not doing much. That’s not really lik