Faith's Mom's Blog

Faith and daddy happy at home Lately it seems that Faith is becoming more and more of a homebody, meaning she likes to stay home more than she likes to go out.  I'm not really sure if it is a good thing she is turning into such a homebody - I think her dad is having an influence on her because I know she doesn't get it from me! Take this weekend for instance. My sister Tesa and her boys were coming back through Bismarck from Watford City on their way home to Nebraska (lots of geography in that sentence, I know) and planned on staying over in Bismarck.  At first, Rob, Faith and I were planning on meeting them along with my mom and aunt for supper. But then, Rob laid down to take a nap so I thought just me and Faith would go. At the last minute, Faith decided she didn't want to go and told me to just go by myself. This was partly understandable considering she hadn't slept well for two nights in a row plus Michelle had come over yesterday morning and they did the...

On June 3rd of this year, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. It wasn't until this past weekend, however, that they were able to celebrate the momentous occasion with their five kids, eight grandchildren, and a few of their siblings as well. The festivities began on Friday when my family arrived from Nebraska, Montana, parts of North Dakota and from across town right here in Bismarck. My youngest sister and younger brother fed the large group at a picnic at Sertoma Park with grilled burgers, hotdogs, homemade potato salad and lots of other goodies. On Saturday, we all reunited where the celebration continued on the Lewis and Clark Riverboat on the Missouri River. Unfortunately, due to the high winds, the boat was unable to go anywhere but it was nice, nonetheless. It did not escape anyone's mind that last year around the same time the very parking lot on which we all parked our vehicles had been well under water. Faith loved her first time on a boat, eve...

Today we said goodbye to our Special Tomato adaptive car seat. And special it was. It helped Faith stay safe and secure in our Hyundai driving her back and forth to therapy appointments, shopping excursions, and many other activities. It also helped us through our time of not being able to afford an accessible van. Like all adaptive equipment , the special car seat was expensive and although it is the law that a child is secured in a car seat while traveling in a vehicle, neither health insurance nor Medicaid would pay for it.  Thankfully, we were able to receive funds from the fundraiser, the Great American Bike Race ( GABR ) which helps families pay for services and equipment that insurance doesn't cover for kids with cerebral palsy and related disabilities.  After doing research on the Internet and talking to Faith's physical and occupational therapists, we decided to go for the Special Tomato adaptive car seat. You would think something with that name would b...

Rob was so excited to take Faith fishing last week. Daddy taking daughter fishing for the first time was the ultimate bonding experience.  Faith had been a little sick last week and stayed home from school for a couple of days but thankfully she felt better and went to school on Friday and made it to her field trip. It's a good thing because Rob would have been extremely disappointed if they had missed it! Faith ended up catching a total of five fish! Two of them were rainbow trout which they threw back right away and the other three were perch which the kids got to hold, touch and feel before throwing them back.  She had so much fun! And so did her dad!   Thanks Tina Ding for taking these great pics!

First of all, I'd like to thank the 2012 Faith's Fantastic 12 GABR Team: Becky Eske, Beth Kaylor, Cassie Brazell, Gwen Barone, Julie Jensen, Katie Huizinga, Kent Kaylor, Krysta Wrath, Rob Bousfield, Sarah Hoffman, Tanya Steckler and Brooke Schaff.   Thanks for riding and for fundraising! Also, a huge Thank You to all of you who donated to Faith's Fantastic 12: Mike and Deone Lawlar (Grandpa and Grandma) Cousin Vicki Hammond Fran Dwelle The Bitz Family Tom & Diane Hahn Michelle Stahl The Sago Family Peg Walth Sandy Bauer My dear college friends Janee Anez, Resa Hartl, Kristi Holzer and family Faith's cousins, Sydnee and Kenzie Lawlar Faith's auntie of sorts, Nicole Samuelson and family Coworker Blaine Kincaid Barrett Pharmacy & Variety of Watford City Centennial Elementary School's staff and students The mystery man from Marathon Oil Also, thanks to my brother Todd of Todd's Consulting, Inc. - Onsite Oil Well Supervision and Directional Drilling, wh...