Faith's Mom's Blog

Normally around this time of year, North Dakotans are nearly dying for spring to come. This was the case early last week when the temperature dipped to six degrees below zero. But then a small miracle took place - temperatures soared to over 70 degrees!  My only complaint was that our apartment, which is warm anyway, became a heat box. There was even one day I came home, and Rob had turned on the air conditioner - in March! The nice weather was the answer to many prayers though, as many ladies involved in JOY International had been praying for weeks that the weather would cooperate for their annual event, the JOY Breakfast. Jennifer Beckham This year's speaker, Jennifer Beckham had come to Bismarck from her home in Jacksonville, Florida. She said she had been amazed to find when flying into Bismarck there was absolutely no snow on the ground. She wondered if the two states had swapped climates because when she left Florida it was only 30 degrees. Seriously, this is the...

Faith was so excited last weekend when I told her they were having wheelchair soccer again. Her first question was, "Can Adam push me again?"  I told her I had no idea if he even went to school at the University of Mary anymore. When we got out there, she was disappointed to learn he had another obligation that day. Everyone assured us Adam would be there the next time. She still had fun with a few other guys from the college soccer team who pushed her around to help her play. In wheelchair soccer, they don't actually use a soccer ball, instead it's more like a beach ball. Normally, the soccer players who push the kids around throw the ball to each other and then help the kid they are pushing hold onto it as they try to get into the net. She had so much fun and the faster they pushed her, the bigger the smile on her face. Ramsey helps Faith with the ball Faith making friends Faith having fun with Garrett the goalie This weekend, despite the fact s...

Taking Faith to church on Sunday mornings is my favorite activity of the week but something else I love are our Saturday outings. We normally go to the library and sometimes go shopping at Target (her favorite store).  One Saturday we even went to the pet store because she wanted to look at the hamsters. She has made it known that she would like to have a hamster but since I'm not much of a rodent person I'm not too excited about it. Rob and I wondered if we could talk her into a guinea pig instead. For some reason a guinea pig seems less "rodenty"! Faith is bundled up and ready to roll! Yesterday, even though the temperature was only in the single digits, she wanted to go to the Big Event Carnival. It's held every year at the Bismarck Civic Center and is hosted by the area Child Evangelism Fellowship . We have never gone before because I was never sure if Faith would be able to tolerate so many noisy, crazy kids under one roof. Also, one of the main attra...

This year has been an amazing year of blessings and lots of changes for our family. As you can see by the photos, 2014 was a fun year in which we truly enjoyed life, being with family and friends and having new adventures.  JANUARY - We rung in the New Year by going out for Chinese with members of our church family. I also celebrated by cheering on the NDSU Bison football team as they won their 3rd National Championship in a row and will be going for their 4th in 2015! Fun with friends! FEBRUARY - As with every February, Rob and I both celebrated birthdays but this year I reached a milestone when I turned 40! I can honestly say I feel truly blessed making it to the 40-year mark considering at one time doctors didn't think I would live past my 20s.  My mom made my day extra special by taking me shopping, going for lunch and relaxing while getting pedicures. I kept trying to tell her she was doing too much to which she responded, "You only turn 40 once!" Alas, mom...

Last year, Faith began a new Thanksgiving tradition of writing down everything for which she is thankful. Since she could care less about eating a huge turkey dinner, I thought it would be great for her to have her own little tradition. Here are nine things she says she has been especially thankful for this past year: 1. Daddy being her teacher - Faith is enjoying her first year of being homeschooled and although she and her Daddy butt head sometimes, she really likes him being her teacher. He is doing a great job at teaching her how to read. I'm thankful he is her teacher too because although I am usually the "patient one," he is better about not jumping in and giving her the answer when it's taking a long time for her to get it.   2. Grandma - Although Faith loves her Grandpa Mike, she is especially fond of her Grandma Deone. While she isn't always too crazy about going to Grandma's house, she loves to have Grandma come over to visit, go the lib...