Faith's Mom's Blog

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&#

Oh. My. Goodness. What a month! It's certainly been challenging, but thankfully there were a few bright spots to help us through. At the very end of September, both Faith and I came down with colds. They would not go away! Faith was really stuffed up and seemed pretty miserable. I thought she might have a sinus infection so I took her to the walk-in clinic. Although I didn't think we had COVID, I asked to be tested just to help give me a peace of mind.  They only had the nose swab available. I was nervous about it being traumatizing for Faith. As we waited for the nurse to come back in the examination room with the test, I prayed for Faith that she wouldn't have a tough time. I should have remembered to pray for myself!  I told Faith I would go first so she would know what to expect. When they stuck the swab way up my nose, I nearly started crying. It gave me flashbacks to when the breathing tubes got pulled out of my nose following open heart surgery. It was sort of the sa

Faith in her "new" van in 2011 It was back in August of 2011 that we got our first accessible van. Before that, we had a purple special needs car seat called the "Special Tomato." Eventually she got too big for her special tomato and we needed to graduate to an accessible van. We were thankful to have found one in Bismarck for a decent price. While it suited our needs, there were still some concerns. For one, the electrical system was really wonky, which affected the ramp.   Even with the weird electrical system, it got us to where we needed to go. We even had some fun family adventures like driving all the way to Toronto and back, and also to Winnipeg. The van also got us to some of Faith's medical appointments in Minneapolis and Fargo. Despite its quirks, the 2006 Dodge Caravan was a good van. Except for when it rained. It seemed the electrical system went super berserk when it rained. One day we were on our way home from a physical therapy appointment in th

We just returned home a couple of days ago from our trip to Canada. In just 12 days, we drove about 3,100 miles traveling to Ontario and back. It was a wonderful trip and we are thankful our van ran great, we didn't get into any fender benders, we didn't hit any wild animals and we got to enjoy traveling during the most beautiful time of the year. We feel especially blessed we saw so many of our friends and family. October 13 not only marked Canada's Thanksgiving, but Rob's parent's 50th Anniversary. As if that was not enough, David baptized his only grandchild during our visit. Instead of describing our trip in words, here are some photos that portray our long but wonderful journey. It wasn't easy to get Faith out of her comfy home to drive 1,500 miles to Toronto but she did it! Our second hotel of the trip in Crandon, Wisconsin Driving along Lake Michigan Faith having fun on her very long field trip going over the Mackinaw Bridge The brid