Faith's Mom's Blog

Today at school there was a very special reception held for Faith. All of the first graders came along with their teachers and even the kindergarten teachers were there to join the festivities. There were also other staff at the school who came to eat ice cream and Oreo cookies - a few of Faith's favorites. It was a celebration of sorts held to honor Faith the GABR Star. We all got to watch the newscasts in which Faith was interviewed. The highlight of the afternoon was when they announced how much money the school had raised that day for GABR. To raise funds, Centennial Elementary had "Hat Day." If you donated money, you got to wear a hat to school. Some kids dug out their "tooth money" while others grabbed some coins from their piggy banks. And in the end, the students, staff and parents raised a grand total of $1,300 - the most ever raised by Centennial Elementary for GABR. The money was evenly distributed to the four students at Centennial who have teams

Yesterday was a big day for Faith - there were a little bit of lights, a few cameras and lots of ACTION! At the beginning of the day about four people met with Faith so that she could FINALLY get the right part installed on her chair that would enable her to use the same buttons she uses to drive her chair to work with her computer. Technology is wonderful but it can require lots of patience! Faith working on her computer with help from Ms. Hall That afternoon, the KFYR TV crew came in to record Faith doing some of her daily activities at school. They recorded her doing some work on her computer with her buttons and also driving her power chair. I haven't seen her drive her chair for a long time and I was very impressed by how well she's driving! She is even able to drive herself into the elevator and turn around because she doesn't like her back to the door. The cameraman got in there with her and I think he was a little nervous she was going to run him over! Th

Today was the big day - Faith's first visit to a television station, meeting Marci Narum and doing a TV interview - all to represent the Great American Bike Race (GABR). When we got to KXMB, we were greeted by a few staff members and chatted for a bit. This is when I found out they were expecting me to be on TV with Faith. I really, really didn't want to be on TV. So we asked Faith what she wanted and she said, "Just me! Just me!" Apparently she wanted all the limelight to herself. Then, someone offered to get us some water but when she brought Faith's water in a Styrofoam cup with a straw, she refused to drink it because it was not HER cup. I think she has this star thing down! A little while later, Beth Thune (co-manager of GABR) came in and while we waited for Marci we were talking with Donell Preskey, another reporter, about Faith's therapy. I mentioned that we purposely moved here from Watford City so she could get her therapy services without having

Today Faith and I both got to do something new together - go to a radio station and do a voice over for a GABR radio ad. I was a little nervous and wasn't too crazy about having my voice aired over five local radio stations. And Faith wasn't crazy about the idea of going somewhere after school besides home. She reiterated this fact all the way to Mandan saying, "I just want to go home." After meeting Kim there (the Medcenter communications director) and the radio guy, we all squeezed into a little room with lots of buttons and a big microphone. I had about four lines to say and I guess it went well considering I did it in two takes. Faith must have forgotten all about home because after I was done she cheered for me saying, "YAYYY!" Then, "My turn, my turn!" She was not one bit nervous or scared when she stepped, or wheeled, up to the microphone. We told her what she needed to say and she said, "NO, I can't do it." When we encour

It's hard to believe that the Great American Bike Race (GABR) is only a month away! We have been involved in this event since 2008 when I formed a team called "Faith's Rockin' Riders" with some ladies at Laducer where I worked. In 2009 we sort of took a break since we were in the process of moving from our old apartment to our current, accessible one but Rob did still ride on MedEquip One's Team. Last year we formed Faith's Fantastic 10 which consisted mostly of our friends. And this year we are gearing up again but with a slightly different name - Faith's Fantastic 12 since we had to expand our team to 12 riders instead of 10! So now there are 1,200 riders taking part in the event instead of just 1,000! GABR 2008 GABR 2009 GABR 2010 We are especially excited this year because Faith, along with her friend, Tanner are GABR Stars this year! GABR stars help to promote this huge fundraising event which means their  pictures are seen ev

Burrr, it's cold out there! Twenty below with the wind chill - so glad I didn't have to walk Faith down the hill this morning and she was able to enjoy some warmth on the bus! Which, by the way is working out great for us. I guess when she's on there, she just giggles and laughs the whole time. The other day the bus driver told me he wished he had her for another 4 or 5 more blocks just to hear her giggle! Besides the bus being a big hit, we have some more exciting news. Faith is going to be one of the stars this year for the Great American Bike Race (GABR)! This means she and her friend, Tanner, will be helping to promote the big event which takes place on April 9, 2011. Faith will be on TV, the radio and will be featured in Medcenter One's magazine all to promote GABR. So once again I will be looking for riders for Faith's team. I may try to get two teams together so that's 20 riders. Let me know if you want to ride! We will also be doing lots of fundraisin

There's a blog I read called Caleigh's Corner about a little girl with CP. Her symptoms are similar to Faith's except that Caleigh is nonverbal. One of the posts discussed Caleigh having her own iPAD along with a special language app to enable her to "talk." I saw the photos of Caleigh with her iPAD and thought how awesome that would be for Faith to have her own. Then, a couple of months ago, during a visit with friends, Faith discovered the Apple iPAD for herself. I saw her with an app called Pocket Pond and how she could press the screen to make a splashing noise and the water ripple. She loved it! She also checked out a piano app where there are the actual keys of the piano. After she was done looking at it, she looked at me and said in the sweetest voice, "mommy can we please take that little screen home with us?" I discussed the prospect of Faith having her own iPAD with her speech and physical therapists and they both agreed it would a great

Customize your own free ecard

There are so many words I can think of that describes the Great American Bike Race event which took place this past Saturday: Loud, Fun, Exciting, Crazy, Inspiring, Encouraging, Exhausting but most of all it was just plain Awesome! As team captain, I was required to be there all day, which I didn't mind but my feet certainly did as I did not sit down once! I arrived before 9:00 a.m. to greet my first rider of the day, my cousin Beth. She really knew how to set the pace by biking 17 miles in 25 minutes! After Beth, my former co-workers from Laducer showed up. I am so thankful to keep in touch with many of my friends from Laducer. Jane and Brooke did awesome as well - Jane did especially great with fundraising as she raised over $600! Lindsey and her boyfriend Matt arrived sporting their very cool 'Faith's Fantastic Ten' t-shirts which were paid for by my brother Todd and his oil well consulting business. They were designed by another rider, Liza Kessel. While Ma

The Largest Fundraiser of Its Kind