Faith's Monumental Visit to South Dakota

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When I received my niece, Sydnee's graduation announcement in the mail, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to visit my brother and his family for the first time at their home in Spearfish. I also thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see Mount Rushmore, which I had never seen before!  My nephew in Nebraska was graduating that same weekend, and my sister Dawn and I tried to put together a plan where we could go to both of their graduation receptions. I knew though, that Faith would feel left out and would want to go, too. I also knew it was going to be difficult to find someone to look after Faith over Memorial Day weekend.  Our finalized plan involved Dawn traveling to South Dakota with me and Faith and then her flying to Nebraska by herself. Faith and I would then drive back to Bismarck by ourselves.  3 adventurous travelers  I must admit, as the trip got closer, I started to get a little anxious about how Faith was going to do with so much drivi...
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Faith's Ag Day Adventure

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What an adventure we had last week trying to make it over to Mandan for the annual Morton County Ag Day. The day began by adjusting Faith's feedings so I wouldn't have to do it at the event. Thankfully, she was up early to get her feeding done. It helped that I was also able to bring her to school about 30 minutes late. By the time we were getting ready to leave the school she had her second feeding and was ready to go! Or so we thought.

When I went to pick up Faith she was surrounded by all three Kindergarten classes standing in line trying to contain their excitement about their field trip. While the kids impatiently waited for their bus to arrive, Tina and I got Faith loaded up in her van and away we went. 

As we drove into the parking lot of the Mandan Community Center, Tina received a phone call on her cell phone. Apparently, the paperwork for the bus had not been finalized, so the other kids that were still back in Bismarck could not go on the field trip after all. What huge bummer them! Tina and I decided to go back to the school to pick up her kindergartner who was supposed to travel with the rest of her class by bus. We figured she and Faith should still be able to go.

At the school as Tina ran in to get her daughter, I noticed a flurry of activity with parents running here and there, all with booster seats in tow. As I wondered what was going on, out came Faith's class. Her teacher came over to inform me that they had rounded up 19 booster seats, so that the rest of her class could go on the field trip! 

Meanwhile, in Tina's van, we drove to Mandan for the second time that day. We were so thankful everything worked out. Our daughters had a great time petting all of the animals. Faith laughed when a little Holstein calf sucked on her hand. She also got to pet a bunny, a puppy, baby chicks, and a chicken. 

Faith checking out the goats. 

Faith petting a baby chick. 

The people who worked at the event were so good about holding up the animals so that she could reach out and pet them. She also got to see a horse and her foal, a sheep and her lamb, and a llama with her baby who had just been born that morning. It was such a wonderful experience for her, and I know as she continues to take part in these kinds of events, her confidence will get higher and higher!

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