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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Tuesday Tidbits - Pumpkins, Presents, Parties

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Phew! What a weekend! I'll try to give a recap of everything that has happened over the last three days.

On Saturday we went to one of Faith's favorite places - Papa's Pumpkin Patch. It was the perfect way to celebrate her birthday and the fantastic Fall season we have had. It was about 50 degrees but still nice because there was no wind! 

Faith had a blast, especially with her a few friends from school. She was very blessed with lots of wonderful gifts, especially lots of new pajamas, which she really needed.

Faith and her friends blowing out her birthday candles

On Sunday Faith went to a friend's house for a Halloween Party. There was a total of about 25 kids all dressed up in very cute costumes such as Jesse and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, a few princesses, a butterfly, a pumpkin, a cowgirl, a monkey, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and Faith went as Supergirl.

The highlight of the party was a blow-up haunted house that the girls would run through screaming at the top of their lungs. Faith didn't want to participate at first, but her friends talked her into it. I took her out of her chair and carried her, running through the house. Of course after the first time, she wanted to do it again and again. It was quite the workout for me!

Making crafts at the Halloween Party

Monday was Faith's birthday. She was so excited to go to school and pass out her treats and be the helper of the day. I had ordered cupcakes from Dan's, and they looked so pretty with orange/white frosting adorned with fall leaves. At school she also got to do show and share. She chose to take her new stuffed puppy called a Webkinz, where you can virtually take care of the puppy on the Internet.

After school she really didn't feel like going to speech therapy, but we forged ahead anyway. When she got there, she was okay because she got to pass out cupcakes to everyone in the Pediatric Therapy Dept. We decided though that this would be her last speech therapy session at the clinic for the year. After school she is just so tired. We will reevaluate all of her therapies in January to see about starting up again.

Last night when we finally got home from our busy day, Faith opened a few presents from her mom and dad. She got some toys from Toy Story 3 called Action Links. She and her dad had lots of fun with those. We also tried to SKYPE her grandparents in Canada, but they were having technical difficulties, so we talked the old-fashioned way, by speaker phone!

Faith having a blast playing with her Toy Story Action Links!

All in all, it has been a great three days but I'm glad we have nothing planned for next weekend! I'm also thankful the weather held up to take Faith to the Pumpkin Patch as this afternoon we will be in a blizzard warning! I guess it was inevitable.

Have a blessed week!

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