I am usually all for Faith trying something new. Years ago, though, I drew the line at adaptive skiing. I knew that Dreams in Motion does an annual event at Huff Hills (North Dakota's largest ski area), but I was too afraid to let Faith try it. I just didn't know how she would do being strapped down so tightly, especially with her high tone and issues with her left hip. At her day program, some of her friends had been going for years and Faith thought it sounded like so much fun. So, this year, I decided we should give it a try. Since there are only 20 spots available for this event, I got her registered the morning it opened up. Lots of fresh powder at Huff Hills As the event drew near, I knew I needed to get snow pants for her (since she had none) and make sure I had all the right winter apparel to keep her warm. That was also one of my biggest concerns is her getting too cold, which can cause her tone to increase even more. As the day approached, she was...
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A Wonderful Weekend Getaway
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This past weekend, Faith and I
both got to experience the Medora Musicaltogether - for the first time ever!
We went with my dad and sister. The singing and dancing definitely met our
expectations. After the National Anthem, some of the first songs they sang
included, "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Dancing on the
Ceiling." Both songs were a great and energetic way to start the show.
Faith was super excited, nearly dancing out of her chair! One reason she could
hardly contain her excitement was that a few of the performers (Adam and
Taylor) go to our church! The storytelling in between the musical numbers
described how the little "cow town" of Medora came to be, as well as
the influence that Theodore Roosevelt had in North Dakota.
View from our seats!
Close up of the performers.
Auntie Dawn and Grandpa
During the song, "Paint Your
Dreams Across the Sky" by Dolly Parton, the cast invited the children to
join them onstage. I wasn't expecting one of the cast members to come up and
stand by Faith to sing. It was super sweet, but unfortunately, I didn't get a
picture. They also sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," along with a
medley of gospel songs.
There were country songs and funny songs, too, that got
the crowd laughing and clapping along. One that I remember was "40 Cups of
Coffee." The entertainment also included a trick roping cowboy and another
one yodeling.
We were thoroughly enjoying the
show when I noticed a shift in the weather. It had been bright and sunny upon
arrival, but it had changed to cloudy and windy. Just as they were about to get
into the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, one of the ushers came over to us and
said they were going to call the show in five minutes if we wanted to get ahead
of the crowd to the elevators. I thought it was very kind of him to give us a
heads up, but I was also very disappointed.
Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the lumberjack show.
When we got up to the parking
lot, my sister Dawn pushed Faith as fast as she could to the van and just as
they got there, it began to rain. Just after the four of us piled inside the van,
it began to downpour.
Since we were just sitting there, I got a feeding going
for Faith. After the traffic cleared, we sadly made our way to Dickinson. All
was not lost, though, as there were some gorgeous rainbows in the sky. I have
never seen so many of them in such a short time span!
Bad weather heading straight for us.
The rain was coming down hard!
Videos by Michael Lawlar
Beautiful double rainbow heading from Medora to Dickinson (photo by Dawn Lawlar)
After getting to Dickinson, we
found a place to eat. It was called "Sanford's" and when we pulled
into the parking lot, Dawn and I realized it was the same restaurant we had
eaten at when we had traveled to Watford City about 3 years ago.
Once we were done eating supper,
we made our way back to the hotel and started Faith's evening routine. It had
been quite a day. I was so proud of Faith for how she was handling the
traveling and the disappointment with the musical ending early.
Waiting patiently for her chocolate milkshake!
Being udderly silly!
The next day after checking out,
we set out for our next adventure: a visit to the Dickinson Museum Center where they had the Badlands Dinosaur
Museum. Faith loves dinosaurs and she couldn't wait to get a new shirt for
T-Rex Thursday at her day program.
It was fun to look at the bones and try to
imagine what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. There were also
numerous displays of minerals from all over the world, some of which were
fluorescent.
We also explored the Joachim
Regional History Museum and Dad even asked if they could open up the Pioneer
Machinery Hall, which they sometimes don't do on Sundays depending on how busy
it is. Faith was a little bored with some of the history stuff, so she and Dawn
ventured to the gift shop where she helped her auntie pick out stuffed dinosaur
toys for her grandkids. After all that, we hit up the A&W/KFC and made our
way back to Bismarck.
Dinosaurs and fossils galore!
Faith didn't look too scared!
Faith checking out the cool fluorescent fossils.
I told Faith this is how Laura from Little House travelled.
Grandpa was super impressed with this old tractor.
Getting Faith to the Medora
Musical was something I have been wanting to do for a long time and with the
improved accessibility at the venue, along with help from my sister, we were
able to make it happen! I was also very thankful that Faith's grandpa could
accompany us. I was so happy to be driving to western North Dakota, as that
will always be home to me.
The end of July was a great time to head west as
golden round bales dotted the landscape and the corn, sunflower, and wheat
crops were flourishing. The Badlands looked so beautiful, and we even passed by
a large herd of bison. It truly was a wonderful weekend getaway!
I am usually all for Faith trying something new. Years ago, though, I drew the line at adaptive skiing. I knew that Dreams in Motion does an annual event at Huff Hills (North Dakota's largest ski area), but I was too afraid to let Faith try it. I just didn't know how she would do being strapped down so tightly, especially with her high tone and issues with her left hip. At her day program, some of her friends had been going for years and Faith thought it sounded like so much fun. So, this year, I decided we should give it a try. Since there are only 20 spots available for this event, I got her registered the morning it opened up. Lots of fresh powder at Huff Hills As the event drew near, I knew I needed to get snow pants for her (since she had none) and make sure I had all the right winter apparel to keep her warm. That was also one of my biggest concerns is her getting too cold, which can cause her tone to increase even more. As the day approached, she was...
February started out as it typically does: very cold! This year, my parents and sister braved the weather to have a small get together for my birthday. Faith thought I needed another party like I had last year, but I told her 51 just wasn't as exciting! She also asked if her Auntie Tesa was going to fly up again. Faith really does love a good party! Accurate! Dawn, Faith, and Me Dad practicing holding his arm for after shoulder surgery The next day, my parents took me to IHOP , which had recently opened here in Bismarck, but I hadn't had a chance to go yet. It did not disappoint. My pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and coffee were all perfect! I was glad to have gotten this meal in with my parents as two days later, my dad would be going through shoulder replacement surgery. We were all expecting him to be in and out on the same day, which is exactly what happened a couple of years ago when he had knee replacement surgery. I, along with my siblings, was shocked t...
We are right in the middle of Congenital Hearts Defect (CHD) Awareness Week, which runs from February 7th through 14th. I am glad to see so many posts on social media to help draw awareness! Many of those posts center around children with CHD, which is good as heart defects are the most common birth defect in the United States. But many people are unaware of how CHD affects adults. Hence, this blog post! In 2010, there were 1.4 million adults in the United States living with congenital heart defects (CHD). Due to increased survival, this number increases by about 5% every year. These numbers are significant considering that at one time babies born with CHD had virtually no chance of becoming an adult. Thanks to surgical advances and research in pediatric cardiology in the past 50 years, most congenital heart defects have been able to be corrected. Today, babies born with heart defects have a much better outlook than they did 50, or even 15 years ago. February 7-14th is CHD Awar...
This past week marked a huge milestone in Faith's life - she has been at her day program for 4 years! I well remember how excited I felt when I found out that in order to qualify for the program, all she needed was to be 18 and have a high school diploma. I know that is not the case in some states. And in many cases, parents choose to have their special needs child in school until they are 21 and then after that they can attend a day program. For Faith though, since I homeschooled her, we were both ready for her to move on to her adult life when she turned 18! Faith at the Science Center with one of her day program staff After a few meetings with her case manager and day program staff, she was ready for her first day. But was I? She was excited when I dropped her off, but as I drove away from the building, I began to cry. Would she really be okay here? Would staff know what to do if she looked uncomfortable or seemed like she was in pain? Faith is verbal, but she canno...
You just took us on the trip. Wonderful!
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