Faith's Mom's Blog

Faith and I barely made it through Christmas before she got hit hard with the flu bug. (Which is why this blog post is a bit delayed!) Leading up to the night of the 25th, we were enjoying lots of music, goodies, and family time.  One event that has become a tradition for us is going to the Nutcracker ballet. This year's performance marked the 8th one in a row that we have attended! We love everything about the Nutcracker - the music, the costumes, the different scenes, the talented dancers, seeing some of our friends onstage, and the seasonal excitement in the atmosphere! Ready to go to the Nutcracker! Of course, the week after the Nutcracker always proves to be a busy one, as it is one week before Christmas! Faith had her usual therapies and while she was at her day program, I would do all of my running around. During one of the gift shopping excursions, I ran into my brother Todd! We had lots of fun catching up, right there at Fleet Farm!  My little bro and I hanging out at...

Every year, the one thing Faith wants to do for the 4th of July is go to the parade in Mandan. It surprises me how much she loves parades, considering the noise and crowds of people. About 20,000 people attend the annual 4th of July parade, and it's filled with very loud firetrucks, big machinery, trucks, and other kinds of loud noises. This year, there was also the concern that it would be more crowded than usual. This was due to the fact that part of the normal parade route was under construction.  Besides all that, the Parade starts at 10:00, which means Faith needs to wake up pretty early so that we can arrive in time. Neither of us had slept well the night before, so I was already concerned that she didn't get enough sleep to get through the long, busy day. I let her sleep as late as possible and prayed for us both to have enough energy to make it through the day. It helped that we could do her morning feeding enroute and also during the parade. She normally doesn'...

Every December, I look for Christmas shows to record and then watch them after Faith has gone to bed. I love curling up with a fuzzy blanket and a cup of tea with the Christmas tree lights on, watching a holiday program. Usually, there is Christmas music involved!  This year, one of the shows I watched was Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry . It was really good, and one of the most memorable performances was the country band's rendition of the Merle Haggard song, " If We Make It Through December ."  When I heard them sing that song, I resonated with the title. Faith and I had both come down with COVID. Before that, I was just getting over a bout of the stomach flu. (Thank goodness Faith didn't catch that!) In between sicknesses, Faith and I managed to make it to The Nutcracker, but that's about the only thing we did in the days leading up to Christmas.  We made it to our 7th annual Nutcracker performance!  One thing I missed that I was very disappointed a...

Some people start their Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving. Not us! We actually wait until about the second week of December, when we go to the Nutcracker, put on by Northern Plains Dance . (Plus, this year, both of us were still recovering from covid in November!)  Every year, Faith loves to see her friends perform onstage and visit with them afterward. We have been going to this performance since 2017, and it never ceases to amaze us! It's been so fun to watch the growth of her ballet friends as they take on more challenging roles each year.  Enjoying the Nutcracker for the 6th year in a row!  One new thing that I was able to do this year was go to the Lorie Line Christmas Concert. She has been coming to Bismarck for 30 years and I have always wanted to go, but it has never worked out. But then a friend of mine asked if I could help transport her grandma (who uses a wheelchair) in our van to the concert. In exchange for helping, she bought me a ticket to the co...

Faith and I had the best 4th of July ever! We started the day bright and early to go to the parade in Mandan. We haven't been there for many years, so I was surprised that she wanted to go. I think maybe it was because she heard everyone at her day program talking about it and making their own plans.  Faith's grandpa went along with us, as well as her auntie Dawn (my youngest sister). Thanks to Dawn's connections with people who live in Mandan, we were able to park the van at her friend's house and then he drove us down to Main Street. Then, thanks to another friend of hers, we were able to enjoy the parade underneath a canopy right in the front row. I could not be more grateful to her friends for making it such so convenient for us! One reason I was glad not to go to the parade in the past, was all the planning, parking, and walking it takes, not to mention sitting in the sun for almost 3 hours! Someone might wonder why it takes all that just to go to a parade.  Mandan...