Christmas and Birthday

Let it SNOW!

So its been a really busy couple of weeks for us. Because of the snow and road closures, we didn't get to go cut a tree this year. Instead we hit a local tree lot, it was still only about $20 (a tree permit is only like $5). The boys had fun decorating it.

I bought the boys Lightening McQueen light-up stockings when they were on clearance in July--they were a big hit too. With all of the excitement (and expenses) over the last few weeks, we decided to keep it simple this year.

Chris and I didn't exchange gifts or have stockings (although a couple of anonymous stockings arrived on our doorstep on Christmas Eve from a "friend" perhaps Santa). We gave the boys new PJs and fleece blankets. Santa brought Dallon the toy he begged for for months--the "Mater and the Ghost Light" Screamin' Banshee! Santa brought Jace an army helicopter, jet, and flight crews. It was soooo nice to keep it simple this year. So much less stress about how much we spent, or when we could get to the store and back without the kids seeing!

The boys also got some great gifts from family members. Jace is a dino lover, and also enjoyed some books, stuffed animals, and cars. Dallon got Handy Manny stuff! He is a Handy Manny fan (from Playhouse Disney on the Disney Channel).

The day after Christmas is of course Dallon's birthday! And boy was he into it this year! This year I really reflected on the year he was born. It started snowing just before Christmas, which we spent in Pendleton over the mountains from La Grande. Then on Christmas day we took a very long (2 hours instead of 45 minute) drive home on the snowy roads. I was in labor by the time we got home! He was born on a Friday, and his bday fell on a very snowy Friday this year.

We invited a few friends and had a snowman theme. We decorated cookies, made a craft, opened gifts and the kids played for a while. It was only about a 1.5 hours, and I'm so glad the weather and the holiday didn't keep us from having a good turn out. We had 8 kids and several parents there. I can't believe that he's 5! Where did the time go. He got more Handy Manny stuff, and lots of other great gifts from family and friends. Thanks to everyone who sent him a little something extra for his bday!

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We've settled in nicely with Bianca. The first couple of weeks were filled with "testing." We've been trying to be really consistent, and it seems to be paying off. We went tracking a couple times since the weather has improved, and yesterday she did great. I'm still getting use to having a dog follow me around the house. She and the cats are doing alright--only a few not so pleasant run-ins. Generally things are going really well.

So Happy New Year to all of our family and friends.

May this year bring you all great challenges and blessings as 2008 did for us! We're hoping to be able to travel a lot more in 2009--gas prices are much better, and we're no longer fundraising. So hopefully we'll be seeing many more of you in the months to come!

Dallon got to meet Santa!

On our last day of practice at the mall in Ohio, I decided to take Dallon to see Santa. I wish Jace could have been there, but he was already home in Oregon with Chris. Dallon was very excited, but of course had difficulty answering Santa's questions about his name and age. I don't think he told him what he wanted for Christmas, but we got some very cute pictures out of him!

Trying to tell Santa how old he is.

Santa gave him a little stuffed dog, and Dallon quickly named it Bianca. This was the first time he's gotten a chance to see Santa at a mall instead of a ward Christmas party. It was fun, and surprisingly we didn't have to wait in line that day--which was why we hadn't gone with both boys before Jace and Chris left.

We are finally home and settling in, although it still seems a little unreal to think about all we've done in the last 3 weeks. Since we didn't have a computer with us in Ohio, we were unable to update our blogs. Coming home less than 2 weeks before Christmas made it even more complicated for me to get to the computer and try to tell the LONG story of our adventure. So this is a watered down version starting from the beginning.
Dallon and I flew out of Portland on Friday Nov 28th, the day after Thanksgiving. We arrived late that night (very early on Saturday). After a little rest, and with it being a nice day out, we decided to head to the Columbus Zoo.
The zoo was massive! I heard later that it usually takes more than one day to see it all. We only hit about 1/3 of the exhibits before the crowds started pouring in for their nightly "wildlights". The zoo was covered in Christmas lights and playing Christmas music. Once the crowds came in, it was too much for Dallon, and we were pretty tired from our travels anyway. Above is a picture of Dallon with the world's largest python named Fluffy.

Dallon eating the cookie he got to decorate in a building where they had model trains of all sizes set up in little villages.

He loved the aquariums that we got to see, and this alligator snapping turtle especially caught his eye.

On Monday night Chris and Jace arrived, and early Tuesday we headed to 4 Paws for our first day of training, and to meet Bianca! After what seemed like forever, it was finally our turn to meet our new dog. She came out happy to see anyone with treats. Dallon really enjoyed being the treat giver. She didn't get much time with us before it was lunchtime, but after lunch we did our first obedience work with her. The first day was not what we expected! We didn't realize that we actually needed to build a relationship with our dog before she would willingly listen to us. That's where the treats came in handy.

We did take her back to our room with us that night. And we had a great time playing with and getting to know her.

Each day was a little different. The first couple of days were all about obedience. On the third day we started tracking and going to the mall for our public access work. It was quite a scene to see our group along with all of the kids and 11 dogs in the mall!

Jace being a show-off in the mall play area. He's such a ham!

We also continued our obedience work each day, some in the morning at the training center, and we were required to practice on our own each night. It was amazing to see the change in Bianca once she got to know us. She bonded with Chris really quickly, and soon was picking our Dallon and Jace in a crowd.

Tracking was an experience. It was cold, wet, warm, windy, you name it we did it at least once. One morning while we were waiting it was snowing, and each snow flake was so perfectly formed, we had to take some pictures. It was beautiful, but I don't know about living in that unpredictable Ohio weather all year!

Waiting to go tracking. The boys weren't too sure about having the dog squeezed in with them in the back seat. She would get SOOOO excited about tracking--which is what we want, so we didn't discourage the over-excitement when she would get really anxious waiting for our turn.
Jace and Chris had to head back to Oregon on Dec 10 because Chris had to be at work on the 11th and 12th. So for the last 3 days, I had a couple of volunteers come to training with Dallon and me. It turned out to be a great test of Bianca's tracking skills. Since she didn't know the volunteers, we knew for sure she was tracking Dallon's scent those last couple of days--and she pulled hard and knew what she was looking for!

Graduation finally come on Dec 12th. We did our public access test at the mall and got ourselves ready to go so we could head to Columbus after graduation was over. We did the final paperwork to make Bianca officially Dallon's certified service dog and waited for everyone else to complete their paperwork. It was very hectic, but we survived.

More graduation pictures.

On Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the aiport. Our flights were long, and extra cramped with a dog at our feet. But generally it went very well. We arrived in Portland at about 1pm and after being picked up with Chris' mom and dad, going to his grandparent's house to pick up our car, getting packed up and fed, we were on the road a little after 2:30pm. We made one quick stop, and as we were driving into Hermiston the heavy rain turned to snow, and it hasn't really stopped since!

This is our 3rd winter in Hermiston, and 2 of the 3 have had a significant amount of snow--which is not that typical for the area. Dallon went to one day of school this week, and the rest of the week was cancelled. In total we've gotten over a foot so far, and it is supposed to start again on Sunday and continue until Wednesday.

The boys and dog have been loving the snow, and it really makes it feel like Christmas. We did a little shopping, but not much since we've received so much already this year! We are in the Christmas spirit, and have gotten our tree up and decorated and are happily awaiting a beautiful white Christmas this year!
Happy Holidays, and a huge THANK YOU to everyone we know and love. We are so blessed to have known and been connected to such generous people.
God Bless, and Merry Christmas!

We are home!

Yes we made it home, and Bianca is with us. We are still busy getting life back together at home, so I don't have much time to post. I'll try to get a post with some picts together in the next few days. Just know that we are safe, healthy, and happy with our newest family member. We traveled well with only a few small mishaps and nothing major.

It is shocking to suddenly be home with only 10 days till Christmas! We have much to do, and adjust to. We'll try to stay in touch over the next couple of weeks, but I don't expect life to feel normal until well into the new year.

Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas, and thank you for all of your love and support!

Ready to go! And Happy Thanksgiving!

We've worked out all of our funding issues, and today I am making the last reservation. We are so blessed! A trip that was originally supposed to cost more than $5000 is now costing us just $3000. We have been able to work out every problem. It has been amazing to see so much generosity from everyone around us. We are so lucky to know such amazing people. On Sunday several people at church gave us donations, and we went home with over $700.

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One family who has 4 children and have been struggling with a job change gave us an envelope that said, "We wish you the best of luck with your training. May the Lord bless your family. After hearing about your needs, our children rushed to their banks to contribute. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity to share." Inside was $108 and several quarters, nickels, and dimes. That family moved to Boise on Monday. They were in the middle of a lot of their own problems and stress and they took some of what they had and shared it with us.

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Dallon and I fly out on Friday afternoon. I am anxious to get going. I'll try to find a computer to post to while we are in Ohio to keep everyone up to date. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped us on this journey. We are overwhelmed by how blessed we are to have been able to accomplish the the task of raising over $15,000 in only 8 months. We will never forget this experience and the lessons it has taught us about faith, gratitude, service, love and hope.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Dallon

Each child going to training receives a letter from their dog. We were the only special needs placement, so we were the only ones to know who (and what) our dog was before yesterday. We were the last in our class to receive our letter, which was fine because we already knew who our dog was. This is the letter we received late last night from Bianca.

Dear Dallon,

Finally. I thought it would never be my turn. Well I guess someone had to be last but really those guys sure took their time! I am so excited that finally I will get to meet you. I have been dreaming about you every night. Really it has been cool because while everyone was waiting for their matches I kept humming to myself and thinking there are advantages to being special like knowing who your match is months before the rest! I am so glad you looked at me and decided to accept me as your partner. I am so blessed to have you. I have been working extra hard because every time when I am working I am thinking, I am doing this for Dallon! Now all that hard work is coming to an end and we will be together and all will be perfect. How cool is that! I think you already know I am a Black Lab and my birthday is 4-18-2007 and I am a girl. I don't have to ask if you mind because you picked me just the way I am so I know you do not mind I am a girl. See ya really soon, up close and personal and a kiss in your face! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Bianca

Poor Jace!

So apparently we aren't finished with injuries at our house. First my foot, then Dallon's arm, now poor little Jace. Yesterday we started our first fire in the wood stove, and although Jace acted like he understood that it was hot and dangerous (he would walk wide around the area, and seemed cautious) he ended up touching it anyway. I'm guessing he tried to put a toy on the top of it, and burned both wrists and the palm of one hand. I was a wreck trying to find all of the "hurts" and he fought against all of the first aid I tried to do for him. He wouldn't stop rubbing his burns on anything and everything and cried constantly for an hour. I broke down, called Chris, and we were lucky enough that the Dr in our ward was still at his office and was willing to see us at 5pm so we didn't have to wait 2 hours at the urgent care clinic or the ER. By the time Chris got there, Jace had already popped some of the blisters with his rubbing--so we were glad we didn't have to wait forever to get him into a Dr. He fought the bandaging really hard, but once they were on he seemed like he understood they made him feel better. These are pictures from this morning, he seems content to keep his bandages on and has been smiley and happy since we got back from the Dr yesterday. We go again today to have them look at the burns and cut away any extra skin so Jace won't pull it off and make things worse. I'm hoping he'll keep those bandages on until this afternoon when we go in.

Halloween, a week late

The boys were 2 Musketeers this year (it would have been 3 if Chris would have been up for it). I made their pull-overs, and got the foam swords at Walmart. They thought it was great!

Jace would say "keteer" with an angry voice and swat you with his sword. He was way into the character.

Dallon was loving it, too. He had to have a belt to hold his sword so he could pull it out dramatically to fight.

The day before, Dallon's class took their annual pumpkin patch field trip. Chris had the day off, so we all went. Dallon picked out a nice pumpkin and loved they hay ride.

Dallon and his classmates.

They had a corn maze this year, so we walked through it. After we made it through, Jace decided he didn't want to stop and kept wandering off back down the path.

Looking for a way out!

The weather was great for Halloween this year. The boys did their thing Trick or Treating and loved eating the candy as they went.

In Search of the Great Pumpkin--or a least a good one!

So we took a little trip to a local pumpkin patch yesterday morning. The boys had a good time, and since it was morning on a weekday, we could just wander and look at the pumpkins.

Dallon enjoyed looking at each pumpkin, but had a hard time picking one.



Jace was so proud of his pumpkin, and he didn't put it down. I thought he was going to poke his eye out with that stem!
So many pumpkins, so little time.

We'll get some more pumpkins for carving, but the boys had a great time picking their own.

Check-ups

We took the boys for check-up appointments with a new doctor yesterday. Dallon did pretty well, although he wanted to leave the whole time. He sat still and let her check his ears, eyes, heart, lungs, etc. Jace on the other hand--he wanted nothing to do with that doctor! He squirmed and kicked and fought the whole time. We weren't due for any vaccinations (thank goodness for that! Jace would probably throw an even bigger fit next time.) Jace isn't due for more immunizations until he's 4--hopefully by then he won't be so difficult.

Both boys were healthy and growing/developing well. Dallon was around 40th percentiles in his weight and height. He weighs about 37lbs and Jace is catching up fast at about 36lbs! Jace is close to 90th percentiles for height and weight. He's already wearing the clothes that Dallon has just grown out of, and I'm afraid that they will be wearing the same size soon and I won't be able to do hand-me-downs anymore!

Dallon's arm has healed well, and he's adjusted to his school schedule well. At school on October 1st his teacher randomly asked him "What happens in October?" and he spouted out "Halloween!" I have no idea how he knew that answer, or if he just got lucky--I'm pretty sure he had no idea what "October" meant. We had his annual education planning meeting, and it went well. He has made great progress, and he is reaching almost all of his goals. We made some new goals and talked about what needs to be done to include his Autism Dog when we get her. They are very open so far, and don't seem to think there will be any problems getting her into the classroom with him this year or in kindergarten (as long as we don't have any issues with fears or allergies and parent complaints).

All in all, things are going great. We are getting ready for Halloween and are enjoying the fall weather which has been really mild this year so far. I'll post some more pictures soon!

New Hair Cut

I had grown tired of caring for my long hair. It has been 2 years since I chopped off 12 inches for Locks of Love, and I can't believe how fast it has grown back. It is also really thick and heavy now. So I decided it was time for a change. Here's a before.....

And after....

I think it was 4 or 5 inches she cut off. and I dyed it back to its natural dark brown. Much better! I was way overdue for a cut.

In More Recent News

Dallon started school on September 8th. He was SOOOOO excited to ride the bus. I decided because of how badly he wanted to ride last year that it would be OK and it would save us some gas money.

He did great on his first day of school. The only big drawback to the bus is that they pick him up first (at about 7:45am) and drop him off last (at about 12:15) and school is from 8:30-11:30. So he's on the bus for about 1.5 hours! He seemed ok with it. He goes to school Mon, Wed, and Thurs.
Then the next day (Tuesday-no school) he was playing and he fell off the couch. I think he tried to catch himself with his left hand. He complained right away about it, but not that seriously. Soon he was playing again, but he seemed to favor it a little. He took a nap and woke up complaining a little about his arm. I set up an appointment with an orthopedist for the next day. By morning he seemed just fine, no complaints--so I sent him to school. At school no one noticed anything wrong. He had no swelling or bruising and he didn't react when you poked and played with his wrist/arm. I decided to take him to the dr. appointment just to be sure. While I was there, I was thinking I was just wasting my money. The doctor came in and only touched his wrist for a couple of seconds before he said he knew for sure it was broken. SO GLAD I DECIDED TO TAKE HIM! He broke both bones just above his wrist. The cast comes off on October 2. He was not happy about the cast at first (he tried to get it off) but he's fine with it now.

Lately we've been sick. Jace came down with an awful stomach bug on Friday, and is still having issues. Dallon came home from school yesterday sickly (he was fine when he left), and Chris and I have both been feeling a little under the weather. We had our Primary Program on Sunday, and I was glad I was well enough to take care of my responsibilities there.

All in all, we're doing pretty well. We're trying to make some plans for our trip to Ohio to get our service dog Bianca, and we're gearing up for the Holiday season (I've already got the stuff for our Halloween costumes I'm making this year).

Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately, I'll try to keep up with it better for the next few months!

We also visited great-grandparents

On the way to Forrest Grove we stopped and visited Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Bill, I forgot to bring in my camera. They seemed like they were doing well.

After the zoo we drove to Kelso to visit Grandma Ruth. She seemed happy, we brought her flowers, and the boys had a good time playing with their tools in her house.
Dallon being Handy Manny with his new tools.
Jace taking a turn while Dallon was busy with something else!

We also got a chance to visit with Aunt Chris and her son (Chris' cousin) Derrick for a while. Its been a long time since we've had a chance to see Derrick, it was nice to chat for a while.

It was a nice trip, and we headed home the next morning.