Last night the hometeachers were over and we got talking about New Years and doing fireworks. Later that night Coleson said, "Can we get some eagle fireworks?" Some what? "You know, eagle fireworks." What? "Eagle fireworks, the kind that go really high and do big explosions!" Oh, you mean "illegal" fireworks. "Sure, can we get some of those..."
Unfortunately we don't have access to eagle fireworks, but I'm sure there will be plenty of people in our neighborhood with those. Happy New Year!!!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
This Feels Awesome...
What a great month! Thank Heavens for Christmas and the wonderful spirit it brings. On Saturday we took Coleson to the furniture store to pick out his bedroom set. When we walked in Coleson was instantly greeted by Chris (one of the store managers) and taken to the children's section. Coleson was very impressed that there were donuts for breakfast and everyone already knew his name. Stacey was Coleson's helper for the selection process and he picked out a desk, dresser drawers, and a bunk bed set ("Ammon can sleep with me in my room now!"). It was an awesome morning and the people there were just amazing. As we were checking out Chris came over and talked with me about the selection process. Approximately 600 letters had been submitted and the committee spent about 9 hours reading all of the letters and narrowing the field down to 40 letters. They then spent another 6 hours settling on the 10 winners. He said when they read Coleson's letter and looked at the pictures everyone on the Committee started crying. Apparently, Coleson was the first kid they called and when they put him on speaker phone with him cheering and yelling everyone started crying again. These are such good people, and they've done something very special for our boy that we could never pull off.
On the way out of the store Summer was getting emotional again, and I guess Coleson finally had enough. "Mom, why does everyone keep crying?" Summer told him that she was just so grateful that he was recognized in such a way for everything that he has done for her and others, but especially Ammon. She always wanted to make his new room very special, essentially a place that was just his and a place that he would love to be. Now that all the bedroom furniture was covered she felt like she could really go all out and do some special things in his room, just to say thanks.
Primary on Sunday was great. During singing time the leader had previously asked five kids in Jr. and Sr. primary to select an adult they appreciated and why they appreciated them. The adults selected were simply asked if they could come to Primary that day and had no idea what was going to happen. The powerful lesson was on how it feels to give gifts, not gifts like an X-box or PS3, but gifts of kindness and thanks that don't require money. Apparently, Coleson was selected to pick a special adult that he wanted to spotlight. He selected Steve our home teacher. Steve's whole family was in primary because they were supposed to leave right after Sacrament meeting to attend another function. Steve had no idea why he was there or what was going on. When the leader asked Coleson to come forward and tell everyone who he picked, Steve was in complete shock. Coleson said he wanted to highlight Steve because he is always so nice to him, he always tells him thanks when we set up chairs on Sundays, he's our hometeacher, and he's Coleson's friend. Ammon attends singing time in Primary now, so Summer was sitting on the front row with him while all this was going on. Summer didn't dare look up because she didn't want to get all emotional, and Steve was already to that point. When the leader asked how Steve felt all he could emotionally say was, "I feel Awesome!" (Coleson said Steve kept telling him "this is so cool" over and over). I was in the hall with Brynn as Steve and his family left. He said he had rarely felt this good and was surprised that it was all Coleson and we had nothing to do with it; and we really didn't (Autumn, his wife, said they were going to go cry in the car now). In the Sr. primary session Summer was surprised when she was selected by a wonderful young girl to be spotlighted. Other kids selected a surprised parent, neighbor, or friend. The last young girl selected her primary teacher and actually got really emotional when she started talking about him. The entire event was a powerful experience and I've not done that great of a job describing it. The whole lesson was a great reminder of the powerful influence for good we all have on children, no matter our calling, our position in life, or our financial means.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
On the way out of the store Summer was getting emotional again, and I guess Coleson finally had enough. "Mom, why does everyone keep crying?" Summer told him that she was just so grateful that he was recognized in such a way for everything that he has done for her and others, but especially Ammon. She always wanted to make his new room very special, essentially a place that was just his and a place that he would love to be. Now that all the bedroom furniture was covered she felt like she could really go all out and do some special things in his room, just to say thanks.
Primary on Sunday was great. During singing time the leader had previously asked five kids in Jr. and Sr. primary to select an adult they appreciated and why they appreciated them. The adults selected were simply asked if they could come to Primary that day and had no idea what was going to happen. The powerful lesson was on how it feels to give gifts, not gifts like an X-box or PS3, but gifts of kindness and thanks that don't require money. Apparently, Coleson was selected to pick a special adult that he wanted to spotlight. He selected Steve our home teacher. Steve's whole family was in primary because they were supposed to leave right after Sacrament meeting to attend another function. Steve had no idea why he was there or what was going on. When the leader asked Coleson to come forward and tell everyone who he picked, Steve was in complete shock. Coleson said he wanted to highlight Steve because he is always so nice to him, he always tells him thanks when we set up chairs on Sundays, he's our hometeacher, and he's Coleson's friend. Ammon attends singing time in Primary now, so Summer was sitting on the front row with him while all this was going on. Summer didn't dare look up because she didn't want to get all emotional, and Steve was already to that point. When the leader asked how Steve felt all he could emotionally say was, "I feel Awesome!" (Coleson said Steve kept telling him "this is so cool" over and over). I was in the hall with Brynn as Steve and his family left. He said he had rarely felt this good and was surprised that it was all Coleson and we had nothing to do with it; and we really didn't (Autumn, his wife, said they were going to go cry in the car now). In the Sr. primary session Summer was surprised when she was selected by a wonderful young girl to be spotlighted. Other kids selected a surprised parent, neighbor, or friend. The last young girl selected her primary teacher and actually got really emotional when she started talking about him. The entire event was a powerful experience and I've not done that great of a job describing it. The whole lesson was a great reminder of the powerful influence for good we all have on children, no matter our calling, our position in life, or our financial means.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
It's a Contest...
So we recently read about a contest of sorts, being put on by Ashley Furniture. The contest was open to all children within the Salt Lake valley (including Davis county) ages 4 thru 13. Requirements: submit a hand written letter (must be written by the child) explaining some of the amazing things they do to serve around the community, in school, at home, etc. Summer thought it would be a good idea to see if Coleson wanted to write a letter about some of the things that he’s involved in. My first thought was he only barely turned six and is just in kindergarten, can he really write a full length letter. So we asked Coleson if he wanted to write a letter and submit it to the contest and he thought it would be fun (well, sort of fun). We started out by asking Coleson some specific things he does on a regular basis that makes other people happy. While Coleson talked about serving and loving Ammon, visiting Camille, helping in his classroom, and other items, Summer put her shorthand to work and quickly wrote down word for word everything that he said. Then for the past two weeks Coleson has sat at the kitchen table and patiently (well, as patiently as a six year boy can) transcribed his original words to a letter in his own handwriting. Watching him slowly write this out one letter at a time, taking hour long or nightly breaks every few words or lines, reminded me of the image of kids painstaking writing down Christmas lists for Santa.
Monday was the final day for any submissions, and he finished his letter up while leaving out some details and stories that he originally expressed. Summer, the boys and Brynn hand delivered the submission to the store and included several pictures and other items that helped describe what Coleson had written about. Today Summer received a call. The person said he was from Ashley Furniture and wanted to verify a few things. Summer said the person was enjoying themselves immensely, dragging the questions out, while she was eagerly waiting to hear the real purpose for the call. Turns out Coleson won the contest! Let it be known there was much screaming, yelling, jumping, dancing, and other jubilations, with Coleson just looking on smiling. The person asked if they could put the phone on speaker and talk to Coleson personally. Coleson was a little bit in shock, but once he realized that he won the contest he put on a fairly impressive performance. So what did Coleson win you might be wondering? As you know we are currently finishing our basement and Coleson’s new room will be downstairs. So Coleson needs bedroom furniture to fill his room, and bedroom furniture is exactly what he won. On Saturday morning we have been invited to the main store in Salt Lake, where Coleson will personally pick out a complete set of new bedroom furniture. Apparently the TV news and other local sponsors will be there, and it should be quite the party.
We’ve posted below the content of the winning letter, we think he’s a pretty special kid. I’m sitting here thinking that I’ve never won anything like this, especially at that young age. I did once win a free 15 pound turkey for Thanksgiving, and there was much jumping up and down about that, but that was because I successfully completed an entry form instead of successfully completing a noteworthy act of service. I guess this Christmas I need to try to be a little more focused on the service, instead of just checking the box on an entry form. Congratulations Coleson, we are so pleased with you!
"Dear Santa, My name is Coleson and I am 6. I help my teacher in kindergarten. I got my work done first and my teacher picked me to help everyone. My little brother Ammon, he has Down syndrome, which means he can't do alot of stuff. So Ammon is in preschool. I push him down to the bus. I help the kids at the stretching center. I give them high 5s and make them laugh. I helped my brother say his name in circle time. My neighbor can't walk so she has a wheelchair. Thursdays we bring her breakfast. I make her happy by talking to her. Merry Christ mas."
Yes, he did spell Christmas with a space between Christ and mas.
Monday was the final day for any submissions, and he finished his letter up while leaving out some details and stories that he originally expressed. Summer, the boys and Brynn hand delivered the submission to the store and included several pictures and other items that helped describe what Coleson had written about. Today Summer received a call. The person said he was from Ashley Furniture and wanted to verify a few things. Summer said the person was enjoying themselves immensely, dragging the questions out, while she was eagerly waiting to hear the real purpose for the call. Turns out Coleson won the contest! Let it be known there was much screaming, yelling, jumping, dancing, and other jubilations, with Coleson just looking on smiling. The person asked if they could put the phone on speaker and talk to Coleson personally. Coleson was a little bit in shock, but once he realized that he won the contest he put on a fairly impressive performance. So what did Coleson win you might be wondering? As you know we are currently finishing our basement and Coleson’s new room will be downstairs. So Coleson needs bedroom furniture to fill his room, and bedroom furniture is exactly what he won. On Saturday morning we have been invited to the main store in Salt Lake, where Coleson will personally pick out a complete set of new bedroom furniture. Apparently the TV news and other local sponsors will be there, and it should be quite the party.
We’ve posted below the content of the winning letter, we think he’s a pretty special kid. I’m sitting here thinking that I’ve never won anything like this, especially at that young age. I did once win a free 15 pound turkey for Thanksgiving, and there was much jumping up and down about that, but that was because I successfully completed an entry form instead of successfully completing a noteworthy act of service. I guess this Christmas I need to try to be a little more focused on the service, instead of just checking the box on an entry form. Congratulations Coleson, we are so pleased with you!
"Dear Santa, My name is Coleson and I am 6. I help my teacher in kindergarten. I got my work done first and my teacher picked me to help everyone. My little brother Ammon, he has Down syndrome, which means he can't do alot of stuff. So Ammon is in preschool. I push him down to the bus. I help the kids at the stretching center. I give them high 5s and make them laugh. I helped my brother say his name in circle time. My neighbor can't walk so she has a wheelchair. Thursdays we bring her breakfast. I make her happy by talking to her. Merry Christ mas."
Yes, he did spell Christmas with a space between Christ and mas.
Happy Birthday Coleson!
Coleson turned 6 last month. He was so excited for his "real" birthday party. We went bowling at Fat Cats and had pizza with a few friends. He wanted to have a lego themed party but I was not up to having 10 six year old boys running around our house, so I thought it would be better to go with a few friends to an activity. Coleson picked bowling, but he still wanted the lego theme so it was a Lego bowling party. We had lego fruit snacks on the cupcakes to make it officially Lego. The boys had fun with the cool lights, music and pizza(and bumpers). During the day Coleson asked me if I was sad he was turning 6. I told him no, I was glad he is getting older and could do more things. Then he replied "Well I'll be going to college soon and then you'll be sad" He is so funny how he picks things out of adult conversations and makes them his own. Coleson is awesome. He is such a big helper and we feel so grateful to have him in our family.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Ammon and Preschool...
Just trying to get a little caught up here with all the happenings over the past month. Please read Summer's awesome blog post below, that's where all the cute pictures are anyways. Many of you know that Ammon turned 3 in October and has started preschool. Here's a brief note from our family journal about how that has been going:
"Following is a part of Ammon’s second day of preschool as told to me by Coleson. At the start of each day the kids are gathered in a circle and a welcome song is sung. A mirror is passed around the circle and as each child has a turn in front of the mirror the welcome song is about them and at the end the child says his name out loud. On Ammon’s second day of school his big brother was with him. Coleson was sitting next to Ammon in the circle and singing along to the welcome song. The mirror eventually came to Ammon, the song ended, and it was Ammon’s big moment to say his name, but nothing came out. Coleson leaned over and says, “Ammon, say your name,” and then waited. After a few seconds of no response Coleson repeated the phrase. There was no response again, and the teacher almost indicated that she would move on, but Coleson wouldn’t have that. Coleson leaned in a little closer and with patience for a third time said into Ammon’s ear, “Ammon, what’s your name?” At this point Ammon looked up and quietly said “Ammon.” Everyone cheered and yelled, with Coleson simply talking into Ammon’s ear, “Good job, good job.” Good job to you Coleson.
Coleson had a great time with Ammon, and also started to make some other new friends. One little boy apparently is unable to speak yet, but can make humming type sounds to communicate. So when the boy “hummed” at Coleson, Coleson turned and hummed back to him. They both got huge smiles, and the boy hummed again a little more earnestly, with Coleson humming right back at him. The hum fest went on for a minute and in the process another friendship was started."
Ammon rode the bus to preschool for the first time today (Tuesday). Following is another blurb from our family record that we wrote the day before Ammon turned three (sorry , this one is a bit longer). After the quote we'll fill you in on how riding the bus ended up going.
"Tomorrow Ammon turns three years old, and he will start his first day of preschool. A little while ago we sat down with Ammon’s physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and a half a dozen other specialists to have his first IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Some of these people have been diligently serving and working with Ammon since he was six months old and earlier. In some regards they know Ammon’s abilities as well as we do. Based on the result of this meeting, Ammon was approved and requested to attend a special needs preschool in Kaysville. Each day Ammon will travel to preschool for two and a half hours, and he will be given the opportunity enhance his “limited tools” in such a way that they will eventually become limitless. Summer will drive him there for his first class tomorrow to meet his teacher, aides, and classmates. We have incredible mixed emotions about this key event in his life, it feels so different from sending Coleson off to kindergarten or even preschool for the first time. In a short time a school bus will come right to our driveway to pick Ammon up. Apparently, our sweet trusting little boy will hop on his wheelchair, hop on the bus, wave bye to his Mom and little sister through the window, and then drive off to school. That’s sounds like such a grown up thing to me, I don’t feel quite right about it yet and have been feeling some measure of anxiety about it. “They know he’s only just three, right,” I have asked Summer about a dozen times, or she has asked me the same question the same number of times. But we have prayed with great faith and given him a father’s blessing that he will be blessed from this experience and those that come to call him a friend will likewise be blessed. Ammon is a special boy, and we have learned over the past three years that he still has many special missions and purposes to accomplish while he is here. Some of those missions and purposes will require him to have more physical tools at his disposal, and we hope that his experiences in preschool will simply be another wonderful step forward in his journey. We’ll let you know how it goes."
Ammon's experiences in preschool have been wonderful, and we are so glad that he has been able to attend and that Summer and Coleson have been able to be part of the process. Ammon did ride the bus for the first time this morning. It was windy, rainy, and cold when the bus pulled up for what would be an almost hour long ride. Summer and Coleson had Ammon all ready to go, but he is still getting used to his wheelchair so it was probably a little more exciting for him today. The bus driver and his assistant seem like very nice people, and Summer and Coleson did a great job getting Ammon on the bus (Coleson insisted on pushing Ammon's wheelchair). Granted it was very hard for Summer to hold everything in and put so much trust in others concerning Ammon. Our neighbor Sherry came over while the bus was still there to see how Summer and Ammon were doing. All it took was one concerned question from this good friend and Summer couldn't hold in the tears and emotion anymore. Granted to say, the first bus trip went fairly well for Ammon and he did cry a little bit. He had another great day at preschool and fell asleep on the bus ride home. This will probably take some time for Summer, Ammon, and the rest of us to get used to.
"Following is a part of Ammon’s second day of preschool as told to me by Coleson. At the start of each day the kids are gathered in a circle and a welcome song is sung. A mirror is passed around the circle and as each child has a turn in front of the mirror the welcome song is about them and at the end the child says his name out loud. On Ammon’s second day of school his big brother was with him. Coleson was sitting next to Ammon in the circle and singing along to the welcome song. The mirror eventually came to Ammon, the song ended, and it was Ammon’s big moment to say his name, but nothing came out. Coleson leaned over and says, “Ammon, say your name,” and then waited. After a few seconds of no response Coleson repeated the phrase. There was no response again, and the teacher almost indicated that she would move on, but Coleson wouldn’t have that. Coleson leaned in a little closer and with patience for a third time said into Ammon’s ear, “Ammon, what’s your name?” At this point Ammon looked up and quietly said “Ammon.” Everyone cheered and yelled, with Coleson simply talking into Ammon’s ear, “Good job, good job.” Good job to you Coleson.
Coleson had a great time with Ammon, and also started to make some other new friends. One little boy apparently is unable to speak yet, but can make humming type sounds to communicate. So when the boy “hummed” at Coleson, Coleson turned and hummed back to him. They both got huge smiles, and the boy hummed again a little more earnestly, with Coleson humming right back at him. The hum fest went on for a minute and in the process another friendship was started."
Ammon rode the bus to preschool for the first time today (Tuesday). Following is another blurb from our family record that we wrote the day before Ammon turned three (sorry , this one is a bit longer). After the quote we'll fill you in on how riding the bus ended up going.
"Tomorrow Ammon turns three years old, and he will start his first day of preschool. A little while ago we sat down with Ammon’s physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and a half a dozen other specialists to have his first IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Some of these people have been diligently serving and working with Ammon since he was six months old and earlier. In some regards they know Ammon’s abilities as well as we do. Based on the result of this meeting, Ammon was approved and requested to attend a special needs preschool in Kaysville. Each day Ammon will travel to preschool for two and a half hours, and he will be given the opportunity enhance his “limited tools” in such a way that they will eventually become limitless. Summer will drive him there for his first class tomorrow to meet his teacher, aides, and classmates. We have incredible mixed emotions about this key event in his life, it feels so different from sending Coleson off to kindergarten or even preschool for the first time. In a short time a school bus will come right to our driveway to pick Ammon up. Apparently, our sweet trusting little boy will hop on his wheelchair, hop on the bus, wave bye to his Mom and little sister through the window, and then drive off to school. That’s sounds like such a grown up thing to me, I don’t feel quite right about it yet and have been feeling some measure of anxiety about it. “They know he’s only just three, right,” I have asked Summer about a dozen times, or she has asked me the same question the same number of times. But we have prayed with great faith and given him a father’s blessing that he will be blessed from this experience and those that come to call him a friend will likewise be blessed. Ammon is a special boy, and we have learned over the past three years that he still has many special missions and purposes to accomplish while he is here. Some of those missions and purposes will require him to have more physical tools at his disposal, and we hope that his experiences in preschool will simply be another wonderful step forward in his journey. We’ll let you know how it goes."
Ammon's experiences in preschool have been wonderful, and we are so glad that he has been able to attend and that Summer and Coleson have been able to be part of the process. Ammon did ride the bus for the first time this morning. It was windy, rainy, and cold when the bus pulled up for what would be an almost hour long ride. Summer and Coleson had Ammon all ready to go, but he is still getting used to his wheelchair so it was probably a little more exciting for him today. The bus driver and his assistant seem like very nice people, and Summer and Coleson did a great job getting Ammon on the bus (Coleson insisted on pushing Ammon's wheelchair). Granted it was very hard for Summer to hold everything in and put so much trust in others concerning Ammon. Our neighbor Sherry came over while the bus was still there to see how Summer and Ammon were doing. All it took was one concerned question from this good friend and Summer couldn't hold in the tears and emotion anymore. Granted to say, the first bus trip went fairly well for Ammon and he did cry a little bit. He had another great day at preschool and fell asleep on the bus ride home. This will probably take some time for Summer, Ammon, and the rest of us to get used to.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
October's events
I'm trying to catch up on all of last month's events before Brian posts about today's event. He does a much better job at writing than I do(and actually spends the time to do it), so he usually does all the blogging. I just like to get the pictures out there for everyone to see. We started out the month with Brynn's baby blessing and caught her adorable smile on camera. The weather dumped about a half foot of snow on us that day and we missed all those who couldn't make it.
Ammon turned 3! I can't believe it. We had a fun spooky halloween party for him and Coleson. Coleson made sure everyone knew this was his fake birthday but they still needed to bring presents. Ammon's favorite part was opening presents-he loves to tear paper.
We also went to the Ogden Regional Medical Center's NICU Reunion. This is a very fun event(giant halloween party) put on by the hospital where we see the nurses and docters who took care of Ammon for two months and saved his life. We also get to thank those who help us when Ammon was sick for a week and those that helped deliver Brynn-we are regulars there.
Halloween was very fun. Coleson was Tony Stewart-the Home Depot Nascar driver, Ammon a lion-it was way too hot so he didn't stay in it long, but he looked like a giant stuffed animal when I carried him on my shoulder, and Brynn a fairy. Oh and I was a 70's nerd which most kids did not understand. I did make an appearance as Princess Leah in Coleson's class, which was much cooler and recognizable, but walking around in heeled boots does not work for me very long. The weather was perfect, so I actually took all three kids trick-or-treating for about an hour. We had fun walking with and seeing all of our wonderful neighbors. There are always some "must see's" every year. I put Ammon in his stroller and before I knew it Coleson took off with him racing around door to door. Coleson felt that since he was a racecar driver he should act that way and so he was treating Ammon in the stroller that way. We were lucky not to have a collision or rollover. (This is why I don't think we should ever have a powerwheels vehicle-of course that's all Coleson wants for Christmas). Before I had the chance to ask him to be careful and stop, I realized I had not asked him to push Ammon. He had taken him all on his own. Sometimes I am amazed at what Coleson does as a 5 year old. So I just let him be and the only time he said something about it being hard was when we were cutting through the grass to the next street. Our neighbor Conner is 3 and loves to play with Coleson and visa versa. He was trying so hard to catch up to Coleson, he was breathing hard and could barely take time to say trick-or-treat and then keep running. It was really cute.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Buddy Walk Success
We wanted thank everyone for "Jammin with Ammon"! We had a lot of fun again this year. We even had a few award winners from our group for the 5K-congrats. We are just so glad so many friends and family could make it. We appreciate everyone's support in helping us do all we can to better Ammon's life.
I felt bad that Ammon was stuck in the stroller, so I gave him a better view of the walk and he loved it.
Coleson with his cousins Aidan and Holden
Brian didn't pass out on the 5K and even took time to cross the finish line with Ammon.
Jill even topped off the day with a special cake! Thanks, that was awesome!
I felt bad that Ammon was stuck in the stroller, so I gave him a better view of the walk and he loved it.
Coleson with his cousins Aidan and Holden
Brian didn't pass out on the 5K and even took time to cross the finish line with Ammon.
Jill even topped off the day with a special cake! Thanks, that was awesome!
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Buddy Walk and Jammin' with Ammon!!!
The Buddy Walk is here again and we couldn't be more excited as a family! This year's Buddy Walk is going to be the largest one we have attended yet. Based on some stellar recommendations from last year, this year our team name will be "Jammin' with Ammon!" And that's exactly what we hope each of you that come to this blog will do. Come to the Buddy Walk and experience all of the fun, prizes, and food, and most especially show your support and love for Ammon and all the other kids! Last year was the inaugural edition of the Buddy 5K in addition to the tradition Buddy Walk activities. Team Ammon did not disappoint and our own friend Jeff took the overall victory, with other team members placing high or winning in their respective divisions. If you would like to refresh yourself on our family's "amazing" performance please feel free to read the post here (and that's "amazing" as in "Wow, I still can't believe Brian actually finished this race"). I expect to "run" the race again this year with the boys, so that there should almost be entertainment enough.
This year there is online registration available by simply clicking on this link,
Buddy Walk 2008. We used the online registration and it is very simple. In the individual with Down syndrome box put Ammon Cheney, and in the Team Name box simply put Jammin' with Ammon. The organizers of the Buddy Walk will be able to identify your specific family based upon information you enter later in the form (your t-shirt sizes, food tickets, etc, will be specific to your family).
Some additional brief details for those that are new to the Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk is a unique family event that allows individuals with Down syndrome to be in the spotlight for one day for all of the right reasons. Included with the registration are Buddy Walk T-shirts (mine are great workout shirts), carnival games, inflatible rides, craft activities, entertainment, lunch, and the opportunity to make a special impact a child's life. I wish I had all of the testimonials or experiences people have shared with us to simply post out here. We usually spend the rest of the year just expressing gratitude for all the good people that come to support Ammon. Following are specific details for the day of the Buddy Walk and Buddy 5K:
Community Park
1350 North 400 West
Centerville, Utah
Saturday, September 27
8:00 a.m. - Registration for 5K
8:30 a.m. - 5K Starts
10:00 a.m. - Buddy Walk Starts
If you have any questions please call us, email us, mail us a letter, send a text message, whatever. We’ve always said that it was not the donations that mattered most, but that people just come and experience the magic of this event. So if you have any questions or concerns, especially in regards to registration, please let us know. This past Saturday Coleson wanted to hold a lemonade stand to support Ammon and the Buddy Walk. Before we even had the Kool-aid or cookies outside ready to go, Coleson was outside flagging people down telling them about the Buddy Walk and handing out information. He did a great job, and always offered his customers an additional free glass of Kool-aid or another cookie. In total he raised over $50 (there are too many good people that live around here). If you missed the lemonade stand, no worries he wants to do another before the big event.
This year there is online registration available by simply clicking on this link,
Buddy Walk 2008. We used the online registration and it is very simple. In the individual with Down syndrome box put Ammon Cheney, and in the Team Name box simply put Jammin' with Ammon. The organizers of the Buddy Walk will be able to identify your specific family based upon information you enter later in the form (your t-shirt sizes, food tickets, etc, will be specific to your family).
Some additional brief details for those that are new to the Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk is a unique family event that allows individuals with Down syndrome to be in the spotlight for one day for all of the right reasons. Included with the registration are Buddy Walk T-shirts (mine are great workout shirts), carnival games, inflatible rides, craft activities, entertainment, lunch, and the opportunity to make a special impact a child's life. I wish I had all of the testimonials or experiences people have shared with us to simply post out here. We usually spend the rest of the year just expressing gratitude for all the good people that come to support Ammon. Following are specific details for the day of the Buddy Walk and Buddy 5K:
Community Park
1350 North 400 West
Centerville, Utah
Saturday, September 27
8:00 a.m. - Registration for 5K
8:30 a.m. - 5K Starts
10:00 a.m. - Buddy Walk Starts
If you have any questions please call us, email us, mail us a letter, send a text message, whatever. We’ve always said that it was not the donations that mattered most, but that people just come and experience the magic of this event. So if you have any questions or concerns, especially in regards to registration, please let us know. This past Saturday Coleson wanted to hold a lemonade stand to support Ammon and the Buddy Walk. Before we even had the Kool-aid or cookies outside ready to go, Coleson was outside flagging people down telling them about the Buddy Walk and handing out information. He did a great job, and always offered his customers an additional free glass of Kool-aid or another cookie. In total he raised over $50 (there are too many good people that live around here). If you missed the lemonade stand, no worries he wants to do another before the big event.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
30 and Loving It!
Summer turned 30 ancient years old this past week. It's really quite the achievement, it took 30 long hard years to make it this far. She has had a wonderful birthday. Before we left out of town Summer went to dinner with some of her friends and had a wonderful time, while I stayed at home with the boys. We celebrated her actual birthday at her parents house in California. They have some wonderful traditions to celebrate birthdays, one of which is to create a poster that is full of funny sayings that everyone has written on it. In honor of this incredible 30 year milestone, and in a great effort to embarrass Summer and officially welcome her to the land of 30-somethings, we've included below some of the sayings from her Happy Birthday poster (please feel free to add to the list):Forget over the hill! You left that mountain range looooong ago! Welcome to the prairie valley of walkers and Jazzies...Yup! You are that Lady with the three crying kids, and runny noses!I actually remember making posters for Mom and Dad when they turned 30!210 doggie years! You out lived three dogs!Depends jokes aren't funny anymore!Older women are Beautiful! You are Gorgeous!More than halfway to Grandma! You go girl!Older! Wiser! Wrinklier?You have children old enough to write this stuff!Ahhhhh...Ahhhh...Ahhhhhhhhhhhh (Ammon's reaction when he hears how old you are)...Happy Birthday Summer! We love you, especially in your old age!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Lots of Happenings...
The past week has included all the major big life happenings. Coleson started to attend kindergarten and he simply loves it. He does have one complaint though. Apparently the school that he goes to has two playgrounds and he's been telling people about this for months ("I'm going to the school with two playgrounds, it's going to be awesome"). Well the other day he came home kind of bummed and we were asking him what was up. Apparently recess seemed a little too short. After some additional prodding, it turns out that the kindergartners are only able to play on one of the playgrounds, and the smaller one at that. I can picture Coleson standing on the edge of his playground longingly staring at all of the bigger kids playing on the big set. Your time will come Coleson, your time will come.
Coleson did a great job with his "exams" before school started. Summer and I were sitting in the schoolroom filling out paperwork, while Coleson sat with his teacher at another table. He just kept rattling off the answers as fast as she could ask him. Then in classic Coleson fashion he started quizzing her on various topics as well. Coleson and his new teacher are getting along great.
One day this week Coleson came home and said, "I saw a kid with Down sydrome at school today in the hall." Coleson was excited to say hi the next day and it turns out that it was Aaron, one of Ammon's friends. Aaron started preschool this week at the school and Coleson is way excited to see him and wave hi everyday.
Our favorite show on TV is WipeOUT! Coleson and I can't stop the laughter as we watch people bounce helplessly off the big red balls, or get suckered punched on the aptly named sucker punch wall. This is television at its finest, and we are grateful for all the hapless participants that are willing to potentially inflict incredible bodily harm for our viewing enjoyment (even though everything is padded, it still has got to hurt). Since this is such a big hit and is talked about frequently and in great anticipation throughout the week, Coleson decided to put together our own WipeOUT obstacle course. The picture is a little grainy, but you get the idea. Also let it be known, that I was suckered punched on the pillow crawl thereby allowing Coleson to be the victor by a mere 1.89 seconds.
Here's a brief video of our little Brynn (this is for the grandparents). She is actually even bigger than shown here. We are very proud to note that she is our first kid to actually have baby rolls. I hope they only get larger; a fat baby is a happy baby.
One final note, after many years of working at my current firm an opportunity came our way that would have been foolish to pass up. As of August 15 I will be leaving my current firm and on September 1 I will be starting at another local firm. I started telling my partners and coworkers this past Friday. I told some of my closest friends first during lunch on Friday and actually got a little choked up (it was easy to blame it on the sushi, "must have had just a little too much wasabi with that last bite"). In short, this new opportunity improves every facet of my career by incredible amounts, and we are all grateful for it. Summer noted that after seven years of marriage it will be nice to have a husband at home more often, and I can't wait to be there.
Coleson did a great job with his "exams" before school started. Summer and I were sitting in the schoolroom filling out paperwork, while Coleson sat with his teacher at another table. He just kept rattling off the answers as fast as she could ask him. Then in classic Coleson fashion he started quizzing her on various topics as well. Coleson and his new teacher are getting along great.
One day this week Coleson came home and said, "I saw a kid with Down sydrome at school today in the hall." Coleson was excited to say hi the next day and it turns out that it was Aaron, one of Ammon's friends. Aaron started preschool this week at the school and Coleson is way excited to see him and wave hi everyday.
Our favorite show on TV is WipeOUT! Coleson and I can't stop the laughter as we watch people bounce helplessly off the big red balls, or get suckered punched on the aptly named sucker punch wall. This is television at its finest, and we are grateful for all the hapless participants that are willing to potentially inflict incredible bodily harm for our viewing enjoyment (even though everything is padded, it still has got to hurt). Since this is such a big hit and is talked about frequently and in great anticipation throughout the week, Coleson decided to put together our own WipeOUT obstacle course. The picture is a little grainy, but you get the idea. Also let it be known, that I was suckered punched on the pillow crawl thereby allowing Coleson to be the victor by a mere 1.89 seconds.
Here's a brief video of our little Brynn (this is for the grandparents). She is actually even bigger than shown here. We are very proud to note that she is our first kid to actually have baby rolls. I hope they only get larger; a fat baby is a happy baby.
One final note, after many years of working at my current firm an opportunity came our way that would have been foolish to pass up. As of August 15 I will be leaving my current firm and on September 1 I will be starting at another local firm. I started telling my partners and coworkers this past Friday. I told some of my closest friends first during lunch on Friday and actually got a little choked up (it was easy to blame it on the sushi, "must have had just a little too much wasabi with that last bite"). In short, this new opportunity improves every facet of my career by incredible amounts, and we are all grateful for it. Summer noted that after seven years of marriage it will be nice to have a husband at home more often, and I can't wait to be there.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Coming Home...
This is a photo of what I see about 50% of the time when I come home during dinner time. Coleson has become quite the master chef over the years. When it comes to stir fry or some type of noodle dish, on a more frequent basis Summer informs me that Coleson made dinner tonight.
I'm coming home tonight from an out of town trip and I'm so excited to see everyone. Summer sent me a picture of Brynn and even though it's only been a week she looks so much older to me (but just as cute). I've got to give a shout out to everyone. This week has been one of those incredibly uplifting weeks when it comes to the immense service I've seen people perform on our behalf. Everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner there have been people in our neighborhood come over and do exercises, play with, and feed Ammon (Summer is still on the lifting restrictions). Coleson has done a great job lifting Ammon in and out of bed for nighttime sleep and naps. I've mentioned before that in public and around other people Ammon ocassionally has a difficult time being interactive. But we've been praying extra hard that he would open himself up more to these wonderful people and allow them to serve him in a fun way, and they in return would receive some type of blessing for their service. I can only report on one side of this request, and Summer has informed me that Ammon has done a great job. So many of his personal helpers have indicated that they never knew how much he smiled, laughed, and simply moved around. He's made alot of new friends and fans this week. It's been awesome to hear these fun reports every night. Thank you again, we are humbled by your service and example, and hope to someday return the blessing.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Brynn and Ammon...
Brynn continues to do well and we are figuring out her schedule more and more day by day. She sleeps a lot, and her relatively brief fussy time is from about 10 to 12 at night. This is great Daddy daughter time, because I don’t mind staying up late and Brynn isn’t upset if someone is holding her.
Couple of other things that we didn’t initially expect or think of with this wonderful addition to our family. With Summer having a C-section delivery she is limited in what she can lift, and our not-so-little Ammon is off the lifting list for six weeks (two weeks already done). Summer is recovering so much better this time, and knowing the type of person she is, if it weren’t for doctors orders I’m sure she’d be carrying Ammon and Brynn around already. So to prepare for this lack of carrying I turned Ammon’s crib into a day bed, so it is only about a foot off the floor with a partial guard rail. Ammon slept in it for the first time Sunday night and about 3 a.m. woke up crying because the lower half of his body had fallen out of the bed (yeah, they call me the master craftsman for a reason). After strategically stuffing a few pillows in the opening and calming him down he slept fine the rest of the night.
Here’s our expected routine for the next little while. I’m in town this week so I get Ammon up and fed before I go to work, with the expectation that I’ll make it home in time to feed him at night, do his exercises, and get him to bed. Turns out we have some phenomenal neighbors (I think I’ve mentioned that several times before, we live with some awesome people). The neighborhood has organized to have someone come over during lunch and nap time to lift, play, and do exercises with Ammon until Summer gets the okay to do this on her own. I can only hope that those people that are sacrificing so much to come over are blessed immensely by the spirit of this not-so-little guy. Necana came over Monday and helped feed Ammon and put him down to a nap, she did a great job. This is all new for Ammon too, so I’m hoping his spirit and personality will allow people to serve him in this regard, and help him to open up a little more in public and strive to be more physically independent with his mobility. After nap it was big brother Coleson’s job to lift Ammon out of his bed, put him on the exercise mat, and pull him into the living room. Big brother used his muscles and did not disappoint. I’ll keep you posted on how this whole process goes.
Ammon’s personal nursery teacher was released from her calling last week. Robin has done a great job with Ammon, and we are going to miss her so much. She gladly endured multiple crumb and drool messes on the shoulder, with occasional spit ups on her nice Sunday dresses. She was Ammon’s first teacher, and we will always remember her as such. We are grateful for her willingness to color, sing, and play with Ammon, but most especially we are grateful for her teaching him, loving him, and accepting him.
One more item. This past Friday we went down to Grandma and Grandpa Hutchings home and they took us all to the Sizzler for dinner (the Sizzler rocks, especially before 5 o’clock). After a wonderful meal, Grandma and Grandpa took the lead and were leaving shortly before us to head home. We were all waving and saying good-bye and I looked down at Ammon and he was waving his whole arm. I quickly got Summer’s attention and we just watched in amazement as Ammon continued to wave bye all on his own. Then on Monday morning as I left to work he waved bye to me again. It probably sounds silly to get so excited and emotional over something so common, but we are sure proud of him. I attribute it all to two solid weeks of fun interactive times with Maga, she has been such a blessing in Ammon’s life yet again. We miss you Maga!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
More of Baby Sister Brynn...
We are hopefully leaving the hospital tonight and everyone is so excited to be going home. Little Brynn is the cutest little baby and big brothers are still beside themselves whenever they are around her. Coleson can't stop holding her and asking to hold her, and Ammon still does big smiles everytime we say "baby sister." It's been kind of unusual the past few days having Brynn in the same room as us at the hospital. I honestly expected to have Brynn spend a few days in the NICU, or have machines hooked up to her, etc. I kept asking the nurses if they needed to measure Brynn's dirty diapers, check her oxygen saturation, or half dozen other things, but they just keep telling me there is no need. We really like this. It was kind of funny the other day when we were talking with Dr. Marriott about the C-section surgery. I mentioned to him, for lack of a better word at the time, that it was kind of "fun" to hear him and the other doctor talking about Wall-E, Lexus', and other things during the surgery. He quickly apologized and noted that his attention was completely on the surgery, but he does this so often that it is just natural to talk during the surgery. I told him there was no need for an apology and I hadn't really explained myself to well, it was comforting to hear him talking about these things during the surgery because I knew it was an indication everything was going exactly as it should. He noted that was exactly right, when it's quiet in the room it's usually because something unexpected is happening. He then noted that when Ammon was born it was very "quiet" during the surgery, and there was none of the comforting banter. Again, Ammon's experiences brought many wonderful miracles into our lives, but I really like Brynn's approach to joining our family. Enjoy the pictures, we are very pleased parents and therefore many more pictures are sure to follow. Also, thank you thank you thank you to everyone, it has been a tremendous support and very welcomed. Also, Grandma Debbie (Maga) has done a wonderful job with Coleson and Ammon, much better than I could have done. Thank you again.
Monday, June 30, 2008
She's Here!
At 8:08 this morning Brynn was born and joined our not so little family. She is beautiful and healthy. She came in at a whopping (at least for us) 7 pounds 5 ounces, and about 20 inches tall. Summer is doing well and appears to be making a good recovery. We are all so excited that our little girl is here. We called Coleson and Ammon shortly after Brynn arrived this morning and both were simply besides themselves. Coleson answered the phone and heard Brynn in the background and completely lost it he was so happy. "She's here, she's here!! I'm a big brother, Ammon we're big brother's!!! Yes, Yes, Yes!!" I'm doing it no justice, it was awesome to hear his enthusiam. Maga (Grandma Debbie) said Ammon was smiling the biggest smile that she has ever seen, and when it was his turn to talk he just yelled into the phone. Just like there is a special connection between Coleson and Ammon, it appears there is another special connection between Ammon and Brynn. So much more to tell, but on to some pictures first.
After we returned to our room our first nurse was Tara, and she did a great job. At the end of her shift she indicated that her Mom was coming in for the next shift. We thought that was pretty cool and asked what her Mom's name was. Turns out it was Sherry. If you've ever read "Ammon's Miracles" you'll know who Sherry is. We haven't seen her since soon after Ammon was born and we were so excited when she came in. After hugs and warm hellos we were so happy to hear that not only did she remember us, she remembered Ammon and the events of that incredibly special day over 2 1/2 years ago. And now here she was again with our new little girl. Unfortunately, after all our picture taking and video recording we realized we only got Sherry on the video recorder. So Sherry if you're ever reading this, we'd love to put a picture out here of Ammon's personal angel. Below are some other fun photos from the past few days. However, don't fret, we'll put alot more photos of Brynn out here tomorrow as we refine our picture taking skills.
After we returned to our room our first nurse was Tara, and she did a great job. At the end of her shift she indicated that her Mom was coming in for the next shift. We thought that was pretty cool and asked what her Mom's name was. Turns out it was Sherry. If you've ever read "Ammon's Miracles" you'll know who Sherry is. We haven't seen her since soon after Ammon was born and we were so excited when she came in. After hugs and warm hellos we were so happy to hear that not only did she remember us, she remembered Ammon and the events of that incredibly special day over 2 1/2 years ago. And now here she was again with our new little girl. Unfortunately, after all our picture taking and video recording we realized we only got Sherry on the video recorder. So Sherry if you're ever reading this, we'd love to put a picture out here of Ammon's personal angel. Below are some other fun photos from the past few days. However, don't fret, we'll put alot more photos of Brynn out here tomorrow as we refine our picture taking skills.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...
We've been promising friends and family posts of Ammon being himself at home. Most people think that Ammon doesn't say much, because he really doesn't when he is in public. But when Ammon is at home and it's just the family he can be quite the chatterbox. It's been slightly hard to capture because whenever the camera comes out he usually keeps quiet. One sure fire way to capture "vocal" Ammon is when Daddy comes home. Believe it or not, this is one of the more low key Ammon reactions when Daddy comes home from work (you can't stage this kind of stuff). Hopefully we'll get more out here in the near future as we catch Ammon's version of dancing to the music, giving five, playing the "pat" game, and so many others. There's alot inside this wonderful little boy that is still trying to express itself and find a way out.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Saving on Gas...
Here's a post about one way to save a little cash at the pump, and it doesn't involve signing up for lame credit cards. I know you're all thinking, "Wow, finally something useful is being posted." We are just here to serve. Amazing Summer identified this little trick that is sure to save you at least 10% on all your gas filling needs. Smith's grocery stores is running a gift card special through the end of July, wherein if you buy a $300 gift card they automatically add an additional $30 dollars to the card (i.e. 10%). A while back Summer bought two $300 gift cards and we just finished them up, so this week she bought two more. Yesterday she discovered that she could fill up the car at Smith's fuel centers using the gift cards. So not only do we get effectively 10% off the gas price, we also receive a $.15 cent off per gallon coupon because we made a purchase at Smith's for more than $90 when we bought the gift card. Additionally, each time you use the gift card to purchase groceries and the transaction amount is above $90 we get another $.15 cent of per gallon coupon. Too sum it all up, we are now receiving $.15 cents off per gallon and 10% off the entire gas bill each time we fill up. The Smith's near our house is constantly the cheapest gas or very comparable so this is working out fairly well. Summer also likes it because it's one more reason she uses to not shop at Walmart for groceries (I'm usually indifferent with the whole Walmart thing, but after looking at some Walmart produce I see her point). If this is something that works for you, if you decide to purchase multiple $300 gift cards make sure they are separate transactions so you receive the $.15 off per gallon coupon for each transaction. With gas and groceries we think we will almost burn through these by the end of July, so we are planning on buying four or five more before the "special" ends. There's the scoop.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Happy Fathers Day!!!
I wanted to beat Summer to the punch for this Fathers Day and put a post out here about her. This year, Fathers Day is the same day as our wedding anniversary (we are also only a few short weeks out from the arrival of our little girl, which equals one very pregnant Summer). Summer and I have been married for seven years, and the “spark” continues to burn brightly. I can’t imagine my life, let alone a happy life, without her in it. About a month ago it was Mothers Day, and I had the opportunity to give a talk in church. The week before the talk work was insanely late (about 2 or 3 a.m. every night, due to a special project). So besides a whole lot of “Mommy we love you,” all I really had as a gift on Mothers Day was my talk. There is one small part from the talk that is all about why I am the best Dad in the world in the eyes of my boys, and I wanted to share it with you for Fathers Day. It reads as follows:
“I’ve mentioned to you before that I usually do an okay job in my social interactions with people when I am on my own, but consistently I have noticed that people usually feel better about me after having met my wife Summer. This is especially true within the walls of my own home with my own boys.
It is because of her that my boys love me so much. I know that everyday she talks to them about Daddy, in much more adoration than I am usually deserving. Frequently she tells them, “Let’s call Daddy and yell Happy Lunchtime; let’s surprise Daddy with homemade pizza when he comes home from work; let’s call Daddy at work and tell him good night and that we love him.” Her love and sacrifice on my behalf with my boys appears at times to have worked a little too well. I only have the opportunity to feed Ammon a couple times a week, but somehow he has associated me with happy eating time. There are times when he will cry almost uncontrollably with his dear mother, and all she has to do to calm him down is say, “Should we call and say Hi to Daddy?” After one quick hello the tears are gone and he usually gets back to eating. In short, I am my boys’ hero because she has made me their hero.”
The more I think about Fathers Day and my relationship with my boys the more it makes me appreciate and love Summer. She is the love of my life and my eternal sweetheart. It is because of her that this Fathers Day, our anniversary day, is an especially happy day. Maybe I will see if I can beat her to the punch again and have breakfast ready for her, but I doubt it, she and the boys are really good at that game.
“I’ve mentioned to you before that I usually do an okay job in my social interactions with people when I am on my own, but consistently I have noticed that people usually feel better about me after having met my wife Summer. This is especially true within the walls of my own home with my own boys.
It is because of her that my boys love me so much. I know that everyday she talks to them about Daddy, in much more adoration than I am usually deserving. Frequently she tells them, “Let’s call Daddy and yell Happy Lunchtime; let’s surprise Daddy with homemade pizza when he comes home from work; let’s call Daddy at work and tell him good night and that we love him.” Her love and sacrifice on my behalf with my boys appears at times to have worked a little too well. I only have the opportunity to feed Ammon a couple times a week, but somehow he has associated me with happy eating time. There are times when he will cry almost uncontrollably with his dear mother, and all she has to do to calm him down is say, “Should we call and say Hi to Daddy?” After one quick hello the tears are gone and he usually gets back to eating. In short, I am my boys’ hero because she has made me their hero.”
The more I think about Fathers Day and my relationship with my boys the more it makes me appreciate and love Summer. She is the love of my life and my eternal sweetheart. It is because of her that this Fathers Day, our anniversary day, is an especially happy day. Maybe I will see if I can beat her to the punch again and have breakfast ready for her, but I doubt it, she and the boys are really good at that game.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Mini Vacation in Yellowstone
We decided to get away for a few days and go to Yellowstone. I am starting to feel the countdown until our baby girl comes, so it was time to go do something fun and before i really can't move anymore. We stayed with my brother Seth and his wife Amanda and their adorable 6 month old-Kayla in Rexburg, ID. Coleson and Ammon both had fun watching her. Brian and I had a great time driving around campus and reminiscing the good old Ricks days. It was awesome to see the new temple. We ate at Craigos-which has changed by the way, to a gourmet pizza sit down restaurant(still good pizza but no big(the best ever) breadsticks or occasional live entertainment(the location has also changed). We then got ice cream at Millhollow-which has not changed a bit. Yellowstone was way cool. We saw plenty of bison and Old Faithful explode. Coleson was all about the explosions. Coleson earned the title and badge of Junior Ranger. When we were at the ranger station we didn't expect the ranger to announce it to the whole store and have everyone give him a round of applause. It is a rare occasion to see Coleson get shy and embarrassed with rosy cheeks. We had a great time enjoying nature and rare sights of the world.
Coleson Scores!
Coleson had a blast playing soccer for his first time. His team was called Hot Lava Rocks and he was #2. His favorite positions were goalie and defender-- which he was awesome at both. He learned quickly how to head off the Bunch going toward the goal and boot it away. He also made a goal in one of the games which he explains bounced off the girl goalies knee-hey a goal is a goal. I had to try not to laugh too much at the bunch ball entertainment. You could always tell where Coleson was because of his constant laugh/yelling, jumping up and down every time he kicked or missed the ball. Out of all that, however, his favorite part was getting the treat at the end--capri suns or gaterade with a rice crispy treat or cookie-you just can't compete with that.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Fun in California
In March we were able to get away from the cold weather for two weeks and visit Maga and Paki (grandma and grandpa). Coleson had so much fun. He had a camp out in the living room with Paki, including fishing the next morning at Cameron Park Lake. When he came back he made sure we knew he caught "zero" fish. We went to Fairytale town one day to see all the nursery rhymes in real life. Brian surprised us and came out for Easter weekend. Coleson and Ammon had a deluxe "Cars" night while we went out. They got to watch the cars movie while sitting in their own cars and eating cars treats. It was the perfect break we all needed.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Opportunities...
I'll prep you all up front, this post is about mushy touchy feel good stuff concerning people with perceived and real disabilities. That's my disclaimer, not that one is really needed. I came across a story last week that I thought was amazing and added to my already strong hope and faith in good people. It's a story about a teenager with Down syndrome who was simply given various opportunities throughout his life, and the results of being given those opportunities to himself and others (the young man's mother works at my firm in our Philadelphia office, that's how I came across the story). I've attached a link to the Sports Illustrated story, and that's just one of a dozen media stories that have been done on him. The young man's name is Brad Hennefer, and if you have a few minutes I would encourage you to click on this story link and read his story before continuing on (my thoughts for the rest of this post don't make alot of sense outside the context of the story in the link). Here's one other story link from another local media source.
Good stuff, isn't it. Similar to what Coach Valore said in the one story, our family has been very enriched simply having our little Ammon around.
Mixed in with all of the perceived negatives and trials that come with a disabled child, there's alot of good, alot of hope, and alot of blessings. I realize that Ammon might not be a high school basketball star, but I hope to work as hard as I can to give him those opportunities and I am very appreciative of those that do the same. He has successfully grabbed onto so many opportunities already. I think back on some of our initial hopes for him. When he was born there was the possibility that he could not see, but we would hold him and talk to him in the NICU and he would turn his head and look at us. Turns out with some glasses his eyes are fine. You'll remember he completely failed all of his hearing tests, but at home we would call his name out from around the corner or sing a silly song out of eye sight and he would smile. Turns out that his hearing suddenly became fine. You'll remember that he had several holes in his heart when he was born and his pulmonary artery had a thick wall (possible surgery was in the works), but a while before his 1st year birthday the doctor said the holes had disappeared and his heart was fine. His physical abilities continue to improve and I know that he will walk someday. There's a dozen other things I could mention about Ammon, but I imagine that someday he might say to me something like, "Dad, why do you gotta tell people about all that personal stuff" (he will be right, but isn't that a parent's luxury, sort of like showing his baby bath pictures to his first girlfriend). Opportunities sometimes, for some people, take alot of work, maybe even years of work. We'll work as hard as we can to prepare Ammon physically and mentally for those opportunities (I'm positive he's already good to go spiritually); the opportunity to walk, the opportunity to talk and communicate, the opportunity to learn and grow, the opportunity to play catch, to dance, to run, to go on a date, to come with us on a mission. Then we can also hope in good people to help these opportunities be grabbed. I think back again on the quote from Coach Valore:
"It's been a very enriching experience for me, and for everyone who comes in contact with Brad," Valore said. "I think it comes from an understanding as to how hard Brad's worked through this. It's made me a more understanding person, because it's the first opportunity I've had in this situation. Working with Brad, it's enlightened this team and me immensely how a young man can work and overcome adversity. Brad makes everyone around all better people, whether it's during practice or during a game. It is true love."
Coach Valore has it all right. It's not just Ammon that needs to seize opportunities, but because of people like Ammon we all have very special opportunities too.
Good stuff, isn't it. Similar to what Coach Valore said in the one story, our family has been very enriched simply having our little Ammon around.
Mixed in with all of the perceived negatives and trials that come with a disabled child, there's alot of good, alot of hope, and alot of blessings. I realize that Ammon might not be a high school basketball star, but I hope to work as hard as I can to give him those opportunities and I am very appreciative of those that do the same. He has successfully grabbed onto so many opportunities already. I think back on some of our initial hopes for him. When he was born there was the possibility that he could not see, but we would hold him and talk to him in the NICU and he would turn his head and look at us. Turns out with some glasses his eyes are fine. You'll remember he completely failed all of his hearing tests, but at home we would call his name out from around the corner or sing a silly song out of eye sight and he would smile. Turns out that his hearing suddenly became fine. You'll remember that he had several holes in his heart when he was born and his pulmonary artery had a thick wall (possible surgery was in the works), but a while before his 1st year birthday the doctor said the holes had disappeared and his heart was fine. His physical abilities continue to improve and I know that he will walk someday. There's a dozen other things I could mention about Ammon, but I imagine that someday he might say to me something like, "Dad, why do you gotta tell people about all that personal stuff" (he will be right, but isn't that a parent's luxury, sort of like showing his baby bath pictures to his first girlfriend). Opportunities sometimes, for some people, take alot of work, maybe even years of work. We'll work as hard as we can to prepare Ammon physically and mentally for those opportunities (I'm positive he's already good to go spiritually); the opportunity to walk, the opportunity to talk and communicate, the opportunity to learn and grow, the opportunity to play catch, to dance, to run, to go on a date, to come with us on a mission. Then we can also hope in good people to help these opportunities be grabbed. I think back again on the quote from Coach Valore:
"It's been a very enriching experience for me, and for everyone who comes in contact with Brad," Valore said. "I think it comes from an understanding as to how hard Brad's worked through this. It's made me a more understanding person, because it's the first opportunity I've had in this situation. Working with Brad, it's enlightened this team and me immensely how a young man can work and overcome adversity. Brad makes everyone around all better people, whether it's during practice or during a game. It is true love."
Coach Valore has it all right. It's not just Ammon that needs to seize opportunities, but because of people like Ammon we all have very special opportunities too.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Up the Stairs and Body Beautiful Program...
One of my teams at work is currently having a weight loss challenge. Supposedly my current “fully clothed with no shoes on” weight of 193 is about 10 pounds higher than my ideal weight (don’t worry, there will never be any “before” and “after” pictures posted to this blog, or any other blog for that matter). In order to win the challenge, or at least not have to pay any money to anyone, I simply need to meet my weight loss goal (there will be an overall winner based on percentage weight decrease, but they only receive winnings from those people that don’t meet their goal). Considering it is busy season and our opportunity to do anything besides work is pretty much zero, I’ve inspired the team to join me in climbing the stairs twice a day. Considering we are on the 16th floor this has turned out to be a phenomenal workout in a fairly short period of time. We have a couple of “young pups” on the team that are fresh out of college and still in pristine shape. I know my limitations and most of my coworkers limitations, so the first few times we climbed the stairs my mantra for myself and the older (i.e, out of shape) team members was simply “slow and steady.” We enjoyed a great deal of satisfaction to see the young ones quickly disappear up the stairs only to meet them on the 16th floor nauseous, beet red, and slumped against the wall (our condition wasn’t far behind them, but it was very gratifying to see the young ones humbled). Now that we have been climbing stairs for several weeks the climbs are easier, but still grueling. We try to mix it up by increasing the speed, doing two stairs at a time, and never touching the handrails. However, today at lunch while we were all putting down some cake and contemplating another piece, I came to quite the epiphany concerning this whole “body beautiful” program. Fortunately for me, my metabolism is such that I haven’t gained any weight in about 4 years, despite the out of town meals and minimal consistent exercise (I expect a lot of hate mail for even making that comment). So, it’s not so much that I need to lose weight when I can very easily maintain my current weight; instead all I need to ensure is the people on my team simply gain weight or at least maintain their current “larger” status (that’s a pretty negative thought). Don’t worry though, I’m still doing the stairs twice a day and encouraging my team members to join me. However, now my mantra as we climb the stairs has an out of breathe saying tagged on the end of it, “slow and steady, slow and steady; I look good when you look big.” I’ll keep you posted on how the whole body beautiful program shakes out.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Ammon and the Hospital...
Ammon is Home! Since the posting below of our excitement and anticipation of a new little girl in our family, our current youngest one took a turn for the worst. Valentines Day was so much fun! We had a candlelight dinner with the boys at home, we had found out about our little girl, and Coleson appeared to be getting completely over his cold. However, Ammon had started to cough on Thursday, so on Friday we took him to the doctors as a precautionary measure. By Friday afternoon Ammon was checked into the hospital and ended up staying there for five days. This is becoming an annual tradition for this kid (we hope to break this tradition next year by simply sending the entire family to California for the three months in the winter; I’m sure this is great news for Maga and Paki). Turns out Ammon got hit with a double diagnosis of RSV and pneumonia. How this happened we really have no idea, we have always tried to be so careful with him. We assume he either got it during one of his therapy sessions or just bad luck.
Summer was a trooper and spent three of the four nights at the hospital, while I barely managed the Saturday night shift (unfortunately, busy season is still chugging along full bore at work). Going on less than an hour of sleep per night I still don’t know how she did it, I am so impressed with her. Family and friends were awesome to say the least, and several nights we were well fed and Coleson was well cared for during the day. Sara was an especially good friend to Summer and Ammon, by coming up to the hospital and simply holding Ammon for several hours during the day so Summer could take a much needed break.
Ammon was a powerful reminder of what it means to be of good cheer and persevering. Despite the fever, pains, and other ailments he still was laughing and smiling early on the process. By Sunday his demeanor had become more subdued primarily from exhaustion and dehydration, and Sunday morning they added an IV to his treatments. I’m so grateful for all the answered prayers and blessings on his behalf. Coleson would regularly come running into the living room from his bedroom and ask if Ammon was better yet, because he had just finished saying another pray for him in his room. I’m still sometimes surprised by the great love that a five year old has for his younger brother, and the lengths and sacrifices he’s so willing to do to show that love. Gratefully Ammon is on the mends and we were able to bring him home late Tuesday night. We were able to talk the doctors into letting us bring him home once the fever broke for good. We are old pros when it comes to oxygen tubes, oxygen saturation and heart rate monitors, breathing treatments, etc, etc; bring it on is what we say to those things now. We got Ammon to bed a little before 11 on Tuesday night and he slept through the night (we knew we had made the right decision). They didn’t bring us a normal oxygen tank for Ammon, instead it’s a large machine the size of a TV that somehow takes pure oxygen out of the air and sends it down the tube. It’s not overly loud, but at night I keep thinking that someone is running their lawn mower, than I realize that it’s still winter and still the middle of the night (I guess these various sounds at night are starting to get to me). To me the machine sounds like Darth Vader suffering through an asthma attack.
Again, we are simply excited and grateful that Ammon is home, he is still our little miracle boy.
Summer was a trooper and spent three of the four nights at the hospital, while I barely managed the Saturday night shift (unfortunately, busy season is still chugging along full bore at work). Going on less than an hour of sleep per night I still don’t know how she did it, I am so impressed with her. Family and friends were awesome to say the least, and several nights we were well fed and Coleson was well cared for during the day. Sara was an especially good friend to Summer and Ammon, by coming up to the hospital and simply holding Ammon for several hours during the day so Summer could take a much needed break.
Ammon was a powerful reminder of what it means to be of good cheer and persevering. Despite the fever, pains, and other ailments he still was laughing and smiling early on the process. By Sunday his demeanor had become more subdued primarily from exhaustion and dehydration, and Sunday morning they added an IV to his treatments. I’m so grateful for all the answered prayers and blessings on his behalf. Coleson would regularly come running into the living room from his bedroom and ask if Ammon was better yet, because he had just finished saying another pray for him in his room. I’m still sometimes surprised by the great love that a five year old has for his younger brother, and the lengths and sacrifices he’s so willing to do to show that love. Gratefully Ammon is on the mends and we were able to bring him home late Tuesday night. We were able to talk the doctors into letting us bring him home once the fever broke for good. We are old pros when it comes to oxygen tubes, oxygen saturation and heart rate monitors, breathing treatments, etc, etc; bring it on is what we say to those things now. We got Ammon to bed a little before 11 on Tuesday night and he slept through the night (we knew we had made the right decision). They didn’t bring us a normal oxygen tank for Ammon, instead it’s a large machine the size of a TV that somehow takes pure oxygen out of the air and sends it down the tube. It’s not overly loud, but at night I keep thinking that someone is running their lawn mower, than I realize that it’s still winter and still the middle of the night (I guess these various sounds at night are starting to get to me). To me the machine sounds like Darth Vader suffering through an asthma attack.
Again, we are simply excited and grateful that Ammon is home, he is still our little miracle boy.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
It's a ..... girl--well on the way
Today I went to the perinatologist to get a thorough ultra sound. Everything looks perfect. The baby is right on schedule-19 weeks- and the best news, it's a girl-for sure. Everything was checked twice just to make sure. So my back pain is explained and hopefully we can have a full term, healthy baby! The due date is between July 7-10. Brian was so excited when he heard the news at work that he shouted in his office, with the door closed, but he was still heard throughout the building. Coleson guessed it was a girl before I went, so when I told him it was a girl he said a quiet "Yes" and back to playing with play dough. He already knew so it wasn't a big deal he told me afterward. Ammon laughed everytime we said "baby", so I think he's excited too. I am so grateful to hear the baby is healthy and am so excited for a girl.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Babysitting and Gas Cards...
Busy season has hit our family full on for the past week and a half, and it will continue for the next two months. There is usually a partial sense of exhilaration and accomplishment associated with the start of busy season, and those feelings are there this time as well. However, certain circumstances at work are making this season especially trying. In light of that I wanted to write a few things about my family and other things that always seem to lift me up. I’m not the type of person that gets sad or frustrated when my family is doing fun activities while I’m working my way through seemingly endless issues late into the night (I realize that it is not always fun and games at home either; Summer always works much harder than I ever do at my job). I actually feel a lot better knowing that Summer and the boys are having fun together, experiencing joy, and are just plain happy. So here are a few stories that brought a smile to me recently and revived memories of so many good times from before.
The weekend before busy season started Summer and I wanted to make it to the Temple to recharge the best way we know how. That Saturday morning Summer went for a run at the community center and Coleson eagerly went with her. Coleson might have run about a mile before heading down to the basketball courts to watch some kids from our neighborhood play on one of the community teams. He sat next to KyAnn, who is a wonderful woman that lives down the street from us. When Summer came down after her run, KyAnn asked her when we would be dropping the boys off. Perplexed, Summer asked her what she meant. KyAnn replied, “Coleson told me you and Brian were going to the Temple and he asked if he and Ammon could come over to our home and have us watch and play with them. He’s got it all set up; so again, what time are you dropping the boys off.” Yup, Coleson set it all up, not much gets past this kid. That night we dropped the boys off at KyAnn’s house and they had a great time playing with everyone. KyAnn has a little girl that is about 3 ½ years old, Shayla. Shayla loves to play with Coleson, and when she was in nursery at church she would always talk to Ammon. She recently received a new baby girl doll. Apparently, she likes Ammon so much that she named her baby doll Ammon. KyAnn tried to explain that her doll was a girl and Ammon is a boy name, but that didn’t matter to her; the little doll that she loves to play with would be named Ammon, case closed. When we picked the boys up that night they were both so happy and had had a wonderful time. We were there for over 20 minutes just watching Coleson and Shayla run around the house, with no awareness that it was well past bedtime. As we left that night I was reminded of the goodness of the people that we are able to associate with on a daily basis, and this night also reminded me of the specific goodness this family has shown us in the past. Here’s the specific experience this whole night reminded me of.
About a week and a half after Ammon was born over two years ago, Summer and I were at home when a knock came at the door (we received a lot of welcome knocks on the door after Ammon was born). KyAnn also has three teenage daughters named Jill, Carrie, and Paige; and they were standing there on our doorstep. One of them handed me a thick envelope and simply said something to the effect of, “hope all is well, we’ll see you later.” Before I could really say anything more than thanks they were off the porch and heading home. I assumed the envelope contained birth congratulations or a get well soon card for Summer (it would still be quite some time before Summer would be able to do anything physical or quickly). I gave the envelope to Summer and we opened it together on the couch. There were no cards, but instead several pieces of paper, a couple of receipts, and two cards that looked like they were from Flying J (a gas station chain). We were confused to say the least. We quickly read the first page and it essentially said the following: “We heard about Ammon and understand that he will probably be in the hospital for some time, so we wanted to do something to make it easier. After thinking about it for a while, we thought it might be helpful if we could get you some gas cards to pay for the fuel in your cars as you drive back and forth to the hospital. We put together a short letter and passed it around the neighborhood explaining what we wanted to do and if together we might be able to purchase some gas cards. We gave a short deadline and people have been dropping off money at our house non-stop for the past few days. We were actually quite surprised about the incredible response and how much was donated, it far exceeded our expectations. You’ll find in the envelope two gas cards, one for each car. Each gas card contains well over $200 (around $500 all together). Thank you for letting us serve you and be part of this miracle.” It was signed by these three wonderful girls. Summer and I were obviously beside ourselves. I kept looking at the receipts and turning the gas cards over and over in my hands. It took us a half an hour to regain our composure before we could walk down to their house and somehow tell them thank you. I remember KyAnn stressing to us on that day that these girls came up with the idea, drafted the letter, purchased the gas cards, and everything else all on their own. They just couldn’t get over the response from so many people and had no idea it would be this big so quickly.
At the time I’d thought this was miracle enough, we had already been so greatly blessed, but here’s the interesting end to this story. For over two months Summer traveled daily, sometimes two or three times a day, to be with Ammon at the hospital. The drive was a little over a half hour each way from our home (when I drove to the hospital after work it was still about a half hour past our home). On the day after Christmas when we were going to the hospital to pick up Ammon and bring him home, the tank was empty and we stopped for gas. Almost without thinking at this point I slid the gas card into the reader and pumped the gas. I stood there in the cold brisk wind, pumping the gas, and eagerly thinking of being with Ammon. The receipt printed out and I noticed that the funds on the card had been depleted. I stared in stunned silence at the receipt and again just turned that gas card over and over in my hand. The card had perfectly paid for all the fuel that was required, right up until the last tank, for the last drive, for the last time we would have to travel to see Ammon instead of just being with him at home. I’ve thought many times since how interesting that was, and it is interesting isn’t it. Miracles many times have a way of making us think, and stand back in awe, even those miracles that involve three special young women, a neighborhood of good people, and a couple of gas cards.
The weekend before busy season started Summer and I wanted to make it to the Temple to recharge the best way we know how. That Saturday morning Summer went for a run at the community center and Coleson eagerly went with her. Coleson might have run about a mile before heading down to the basketball courts to watch some kids from our neighborhood play on one of the community teams. He sat next to KyAnn, who is a wonderful woman that lives down the street from us. When Summer came down after her run, KyAnn asked her when we would be dropping the boys off. Perplexed, Summer asked her what she meant. KyAnn replied, “Coleson told me you and Brian were going to the Temple and he asked if he and Ammon could come over to our home and have us watch and play with them. He’s got it all set up; so again, what time are you dropping the boys off.” Yup, Coleson set it all up, not much gets past this kid. That night we dropped the boys off at KyAnn’s house and they had a great time playing with everyone. KyAnn has a little girl that is about 3 ½ years old, Shayla. Shayla loves to play with Coleson, and when she was in nursery at church she would always talk to Ammon. She recently received a new baby girl doll. Apparently, she likes Ammon so much that she named her baby doll Ammon. KyAnn tried to explain that her doll was a girl and Ammon is a boy name, but that didn’t matter to her; the little doll that she loves to play with would be named Ammon, case closed. When we picked the boys up that night they were both so happy and had had a wonderful time. We were there for over 20 minutes just watching Coleson and Shayla run around the house, with no awareness that it was well past bedtime. As we left that night I was reminded of the goodness of the people that we are able to associate with on a daily basis, and this night also reminded me of the specific goodness this family has shown us in the past. Here’s the specific experience this whole night reminded me of.
About a week and a half after Ammon was born over two years ago, Summer and I were at home when a knock came at the door (we received a lot of welcome knocks on the door after Ammon was born). KyAnn also has three teenage daughters named Jill, Carrie, and Paige; and they were standing there on our doorstep. One of them handed me a thick envelope and simply said something to the effect of, “hope all is well, we’ll see you later.” Before I could really say anything more than thanks they were off the porch and heading home. I assumed the envelope contained birth congratulations or a get well soon card for Summer (it would still be quite some time before Summer would be able to do anything physical or quickly). I gave the envelope to Summer and we opened it together on the couch. There were no cards, but instead several pieces of paper, a couple of receipts, and two cards that looked like they were from Flying J (a gas station chain). We were confused to say the least. We quickly read the first page and it essentially said the following: “We heard about Ammon and understand that he will probably be in the hospital for some time, so we wanted to do something to make it easier. After thinking about it for a while, we thought it might be helpful if we could get you some gas cards to pay for the fuel in your cars as you drive back and forth to the hospital. We put together a short letter and passed it around the neighborhood explaining what we wanted to do and if together we might be able to purchase some gas cards. We gave a short deadline and people have been dropping off money at our house non-stop for the past few days. We were actually quite surprised about the incredible response and how much was donated, it far exceeded our expectations. You’ll find in the envelope two gas cards, one for each car. Each gas card contains well over $200 (around $500 all together). Thank you for letting us serve you and be part of this miracle.” It was signed by these three wonderful girls. Summer and I were obviously beside ourselves. I kept looking at the receipts and turning the gas cards over and over in my hands. It took us a half an hour to regain our composure before we could walk down to their house and somehow tell them thank you. I remember KyAnn stressing to us on that day that these girls came up with the idea, drafted the letter, purchased the gas cards, and everything else all on their own. They just couldn’t get over the response from so many people and had no idea it would be this big so quickly.
At the time I’d thought this was miracle enough, we had already been so greatly blessed, but here’s the interesting end to this story. For over two months Summer traveled daily, sometimes two or three times a day, to be with Ammon at the hospital. The drive was a little over a half hour each way from our home (when I drove to the hospital after work it was still about a half hour past our home). On the day after Christmas when we were going to the hospital to pick up Ammon and bring him home, the tank was empty and we stopped for gas. Almost without thinking at this point I slid the gas card into the reader and pumped the gas. I stood there in the cold brisk wind, pumping the gas, and eagerly thinking of being with Ammon. The receipt printed out and I noticed that the funds on the card had been depleted. I stared in stunned silence at the receipt and again just turned that gas card over and over in my hand. The card had perfectly paid for all the fuel that was required, right up until the last tank, for the last drive, for the last time we would have to travel to see Ammon instead of just being with him at home. I’ve thought many times since how interesting that was, and it is interesting isn’t it. Miracles many times have a way of making us think, and stand back in awe, even those miracles that involve three special young women, a neighborhood of good people, and a couple of gas cards.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Bumps in the Night...
Work on the basement is moving along well (I promise I'll put some pictures out here very soon, I know people are dying to see a bunch of 2x4s and Coleson expertly shooting cans off the top of the water heaters with the nail gun). On Saturday night at about 2 or 3 a.m. Summer and I were rudely awakened by an extremely loud rumbling noise coming from the basement directly under our bed. My buddy "helping with the basement" (i.e., pretty much doing all the work that requires any sort of technical construction skill, such as using a tape measure or tuning in the radio to various rock ballads from the 80's), has occassionally been trying to unnerve me by mentioning "strange happenings" in the basement when it gets dark. So granted when the loud diesel engine caliber noise kicked in at this forsaken time of night, my first thought was, "Oh man, he wasn't kidding!" Summer jumps awake, and we're both thinking the whole house is coming apart. After a few seconds of groggy anticipation, I realize that we had simply left the air compressor plugged in and it had leaked some air over the hours and finally kicked on to re-pressurize. Gratefully the boys did not wake up, and the compressor shut down after 20 seconds or so. Considering the time of night and my initial thoughts of what might be causing the noise, I bravely decided that I would wait till morning to unplug the compressor. Shortly thereafter Summer and I fell back asleep, and I'm proud to note that I bravely unplugged the compressor after church the next day. No strange happenings to report concerning the basement construction, other than our occassional choice of easy listening music while working.
On another note, Sunday was Coleson's first day with his new primary class and teacher. Coleson finally found out that his Mom, Summer, is his happy new teacher, and he is beside himself with joy and excitement at this wonderful development. It was hard keeping this a secret, but well worth the anticipation and surprise that Coleson has been feeling. Ammon is still having a great time in nursery, and I would reiterate everything from the first posting we put out here about Ammon, nursery, and Robin (I finally attached a picture to that first nursery posting).
On another note, Sunday was Coleson's first day with his new primary class and teacher. Coleson finally found out that his Mom, Summer, is his happy new teacher, and he is beside himself with joy and excitement at this wonderful development. It was hard keeping this a secret, but well worth the anticipation and surprise that Coleson has been feeling. Ammon is still having a great time in nursery, and I would reiterate everything from the first posting we put out here about Ammon, nursery, and Robin (I finally attached a picture to that first nursery posting).
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Christmas, New Years, and Shanghai...
Here is a summary of the past holiday season. We announced to all the family on Christmas that Summer and I are expecting another little baby come July 2008. After Ammon's premature birth experience and then the miscarriage our hopes are high that everything seems to be going well with this pregnancy. For the grandparents, Summer made some professional display tiles that have the following saying embossed on them: "Grandparents hearts are so big there's always room for more." We gave these to the grandparents for Christmas and Coleson quickly performed his part by announcing the expected arrival of a new little brother or sister. Coleson has been doing a wonderful job letting our friends and neighbors know; everytime we tell someone that Summer is pregnant the usual reply is "yeah, we know, Coleson told us at the Christmas party" or "Coleson told us in Primary." Coleson is incredibly excited to have another little sibling around to love and play with.
One funny story from the holiday shopping season, of course involves Coleson. Coleson is a great older brother, he is always on his best behavior and very helpful during all of Ammon's doctors appointments, therapy sessions, etc. The point I'm trying to make is that Coleson usually has an extra ounce of patience and tolerance when it comes to Mommy or Ammon related activities that he has to attend, including shopping. Near the end of one day of shopping, Summer is making one last stop at the Quilted Bear (a craft store) to try to find materials for the tiles noted above. She figured that compared to a doctor's or therapist's office the Quilted Bear should at least be marginally more exciting for a five year old. About five minutes into the shopping experience Coleson lays down on the floor, smiles, and tongue in cheek says, "I can't do it, I just can't do it. Mom, this is sooo boring, this store is for old people like Mommies and Grandmas and Grandpas. I just can't do it." After a good laugh by everyone, Mom resigns and shopping for the day is gratefully done.
New Years Eve was a great time spent with neighbors and friends. I don't know about many of you, but when I was a kid I had a difficult time staying up past midnight until I was probably about 10. We actually stayed at the Phippen's home until about 2:30 a.m. (that's A.M. folks), and the most surprising part is that Coleson and all the other kids there stayed up until then as well (Ammon was up until midnight). It was a ton of fun, and I would highly recommend the game Zarahemla to any board game fan.
I've included below some more pictures from my Shanghai trip. Again, Shanghai was nothing that I expected. Granted we lived like the rich tourist over there, but Shanghai has to be one of the most impressive cities I've ever been too (and I've been to many of the large cities across the U.S.). There was simply skyscraper after skyscraper; it makes bustling downtown Salt Lake look like a simple rural village. In my opinion it even dwarfed New York and Chicago. We stayed in the tallest hotel in the world (Grand Hyatt Shanghai) and my room was on the 77 floor (I've included a couple pictures from my room). Right next door was the current tallest building in the world in the final phases of construction. From my hotel room window I still had too look straight up to see the top of the building next door. The people there were incredibly nice and accomodating. I was expecting something similar to Rocky 4 and our 80's view of communist China, with big posters and statues of Mao and other chinese leaders. There was none of that, and a whole lot of trendy shopping, commerce, and business.
Speaking of shopping we had the opportunity on the Saturday there to experience the full Shanghai shopping adventure. Our first reactions to the overall market scenes were, “our wives would love this and would never leave.” A mere 8 hours later of non-stop shopping we finally resigned ourselves to leave the markets due to exhaustion, hunger, and an incredible sense of purchasing satisfaction (we never stopped to eat while shopping, but look at the post below and you might understand). In every sense possible, we finally obtained an understanding of what some women feel when the shopping bug bites. Bargaining was by far the most exciting part of the entire day. We ended up buying custom fitted dress shirts, sport coats, and overcoats, with the local partner offering to ship them to us once they’re finished being sewn (the dress shirts all come with our initials engraved on the cuffs). I’m not used to this type of detail, most of my shirts are readily identified as belonging to me by the fraying collar and baby food stains on the shoulders. We also hit the "knock-off" markets and that was an experience. There are several pictures below of us boarding an elevator to be taken to a secret back room to look at watches, bags, and other expensive items. At one shop the owner opened a hidden door behind a set of shelves and we were in Prada, Rolex, and North Face heaven. Even in the secret shop the first fine watches we looked at were not that impressive, so we kept asking for "heavy" watches, "good quality" watches, and the owner pulled several suitcases out from under the counter and laid before our eyes the finest watches I've seen. As I said, haggling was a ton of fun and we had a great time getting great deals. A Prada bag is currently the new diaper bag at our house.
Despite some comments to contrary the food was excellent. We ate alot of sushi and other local favorites. Each night we had brownies and ice cream delivered to our rooms, and every morning we ate ham, salmon, made to order eggs, and the best tasting fruit I've had since my days down in Fiji. If I ever make it back to Shanghai again, Summer will definitely be coming with me. I loved every minute.
One funny story from the holiday shopping season, of course involves Coleson. Coleson is a great older brother, he is always on his best behavior and very helpful during all of Ammon's doctors appointments, therapy sessions, etc. The point I'm trying to make is that Coleson usually has an extra ounce of patience and tolerance when it comes to Mommy or Ammon related activities that he has to attend, including shopping. Near the end of one day of shopping, Summer is making one last stop at the Quilted Bear (a craft store) to try to find materials for the tiles noted above. She figured that compared to a doctor's or therapist's office the Quilted Bear should at least be marginally more exciting for a five year old. About five minutes into the shopping experience Coleson lays down on the floor, smiles, and tongue in cheek says, "I can't do it, I just can't do it. Mom, this is sooo boring, this store is for old people like Mommies and Grandmas and Grandpas. I just can't do it." After a good laugh by everyone, Mom resigns and shopping for the day is gratefully done.
New Years Eve was a great time spent with neighbors and friends. I don't know about many of you, but when I was a kid I had a difficult time staying up past midnight until I was probably about 10. We actually stayed at the Phippen's home until about 2:30 a.m. (that's A.M. folks), and the most surprising part is that Coleson and all the other kids there stayed up until then as well (Ammon was up until midnight). It was a ton of fun, and I would highly recommend the game Zarahemla to any board game fan.
I've included below some more pictures from my Shanghai trip. Again, Shanghai was nothing that I expected. Granted we lived like the rich tourist over there, but Shanghai has to be one of the most impressive cities I've ever been too (and I've been to many of the large cities across the U.S.). There was simply skyscraper after skyscraper; it makes bustling downtown Salt Lake look like a simple rural village. In my opinion it even dwarfed New York and Chicago. We stayed in the tallest hotel in the world (Grand Hyatt Shanghai) and my room was on the 77 floor (I've included a couple pictures from my room). Right next door was the current tallest building in the world in the final phases of construction. From my hotel room window I still had too look straight up to see the top of the building next door. The people there were incredibly nice and accomodating. I was expecting something similar to Rocky 4 and our 80's view of communist China, with big posters and statues of Mao and other chinese leaders. There was none of that, and a whole lot of trendy shopping, commerce, and business.
Speaking of shopping we had the opportunity on the Saturday there to experience the full Shanghai shopping adventure. Our first reactions to the overall market scenes were, “our wives would love this and would never leave.” A mere 8 hours later of non-stop shopping we finally resigned ourselves to leave the markets due to exhaustion, hunger, and an incredible sense of purchasing satisfaction (we never stopped to eat while shopping, but look at the post below and you might understand). In every sense possible, we finally obtained an understanding of what some women feel when the shopping bug bites. Bargaining was by far the most exciting part of the entire day. We ended up buying custom fitted dress shirts, sport coats, and overcoats, with the local partner offering to ship them to us once they’re finished being sewn (the dress shirts all come with our initials engraved on the cuffs). I’m not used to this type of detail, most of my shirts are readily identified as belonging to me by the fraying collar and baby food stains on the shoulders. We also hit the "knock-off" markets and that was an experience. There are several pictures below of us boarding an elevator to be taken to a secret back room to look at watches, bags, and other expensive items. At one shop the owner opened a hidden door behind a set of shelves and we were in Prada, Rolex, and North Face heaven. Even in the secret shop the first fine watches we looked at were not that impressive, so we kept asking for "heavy" watches, "good quality" watches, and the owner pulled several suitcases out from under the counter and laid before our eyes the finest watches I've seen. As I said, haggling was a ton of fun and we had a great time getting great deals. A Prada bag is currently the new diaper bag at our house.
Despite some comments to contrary the food was excellent. We ate alot of sushi and other local favorites. Each night we had brownies and ice cream delivered to our rooms, and every morning we ate ham, salmon, made to order eggs, and the best tasting fruit I've had since my days down in Fiji. If I ever make it back to Shanghai again, Summer will definitely be coming with me. I loved every minute.
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