Turkey Day

The twins got their H1N1 booster shots on Wednesday. Now, all we have left to fully vaccinate is Jenna. Woo hoo!

We cajun fried a turkey for Thanksgiving again this year. And by "we", I mean Chris and our good friend David. And by "a turkey", I mean two turkeys and six chickens. We eat one and freeze the rest for future fantastic meals. Chris is nearly an expert turkey fryer--the only reason I don't call him an out-and-out expert is because he's under 40 years old still and I think that's too young to be an expert at anything. Despite the fact that he's been cajun injecting and frying turkeys longer than Emeril Lagasse.

All in all, it was a great day, and we feel blessed that each of us had a healthy and happy Thanksgiving. Our good friend Alexa Felix, who has SMA type 1 and just turned two years old this month, spent the holiday in the hospital with a respiratory infection, so all our prayers are turned in their direction until Alexa gets better.

What a Walk!

Today was our first ever Walk N Roll to Cure SMA. What a blast! The weather couldn't have been better. There were SO many people, including local SMA people we hadn't had the chance to meet yet. Plus, my parents and our good friends David and Daria came to show their support, so we were in great company all day. We also met some new SMA families who we look forward to getting to know over the next year.


Team Double Trouble raised an astounding $5,440 for the Walk this year--$400 more than our so-high-we'll-never-achieve-it goal. Amazing! A huge thank you to all our generous donors out there. We appreciate every dollar, and the money goes to a great cause.



Jenna and our friend Madi, who is 6 years old with SMA type 2.

Kitchen Sink

An uncharacterstically long period of time has gone by since my last post. The good news is that things around here have been same old, same old, so there's not much newsworthy to share.

Chris and I got our H1N1 vaccines, finally. The kids all still need their booster shot for H1N1, but we're now that much closer to being fully vaccinated. What a relief. And what a great start to cold and flu season--all five of us are as healthy as ever so far, and we're doing our best to have fun and keep busy while staying out of crowds and away from anyone else who is sick.

We have found another house that we hope to buy. It's yet another foreclosure property, so there's no telling how it will all shake out, but so far it's the most ideal home for our needs that we've seen. We stepped through the threshold and noticed that there is no step in the front entry, and then noticed in the kids' bathroom it has a roll-in shower! The whole bathroom is wheelchair accessible, with handles at the toilet and a special shower head/handle. The floor plan is open and spacious, perfect for two little ones in wheelchairs. This house is barely 10 minutes away from our current house, so the location is ideal, too. We should know more in about 6 weeks, but we sure hope that the seller's lender can hold off on finalizing the foreclosure and allow us to buy the house first.

The Arizona Walk N Roll to Cure SMA takes place this Sunday. The weather is supposed to be divine--69 degrees and sunny--and we're super excited because there's a chance we may be able to bring the twins' demo powerchair with us to the walk. I can only imagine the glee on their faces when they get the opportunity to go zooming around the open areas of the park with the other wheelchair kids! They're getting so good at driving the chair. And Jenna doesn't know it yet, but she'll have a new Barbie scooter to ride at the Walk, because she's outgrown her first scooter. We've raised so much money for our team and are so grateful for everyone who has donated. We're about $400 away from our goal of a whopping $5,000 so if you've been meaning to donate but haven't do it now! Thursday is the last day to accept an online donation in order for it to count for our team at the Walk, but donations received after Friday will still be credited to the Arizona Chapter of FSMA and will be put to great use.

But everything this week happens under a cloud of grief for our friend Kory Hofferber. He was 21 years old when he was killed late Saturday night in a car accident near Flagstaff. Our days lately have been spent in sorrow and prayer for him and his family, and any prayers you can spare for Kory's family would be appreciated.

Therapy is Working!

We experienced some "shock and awe" today during the twins' physical therapy when Kyle showed us a trick. He doesn't get to sit on the floor very often, because he tips over and mashes his nose into the floor (so sad when that happens), so imagine our surprise when he propped himself up on one arm and then lifted up his knee. He hasn't shown much awareness of his legs or feet at all, so the fact that it occurs to him to move his leg is a pretty amazing thing.


Not to be outdone, Lauren knows how to sit in a Tomato chair with Henry the Octopus and squeal "cheese!"


















Tomorrow, we get to hang out in Tempe with the MDA to help meet and greet folks at the Lock-Up there. That will be the last indoor/crowded place we go to for the season, because H1N1 is here for a while and we are so paranoid. The kids all still need their H1N1 boosters later this month, and Chris and I haven't had any H1N1 vaccine at all, so our household is still vulnerable. We know a handful of SMA kids who are recovering from H1N1 right now, so everyone send extra prayers their way.