Happy Birthday Heidi!

Yesterday was Heidi's 7th birthday!  I cannot believe that she is 7 already.  The time is going by way too fast. 

Mommy and Daddy love you so much Heidi!  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Pictures From Chuy's

We had a GREAT time at the Chuy's fundraiser!  We raised a total of around $1,500, with the majority of that coming from the raffle and the massage therapist.  It was amazing to see all of the different people who came out to support Heidi.  Thank you to every single person who came and made the night so fun and successful!  And a special thank you to my brother Jared and his girlfriend Erin for setting up the event, Jenn the massage therapist, Arizona Goldens for bringing several dogs, and of course Chuy's!

Fundraisers

CHUY'S
Tomorrow night is the event at Chuy's, and we are so excited!  It is going to be so fun to hang out with so many friends and family.  Come on down and hang out with us, the event starts at 7:00.  For more information, click on the link to the right of the blog.  We hope to see you all there!

SCENTSY
My amazing friend Megan is a consultant for Scentsy, and she is currently doing a fundraiser for Heidi.  All sales will benefit the service dog efforts.  If you have never experienced Scentsy, you are missing out!  It is the perfect time of year, too, as these products make excellent Christmas gifts.  You can check out all of the products and order online at http://www.meganspear.scentsy.us/.  When you order on the website, order through the party "Love For Heidi" to ensure that your purchase benefits Heidi's service dog fund.

BARNES & NOBLE GIFT WRAPPING EVENT
Every year Barnes & Noble has a gift wrapping event around the holidays, where charities and fundraising parties can go to their stores and set up a gift wrapping table.  This year AZ Goldens was able to secure several time slots and passed a couple of them on to me.  I will be at the Barnes & Noble at Tempe Marketplace on Black Friday, the 26th, from 6-10 pm, December 3rd from 6-10 pm, and December 5th from 2-6 pm.  So, who wants to come and wrap presents with me?!  The more the merrier, as it could get pretty busy!  If you can spare even one hour of your time, we would greatly appreciate it.  Contact me if you are interested in helping out.

Photo Shoot at Freestone Park

This past week we had a photo shoot done with Harmony, Heidi, and the rest of the gang.  The pictures were taken by the amazing Tiffany Hatch and Brian from AZ Goldens.  I have the most beautiful kids in the world, if I do say so myself. :)

Delphina

Heidi had a very traumatic experience a couple of days ago at school.  A couple of boys threatened her and her big sister with some very awful things, things that would have been terrifying for anyone.  This event happened after school, and when I went to pick them up, they were both standing on the sidewalk just sobbing.  Heidi was inconsolable.  She wouldn't even move from where she was standing.  I had to pick her up and carry her to the car.  When we got home, I covered her with her weighted blanket, and then did some deep pressure therapy, but I just could not get her to calm down.  Finally, after about an hour in a warm bath, she started to calm down, but she was still very traumatized.  For the remainder of that day and most of the next, she barely spoke.  It was heartbreaking for me to see her like this.  As with most children with autism, she takes everything very literally.  Even sayings such as "the cat is out of the bag" will make her look around for a cat.  There was no way for her to understand in this situation that these boys were not a true threat and that they were trying to tease and get to her.

Brian and Debbie from AZ Goldens came over that next night with Delphina.  We were hoping that having Delphina around would help Heidi with this scary event, but even I didn't anticipate the effect this beautiful dog would have on her.  Heidi not only started speaking again, but she was laughing and smiling and running around, playing Hide-and-Seek with Delphina and practicing the commands that she has learned.  I was in awe, being able to see in such an amazing way just one of the many benefits that a service dog will have for Heidi and our family.  This experience was a great reminder to me about why I am working so hard to provide this tool for Heidi.  In the end, all of the work, tears, and anxiety will be more than worth it.

(For those of you that were wondering, yes, the situation with the boys is being handled.)

Heidi and Harmony

We got a visit the other night from AZ Goldens and another one of their dogs, Harmony.  Heidi fell in instant love with Harmony!  They played Hide-and-Seek over and over, and Heidi thought it was the best thing in the world when Harmony would find her in her trickiest of hiding spots.  After playing for quite a while, Heidi ran a found a book and sat down to "read" it to Harmony.  I have to admit, I teared up a bit watching this.  Heidi normally does not like to sit and read, she gets frustrated and ends up quitting.  But she sat there and told Harmony everything that was going on in each picture.  This made me even more excited for Heidi to get her own service dog, I cannot wait to see how much it will benefit her socially and academically.

Things are coming together for the fundraiser at Chuy's on the 20th.  We have added a raffle and a silent auction to the other events that will be going on that night.  I am so excited for this, it is going to be so amazing to spend the evening with family and friends.  We would love to see you all there, so click on the event link to the right of the blog for more information.  A big huge thank you to AZ Goldens, Chuy's, Jared, and Erin for helping us coordinate this event, and to my cousin Justin Harris who will be photographing the event.  It is going to be a night to remember!

Amazing Day!

We had a great (and exhausting!) day on Sunday at Walk Now For Autism Speaks! Heidi and the other kids stayed busy with the playground, face painting, bounce houses, and best of all...the service dogs from AZ Goldens! We were able to be the handlers for Belize all day, which was amazing. Belize was the first service dog from AZ Goldens that we got to meet, and Heidi fell in love with her instantly. She is such a sweet dog, we enjoyed our time with her on Sunday immensely. Thank you to all of our friends and family who came out to support Heidi and walk with us. We love you all so much!

Upcoming Fundraiser!

My amazing brother and his girlfriend put together a fundraiser at Chuy's in Mesa. It will be on Saturday, November 20th at 7:00 at the Chuy's located at 1948 East McKellips Road, Mesa 85203.

There will be drink specials, tournaments, a massage chair set up with a professional masseuse, and more events to be announced as they are finalized.

We would love to see you there!

Thank you!!!

Our family is truly amazed by the outpouring of love and support that we have received from family, friends, and even complete strangers. This process has been incredible so far, to see the community coming together to support our little Heidi. Because of all of you, we are almost 1/4 of the way to our fundraising goal! We appreciate every single donation, no matter the amount, more than you will ever know. Heidi and I would like to say thank you to every single one of you from the bottom of our hearts!

Walk Now For Autism Speaks

We are participating in Walk Now For Autism Speaks on Sunday, October 31st. We would love to have you join our team and walk with us! Registration and Kid Zone starts at 8:00, Welcome and Warm-Up at 9:30, and the walk at 10:00. It is a 5K walk with a one-mile family fun route. Arizona Goldens is going to set up a booth and they are going to have several puppies with them!

For more information or to join Team Jacobs, please visit our team page at http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/arizona/teamjacobs.

I am sure that the weather is going to be beautiful! We hope to see you there!

New Friends

Brian from Arizona Goldens has visited our house with two of their autism dogs-in-training, Belize and Davidia. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing these dogs are! Heidi fell in love immediately and had so much fun taking them on walks around the house and having them do tricks for her. Our other three kids loved it as well!

Here is Heidi with Davidia: