AMAZING!!!

I have definitely been neglecting my blogging duties!  Life has just been going on as usual, and we have been staying busy!  But I got the most fantastic phone call from Brian at AZ Goldens a couple of days ago:

Brian: "Hi Shelley, it's Brian.  Is this a good time?"

Me: "Sure, what's up?"

Brian: "Are you sitting down?"

Me: "Ummm...yes?"

Brian: "Heidi just got a sponsor, covering the balance of her service dog fund."

Me: "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yay!!  So that means that we will have some very exciting announcements (and pictures!) coming very soon!  Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen for Heidi, and for Associated Motor Group in Scottsdale for donating the last bit of money that we needed.  We feel so blessed!

Happy New Year!

It has been quite a while since I posted, the month of December is always very busy at our house.  We have several birthdays, birthday parties, Christmas, and just the general business of the holiday season.  But we are still here, and things are going well.  We are just over $2,000 shy of our fundraising goal!!  I have a couple of fundraisers in the works and will update this blog when they are finalized.  We are still doing the Scentsy fundraiser, so visit Megan's Scentsy site to check is out and place an order.  I am loving my new Scentsy products, my whole house smells so good!

Heidi with my friend Megan

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.)