Good Bye Grandma- I Love You So Much!!!

My Grandma passed away on Wednesday. I will miss her so much that I am angry that this happened. I don't think it is right. I know that there is a reason she was taken from us but it still hurts. Every thing I look at reminds me of something she said or we did. She was a wonderful person and a very loving person. I don't think I have cried so much in a long long time. I feel like there is so much more I should have done to make time to spend with her. But I know I loved her with all of my heart and always will. I know this all may not make much sense and I know I am rambling on but I don't know what to say. I will finish and say- I love you Grandma and take care of all the little ones in heaven with you- they will cherish you as much as we all did here on earth!

With love always
Rebecca

Trisomy 18

If you get a chance check this out. I am so blessed to still have my Bella. I may not count the days now. But I do say to myself every birthday "Thank God for another year with her." I know that that my sound weird but I have to be strong for my family. So I don't voice it to everyone. I just let me know that I have had another wonderful year with her. And a new one is just starting! With love!

http://www.trisomy18.org/site/PageServer?pagename=eliotonoprah&s_oo=DalFtvtLHk91BkZ_BMpsAA..

Disney Land

WOW! What else can I say? We had the time of a lifetime! We spent 6 days there. And everyday was great. The kids did great. Bella got a little stressed out when we had to wait in line for so long but other than that she did great. She is my little dare devil! She was not afraid of any of the rides. Space Mountain, Hollywood Tower of Terrors, Splash Mountain, you name it she was laughing her head off. Isaac on the other hand was afraid of some of the rides. But he did them and only complained when the ride was done. He would only say he didn't like it and didn't want to do it again. If he really liked it he wanted to do it again!
The parades were great. I have always wanted to see one and we saw a couple of different ones. We saw the main parade and the Pixar one. During the Pixar on we got a little wet. The floats squirted water at you. The kids thought that was great. But not so great when you are trying to take pictures.

I would recommend going to Goofys Kitchen! That was so cool. You get to meet all the charters. One thing we didn't know about was this book called and Autograph Book. So if you do go to Goofys Kitchen you want one of these books. When the charters come by they will sign it for you. We didn't have one so they signed the paper on the table for us. We got one the books the next day so we could have the charters sign it when we saw them at the parks.

California Adventures was great fun also. I only took us one day to see that whole park. The kids had a lot of fun there cause most of the rides were for kids. So they were not to scary. Except for the Hollywood Tower of Terror. I didn't think I would get the kids to go on the elevator at the hotel. I was scared to death! I mean when they drop you they drop you not only once but more times then I can really remember. All I now is I wanted off and wanted off now. I was so scared when they snapped the picture of us I was turned around looking at Bella casue I thought she was going to be scared. But no she was having a blast. Isaac, well you can see the terror in his eyes! We won't be doing that one agine when we go back.

Anyway I will post some pictures when I get them loaded on the computer.

Day before Disney Land

Well I was out all day on Friday the 10th. I am usually home on Friday. So, anyway, I was out getting last things done to leave for the next 6 days. Well I didn't get home until about 5pm. I walked into the house only to notice that we had been robbed! I took the kids and went to the neighbors house to call 911. Since the front door wasn't the entry point I didn't want to risk being in the house in case someone was still in there. I also called my dad to come and stay with me. I was so shook up! I mean I was trembling and crying!
So what do you usually do before you go on vacation? You charge camera and video cameras. Well both my camera's and video camera were taken. I don't really care about them but I do care about the pictures and the video that was taken with them. That is what kills me the most. They took a lot of "stuff". And really all I can say is they will get theirs. I am just glad that no one was hurt. Everything else is just material goods!

Disneyland here we come!

We are off to Disneyland on Saturday. We all are very excited. I never thought we would make it here as a whole family. We count our time with Bella by the seconds. But the four of us are on our way. I know that Bella and Daddy are going to spend all thier time on the tea cups. If you know Bella you know that she loves to spin. I remember a couple of years ago a bunch of us went to the King County Fair. Well, Bella, Daddy, Aunt Heather, and Isaac went on the bears that spin. Well I will tell you that when it was all over Bella was the only one that wanted to go again. Everyone else was a little green. I don't know how she does it but she dosen't get dizzy! I think that we will spend some time one the boats and also Splash Mountain. She is also such a "fish". Well, wish us a fun, happy, and safe trip and I will post pictures and let everyone know how much fun we had when we return.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

By Emily Perl Kingsley.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.


To many times I have read this poem. Every time I cry, get mad and feel sorry for myself. But them I remember Bella. I remember how pretty, smart, funny and loving she is and how important she is to me. I could never ever imagine my life without her. And I know God chose me and Shawn to love her and cherish her. I also believe that her brother Isaac was also chosen to protect and love her. I can't thank everyone enough for supporting us all these years. Bella my have a very rare form of Edwards Syndrome but Bella is one of a kind! Once you meet her you love her and want to know her. I just wish that is was the same for all those people out there that treat kids like her and her like they are diseases. Well they are not and we need to teach our kids and others about others with specail needs. I know that if anyone took even 5 minutes with Bella they would treat others with more respect. I may be a little partial to her but she does change people. With that I will leave you all with your thoughts.

Weekend fun!

Last weekend me and Shawn took the kids to the Pike's Place Market and spent the whole day! It was great. It was over whelming for Bella at first. With so many people and so many things to see she couldn't process it all. But when she was able to take it all in she was having a great time. Isaac wanted to see everything that he could see. They both tried some chocolate noodles and they liked them!? Bella got to flirt with some construction workers. She always seems to flirt with someone! Well after a day at the market we went home and planned what to do on Sunday. Shawn suggested we go to Ocean Shores and fly kites.

So we got up early on Sunday and made our way to the ocean. Bella flew a kite for the first time by herself (we tied it to her coat so when she did let go she didn't lose it). We burried Isaac in the sand up to his neck in the sand. He was a little worried at first but he made it! We took this great picture from above him- he thinks that it is the best picture. Well as the sun started to go down we figured we should head out. It took the kids about five minutes to pass out! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. We are usally so busy and don't have the time to spend like that and I am so blessed that we took the time.

Only 2 1/2 weeks until we leave for Disney Land! I can't wait. We leave on the 11th! We are going to have the best time in the world. There will be no limits on what we are going to do. We will see everything and do it all. The one thing I can't wait to see is the parade. I know Bella is going to love all the lights and music. I will let everyone know how it was when we get back.