Lots of Familiar Faces, Matching Shirts, and "Definitely the Frosted Glass!"

The girls had come up with a design for our Buddy Walk shirts and on Saturday night after Sharaya's party we all put on our shirts and surprised Beth with hers. Then in the morning we all headed to The Buddy Walk at the zoo.

The Buddy Walk was established in 1995 and raises money for programs for people who have Down Syndrome. There's hundreds of walks throughout the U.S. and even in a few other countries. They had vendors, and Star Wars characters and lots of things to see and do.

We walked around for a while looking at the animals. You automatically got into the zoo free when you registered for the Buddy Walk. 

Beth's back began to hurt so Chuck got her a wheelchair. She'd walk for a while, then ride. Then walk. I think we all ended up pushing her at one time or another.

Then the actual walk started (we followed a path they had set up through the zoo.) 

At the end, every participant with Down Syndrome got a medal. They're all so excited, it's such a happy event! A local high school football team held directional signs and interacted with the families.

After the walk we all headed to Red Robin, Beth's favorite restaurant. Of course we all sang to her. That's the best part!

Then home for cake and presents. Sharaya and Diana made the cake the day before, while I was at the Holiday Market. One of Beth's best friends was able to stop by for a few minutes.

Cheryl is her 'Bestie'

While Sharaya took Ally home we let the cake settle for a while, then we headed off to the Rock Box. It's a karaoke bar! Beth has sang karaoke for more than 10 years. We had our own private 10x12ft room and the staff member came in to show us how it all worked, how to choose the songs on the ipad, how to turn on the strobe lights... then he says, "You guys are in a unique room because you're on the end near the street. This button here turns on the sound so everyone outside can hear you. And this button turns off the frosted glass, see? So you can sing and dance if you want and everyone walking by can watch you." 

Hahahaha! No.

We had so much fun though! On the drive downtown, not knowing what to expect, we talked about singing a few songs then we'd leave, but we ended up spending the entire two hours singing and laughing! Didn't matter who had the microphones, we would all sing. It was really fun!

Diana flew home early the next morning and that was the official end of the celebrations. We had such a fun weekend. I think it took us all a few days to recover! 

A Surprise, A Market, and A Cake

Hello! I found a work-around for getting my pictures from my phone to the laptop, woohoo! I hope you've all had a good week so far, even if you had to improvise.

Diana flew in late Friday night on the 11th. Beth doesn't always respond well to surprises, she's slow to react, slow to say anything, so the surprise usually doesn't have the impact you'd hope for. So after Chuck left to get Diana from the airport, I asked Beth to come upstairs. We sat down at the kitchen table (which has a big window looking out to the front yard) and I told her we had a surprise for her birthday. Because she was turning 40 we wanted Diana to celebrate with us so she just landed at the airport and dad went to pick her up!

Beth has a thing she does when she's shocked at something, where she'll quickly turn her head a few inches, raise her eyebrows and form the word Oh with her mouth. That means she's extremely excited about whatever she's just heard! And that's what she did! We sat at the kitchen table for about an hour waiting for them and when Diana came inside Beth was so excited to see her! 

We sat up until 2AM talking then we dragged ourselves to bed. Diana and I were up early the next morning and she dropped me off at the Holiday Market so she could use my car for the day. 

I'd been preparing for this market since January. And even though I was bummed it was on the weekend of the girls birthdays, it was being held at our church so I knew I would know some of the other vendors. I was looking forward to spending the day with friends and checking out their tables. I used the only tablecloth I had that was big enough but wasn't happy with the way it looked. 

Right before we opened I remembered I had a solid black one at my desk so I ran upstairs and was able to switch them out. Thankfully the people next to me also had a black tablecloth so mine didn't seem out of place. Next year I'll buy a different one specifically to use for the market.  

I sold 30 cards, not too bad for my first time. Plus I had a friend text and ask if she could buy more. And a few people said they would love to frame the photos so I'm going to try that next year too. Instead of putting them all on cards, I'll put some photos in stand-up frames and see how that goes.

Diana picked me up after the market and we all headed out to celebrate Sharaya's birthday. We've always let the girls choose a restaurant on their birthday and she chose Brix. I had never heard of it before but it's one she's wanted to try. 

I had the ravioli and it was so good! And there was a lot of it. Chuck and I brought some of ours home. It was dusk when we left and there were lights in the trees, it was so pretty out! So I asked if we could take some pictures. Our girls. The only one missing was Adelaide. She was at home in Pennsylvania with daddy.

Diana, Allison, (Sharaya's daughter) Beth, Sharaya

Have I ever shown you how to pronounce Sharaya's name? It's Shuh (as in shove) ray (like ray of sunshine) uh (again as in shove.) Sharaya. We were going to name her Sarah but then heard Amy Grant's Unguarded album. On it she sings a song to her friend named Sharayah. The spelling seemed long to us so we dropped the h. When she was a baby Beth couldn't say her name so we called her Raya. Then when she started Kindergarten she asked us to start calling her Shara. Then I think in high school she starting going by Sharaya. I think she's had a love/hate relationship with it over the years. But we've always loved it. And her. 😊

After dinner we came back to our house for presents and cake. We always do gifts first, then have the cake. She had seen this cake on-line so Chuck took the photo to our local bakery and it turned out really nice! 

Afterward Sharaya and Diana went out for a while so Ally and I played cards. Uno. That girl is strategic when it comes to cards, oh my word! I think she won both games! We laughed a lot though. I love hanging out with her.

I'll save Beth's party for another post. It was a very full day and we were all exhausted by the end of the weekend. 

How do you party? Do you have cake first or open presents? 

Have a wonderful day!

Just Found 'Em. Sigh

 Hey everyone,

We had a fantastic whirlwind weekend celebrating Sharaya and Beth. Beginning late Friday night and ending very early on Monday morning we partied and laughed and took a lot of photos.

Unfortunately I uploaded all my photos to our computer but they haven't shown up yet! 😞 I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to figure out where they went. 

Oh wait! I just found them still in the Outbox on my phone. Oh my word, the same pop-up as before 'our user or password is incorrect.' 

Awwe, it's too late to figure this out tonight. I'll try to post again soon. But trust me, it was a great weekend! 

Beth Turns 40!

We'll be celebrating her birthday on Sunday but October 10 is her birthday. We've got a lot of surprises for her, one being the chair in the header photo!

We didn't know Beth had Down Syndrome until after she was born. We were stunned when the doctor told us but we knew right away we would still love her.

Funny story - unbeknownst to us, my doctor relaxed our visiting hours. Beth was in my room all day while our families came and went. After a few days my dad stopped by again to see us and I was told they couldn't bring Beth to my room. That's when I learned the doctor wanted to see if we were planning to keep her. How would we treat her? When he saw how much we loved her he put the visiting hour restrictions back in place.

When she was just a couple months ago the Regional Center of San Diego sent therapists to our home to work with her. She learned to sit up at one year, and learned to walk at two.

Beth at One Year

Beth at Two

In this picture Beth is three and Sharaya is one

The Regional Center only worked with kids until they were two, then they started going to preschool. A contained class with other kids with special needs. I drove her the first few times, and this is Beth taking her first bus ride.

She absolutely loved riding the school bus! And did so for the next 19 years.

She's traveled all over the country. We've been on over 40 road trips in her lifetime and she does really well in the car.

Back when car seats were for kids under two

Beth's grown up with the best sisters. They look out for her and make sure she's getting the best care. They fight for her, and with her. 😊 We couldn't have asked for better kids.

Sharaya and Beth

Beth, Diana, Sharaya

Has it always been easy? No. We didn't expect this journey. We didn't even have time to plan for it. Forty years ago we made a decision to bring her home and to love her. She's been bringing joy to our lives ever since!