We always try to create something fun for Quinn to give to her teachers and therapists, and this year we went for fingerprint hearts, but some got a bit bigger then fingerprints. They still looked just lovely to me!


The last day of school was pretty special for Quinn. This one gal does her hair up like this every year. I'm not totally sure what Quinn thought of it, but I think it's pretty cool. I can't imagine how long that took! Then to top it off, guess who drove Quinn home from school. I would think he would be to busy, but I guess he was trying to figure out his naughty and nice list.





The day before Christmas we spent time with family, and I totally forgot to get pictures from one family event, and I'm so sorry I can't get pictures of cousin Kaleb on here. We will just have to get up there to see him again soon. We did however get lots of other pictures!

Well, when Quinn woke up Christmas morning she was very patient, but once we finally started opening presents, she was looking for that doll she asked Santa for, and she was really looking. She was on dad's lap as they were opening gifts, and after ever box was unwrapped, Quinn would shout, "More". This went on for each and every box, until we got to the last one, and as dad tore the paper off of this one, Quinn got this big smile and said "Awwww" and did not want to let go of her doll for most of the day. Later in the afternoon dad and Quinn were playing doll and Quinn was as happy as she could be. The innocents of Christmas was so lovely to see this year.






This is an email that I got from Chrissy and it made my tears start pouring! This means so much to me! What a wonderful warm Christmas feeling it gave. Our whole house experience has been full of goose bump moments, and we have met the most amazing people, and the experience has been humbling and so loving.
one fun story from building our house, Erica (the only female on the Youth Build Team) was so excited when we got there (she was there the last time Quinn and I went out too)....she asked...Is Quinn in the car?....and wanted to help with everything....and then took Quinn on a tour of the house...talking to her non-stop.....and then helped carry Quinn back out afterwards...and then asked if I could take a picture of the 2 of them...and if she could have a copy to frame and put up on the wall of her bedroom ...and then she said that Quinn has helped her in more ways than we will ever know....helped her get her construction license and also get her life back on track!....It was really cool!

Welcome, if you are looking for our Christmas letter, scroll down one post!We have had an amazing Christmas Season, feeling the love and magic of the season! Chrissy and Quinn went to see Santa, and he was as amazing as ever, has a great talk with Quinn, where Quinn let him know that she did not want a book, but did want a baby doll. Then Chrissy and Quinn shared a pretzel with cheese, Quinn still loves her cheeses of all kinds. We have a few more really exciting stories to share that will totally touch your heart! I'll try to get it up here soon! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I love this picture Tabi took of Quinn, it totally catches her personality, I love it almost as much as I love her! Well, here is our Christmas Post! I hope you can fine the quiet moments to reflect on your year and the meaning of the season!

Our year, top 10 style!

10: Ten trips to the doctors in a week, ironically not for Quinn, but for John. His blood is not cooperating with the rest of his body, but his attitude is wonderful as he keeps working so hard to feel better. I think this is the first year that we have only made 1 trip to the hospital that was not planned, Quinn has had a great year.

9: Nine or more, cheesy made for TV Christmas movies, I admit it, I love them. I start everyone out saying, I’m not crying, these are too cheesy, but there is nothing else on, then by the end I’m a mess, and loving every bit of it.

8: Eight, technically even more, teachers, therapists, nurses, and other adults who help Quinn be her best. Not to mention her dance teachers, and there are a bunch of them, as every student has an adult partner to help them out. It's pretty amazing! I can’t believe we are starting to talk about Kindergarten for her next year! Where does the time go? I can’t begin to thank the folks we have working with her, they are invested and care about her and for that, we are so luck.

7: Seven miles for John to get to work. He’s still working at Lincoln Benefit Life, and has been so lucky to miss out on all the layoffs, and there have been a lot of them. So we are once again reminded how fortunate we are.

6: Six minutes walking around the apartment complex to let Blue do his job. Oh that is one thing I will not miss, when we leave this complex. I cannot wait for a backyard.

5: Five years old, is how old Quinn is. I think her favorite activity is playing with dad when he gets home. He can get her to giggle like no one else can.

4: Four stars for our amazing caregiver, Chrissy. Sometimes I think she is our all and all. She still gets Quinn to do things before everyone else, such as going potty on the potty, talking, walking, again, she is amazing and Quinn loves her as much as we all do.

3: Three wonderful people helping build our house, Greg, Delrae, and Ken have been hard at work figuring out how to get us “Quinn’s House” that works best for her, and do it in our budget, while sharing her story, and bringing so many folks on board to share the love. We are hoping to be in it after the Parade of Homes in May.

2: Two moves for me, Zeman moved to an offsite school location last year, and we moved into our wonderful redone school this year, I still love my job, teaching art to my wonderful students, and am so fortunate to work doing something I love.

1: One amazing year, full of friends, family, and a little girl, who is simply amazing and inspires us every day! Merry Christmas! We are blessed and send blessing out to you this holiday season!

Happy Birthday Quinn! Well, it stinks that Quinn has a cold on her birthday, but it's been a fun day! As she was getting on the bus, the driver asked her if it was her birthday and she said Yes, loud and clear, followed by a I'm good! Then, granted this might be to much info, but went potty on the potty! (you go Quinn) Then the afternoon was busy with therapy, where she got some special birthday jewels, and cheesecake! Yum! Then it was home for the count, as the weather is kind of yucky, a rain, turning to ice, so now we are cuddled up and getting ready to read some holiday books! So all in all, a good day!

Well, technically Quinn's birthday is tomorrow, but we had her party Sunday. I know she had fun because after it was all done and she had a bit of rest time, she sang for almost an hour straight! At the top of her lungs! She is just a delight to me! Happy Birthday Quinn! 5 years old already
Wow, Quinn's cake was made by Cindy, and she is amazing! It like Quinn's duck, that she loves.

Blue tried to steal one of Quinn's presents, but he did not get away with it, that naughty dog!
We had a few folks over, like Nadean and Tom.
Here is Nadean and Quinn, look at that smile on Quinn's face!
5 candles!Duck is right there!
Quinn got a new doll from Grandpa and Grandma.
She also got 5 dollars for a 5 year old, and how cool, Chrissy got her a bear that has a trach and a mickey button, just like Quinn's!
Quinn and dad after a lovely party!

!

on the home front

Right before the big snow fall, they guys started getting our driveway and garage cement poured. They've also been working on the siding. It looks cream right now, but it's a type of siding that we paint, and then from what I understand we paint it once, and don't have to worry about it again. Finally all these guys from ComfortTechs came out on Saturday and donated their time to install our heater, so now our house is nice and warm! Hooray! We got to go out and talk with them for a bit on Saturday, and what nice guys they are! Thanks! It sounds like we might have quite a few good stories to tell in the next few weeks! Lots of stuff going on with the house!




Wow, I think the things they strap to their legs are cool! I also think that has to be a great workout! I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a part time job working on a construction site in the summer! Great exercise and building houses, I think that is pretty awesome!
Oh, here is Quinn using the new track pad, it is a new techy way to drive her chair. I think we are going to end up going with the joystick, but I'm so glad we tried out the track pad to see what works best for Quinn. It's so good to see all the new technology going into things that can help Quinn and people like her that need a bit of help to do things the rest of us take for granted.

What a girl! She has been loving working on Christmas crafts, but she is also coming down with a cold! I guess I could say that I'm lucky to get some extra time with her in the early mornings as we cough up gunk! You would never know she is not feeling great here.
The penguins were fired and now comes the painting. Quinn wanted to paint hers with Chrissy, and I'm so glad Chrissy shared pictures with us. I love them. I only wish I would have gotten a picture of all the penguins together, but Quinn's penguin settled right next to our Christmas story, right in front of one of my favorite pictures of Quinn.



Quinn also had her first trip to the school library and settled on a Clifford book! Who doesn't love the school library! I find myself in ours quite a bit, and Quinn and I always love to go to the public library, so hooray! Hooray for moments when Quinn is feeing good! Hooray for painting Penguins with Chrissy, hooray for pictures of Quinn and a Christmas story right next to a beautiful penguin. Hooray for this week, when Quinn will be 5, and I can't wait to show off her beautiful cake! Hooray for cement, we now have a driveway at our house, and after tomorrow, we will have heat! So if we can simply get through this yucky cold, we have so much to be grateful for!
Blessings! Thanks for reading!
Susan

Well, things are improving. Grandma Vicki went to school with Quinn, as they were both feeling good. Thanks to Nurse Nadean for sharing pictures with me.
After a day of school, Quinn came home to hang out with dad. He spent most of his day at the doctor's office. His blood levels were so different from the day before that they wanted him to hang out and get tested a few times, so he spent most of his day there, then got some Quinn time in. All that stuff with his blood and his body are exhausting for him, so we have really just relaxed and rested for most of the weekend.

sometimes you just have to be thankful for just being!

Quinn sleepinggrandma sleeping
dad sleeping

Well, sometimes the plan does not go as planned. Tonight, the plan was to go Celebrate and support the Heart Association, by having my mom and I attend the Go Red for Women's night out. John and his mom were going to watch Quinn, and then we were going to come back home and relax and hang out. Instead, I get home from school to find out John's in the hospital, his blood was all messed up, although that's not a huge surprise, as he has had a rough couple of days, but now he can say that he knows what getting plasma feels like. He had a great outlook and is now doing ok, thanks to the doctors, and so my mom and I were going to still go to the Cornhusker since John was doing ok, only to have my mom get sick after we got there, so to make a long story short, this is not the night that we planned on, as I'm sitting here while the family all sleeps around me! Quinn has a cold, but over all she is doing ok, in fact watching her drive her power chair around today was amazing, and on a totally different note, I just love her outfit, she is so cute! John's body is a mess, but his attitude is amazing, my mom's equilibrium is all messed up, but she is spending time with us, and we can support the heart association next year.
So this evening, I'm going to be thankful to simply be, knowing that we are not at our best yet, but we will get there again soon!
A few prayers for John would be appreciated, as I think mom will be ok after a good night sleep, but John's body needs some time to heal up. His head needs to understand that and not push so hard! So prayers would be appreciated!
We also have a friend, Justice, who has just gone through a big surgery, and she is crazy tough, but she has a big fight to overcome, so prayers for her to continue to battle her body, and feel good and overcome would also be appreciated! Oh days like today remind me how grateful I need to be on the "average days".
Blessing!