Spring Break! Branson, Missouri and Hartford, Arkansas!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update: We have raised over $1,000 for my little brother! $1,105 to be exact! :) Thank you all so very much for this! If you would like to read his story and donate, the link is www.gofundme.com/7t7i14  Please read, donate, and share! Thank you again!


Spring Break 2014! While everyone was on the beach, Eyen and I decided to take my family to Branson, Missouri. It was very fun! We chose Branson because it is only about 2 hours from where we live. We used to go here all the time as kids, and I wanted Eyen to experience it. We were able to go to Silver Dollar City, The Wax Museum, The Dixie Stampede, etc. We had an awesome time!

 The drive up to Silver Dollar City!It was very beautiful.

 Silver Dollar City is a little difficult to explain. It is so neat! It is a park about the first Pioneers in the United States!

 All of the shops are small and quaint.

 You will find blacksmiths, glass blowers, leather makers, candy shops, etc. All kinds of things!

 My brother Jesse and I getting ready to ride Outlaw Run! It is the newest roller coaster here, and it is made of wood. It was legitimately SCARY!

 A cute carriage in the park. 

 My face wasn't so enthusiastic after the ride... Jesse was not happy at all. (I forced him to ride this. hehe) It was crazy.

Up, Up, and Away! 

 The park is full of hills, so it was a little difficult pushing Chandler up the really steep hills. But we made it work! :)

 Exploring the park.

 A few of the little shops in the park.

 Selfie! About to ride the train. Chandler actually got to ride this ride!

 HAHAHA How appropriate is this picture?? VERY! ;)

Chandler and his beautiful smile! He was so happy!

 Family photo!

 Train time! It was a fun little ride. It also included a small skit that was pretty cute.

 We had a blast!

 The small skit during the train ride.

 This is one of the skillet bowls the park has. It has veggies including green beans, potatoes, corn, etc. It was pretty good! But the family enjoyed the pulled pork skillet more.

 I thought this was really neat! This is one of the oldest original homesteads in the United States!

 This is a photo of our hotel. It had Veteran photos on the wall down the hallway. It was neat!

 For dinner we ate at Starvin' Marvins. They had all you can eat crab legs for only $29.99! Eyen and I had about 100 crab legs that night. haha. Below is the shirt the waitresses were wearing. It's cute!

 Hotel selfie!

 We had breakfast at Grand Country Inn. It was amazing!

My mom told me she really wanted to go to the Wax Museum. We had a great time! 

 Mom taking some of his chocolates. haha. So, is life really like a box of chocolates?

 Of course this is where I belong. Lady Gaga is super short!

 Jesse with Michael Jackson. haha.

 I dream of genie!

 Well, she really likes Katy Perry. LOL.

 Jesse hiding behind Nicholas Cage. I'm trying to tap my heels together because there's no place like home! lol

 Chandler with W.C. Fields! Chandler dressed up as him once before.

 Trek yourself before you wreck yourself! Trekkies for life!

 This terminator figure was really cool!

 Eyen said I had to take a pic with him since I act like him. >_> I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean.

 Getting kicked in the face by one of the angels.

 Uhhh...

 Willie Nelson!

 My mom's favorite movie! She was super excited about this!

 My mom with John Wayne, and Jesse with Clint Eastwood.

 

This was definitely one of our favorite parts of the museum! The monster area. :) It was awesome!

 Dracula and Phantom of the Opera.

 Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees.

 Jesse running from Jason. Jason will walk briskly while Jesse sprints. Jesse will trip over nothing, then all of a sudden Jason will be there... That's how it goes, right? lol

 Tales from the Crypt. One of my favs as a child. Yes, I watched this as a child. haha

 Scream, Leatherface, and Hannibal Lecter.

 Mom in Elvira's chair and Legend.

 If you ain't first, yer last!

 Here come the Men in Blackkk..

 Yeah, I'll just take him this way. K bye Angelina.

 He looked the realest of them all!

 Of course this was my favorite part! I <3 Johnny Depp FOREVER!

 He even had little hairs on his upper lip.

 For dessert, we ate a place called Cakes N Cream Dessert Parlor. It was super cute! It was decorated like the 50's.

 Jesse had the banana split. It was huge!

 We played Elvis, The Beach Boys, Richie Valens, etc. on the jukebox!

 My mom got Chandler some really cool light up shades. :)

 Selfie at the Dixie Stampede! We had a strawberry daiquiri. Everything is alcohol free. This is a family place and family oriented. The pre-show was AMAZING! The juggler was awesome!

 We didn't get many photos of the actual show because cameras aren't allowed. Jesse and I actually got chosen from the 1200 people there to compete in one of their games. We won!! :)

Branson was a super fun vacation for us and my family. Chandler had a great time, and I think everyone else really enjoyed it as well. It's a really relaxing place to go. 

The upcoming photos are some that we took of the rest of our stay in Hartford with my mom! Hartford is a small town, population 772. (maybe less now.)

 This is an awesome salmon casserole my mom made! Eyen LOVED it!

 This is a new place in Hartford. It is called Pony Express-O. They serve breakfast and have daily lunch specials they serve as well. The owners are trying to liven Hartford back up! It used to have bustling streets and was the place to be! Lately, it hasn't exactly been the place anyone wants to be. But the community is coming together to bring Hartford good things! I am excited to see where the ideas go!

 This is the inside. There are 3 tables you can sit at. It's very small but super cute!

 This is called a hog egg! It is a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage with a layer of crushed flakes. WOW! I would have never thought of this!

 This is the inside. Uh yeah. That's awesome!

 We had a ton of fun on this trip! We can't wait to go back and visit. We have plans with my mom to renovate the inside of her house! We are going to make Chandler's sensory room AMAZING, make a guest room for Eyen and I, and I have a special project for her and Harold's room! I will be doing a blog about it, so expect it around late June or so!

My next blog will be about.......


Washington D.C.! We are leaving in the morning! I will have it up sometime next week! So be ready for the awesome food, amazing tours, and all the fun things we will be doing! \

Here are some extra pics from the museum. :)

 I wasn't kidding when I said Lady Gaga is really short. She is like, SUPER SHORT! (My height) I expected her to be taller! lol

 One of my mom's favorite actors! lol.

 Yeah.. That's Johnny. 

I'M BACK! :) Chandler's Story!

Hey everyone!

I know it's been a while since my last post. I decided that I will start it back up again for my upcoming summer vacation! And of course to just keep everyone updated in the life of Katie.

I want to start out this blog with something very important. We are currently in the process of raising money for my little brother in order to buy him a lift for my mom's van. Please take the time to read his story! If you are able to donate, that's awesome! If not, that's ok too, I just ask that you PLEASE share his story. It is truly amazing. Here is the link: 

http://www.gofundme.com/7t7i14

 Currently he uses a car seat. This one is for up to 175 pounds, but he is so tall that it's starting to not be comfortable for him. Also, my mom has to lift him from his wheelchair to his car seat.

After she is done lifting him, she has to lift his wheelchair into the back of her van. Most of the time, she has to do this alone. I really don't know how she does it! Eyen and I had a hard time putting it in there when there were two of us!!

Our goal is $10,000. I know that may seem like a lot for a lift, but the lift is just the most important thing (top of the list) for his needs right now. There are other things that we need to do. Right now we have a make shift ramp from our porch to the ground. My step-dad made it himself. It gets the job done, but since it's wood it has already started to warp because of the rain.

As you can see from the photos, we make it work, but we could definitely use a concrete ramp and walkway. Right now we just wheel him on the ground, which is ok when it isn't raining. I never realized how difficult it was to wheel him through the rain until this past week when I had to experience it first hand. I was very sad that my mom had to go through this on a regular basis.

 This is the distance from our front porch to where my mom parks her van.

 Even a few days after the rain stops, the drive still has mud.

 You can see his wheelchair tracks in the mud. We don't want to pave our whole driveway, just a ramp and sidewalk would be great.

Some people might wonder "well why doesn't she just back her van up to the porch." Yeah, that could work when my mom is the one taking him every where, but he attends school every weekday, and the school bus cannot back up to the porch. Regardless, my mom or step-dad have to wheel him out to the driveway every morning. Sidewalks are not expensive to construct, so we are hoping we will raise enough money to cover the whole cost of it.

Another area that needs attention is the bathroom. My mom's house has 2 bathrooms, 1 in the front of the house and 1 in the back (near Chandler and my mom's rooms). Currently, Chandler's chair for showering is in the front bathroom because it is the only bathroom with a shower and not just a tub. My mom has to carry him through 4 or 5 different door panels just to get him to the shower. For those who don't know him, he is a big boy! About 4'8"! My mom is barely 5'0" herself. This is a difficult task. Plus, the chair itself barely fits in the shower.

As you can see, the chair is very large, and the shower is very small. We need to convert the other bathroom into Chandler's own bathroom. My mom can store all of his shower needs as well as his chair there. Here is what the bathroom looks like.

If accepted into the Waiver program, Chandler should have help with this project. But we aren't sure all the expenses would be covered. We need to remove the bathtub and put a drain in the floor. His chair will be able to fit where the tub used to be. We will move the toilet and purchase a smaller sink, so there will be more room. This can be Chandler's own shower room with all of his feeding supplies as well.

There are a few smaller projects we need to complete for his as well. Since he is doing so much better now, he will get to move back into his old room. Right now it is overrun with boxes of his supplies. We will need some type of shelving or storage units for those things. Fortunately for him, he does receive some assistance, so he will be getting a new bed soon!

This is a photo of his room. We have it decorated with superheros because he is our superhero!!

There are other things he will need in the future, but right now we are focusing on one thing at a time. First, we will try and get the lift as soon as possible. That is really our top priority. He needs to be safe whenever my mom needs to take him on the long drives to his doctor's appointments. She lives in a small town and has to drive about 250 miles to his doctor appointments. Second, we want to make my mom's life easier by constructing a concrete ramp and walkway. This will prevent any injury from occurring in the rain, and it will hopefully keep Chandler out of the mud! Lastly, we need to reconstruct his bathroom to make it more safe and closer to his room.

I really hope everyone will share his story. He means a lot to me and my family, and I want to make sure he is as comfortable as possible. Once you read the story, you will understand his situation so much more. Please take the time to read, donate, and share.

 http://www.gofundme.com/7t7i14

Stay tuned for my blog about our recent trip Branson, Missouri for Spring Break!