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Do you shop at Amazon.com or know someone who does? Click on the link below, or any Amazon link in this blog, to help us earn Amazon Credit in order to buy therapy equipment! Anything you order off Amazon counts! Please bookmark Madi, Ramya and Deena's link and pass it on... every order helps!

http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=missmadi-20

Sunday, March 26, 2017

We're on the Move Again

Due to an unplanned series of events, it looks like we are moving!  We didn't think it would be this soon, but here we are.  We are excited to settle down (again); this time in a place of our own. 

We have found old leaks and mold in our rental house multiple times (4 now??), and the house is currently getting remediated.  Though we have a lease through December, the owners are really wanting to sell the house and be done with it.  We've been living out of half of the house for a while now because of all the issues, so we are ready to move on as well.  We've been crazy busy, looking at houses any free moment we had. 

It was very difficult to find a house that would work for us because we have so many limitations due to area, house size, needing a flat street, etc....  Tucson is very hilly, and most houses have multiple steps and/or steep driveways.  We finally found a house that we think will work out great for us.  It's 3 stories, but has a residential elevator.  It's in a small gated patio-home type community, but still offers a lot of privacy and great views.  They yard is small, but there's also plenty of side and front yard, all that is private and not shared.  The roads outside are completely flat and great for walks and bike riding.  It backs up to the river walk and (about 25 miles of paved, flat biking roads), and has two private entrances.  The path is amazing for the kiddos to bike on and is going to be great for us.  There's also a community park, two dog parks, and a pool.  The downsides are how close together all of the houses are, the fact that my van won't fit in the garage, and the fact that we really need that elevator working.  Residential elevators tend to go down often, so we will need to be careful to get it serviced often since we will use it so much.  We may also get a chair lift from the first floor to the second floor, just for a back-up plan. 








We have a 45 day closing so it looks like we will be moving in May.  The next 45 days are going to be filled with packing, packing, and more packing.  If you are close by and want to help us fill some boxes, we will be very grateful! 




In other news, we are getting a puppy!  My sister-in-law's sister just bred goldendoodles and momma pooch is due any day.  We didn't think it would work out because it was looking like we wouldn't be able to find a house in time, but now the timing looks just about perfect.  The kids are on cloud 9 and can't wait to have a dog again.  We hope to work on training it to be a service dog for the girls as well so that he/she can come with us wherever we go.  I need to find a company here to help us still, but we have some time before we need to have one.  Here's a picture of the dad and mom...


Other than that, life has been chugging along.  We spent a long weekend with David's parents in California and had a lot of fun. 



Deena has had her cast off for a bit and her leg is healing well after her rodding surgery.  Dr. Vincent took it off about 3 1/2 weeks post-op after she gave her word to take it easy, since technically it was still broken from surgery.  She kept her word and has been doing well.  He just said she can work on weigh-bearing now and she is very excited.  The girls are playing on an adaptive baseball team and are proud to be MuckDogs. 



Ramya turned 10 at the beginning of March.  She requested a movie and cake with family, so we went to see Rock Dog with mine and David's family, then went to lunch at Smashburger and had cake.  It was a simple party, but she really enjoyed it.  We love celebrating her!


Other than that, life has been chugging along.  We will keep everyone updated on our big move.  Please be praying for a quick close and for Ramya, as she does not do well with change and is already having a lot of regression and big behaviors as we prepare to move.  Thank you!


Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Our Family Photos

My amazing and talented friend, Michelle, took family photos for us, and we LOVE how they came out!  If anyone in Phoenix needs a photographer, she's your girl!  Her website is http://www.michellepraskins.com/. 

In the past we have had photos in more rugged areas where we couldn't bring the girl's chairs.  Since their chairs are essentially an extension of them, it was important to me to include them in this round of photos.  She captured all of the kiddos joy, and spunk, perfectly!

We also wanted to have my family included in photos, since we haven't ever had photos as a whole group.  Both of my brothers, my parents, and my older brother's family, were able to join us.  I love big family photos!