Walk the.......Horse?

Mallory and I headed out to Jackie's this afternoon to see the horses.  The weather was warm but windy.

Giz was soaking up the sun or otherwise being a lazy boy.
Winter is hard on him and he needed exercise.  So did Mallory.
So we decided to take Giz for a walk.
I've learned with Mallory that you have to sneak the exercise in on her so this was the perfect set-up.

She got to crack the whip.

This is what Faith thought of walking.

We ended up walking about a mile.

Garfield School Fun Run

Mallory's schoool has a 2-mile fun run twice each year.  Mallory really wanted to participate but we knew that walking the route would be very challenging.  We got permission from the school to let Mallory ride her Amtryke instead.  I was able to sneak away from work to see the start of the race.  The excitement of it all was contagious.  Mallory is towards the end of the video clip.  She got a little upset in the beginning, but then took off biking the route.

Visit to Hildebrand Farms.

This fall, we took a road trip up to Hildebrand Farms so that Mallory, Matthew, and Hannah could see what life was like on the dairy.  We had a lot of fun on the tour and the kids enjoyed making butter.  We always joke around that there is not a place within an hour radius of Abilene that Mallory is not recognized.  Sure enough, Hildebrand Farms was no different. One of the teachers at Mallory's school works part time at the dairy and eagerly greeted Mallory with a hug.

Spread the word.

Meet Dakota.

Mallory recently switched to a different horse at Independence Farms.  Her new rides name is Dakota and she loves him.  She is so eager to ride him each week.  And the best part?   He trots.  How cool is that? It's such a shame that winter break is coming and we will have to wait till spring to ride again.

Doctor's Visit

We finally made it to the Children's Hospital for Mallory's appointment.

Mallory checked herself in at the Registration Desk.

She waited patiently in the waiting room.

She grabbed on to a set of exam gloves as soon as we walked into the exam room. 

Listened to her Ipod.

Our visit with Dr. Elias and Dr. Munro went well.
It's always encouraging to talk with specialists that "get" Smith Magenis Syndrome.

Joe's Crab Shack

We had the opportunity to meet my Aunt Arlene for lunch before Mallory's doctor's appointment. 

My mom had not eaten at Joe's Crab Shack
before so that was our choice.

Mallory really enjoyed her time with her Great-Aunt.

The hostess at Joe's Crab Shack let Mallory
work for a little while.

Mallory even came away with an awesome shirt.