Our Easter Bunny.

Mallory got to play Easter Bunny at the Blanton Family Easter.
She loved it!

She was so excited to hide easter eggs for her cousin, Cole.

The bonus of the day was some quality time with Grandma Dawn.

A Good Trip.

Over Spring Break, we headed to Colorado for Mallory's check-up at the Children's Hospital.
We were a little anxious about the trip, because the last few trips have been rough.

I was pleasantly surprised. 
The car ride went better than expected.

We had a wonderful visit with my Aunt Arlene.

As always, we enjoyed our lodging arrangements.
Matt (my cousin) & Karen make staying in their home so enjoyable.
The kids love the calm, loving atmosphere at their home.
We ended up staying an extra night (3 instead of 2)!

Instead of resisting, Mallory actively participated in some family fun in the mountains.

Mallory's syndrome at times is challenging.
It make travel difficult and can make the best laid plans fall through, but I wouldn't pass up the highlights of these trips for anything.

When I grow up....

Mallory recently completed a project at school on careers. 

She rather excitedly brought her assignment home to show us.

As she showed me her paper, she informed me that "I give shot. To Jackie's Horse."

Heart Check.

Mallory had her annual visit with the cardiologist in K.C.
She got to spend the whole day with Mom and Dad. 
No brother. No sister.
The cardiology office had moved to a new facility attached to KU Med Center.  It was a wonderful experience.  All her tests and visits in the same building, on the same day.  Brilliant.

Mallory did pretty well in between tests.

This was her preferred position on the exam table.
It's no wonder that I have to take her to the chiropractor every month.  Notice the mismatched socks?  They are her fathers.

After her EKG, Mallory kept busy with all the little stickers that were stuck to her chest and arms.

Overall it was a good visit.  We will return again in a year for the same routine.

Mallory and her cardiologist.
12 years with this man.  He is a lifesaver and truly the best.
I made him promise me that he will refer us to the 2nd best cardiologist in KC before he retires.  We even pinky-sweared on it. :)

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.