Visit to L.A.

We spent the Disney weekend with our friends, Jon and Susan Brandler who had previously and graciously opened their home to us when we flew in from Nepal.

It was a fun-filled weekend at the Brandler's in addition to a great trip to Disneyland.

Jon and Susan are incredible hosts and we visited the aquarium on the Santa Monica pier, ate at a great Mexican restaurant (where Daisy danced to the mariachis playing "It's a Small World"), visited the beach and the farmer's market, went on the merry-go-round and ate pizza whenever possible.

Daisy had a great time Sunday morning wearing all of her Disney finery (minus Cinderella's Fairy Godmother's magic wand AKA - the 'bippity boppity boom").

She made friends with the mannequin named "Pearl" (AKA Grandma for Daisy) and she had a great time saying 'hello' and 'good morning' whenever she'd pass by!

We had a great flight home and went straight to swimming lessons!

We had a follow-up visit with Dr. Mike Ryan (one of Daisy's surgeons) and he was happy with the results of the surgery thus far. We'll do another follow-up x-ray on 13 June at our next appointment.

Daisy currently has a little lift in her right shoe as her legs are not the same length at this point in time. That could easily resolve in the coming months as her muscles and tendons relax and stretch out again. We've added active and passive range of motion to her physical therapy and Doma's doing a great job at home working with her.

She loves riding her borrowed bicycle and is walking on her own for a few steps at a time. Other than that she uses her walker (heaven help us all when she starts to drive!) and/or crawls around as needed.

She's doing an outstanding job and we continue to be impressed!

Hope you're all well and we'll continue keep you posted!

The Fun Continuess

Well, we finally made it to Disneyland and on the hottest day of the year! Our friend, Kim Kaston, arranged for a special visit to Disneyland complete with a special audience with Cinderella, Mulan and Snow White. Leila's mother, sister Judy and her niece Jacqueline went as well.

Daisy was stunned when she found out that Cinderella lived at Disneyland and couldn't wait to see her castle. It was even more exciting when she got to meet 2 of her favorite princesses in the flesh - Mulan and Cinderella.

Daisy has watched her Cinderella movies so often that she's not only memorized the dialogue, but she's known around these parts as either "Daisy-rella" or "Cinder-daisy".

Kim works on the Phamastic show and we were able to get VIP seats for both the show and the fireworks.

All in all an amazing day.

Now Spring has finally Sprung!

Cross your fingers for us, that spring might actually be here now. We keep having cold temperatures, but rumor has it, it's going to start getting warmer now.

We were able to sneak in a Mother's Day Brunch outside before the day turned really cold and windy. Brrr.....

Daisy started swimming lessons last week with her teacher, Krista. She loves it and can't wait for this afternoon to go again!

She's doing incredibly well and has actually taken some steps without her walker. What an amazing little person. We'll keep you posted as she starts jumping, dancing and chasing the cat again!

Hope you're all well!

Cirque du Soleil!

I forgot to mention our great trip up to Portland to see the Cirque du Soleil in April. We went up with our friend Minny and her 2 sons, Nate and Sam. We had a great time, but unfortunately I only got one photo before the "photo police" showed up and suggested I stop taking pictures inside! :-)

After the show we stayed at Minny's friend's house where Daisy learned to play pool (while lying on the table) and play a combination of baseball and bowling!

She has a DVD of the show, which she loves! All in all a great time.

Video of Daisy at First Physical Therapy Appointment

Here are Daisy's first attempts at walking after her cast removal. Hope you can all open them!

The Cast is Off!

Hi Everyone-

Sorry it's been such a long time since we've updated the blog. We had some technical difficulties.

We'll tray and recap the last month for you.

Daisy and her family flew down to Susanville, California courtesy of Sonam's friends Curtis and Linda Vixie and Rick Hart. They all had heaps of dental work done and had a great time with Curtis and Linda's family (including paintball in Reno, Nevada). Curtis needed to perform Daisy's work under general anesthesia (she REALLY doesn't like going to the dentist!).

There have been plenty of social activities to keep Daisy occupied after her return to Bend with trips to the library and the park, friends over dinner and going to dinner at other people's houses. She's the queen bee and lead social organizer when friends are over. She continues to have play dates with friends here in Bend.

Her cast came off on 25 April and she started physical therapy that day. She wasn't very happy about the whole process, but she tolerated it very well overall and Carla Smith (her amazing doctor) has been renamed "My Carla" from "Dr. No"! She's even been heard to utter "My Carla is very nice"!

She's a superstar about physical therapy - she can now stand on her own for a few seconds at a time, but still needs the walker to ambulate. Megan, her physical therapist, is really happy with her progress and is impressed with how tough she is.

Daisy had her "post-cast outfit" picked out from the moment my sister, Helen, gave her a beautiful red tutu. As soon as the cast was off....her new outfit was on! Doma has been on the hunt for 'tok tok shoes' (heels that make noise when you walk) and she was finally successful yesterday!

Daisy still loves swimming and goes to the pool almost everyday. The newest addition to her wardrobe is an "Ariel" swimsuit and cover-up.

Our friend Liz made the most incredible fairy outfit for Daisy and we've all had fun wearing it!

Hope you're all well and thank you again for all of the wonderful thoughts and gifts coming Daisy's way! It's been amazing.