Ski Trip 2011 - Mountain Adventure

Ah... the Hooper ski trip.... This year we packed everyone up and went to Copper Mountain for a few days with the family. Charlie was finally old enough to really participate in the winter activities. The first day we were there Chad took Charlie out on his strap on skis and did a little bit of sliding around. The next day Charlie actually wanted to go to Ski School! He went for one day and said he had a great time. He was there from 9-3pm. The time was split up between snacks, inside games , and ski time with small groups and a super fun instructor. He made it thru the majority of the day and wanted to go out on the mountain the next. My favorite part was when we were registering him for ski school they asked if he was on any medications. Chad and I just looked at each other and laughed! We then quickly explained that he has Leukemia and the only main issue is if he starts bleeding or gets a cut to call us right away due to infection and trouble clotting. They put a big red sticker on his name tag and went on with the day.
     The picture above is Chad taking Charlie out on the ski lift which he loved! The trip ended with a night of tubing in the East village. Charlie and Chad went on the tandem tub a few times but Charlie did not like it when the guy "spun" the tube on the way down! Mom, Daniel and Ana will have to wait till next year. Maybe we will take a sleigh ride... We will probably add pictures to the picassa site when Mom or Dad gets time to compile.

Christmas Card 2011 & Baby Announcement

Merry Christmas! We just received the baby announcements in the mail today, they would have gone out sooner but the first ones I ordered managed to have the wrong birthdate! So with the timing and all we decided just to send one card out to friends and family this year.

New School for the boys

Monday was a BIG day for both the boys and for Mom and Dad! Daniel and Charlie both started at Primrose of Centennial today. It was sad for Daniel to leave all of our great friends and teachers at Primrose of Bear Creek, but with Chad's new job at Willbros, he now commutes to the Tech center instead of all the way to Lakewood. Taking Daniel across town for school was a 3 hour ordeal! We were lucky enough to get Daniel and Ana spots at Primrose Centennial. Charlie had moved to Most Precious Blood for Pre-K back in August, but after 4 months it was obvious he wasn't adjusting well. We contacted the Director and teachers at Primrose Centennial and talked to them about Charlie, Leukemia and some of his "special" needs. They agreed to make room for him in the Pre-K room with Miss Alicia and Miss Paige. So both boys had their first day of school together! Mom and Dad were a bit nervous about the transition. Miss Wendy, the Assistant director must have know this because she sent this cute email in the middle of the day. If the text is too small to read, here is what it says,

"Hi Mom & Dad!

     Charlie asked me to shoot you a quick e-mail since he was in the middle of a math rotation.  He’s learning about spheres, cubes and cones. Personally, the only kind of cone I care about is the ice-cream kind.  Anyway, he did ask me to let you know that he loves “jumping in the snow”.  While his class hasn’t gone outside yet, that is what he said when he was asked what his favorite thing about school was so far.

   My favorite thing so far is my new friend the frog.  He’s not much of a conversationalist and he won’t tell me his name, but he seems nice enough. While Percy has been my long time Primrose BFF, I figured that since I’m at a new school, it’s time to make some new friends and expand my social network. Which is also why I am going to start my own Facebook page.  Since no one’s caught on that I’m on the computer (you’d think it’d be obvious with me sitting at the front & even answering the phone…once), I might as well! I might even check out stocks on E-Trade or see if there’s any good frog collections on eBay.

Love, Daniel"

 

Ana Day 12

I had a couple of coupons for the Picture People, so Charlie and I took Ana to play 'Super Model.' I love this little picture! Aunt Olivia had this cute knit hat in the boxes of clothes she sent and it looked great with Ana's blanket. They no longer have the ability to buy more prints online, which is a bummer. We got a package of this picture and one other on a black background. Charlie was very helpful during the photo shoot mainly because he didn't have to be in the pictures :) Chad and I are going to try really hard to make sure we have pictures of all of the kids, not just the first one....

Make a Wish Shopping

Every year the Make a wish organization puts on a shopping event for wish kids. The children get to pick out 7 gifts for people on their list. The volunteers help the kids shop and wrap the gifts for their loved ones. It's a really neat event! Last year Charlie was kinda freaked out about going into the "store" with the volunteer and he did NOT like SANTA. This year Charlie had a fantastic time! Our wish granter, Jason Merrihew, was there and took Charlie shopping while Mommy and baby Ana hung out with other cancer parents and friends. Make a Wish had a special surprise just for Charlie. They used his picture and wish experience on a huge sign that they use at all of the Rocky Mountain events. It was our first time to see the banners and yes, Mommy cried when she saw it. Charlie was very excited to see his "bigger than life size Charlie " picture. Thank you to Jake, Jennifer, Jason and all of the other Make a Wish coordinators and volunteers for this very special experience for our family. I guess we can officially call Charlie a Make a wish Poster boy :)

Click on the picture above to see more pictures of the big day.