May 08 ~ Greatstrides walk & health update

Another year has come...We had a great time at the May 3, 2008 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's GreatStrides to cure CF walk! Thanks so much to all who came to walk with Faith and for all of you who made a donation to help find a cure! We know that one day our efforts will pay off...

This year, through the efforts of all who came to the walk, fundraised &/or made donations, our team was able to raise $8,800 & Blue Northern Builders raised an additional $5,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! We plan to continue fundraising through 2008 to again surpass our $10,000 goal!

CFF is the leading organization devoted to curing & controlling cystic fibrosis. With money raised, the Foundation funds CF research, has 80 chapters & branch offices throughout the country, & accredits a nationwide network of 115 CF care centers, which provide vital treatments & other CF resources to patients & families (Faith goes to one every 3 months). To advance the search for a cure, CFF has invested nearly $300 million in promising scientific research in the biotechnology industry since 1998. As a result, the Foundation has more than 30 potential therapies in its drug discovery & development pipeline. Virtually every approved CF drug available today was made possible because of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation support.
Thank you for helping add more tomorrows for Faith & thousands of others. We are thrilled at how far research has come even in Faith's few short years of life & anticipate a wonderful future for her, but we must keep fundraising so the life-saving research continues. We deeply appreciate you helping us get one step closer!

***Please come see the thank you video made especially for you http://www.teamfaithfull.com/***

This year, we will once again be putting on "Speeding to a Cure" at the Roseville All-American Speedway. Last year, everyone who came had an awesome time, whether they were racing the cars or watching * we raised $4,000 for CFF! Bring your family & friends & join us -race against each other! 50% of proceeds will go towards CFF via Team FaithFULL. There will be a raffle and lunch for drivers as well. Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008.

Additionally, so long as Faith is in good health, we will be forming a group for the Edible Crawl for a Cure in October. Morgan and Stephanie went last year, along with 2 cousins and had so much fun we want to share it with you this year...food, drinks, a stoll around midtown & fun, all included in your ticket price!

FAITH'S HEALTH UPDATE:

We're SO very ecstatic to share the news that Faith's CF team appointment this month was the BEST it's been in a very long time! She's gained a few pounds, putting her at just above 60% for weight, height AND BMI! The goal for her is always above 50%, as research has proven that if they stay above this weight at age 2-4, then their FEV1 (breathing test) stays healthier at age 12! She has never been the big eater, but we do our best to pack on the pounds.

She also did a great job with her throat culture and for the firs time got to try a breathing test to check her lung function....she's still too young for it to be officially recorded for national research, but she can definitely learn how it works and have the numbers written in her chart! She really enjoyed it, too, taking a huge breath then blowing as hard and long as she could to make the chicken run to the flag on the computer. The last new test for her was checking her muscle, which was also very good for her age! It must be all that running and dancing!

Upcoming Events:

65 Roses Golf Classic 09.08.2008
*Speeding to a Cure 09.14.08

Golden Oaks Golf Classic 10.06.2008

*Edible Crawl for a Cure 10.18.2008

Sacramento Wine Opener 11.13.2008

Breath for Life Dinner March 2009

Redding Great Strides 04.25.2009

*Sacramento Great Strides 05.02.2009

Ways to get involved further: Form your own team, spread the word via email to increase awareness & donations, get your business involved by fundraising, forming a team or helping sponsor one of our many events, get your school involved with Curefinders, or shop for a cure, it's all fun! Visit http://www.cff.org/
Please contact Stephanie if you have interest in any of the above.

Disneyland March 1, 2008

We headed down Thursday & spent Friday at Disneyland with just our little family. As soon as she saw the train, we had to ride it immediately. We then waited in this long line to see what we thought was the princess show & turned out to be meeting the princesses! Faith had been SO excited to show Cinderella her painted fingernails, so it was perfect. We also went on the new Finding Nemo ride and Faith was so funny thinking she "Found Nemo!" Everytime we saw the ride the rest of the weekend she made sure to tell us she found Nemo or that she wanted to find him again.

That first night, while clearly on the 'Disney high,' Faith happily declared, "It's a magical, wonderful day!" as she opened the doors to the TV. I had to make her repeat it & ask who told her that....because she did after all, have a long conversation with Cinderella earlier. She said she told herself...so cute!

The next morning, we let her wear a Snow White outfit over her clothes and she was ecstatic! Down to breakfast we went & she got so many giggles & happy thoughts from the adults. The rest of the weekend, we had a hard time convincing her not to wear the high heels (though she did to breakfast) & getting her to take the dress off at night. Odd thing is, Snow White was one of her least favorite rides, along with the mini roller coaster in ToonTown.

I think the parades were my favorite to watch her on because she shreaked with joy everytime she saw a princess. It was too adorable. Brooke was really good for the most part and didn't seem to have much thought about where we were or what we were doing, though she enjoys people watching for sure.

The ride home was a nightmare with Brooke crying more than half the time & Faith begging to go back to our "castle." Hehehe, I'm smiling thinking of how Faith kept doing the most odd, but funny thing the whole trip...I'd bought them Teddy Grahams as a little snack for the trip & on our drive down it was night when we opened them & Faith kept wanting me to turn on the light so she could see the cookie. She'd look at it intently and state "teddy bear," then eat it. Over and over all weekend any time she'd eat those things she'd do the same ritual, even on the way home. It was too funny....maybe you had to be there.

FAITH'S 2008 VIDEO

Please click on Faith's picture to see her NEW 2008 VIDEO for GreatStrides! We'll be at the capitol in Sacramento on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 8AM-noon. JOIN US! Sign up or donate at http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/StephanieDavis