Faith and her cousins...

My beautiful daughter Faith.....

Me and Faith @San Diego Zoo

Grandparents kids....

Ride to SoCal....

Faith riding moms old bike!!!

Dog Insurance?????

I was just thinking...does anyone out there know if there is dog insurance out there. I know there is for medical issues, but what about death? They have it for horses, for those that travel a lot with expensive horses. Since I had to take out a loan for a dog and it is still being paid for, kinda like a car, it might be wise for me to get some insurance. If anyone knows I would appreciate a lead. Kris

Saturday morning....

Last night Faith was having a really hard time. She really misses home and wants to go back, but she really wants to meet Cass and start training. This is the longest she has been away from her family and just with me. I can tell the anxiety is kicking in, she is having head aches, stomach aches, and cannot sit still in the evenings. I have planned something each day to try and keep her busy, but there is nothing to do to help in the evenings. We have been going to bed at 8pm, which is close to her normal routine. I wish I could speed up the time, we only have five more days. I am having so much fun with her and I am just as homesick as she is. I miss my renae and the girls and I hate that I am not spending time with them while I am on leave. Today we are going to the San Diego Zoo. I will take some pictures and post them. Hope everyone has a great Saturday. Oh yea, I found it ironic that yesterday I was listening to the news and they mentioned that Zimmerman guy who shot the kid in Florida. He had almost $200k in his mypay account in a week, and then the presidential candidate had over 4 million in donations within 24 hours of the supreme court ruling...yet it is so hard to raise 10k for a service dog for a child.......go figure. Kris

Breakfast...

Eating breakfast with Faith. 6 more days until we meet Cass and start training!!

First day in California....

So far so good. Last night we spoke with Katie at Little Angels Service Dogs and Cass is with her and ready to meet Faith. We are going to see if we can move training up a little bit. Faith is hanging with her Aunt Nicole and her three cousins. I am getting a lot of rest and taking care of long overdue paperwork. Katie is also going to provide us with a book for the teachers to share with the students at her school and it talks about service dogs. She also has a presentation that I can give at assemblies at schools that Faith and I visit to help raise awareness on mood disorders and service dogs. It is going to be awesome. Kris

Arriving at Ontario CA Airport!!!!

The weather is awesome.....

At airport....

We r at the airport. 30 minutes to boarding feels like eternity to Faith.

The journey begins....

After two weeks straight in the field, and no time to prepare for this trip, today is the day that Faith and I get on the airplane to go meet Cass. We will stay with Renae's parents for a few days before going down to San Diego to begin training. She is so excited that it has been difficult for Faith to sleep. This has been a long time coming. I wish we could afford to have the entire family come out with us, but it will be just Faith and I. The girls are really wanting to go see their grandparents and so is Renae. I will keep making updates through the cell phone and posting a lot of pictures so stay tuned. Thank you to all the friends, family, and people out there who made this trip possible! If it was not for all of you sharing, this trip would not be happening. Kris

Happy Father's Day.....

As I sit here this morning and write this I am thinking of all the things that I am thankful for....way too many to write. Today I am going to be thankful for my wife and kids and my little dog Lukie. My kids are amazing and so are all the friends we have. The military brings people from all over the world together to live, work, and share our lives. This hidden disability we live with in our home and made that even more apparent. Our family is doing so great, and we have great friends. Our friends don't like us for what we have or where we live. We all share a common love of country, the military, and lonely nights, weeks, and months that only those who sacrifice can ever understand. Thank you to all of those who follow this and give us your support. Only because of you and our friends and family could I be sitting here not having to worry about my family and what would happen if I was not around or I could not provide for them or even especially in this case, I could not find help for Faith. Have a happy Father's Day and enjoy this week everyone. I sure am. Kris

New friend....

I met a wonderful lady today through a mutual friend. We spoke on the phone and it is amazing how things happen in life. I look forward to her meeting Faith and helping us with our mission to raise awareness of children with Mood Disorders. It seems when I start feeling like I am fighting a losing battle, another door opens and someone else comes along who is passionate about helping children and wants to help. Kris

Happy Birthday...

Today is Faith's birthday..she is turning 11. We had a wonderful birthday party for her yesterday at the indoor pool on post. She said this is the best year ever...she had the best birthday party, is getting ready to meet her dog Cass, and cannot wait to go back to school in the fall. We love you so much Faith!!! Kris

Denied......

We have been working a few months to get Faith enrolled in the "ECHO program" through TriCare. It is a program that offers more services to qualifying children such as ABA therapy at home, time for mom to get away with someone qualified to watch the children, and a few other things. The thing that made us think she would qualify is she is home bound in the sense that she was physically unable to attend school last year because of her mood disorder. However, our wonderful insurance denied us because she does not have the right diagnosis and it has not been proven that this ABA therapy would benefit her. How are we suppose to find out without trying???? Even though her doctor, who has been working with children and therapy like this for over 30 years said this is what will happen, they say no. But they sure do not mind paying thousands of dollars each month in medications for her to take like candy!!! This is typical with the military, just as with us Soldiers they do not mind pushing medicines down our throats but do not want to do proven things like give therapy or service dogs to us!!! Add one more item to my checklist of things to do.....Fight Tricare. Kris

Visit to the orthodontist...

For most children a visit to the orthodontist would be an exciting thing...especially when new teeth are involved to fill the void of ones that have not grown in in over three years. Nope, not so with a child who does not like change of any kind. We got Faith fitted with four front teeth today. They looked beautiful, but Faith could not keep them in. She could not handle the dramatic change in her smile. The worst part was the people in the office thought she was misbehaving. I told the Orthodontist to just pack the retainer and quit talking to Faith that she would be waiting in the car for me. So yes, I paid for some cool impressions we got to keep. I will keep them in my memory box. Faith has actually been wearing the retainer for longer and longer each day. It is just such a drastic change in what she is use to that she just had a wicked panic attack. I hate it when adults who know nothing about our daughter just assume she is misbehaving or acting spoiled. How many children have you seen that scream for their mother while they are crying and begging to get out of a chair, then run into her arms yelling "I am so sorry...I just don't like them" just because they are misbehaving??? Mark another one for living with a hidden disability. Kris