PWS Christmas Party

Every year we go to the local Prader-Willi Syndrome chapter Christmas party.  This year was no exception.  However, I wasn't sure we were going to make it.  Baylee had the choice between going to watch her cousins dance recital or going to the party.  I was actually surprised she chose the party.  So off we went.  Jeramie stayed home with Oliver and Jackson, while Wyland and I went with Baylee to the party.  This year they had the brilliant idea of having everyone sit down and wait to be served their pre-prepared plate of food. If you know anything about PWS it's that these kids LOVE their food.  So this was a stroke of brilliance.

Per usual, Baylee did not sit with us.

She sat with one of her friends.

Someone brought puzzles for all the PWS kids.

Baylee walked away with like 3 or 4 of them.

2 of which were Justin Bieber, of course.

Wyland sat on Santa's lap and asked for a teddy bear.

Baylee sat on Santa's lap as well.

Santa had a laugh over her four page wish list!

PWS Summer Fundraiser

We had a really really busy weekend this last week and I'm still trying to catch up with all the pictures I've taken.  Saturday morning we were headed over to the Prader-Willi Syndrome summer fundraiser.  I do believe they are getting better and better at organizing these.  This year included a walk, dancing, singing, raffle drawing (in which I won a iTunes gift card), food, a park, "carnival games".  It was fun. Baylee loves getting together and seeing some of the kids that go to Camp K with her each year. 

They make this cute flower garden with pictures of our kids on them.

As well as a few things that describe them.

Oliver decidedly LOVES slides.  Laughs the whole time.

They had Miss. Teen Lehi there.  Baylee was enamoured with her instantly.

They also handed out medals to all the PW kids, and then their siblings.

Well and you know we love a good race medal in our house!  Baylee included.

The kids loved playing on the swings too.

Brothers are good supporters.

They also brought a fire truck and ambulance for the kids to check out.

Baylee and her friend from camp, Lindsey.

I'm not sure how much money was actually raised.

But it was a fun way to spend our morning.

They also had some really yummy food this year.  Kabobs and beans.

PWS Swim Party 2011

Today was the annual PWS Swim Party hosted by the Utah Prader-Willi Association.

The party was set from 9am to 12pm.

Lunch to be served at 11:30am.

So I figured we would come and swim for half an hour, have lunch, then swim some more.

Well we arrived just before 11am.

As it turned out they kicked everyone out of the pool right when we got here,

guess the free swim was over.

So my mum went and paid for the kiddos to swim (stupid) and then we headed over for lunch.

The kids loved that there was a park right by the pavilion.

Baylee loved seeing some of her friends from camp as well.

Baylee and her friend Jessi.  Jessi loved Oliver and promised me she wouldn't drop him.  Haha.

Baylee's face tells you how excited she was to have a friend there.

There was a silent auction.  My mum bid and one carpet cleaning for $55.

I bid and won a Chili's $15 gift card for $12.

Then we headed over to the pool for some swimming.

 Jackson on the climbing wall.

 Zarley came with us too.

 Wyland had a go on the climbing wall too.

 Haha!  Love that butt!

His shorts would fall down when Jeramie lifted him out the water!

 Remember that song, "little white bum"?

 Is there a ban on two piece swimsuits in Utah County that I don't know about?

I swear I was the only one for quite a long time.

 Oliver is such a water baby.  He loves it!

 Then Wyland plain fell asleep on my lap in the pool.

 Doesn't Oliver look relaxed on his back?

What a fun afternoon we had!!

Remember this?

Thank you to those of you that have been voting daily.  I love seeing your votes come up on my Facebook page.  The Utah PWA will be moving on to the second phase of the competition.  This is when the voting becomes more intense.  And winners are separated from the losers.  Well at least, this is where you get to actually win.  So if you haven't been voting every day please start.  Again, Baylee really benefits from this organization.  Baylee is 13 years old, but she's not like most 13 year old girls.  She doesn't go hang out at the mall with friends, or beg to be dropped off to meet friends at the movies.  She doesn't spend time with any kids outside of school.  This organization provides Camp K for her every summer.  It's literally the ONLY thing that she does outside of our family with "friends".  I would be happy to send out a daily email to those of you that would like the reminder.  It makes it really easy if you vote on your phone, which if you have a Blackberry, iPhone, or an Android based phone you can vote straight from your phone.  Just click the link, click the Log into Facebook button, then Endorse.  So so easy.

You have to go through a process the first time you do it but then it's 20 seconds top on a daily basis.  Here's what you have to do:

1.  Log into your Facebook on the computer. You'll need to change your privacy settings.  Go to your Account, on the top right of you Facebook page.  Then click on Privacy Settings.  Then the first section "Connecting on Facebook" click on View Settings.  Then at the very bottom of that page it talks about "See your likes, activities and other connections" this needs to be Everyone.

2.  You need to "Like" Vivint on Facebook.  If you type "Vivint" in the search bar at the top of your page.  Then go to the Vivint page and click "Like".

3.  Now you're ready to vote every single day.  So you will go here.  Click the Login button for Facebook at the top. Then on the next screen you will scroll to the bottom and click the orange Endorse button.  It's that easy!!  You can bookmark the link and just go there daily to vote.  Or send me your email address and I will email the link to you each day and you can just click and endorse from your phone.

It's really so easy.  You can even just visit my blog daily and scroll to the very bottom and see the link there.  It will be there every day and you can vote.

Please vote!!  It doesn't cost you a dime. 

She would do it for you if you asked.

Reminder to Vote

So back here I asked you to help vote for the Utah Prader-Willi Association in a charity give away for $250,000!!  There are SO many great things that the association could do with the money.  Last year they bought iPad's for all the PWS kids (Baylee included) since they have a hard time with their fine motor skills.  The iPad opens a whole new world of learning options for these kids.

Right now we are in the lead to win first prize!! 

A couple of you commented that you were going to vote .. thanks Hilary and Jessica!!! I hope you both have been voting.  For the rest of you all (especially my family .. Mike, Amber, Evan, Rachel, Jeramie, Mum and Dad!) I hope you will get going on this!  I sent an email to myself with the weblink (mainly because I can't figure out how to find things that I bookmark on my cell) and then I vote on my phone each day.  It's SO easy and takes literally only a few seconds. I reload the page and "Endorse!" again.  As a reminder here are the instructions to get started.  You only have to go through this part once and then you just bookmark it and Endorse! every day.

Initial Steps for Endorsing Utah Prader-Willi Syndrome Association:


1. Log in to your Facebook account.

2. Go to: http://www.vivint.com/givesbackproject/charity/18 (Vivint’s page for Utah PWSA)

3. When prompted, click the “Like” button and the Facebook “Login” button.

4. Scroll down and click the orange “Endorse!” button on the lower left.

You may have to change your Privacy Settings if you are having trouble:

If you get the message that you have not “liked” Vivint even after you have clicked the like button.  Go to your  Account, on the top right of your facebook page.  Then click on Privacy Settings.   Then click on the first line you will see “Connecting on Facebook” and at the end of that line of text you will click on View Settings.  There, make sure that “See your likes, connections, and other activities” is set to “Everyone.”   Now try “liking” Vivint again.

Thanks to all of you that are supporting us

 and remember to vote every day!!

I need your help blogger friends!

I need your help so I'll get right to the point.  The Utah Prader-Willi Syndrome Association is in the running to try and win $250,000 from vivint Alarm (formerly APEX Alarm) ..and yes I know they aren't ADT!!  (sorry Jeramie).  Anywho .. they are giving away a boatload of money to charity.  All you have to do is "Like" them through Facebook and then vote daily.  I know .. I know that means clicking on a link daily and then clicking the Endorse button.  But .. really .. I bet you read blogs every day and that takes up a whole lot more time!!  So I'm asking for your daily help.  Please .. please .. please .. vote. 

Here's how you do it:

Click Here

You have to "Like" them.  It will prompt you to log in to Facebook if you aren't already.  Then every day you go to this page, scroll to the bottom and click "Endorse".  Just book mark the page and vote/endorse every day.  It's that simple and literally takes 20 seconds!!  That's it .. they've timed it!

That was the quick and dirty.  If you're still readiing I'll tell you a little more.  Specifically how this organization contributes to Baylee's life.

As you know Baylee was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome when she was just 2 weeks old. There is a local chapter of the Prader-Willi Association here in Utah. They do a LOT of really amazing stuff for the kids here in Utah. To say that Baylee benefits from this great organization would be an understatement. It gives Baylee the opportunity to spend time with other girls that are her kind of age that also have Prader-Willi Syndrome.  Just to name a few:

Yearly Christmas parties.

 Fun charity walks.

 Summer swim parties.

Not to mention this last year they paid for all Utah PWS kids to have an iPad!!  SERIOUSLY!!!

AND .. lastly every year Baylee gets to go to Camp K where she meets up with other kids with PWS.  She spends an entire week (sleeping overnight) there doing fun and modified to be safe activities such as horseback riding, canoeing, and fishing.  It's a real summer camp where she's in a safe environment.  The Utah PWS Associations pays the close to $400 that it costs to go for five days.  But it doesn't stop there, they also arrange to have some diet friendly food there just for our kids!

As you can see Baylee really benefits from this organization and they couldn't do these really awesome things without money.  So please .. help us .. vote daily.  Let's win us some free money!!!!  I'll send out updates as the contest progresses.

Thank you in advance for all of you that are willing to help!!