Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lots of Good Stuff to Talk About
















Wow! The last few weeks have been amazing!! Here is the run down on some of the events since the last posting…

Kyria and Heidi from paws4people foundation came down with COLT and ELLIE to Wilmington on Thursday April 10th in advance of Azalea Festival. We spent time going to the beach, riding horses, touring the UNCW campus, eating at South Beach Grill, cooking out, etc. Kyria and Heidi even rode our horse Bo double at one point. I’ll have to put up pictures when I get home.

Terry from paws4people came down on Friday the 11th and Candace came in from Charlotte. On Saturday and Sunday, we had a booth at Azalea Festival where we helped raise awareness about service dogs and raise money. Katie and her friend Tyler led the pack in the fundraising area. We appreciate all the people who came out to support Amanda, ELLIE and paws4people.

On Sunday, we also had the fundraiser at South Beach Grill. A special heartfelt thanks to South Beach Grill for their generosity. We were thrilled to hear that South Beach had a 60% increase in sales on Sunday for the fundraiser. Thanks so much to all of the wonderful people who cam out to support Amanda and ELLIE.

In conjunction with the South Beach Fundraiser WWAY TV3 in Wilmington did a great piece on ELLIE and Amanda. Amanda wasn’t feeling great due to a migraine but she held it together reasonably well. To see the video, you can go to http://www.wwaytv3.com/video/girls_best_friend/04

The Lumina News also did a very nice story on Amanda and paws4people. You can access it at http://www.luminanews.com/section.asp?sid=27&iid=109

This week, the UNCW paper ran a story on Amanda and paws4people. It can be accessed at http://media.www.theseahawk.org/media/paper287/sections/20080424News.html

This past week, Katie turned 9 years old. We took Mini Cooper to her elementary school on her birthday and he did great. Katie did a great job teaching all of her classmates about horses. Then, over the weekend, Katie had a slumber party with 6 special friends. They rode horses together, had cake, watched a movie, and had a great time.

paws4people is opening a Wilmington branch. If you or someone you know may be interested in helping out, please have them contact me at sdivance@yahoo.com

ELLIE graduates in July and will be living with us after that! We can’t wait!!! We will be learning all the ins and outs of dog training in “boot camp” for Amanda and ELLIE during the latter part of July. It is hard to believe we are getting so close. Amanda is so blessed!

We are blessed that Wrightsville Beach magazine will be running an in depth story on Amanda and ELLIE in their August issue. The journalist covering the story has offered a special treat to Amanda and Katie. He invited them to go to a dress rehearsal of the Wizard of Oz at Thalian Hall in Wilmington next week. The girls will absolutely love that! We are so excited!!

Katie and Amanda are doing well. Amanda has been very impressive intellectually lately. Last night, we asked her all sorts of questions and she answered every one of them correctly (with a nod yes or no). We were quite thrilled. She is full of energy and smiles these days. Katie got straight As again in school! Way to go Katie!!

I am sure there are more things that went on that I forgot to comment on but those should be a lot of the high points. I will post again soon! I hope all is well with you and your families! God Bless!
Susan

Thursday, April 10, 2008

An Exciting Time for Us


We have been busily preparing for Azalea Festival and the South Beach Fundraiser and the fun times are almost here. Amanda continues to do very well and is in a great mood. Her therapies this week have been great and she is just as silly as ever.


Today, Kyria and Heidi from Paws4people arrive with ELLIE and COLT. Tomorrow, Terry, Candace, and KOJAK come. We will be at Azalea Festival on Sat and Sunday and then do the fundraiser at South Beach Grill on Sunday. Two newspapers are running stories on Amanda and ELLIE, the Lumina News and the Seahawk (UNCW paper). We hope to be able to raise some nice funds to offset the costs of training ELLIE. ELLIE now knows how to "find Amanda" and "get the phone" and soon she will be able to "get meds". These new skills are in addition to the 100 commands she already knows. Exciting times!!! ELLIE will make such a difference in Amanda's life. We are SOOOOOOOO excited! It should be a great weekend.


If anyone is interested in donating to paws4people on Amanda's behalf, the website is



We will let you know how all of the events go and will post pictures next week. Until then, enjoy this picture of Amanda and ELLIE from January.....


God Bless!

Susan