Hands Down Picnic

We went to the Scottish Rite Hands Down picnic today. Despite the heat we had a fun time. Amelia really enjoyed playing at the playground. We always seem to never have time to go to the playground when we have her checkups since they take so long. There were tons of other families there, including teenagers. Brad and I always get pretty emotional when we attend things like this. We are constantly reminded that Amelia's hand difference could be so much more severe than it is. I always feel blessed when we leave, but at the same time I still sometimes struggle with the fact that we are a part of this group. My favorite thing to see today was a 7 or 8 year old girl see some of her friends she hadn't seen in a long time with hand differences too. They hugged and squealed, and it showed me that kids really want to belong and be accepted by others. When you find someone who is like you, you cherish those friendships.

A Thumbs Up for Hands Down

We attended our first Hands Down get-together with our new Scottish Rite friends with hand differences, AKA cool hands, today. Let me just say that whenever some boys get in this group they will all have some cute girls to choose from! I think there were about 5 families that attended, and all the girls had names starting with the letter A. Amelia made some new friends, pictured above, Ava and Avery. We look forward to getting to know these families better throughout the next several months.