Disneyland!

Cinderella

Ian, Sydney, and Della at Disneyland

Ian fights the dark side at the Jedi training academy

Thursday was a fun day as we all went to Disneyland. Sydney was thrilled with meeting Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. The highlight of Ian's day was Jedi training. We all came home exhausted, but will do it all again tomorrow. Sydney still has to wear a large bandage and cup over her ear, but otherwise seems to have recovered and is back to her usual self.

Down to Anaheim

Today we "moved" from Hollywood down to Anaheim. It was there we met up with Brooke's parents and her brother and his family. We are all renting a house together just outside of Disneyland. We plan to take the kids there tomorrow. Brooke's family had planned to stay until next Wednesday. With the passing of her grandmother, however, they are all leaving here Saturday. We will stay here until next week as Sydney has another followup appointment next Tuesday. Her large bandage has to stay in place until then at which time it will be changed. We are all still deeply saddened by Wilma's passing. She was a wonderful woman.

We'll miss you Popcorn Grandma.

Today my Grandma Bockenfeld passed away. The kids called her "Popcorn Grandma" because she always had carmel corn ready for them when we came to visit. She loved when the kids would give her hugs and kisses and "perform" for her. We love you Popcorn Grandma!!! We will miss you, but know that you are in heaven with Jesus.
Brooke

Petersen Automotive Museum

It's Herbie!!

Go Speed Racer

Today we decided to go to the Petersen Automotive Museum since Legoland was closed. It had a wide variety of cars including historic, hot rods, rare cars, Hollywood cars and more. Ian's favorite was the Speed Racer Mach 5. Sydney liked the Herbie car, although you can't tell that from the picture above. Later we returned to the Grove and had lunch at the Farmer's Market. Tonight we have plans to see Pinocchio at the El Capitan Theater. We are heading to a rental house in Anaheim tomorrow to meet my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. We do not know if we have internet access there or not which means there may not be daily updates. We will try our best to keep the blog up to date.

Visit to Dr. Reinisch on Monday

Ian really wanted to ride one of the big double decker buses, so our day began with he and I taking a one hour bus tour of Hollywood. Actually, the historical information was quite interesting. Then we all ate lunch at a restaurant called In and Out Burger followed by a little shopping at Target. Sydney then took a short nap and then it was off to her appointment. Dr. Reinisch removed all of her tubes and drains. She still needs a large bandage on her head. We then headed to the American Girl Store where she purchased a new outfit for her doll Allison. We finished the day at the Cheesecake Factory. We had planned to take the kids to Legoland tomorrow, but found out it is closed on Tuesdays, so our plans are still up in the air.

SYDNEY GIVES A BIG THUMBS UP!

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Well, she is obviously feeling pretty good. We were all able to get out and go to a movie this afternoon. We went to see Hotel for Dogs. Tomorrow Sydney goes back to see Dr. Reinisch for dressing changes. She will have her drains removed as well. She has then requested a trip to the "Miracle Store" (as she calls it), otherwise known as the American Girl Store (or as I know it, the "Bankrupt your father doll store"). Anyway, all is well and we are very blessed.

Post-Op Day Number One

Sydney received balloons from Grandma and Grandpa Richardson, Uncle Steve, Aunt Mary, Madie, Jack and Hadie.

This picture is actually the night of surgery after we arrived back at the hotel.

Ian and I boarding Air Force One

Sydney has done very well except for some mild pain and restless sleep Friday night. Today, mom and Sydney stayed at the hotel to rest while Ian and I ventured out to Simi Valley. There we went to the Ronald Reagan presidential library and museum. There on display is the most recently retired Air Force One plane. We were able to tour this which was quite exciting for both of us. This plane was used from 1973 with Nixon up until 2001 when George W. Bush used it for one mission. We also were able to see one of President Reagan's limousines, a exact replica of the oval office, and President Reagan's final resting place. On special display was one of the original copies of the Magna Carta dating back to 1215.
Sydney continues to do well and we thank everyone for their prayers and support. In fact she is doing so well , she has put in a request to go to the American Girl Store tomorrow. Other than not wanting to take her medicine, she seems to be tolerating this surgery very well.

SURGERY IS OVER!

Surgery took a little longer today than the last time. She went to the recovery room around 3:30pm LA time. We just arrived back at the hotel at 6:30 pm LA time. Other than being sore, she is doing well. Ian was quite a little trooper and was patient with the long wait during the day. We will try to do daily updates. We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support!

1:30 pm LA time.

Another update from the OR. All is going as scheduled. Sydney is doing great. The nurse didn't know how much longer the surgery would be, but said the Dr. Reinisch will come talk to us when he was finished. Ian has been doing great. Alan and I have taken turns "entertaining" him. The boys are on a walk now somewhere in the hospital because it is raining. More later.
Brooke

Update From the OR 11 AM LA Time

We just received a call from the OR that everything is going well. More updates to follow.

Our Day Begins

We are here at Cedars-Sinai. Sydney was called back at 6:15 am. Brooke is still back with her and will be until they take her to the OR. It is now 6:45 am, surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am. We will update throughout the day.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually

Aquarium of the Pacific

Hi everyone! It was rainy here today, so we decided to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The kids were most excited about seeing the sea lions being fed. The sea lions were very lovable and trained to do several tricks. Ian was excited about being able to pet a stingray.
We met with Dr. Reinisch this afternoon and are all set to go tomorrow. We will put updates on here frequently tomorrow. Thank you for your continued prayers!

WE MADE IT TO LA!

After a long day of travel, we are here. Sydney has a preop appointment tomorrow and surgery on Friday. We don't mean to rub it in, but it is quite balmy out here. Ian enjoyed the flight and had his picture taken earlier with Bumblebee (the Transformers), Spongebob, and Elmo. We will try to provide frequent updates in order to keep everyone posted. Once again, we would like to thank everyone for their prayers. We couldn't do this without all of you.

5 days until we're back in LA!!

3 1/2 months post op. December 28, 2008

Hooray!!! We're going to Disneyland. Grandma and Grandpa gave Ian, Sydney, and Della a Mickey and Minnie along with some $$ to spend in CA!!

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. It's hard to believe that we are making preparations to return to LA next week. Sydney will have her left ear reconstructed on Friday, January 23. We will be flying out to LA on Wednesday, and we're all very excited. Ian is going to come with us on this trip, and my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece will becoming on the 28th. We will update daily once we are in LA, and ask for your continued prayers for safe travel and a successful outcome to the surgery.