Abrielle Neff Foundation: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

New Rides

We will be having two new rides this year at the Celebration that the kids should love. First is a barrel train ride and it is just as it sounds, a train made from barrels. The second is a carnival ride called Tubs of Fun.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Magic on Stage

This year we are excited to announce that Magician BJ Talley will be on stage at 1:00. If you were able to join us last year, you were able to see some of his up-close magic tricks and take home a balloon animal as he walked around the crowd. This year he will be wowing us all with bigger tricks as he takes the stage. Here is a link to his website to give you a little preview of what you are in store for. http://bjtalley.com/

Work Day

Sunday we will be having a Celebration work day at our house starting at 2 pm. We will be making signs, doing a few construction projects, and grilling out for everyone too, so bring a side.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Helping Joplin

Yesterday I delivered several boxes to the truck headed to Joplin. Mady and I boxed up 50 Abby's Hugs stuffed animals, 2 paper boxes of coloring books, 1 filled with crayons, markers, and colored pencils, 1 box filled with reading books, and 1 filled with fun stuff (games, cards, matchbox cars, dress up clothes, yo-yos, etc) for the kids affected by the tornado. Hopefully these can help bring some smiles to the little ones down there that have lost these things that are important to them.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Celebration Approaching!

The Celebration is fast approaching and we have so many new and exciting things planned for the event, but of course your old favorites will still be there!

Abrielle Neff Foundation

presents the

4th Annual Celebration of Children

June 12th 12:00 ~ 4:00

Beal Park

Families young and old, bring your lawn chairs

& enjoy the stage entertainment, petting zoo,

carnival games, rides & BBQ.

Inflatables Ferris Wheel Tubs of Fun Ride

Barrel Train Ride FOOD Games Dunk Tank

Petting Zoo Spoofy Silent Auction

On The Stage!

12:00 Maryville Dance Academy

1:00 Magician BJ Talley – BJ will be here to mesmerize you

with his magic! You might even find yourself on stage!
2:00 MHS Drum Line
3:00 Kids Contests – are you brave enough to participate?

Weekend Memories

Saturday we had dance recital for our girls. It is always hard for me to watch the dance recital as I am reminded of our little dancer that is not there, but do enjoy watching our other two perform. It is one of those events that I now mentally prepare myself for before I go. Unfortunately I was not prepared enough. Three routines had me fighting tears. Two were sister dances, the first song even talking about how to dance after her sister died. The other was a tribute song that had a little girl talking about Heaven.

We also had another first this weekend. Sunday we went fishing for the first time without Abby. Elly had gotten a Princess fishing pole for her birthday and was ready to try it out. The girls dug up worms for the outing and I was reminded so much of our last fishing excursion with Abby. I remember taking pictures as they pulled worms from the dirt as Marc scooped it up with the shovel. I remember how the worms didn't even phase our bug-loving Abby, but Mady didn't like touching them. I remember how excited and proud Abby was as she caught her first fish on her Nemo fishing pole. These memories were echoed as Elly gladly got muddy and slimy gathering worms and then again later as she was thrilled with her catches on her Princess pole.

Blog Featured

Check it out, the blog is featured in the NNL
http://www.nodawaynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=14383&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Planting Pictures

Since I am still receiving a "security error" message when I try to upload any pictures, here is a link to the article in the paper that has some photos.

http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/topstories/x600906616/Planting-party-offers-lessons-on-growing?img=2

If anyone knows how to remedy my problem, I would love to hear from you!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Music Program

Last night Elly had a spring music program for preschool which they had been practicing for for weeks. I have heard all the songs daily in the car on our trips to and from town and she was ready to sing them loud. What I didn't realize about the program was who the preschool class was performing with on some songs. The note came home a week ago laying out how the evening was to go, from where to drop off your child and where to pick them up to which grade levels would be singing together. Preschool was to sing with the second graders. Even as I read this, nothing clicked. It wasn't until we were walking Elly into the building that I realized who the second graders were. This was Abby's class. As I lead Elly through the classroom and to her teachers, several of Abby's friends yelled and waved. I smiled back glad to see that they still know who I am after all this time. I sat in silence through most of performance by the second graders as the fact that we should have a second grader up there too. They were then joined by the preschool class. You could see siblings looking for each other as the little ones were led up on stage. We should have two girls on stage at this point. We should have a proud big sister looking for her "mini me". As the concert ended and we shared hugs with some other parents, I made the comment that of all the classes to perform together, what were the odds. Bittersweet to watch as Abby's classmates grow up.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Pay It Forward

Today was the Pay It Forward assembly for the 5th graders at MMS. Mady paired with Tara Hull to raise money for the Foundation and for St Francis Foundation for the purchase of new chairs for chemo treatments. They raised $273 to be split between the two. They raised their money through a lemonade stand, recycling aluminum cans, and doing yard work. Thanks girls!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Some Anxious Days

Almost all week I have been having some anxious and teary days. It all stems from Elly's birthday. Her 4th birthday. I have stayed extra busy this week, but the feelings still crept in. For some reason I have been fearful that we would not make it to age four again. That our lives would be thrown into a turmoil and we would lose another little girl. Strange sounding I know but you seem to gain several new fears after this kind of loss. I made it through the big day on Saturday with relief that we have a four-year-old, a day we never got to with our Abby.

Garden Planting

Friday we planted Abby's Garden at EFE with the help of the preschoolers. The kids did great and had fun digging in the dirt. Elly planted several flowers and just beamed, saying, "Abby will be so happy."

I am having a few difficulties getting my pictures to upload but will keep trying and will add them to this post.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

MTN Speech

Today I spoke to Midwest Transplant Network's staff during staff training they were having. Some of their staff dows not have the opportunity to work directly with donor families or recipients so this was their chance to hear from both. It was great to see some of the faces I have not seen in a few years and meet some new people behind the scenes that have had the opportunity to work with Abby in one way or another. I was also recruited to become an ambassador for MTN so that I will have more opportunities to speak about donation.

Our Story...

Abrielle came into this world in a hurry to get started, which gave us our first glimpse at her personality. Not waiting on Dr Jane to put on gloves, only a towel to catch her with, she weighed in at six pounds fifteen ounces. From the beginning Abby had reflux, but there seemed to more than just that as she failed to gain weight. At four months we were sent to draw all kinds of labs, hoping for a solution, but all was normal. By six months of age, the vomiting became worse, almost nightly. We were keeping records of every calorie she ate, every dirty diaper, and every time she vomited. By this time Abby was refusing to eat supper most nights and would throw up her undigested lunch after bathtime at 8:00. Her food was just sitting in her tummy all day. Dr Watson sent us to Omaha Childrens Hospital to Dr Zapata a pediatric gastroenterologist to help diagnois the problem. There, over the next year and a half of her life, Abby underwent testing, treatments, and outpatient procedures. During every procedure she was given a stuffed animal to hold for comfort, even though she had Blankie with her.
To make a long story short, after the accident we discovered St Francis Hospital did not have a program like this for kids and Abby's Hugs was born.

That Tragic Day...

Thursday, March 29, 2007, began like any other school day in our household with the only exception being that it was Abby's sharing day at preschool. We had a rule that if the sharing item was not picked out the night before (which it usually wasn't), Abby had to be ready for school before she could find something to take. This morning was just like most ... nothing was picked out the night before. She hurried faster than usual that way she would have time to find something. After brushing her teeth, she ran to her room to find some clothes. I always tried to give Abby choices, but she was down to her last clean pair of capris. I gave her the option of wearing those, a pair of Gymboree Fruit Punch capris with a bright yellow shirt or jeans and a purple kitty shirt. She decided on the capri outfit which she had actually rejected every other day that week. After getting dressed, she went into Sissy's room and was playing with her LeapPad when I found her. I asked her how she wanted her hair fixed and she said "little pony". (Not that she was going to leave it in anyway) I helped her onto the sink and she dug through her basket of hair things until she found a yellow one. We went into the living room so I could sit down to brush her hair. Since sitting on my lap was now impossible, Abby stood in front of me as I pulled her hair up with the little yellow hair tie. She ran to her room and began looking for something to bring for sharing. She came out with her Little People's Noah's Ark set stuffed full of extra toys. Being a mean Mommy, I said, You can only bring one toy. Aww, was the response as she took the ark back to her room to look for something else. I went on about my routine of making my lunch and everything else to be ready to leave for work. Mady and I headed out to the Expedition and Abby was not following behind. I went back inside to find her and Marc on their way from her room with her big "bobbycat" (bobcat skidloader) for sharing. They had been looking for the scoop that attaches to the front but ran out of time. They decided that just the bobbycat would work. Marc helped buckle Abby in her car seat. Because she was so small we still used the 5-point harness and not just the seatbelt so she required some help. As we left the house, Marc pulled out ahead of the girls and I onto the gravel road. Just around the first set of curves past our house, I slowed down so we could watch the turkeys fly across the road. I am not sure if Abby saw them or not, but she said she did. We continued on, oblivious to our fate that lie ahead.

last added to 10/29 ...this I will add to as I am able ...thanks for understanding.

The Sentence

On June 25, 2008, Ryan C Sundermann was sentenced to 6 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Sundermann wrecklessly caused the death of Abrielle Neff in a motor vehicle collision on March 29, 2007. Sundermann was charged with failing to maintain proper control of his vehicle, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway and operated a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol.
Sundermann was previously convicted of Driving While Intoxicated and Failure to Drive on the Right Half of the Roadway on April 25, 2006 and sentenced to 2 years probation, 12 days in jail, and a $300 fine. On December 19, 2006, Sundermann was again convicted of Excessive Blood Alcohol Content-Prior Offender which he received a Suspended Execution of Sentence of 180 days, was continued on 2 years probation and received a fine.