Abrielle Neff Foundation

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Happy Birthday Abrielle!

Today our Princess would be 7. I just can't believe she could be that old. I still miss her everyday and wish we were celebrating her birthday with her here on Earth. I'm sure she is celebrating in Heaven and we will send some balloons up to her. I can see her running, dancing, and giggling away the day with all her angel friends. It's days like these that make the "what if's" swirl faster in my mind. Not just the "what if's" about Abby's life, but about our lives too. From the "What would our lives as a family be like now with her still here?" to "What would we be spending our 'free time' doing?" to "Would we look at the Barbies strung all throughout the house and smile like we do now?" to "Would we count every tiny blessing we experience each day the same as today?" to "Would every little hug and kiss we get from our girls mean as much as they do now?"

Happy Birthday to the little girl that changed our hearts and lives forever. We love you Abbers!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

On the Stage ~ MDA

The girls at Maryville Dance Academy started the Celebration off with great success. There was a large crowd gathered watching as they performed. Here are a few of the acts ~

Monday, June 7, 2010

Grab a Paper!

I hope you were able to see the wonderful article in the Maryville Daily Forum today along with all the pictures! In case you didn't, here's a link to the story and there are more photos included under the photos tab.
http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/topstories/x157351353/Event-in-the-park-celebrates-children

Friday, June 4, 2010

Ready for the Celebration?!

Are you guys ready for the weekend fun?! It should be a great time with so much to do! I've mentioned the rides, the stage entertainment, and a few of the other fun attractions, so now for the rest.

We will be serving BBQ pork sandwiches, hot dogs, chips, cookies, brownies, and other yummy desserts. Of course we will be having cotton candy, popcorn, and sno cones too. We are also having homemade icecream!

The games this year will include ~ ring toss, shooting alley, milk bottle toss, duck-o-war, duck pond, face painting, tattoos, mini golf, roll the dice, mexiball, a pedal pull.

In the dunk tank this year you will be able to get some local law enforcement officials wet! We will have Sheriff Darren White, Deputy Mike Galbraith, and Officer Ryan Glidden!

Can't wait to see everyone on Sunday!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

More Fun Scheduled

All your favorites will be back again this year at the Celebration! That includes ~ obstacle course (a brand new one), the Equalizer, the bounce house, the ferris wheel, the petting zoo, and horse rides to name a few. We are counting down the days and hope you are too!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

More Celebration Fun

After the flyers went out to all the school kids and all the advertising in the local papers done, we were able to add another fun thing for the kids! A balloon artist/magician! He will be walking around handing out balloon animals and hats and performing upclose magic tricks! How much fun it that going to be!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Celebration Shirts

Last year we had several requests for blue shirts like the workers were wearing, so this year, you can purchase blue or white Celebration shirts for $10. Don't remember what they look like? Here's a link to the blue crew post last year.
http://abriellenefffoundation.blogspot.com/2009/06/celebration-success-thanks-to-blue-crew.html

(The crew will be wearing purple this year, so hunt for a purple person if you need some help that day.)

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.