4:40 am

Today is the day of the car wash!! I'm looking forward to it - with a BBQ & face painting, it should be fun!! I haven't been sleeping well lately - completely stressed over the upcoming trip. ONLY 3 WEEKS AWAY!! I'm so afraid I'm going to forget something or get there & realize I should've brought something. I've never had anxiety attacks but I really think I've had a couple in the last couple of days!! If anyone has any tips on what to bring - PLEASE let me know. A lot of people who read this blog has already been to China and knows the ins & outs of it so I would appreciate any helpful tips. I purchased a translator to help us in our day to day adventures in China - PLUS hopefully it will help prevent an accidental ingestion of a cat or dog. I've been reading horror stories on what people are accidentally eating over there & it's pretty scary! Brandon on the other hand will be completely fine as long as he has his daily dose of Cinnamon Toast Crunch & fries. He's counting down to August 8th and reminds me every day of how long until we leave (of course I really don't need reminding - I'm aware of it every minute of the day!). I'm really happy that he's excited. We've been searching for a treatment for 7 years and our dream is about to become real. We honestly could not have done it without so many people. This journey has really opened my eyes to the fact there are so many others who need help. We recently met a blind man in Colorado Springs who has been down on his luck. He had a cane that needed to be replaced years ago and was in desperate need of a meal. We took him to a hamburger place & fed him then took him to his apartment. That night we ordered him a replacement cane. We really couldn't afford it but we felt the need to try and help him like people has helped us. I'm sure there has been several people who donated to Brandon that really couldn't afford to but felt the need to - just like we did with that man. His new cane arrived in the mail 2 days ago & it really felt good to give it to him. He was absolutely thrilled with it and thanked us repeatedly. I wish him luck in his future endeavours. Since Brandon was diagnosed with ONH, John & I have a new respect for the blind. I don't mean that we didn't have respect for them before but we can now appreciate the difficulties they face with day to day life. That could be why God chose us to have a blind child - maybe we needed to experience this first hand in order to be more understanding and better people. There's a reason we were given Brandon & I don't really care what the reason is - we love him so much & could never imagine life without him...

10:14 PM

The car wash will be this Saturday July 19th from 7:30 am to 6 pm at the Hub Car Wash & Diner at 4460 Forest Hill Rd (next to Garden of the Gods & Centennial). We will have Brandon there for most of the day. The car wash will be donating part of the sales to Brandon and will also be taking donations for him. There will be a BBQ, face painting & a chip repairman who are also donating a portion of the sales to Brandon. We also have several "Donation Prizes" valued at nearly $1,000.00!! Come on down & enjoy the day with us!! Channel 13 news was contacted by a company who would like to do a concert benefit for Brandon on July 26th. The singers are local talents and from what I've been told are well worth the time to go listen to them. They are working on an exact location and time so I'll let everyone know when I find out. We are turning in our Visa applications tomorrow - the very last application/form/paperwork that we have to do before we leave (I think!!). Brandon is so excited that the trip is only a few weeks away. He keeps asking what he'll be able to bring. Brandon has never played with traditional toys and has opted for electrical appliances. He likes to hear the blender, can opener and is sad that he will be unable to bring the vacuum or carpet shampooer to China with us. I told him that they are too big & the pilot of the plane won't let us take them. I couldn't imagine taking a vacuum to China for Brandon to play with! I really hope that after the treatment Brandon will start to enjoy normal toys. He really hasn't had a "childhood" to speak of. He has grown up not playing with toys or playing with other children. He has Courtney & Nick to play with but he doesn't like to. That has been the worst part of Brandon's condition. He is more like an adult than a child and he has missed out on so much growing up. If he can only gain one thing - I hope it would be for him to enjoy playing like other kids his age. He would be so much happier and I think he would enjoy life more. In just a few short weeks, his life will hopefully change for the better & I can hardly wait!!

2:46 am

Wow, sorry it took me so long to update the blog. We've had an eventful couple of weeks. First of all we met with Tyrone Wright and his manager Lou. We met them during practice and although we tried to stay out of the way, Brandon couldn't help but want to "fight" someone. They were wonderful hosts and obliged Brandon by loaning him a pair of gloves. He practiced hitting & kicking (with a huge grin on his face the whole time!!) Everyone signed a champion belt before presenting him with it. Brandon didn't like it at first and wanted nothing to do with it. After we got home, I explained to him that it was like an award. After he understood that it wasn't a belt to hold his pants up, he liked it. Channel 13 news camera man, CJ, was there. It aired on the news 2 days later. http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8565173 At the end, Brandon got to "fight" Tyrone. We are looking forward to watching Tyrone fight on August 2nd at the city auditorium in Colorado Springs. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Brandon's Fund. We would love to see you there!! You can read more about the event at

http://mmabuzz.com/index.php/tyrone-wright-helping-to-give-sight.html#pc_8009

A car wash is being arranged on July 19th in Colorado Springs. More details will become available soon. We also met with a group tonight who are wanting to arrange a rodeo for Brandon at the end of August. Details are still being worked out and again, they will become available as soon as I know them!! Brandon's birthday is in two weeks (July 25th). We have high hopes that next year he will be able to see the candles that he'll blow out. We leave for China in less than a month - YEAHH!! We made the final payment for the treatment on Monday July 7th. My 29th birthday was on Monday and to be honest, that was the greatest birthday. Knowing that my son's treatment was paid for - it was a huge relief!! On June 30th we had our overseas vaccinations. Brandon was absolutely petrified of the shots and as much as we hated to, John & I had to hold him down. (He's a fighter!!) I felt terrible and I think I cried more than he did. I hated to make him go through that but we knew it was in his best interest. He had a total of 3 shots.
Photos above:
1st photo - Tyrone & Brandon
2nd photo - Brandon with Channel 13 news camerman, CJ
3rd photo - Brandon with Tyrone's manager, Lou

5:57 Pm

We did a candle fundraiser a few months back and we had a HUGE response from it. We raised over $1,000 in profit in candle sales. I've had a few people ask me if I would do another candle fundraiser and after resting a week from the hamburger fry, I decided that I could survive another candle fundraiser. So if anyone would like to order, please let me know at kstewart@elpasotel.net - I can email you a list of scents, sizes & price. I need all orders in by July 4th (mine & John's wedding anniversary). On Wednesday (June 25th) we meet with a guy who saw Brandon's story on the news. Tyrone Wright is a mixed martial arts fighter who wants to dedicate his August 2nd fight to Brandon. He has asked us to be there so Brandon can get in the ring and be introducted to the audience. He has also offered to pass a bucket around in the audience for donations for Brandon. Brandon is looking forward to meeting a "fighter". He thinks it's funny that people fight on a stage.