2024 was a year of joy, discovery, and change for our family.

Let’s start with the fun parts:

Family Adventures

We saw a solar eclipse (April 8) and Northern Lights (Oct 10)

We traveled quite a bit this year as a family, partly thanks to advocacy-related work trips that covered my hotel expenses.

New Jersey

In April, we went to New Jersey to celebrate Salvatore’s 21st birthday! Salvatore has Metachromatic Leukodystrophy and his family is very dear to us. It was such a joy to be there, celebrating the amazing young man he is.

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New York

After the party, we went to Legoland New York because it was nearby. We all loved it!

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Southern California

In May, we went to Southern California for Disneyland:

Of course, the trip’s real purpose was for my graduation (Master of Arts in Strategic Communication) on May 4, 2024. I am glad that I decided to attend the ceremony in person! It was so fun to show the boys around APU’s campus, and we also got to see many of my friends from my years in Glendora/Azusa while we were there.

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Northern California

We returned to Northern California in June for the 63rd annual Madole Family Reunion and to see the rest of my family. While there, I donated my hair (ninth time).

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Illinois

From NorCal, I flew to D.C. for a meeting and then to Chicago. Brennan and the boys met me there for the United Leukodystrophy Foundation‘s Family Conference. I presented three different times on Newborn Screening, and we participated in the KrabbeConnect #CureKrabbe gathering.

After the conference, we saw “The Bean” and met Bluey and Bingo at Camp. If you have a Camp store near you, it’s worth a visit! We all really enjoyed the experience!

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Washington, D.C.

In August, we traveled down to Washington, D.C. for a few days. While there, we visited the Encanto house at Camp, the Lego Discovery Center, and some museums.

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Pennsylvania

In October, Brennan’s dad and stepmom invited us to join them for a day in Jim Thorpe where we explored the town and rode the scenic train.

Throughout the year, we had lots of local adventures:

And, Brennan and I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona, Spain, and several cities in Italy thanks to an advocacy-related meeting I was invited to attend.

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The boys played tee ball in the spring and enjoyed hitting the ball and running. They did not enjoy being in the field. 😉

They are both doing well in school (first grade), losing teeth, and being typical 6.5-year-old boys. They love Hot Wheels, Legos, MagnaTiles, and being creative. They also really love giraffes, and that began in September at Tori’s tenth birthday party fundraiser.

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In September, we hosted a fundraiser for KrabbeConnect in honor of Tori’s tenth birthday (save the date for next year’s fundraiser – August 23, 2025!). We were so grateful to have so many friends and family members attend, and we raised a significant amount for KrabbeConnect!

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Brennan had the opportunity to meet Brandon Graham from the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly in May:

And I had the opportunity to meet Sharon McMahon in D.C. during her book tour in September. I have been part of her book club since the beginning, and her ability to present factual information in a nonpartisan way has brought hope to my heart during the past four years.

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The not-so-fun part of 2024 was our ten-month journey to obtain hearing aids for the boys. This post from August details from January to the beginning of August. Since then, both boys have received their hearing aids (but won’t wear them).

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Overall, 2024 was a fantastic year and we can’t wait to see what 2025 brings.

We will continue to choose joy and make the most of the life we have been given.

Merry Christmas!