Hi! We are the Wagner’s and our story is comprised of many challenges and whole lot of love.  In our family, Dwayne is Dad, Chrystal is Mom, Hunter is our 6 year old energetic, happy, special needs son and Caitlin our 4 year old, very precious little girl.   Chrystal and I have been married for 10 years and our children are our greatest blessings.  The focus on this story surrounds our recent need of a ramp addition to our home due to Hunter’s special circumstances that have forced our family to modify our home with very limited resources.  We wanted to share a little about our family experiences.

When Hunter was 8.5 months of age he was diagnosed with a disorder called, “Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood” (AHC).   AHC is a very rare disease (1 in 1 million) and the cause is unknown. There are less than 250 worldwide cases. There are a wide range of symptoms associated with this disorder.  Hunter commonly experiences and is extremely sensitive to his environmental surroundings such as wind, water, cold temperatures, light, loud noises, and unfamiliar people/places.  Hunter is not able to walk and he eats through a feeding tube that is attached to his stomach through his abdomen.  His mental development is also delayed and he does not talk, but he is able to make noise and show emotions.

Despite all Hunter’s challenges he is a happy little boy that brings joy to everyone he meets. He loves music and so we watch a lot of Barney, Wiggles, and High School Musical. He also loves watching sports, football being his absolute favorite.  He is very delayed but in reality who isn’t….LOL We love his smile-it just lights up a room!! We get comments about his pretty blue eyes all the time.

So our parenting and family journey to this point hasn’t gone without its struggles.  We simply take it day by day, trying to give Hunter everything he needs. Having a special needs child has changed our entire family for the better.  So, as everyone can relate children keep growing and they get heavier.  This fact recently helped us realize that we needed help with mobility options for our home.  Fortunately, Chrystal learned about the Kyle Korver Foundation (Seer Group) and their ramp building expertise.  Despite our pride, we reached out and after short processes we were informed the foundation could help us with an accessibility ramp for our home.  This foundation and the associated team is amazing and helped us by alleviating an immediate need.  The assistance is humbling and workmanship is of the highest quality.  We hope that all those involved understand that their individual and team contributions has made the lives and challenges of our family a little easier and more focused on giving back.  Thank you to Seer Group and the Kyle Korver Foundation!

We would like to THANK the following people and organizations for their generous help

creating and “outfitting” the SEER OUTFITTERS POP-UP STORE that was in

operation during Tulip Time:

Taki & Deb Apostolopoulou

Generous gift of allowing us to use the store space @ 626 Franklin St.

Jane & Phil Smith

Paula & Jeff Allen

Natalie & Marty Weseman

Creative/Set up Team extraorinaire!

Pella Sports Park Board

Bill & Krista, thank you for your leadership. You are Great to work with!

Over $80,000 was raised for the Sports Park in honor of Blake.

The local media who “got the word out”: Town Crier, Pella Chronicle,

Mrs. Visser and her poster-creating students, & KNIA/KRLS

Individuals and businesses who lent shelves, boxes, ladders, doors, chairs,

carpet tubes, fans, display shelves, mirror, and a TV to watch the Friday playoff game

@ the store.  Those who organized and stocked shelves, and sold shirts.

The musical artists and “live models” who enriched the event with

“coffee house music” and made the front of the store “come alive.”

The photographers and videographers.

The silent auction donors, especially Randy Wilson & Tyler Sash.

All of you who honored the cause, and bought

shirts, sweat shirts and hats in honor of Blake.

Those who gathered @ the Tulip Toren for the “flash mob” photo.

( *see seeroutfitters.com on Facebook for photo)

The Van Vark and Schuring families,  & friends of their families.

Thank you for graciously giving your blessing for this event, and for your presence

@ the store, your help in selling shirts and stocking shelves, and showing us all that

“good” can flow out of grief, and the memory of someone we love can spur us on to

“Living Out the Golden Rule.”

We hope you feel honored, and loved!

We work with incredible people, families, and organizations. There are so many that we are honored to work alongside. But sometimes you encounter a family who is exceptional. Their kindness and humility humbles you.

They bring out plates of food, come out as a family to help clean up, and engage you with smiles and laughs.

The Brown’s are one of those families. Max was born pre-mature, and has been in his wheelchair ever since. But the special thing about the Brown’s is that they love each other well. And that is really special.

Thank you to Home Depot for their continued support. Thank you to Trex and the new deck. And all of you who support Seer and the KKF. We love doing life with you.

We love where we are from, and we love the people from Pella even more. We are going to be back home during “Tulip Time” (May 2-5) to have a very special sale to honor the spirit and life of Blake Van Vark.

All shirts will be sold for $10, with all the money raised being used in the building of the new sports complex in Pella, and naming a part of it after Blake. So come to Pella, all our fellow Iowans, and see us next to Brew Coffee House at 626 Franklin.