JASMIN

Jasmin was movin' and groovin' before she was even born. Then once she was here, if music was playing, this baby was swayin'. We knew dance was in our future, but we had no idea how soon. Summer 2008 we won a free trial to The Little Gym. At the age of two and a half, we started down this path of dance. The rest is history, or so we thought.

April 2011, after switching to a local dance studio in 2009 and being invited on to their novice level competition dance team in 2010, we went to kindergarten registration and did not pass the eye test. Jasmin needed to go to an eye doctor. Now that it had been brought to our attention we could see that her one eye did, in fact seem to be struggling. We figured glasses, or at the worst, maybe an eye patch to strengthen it would be prescribed. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine being told she was "technically" blind in that eye due to a birth defect that made her eyeball misshaped in the back where an image is supposed to fall and be sent to the brain. It was sunken back into the socket thus making straight-on sight impossible and leaving her with only slight peripheral vision. We were told she had severe optic nerve hypoplasia, which "luckily" was only presenting vision problems and not showing mental hinderances, yet. We were informed that the brain may give up on the struggling eye and that her "good" eye was already destined to be near sighted and had been overcompensating for the other eye her entire life and may too eventually fail due to the strain of having to be both eyes.

Earth.shattering.moment. Here was an "owie" that we had no control over making better for our baby. There are no surgeries or treatments available. Her eye is fully developed just misshaped. The knee-jerk reaction was to make her wear a full mask helmet and never leave our home! But the best piece of advice from each of the doctors we took her to was the same,"Don't live life in fear, keep living just with extra caution." Easier said than done. Sometimes it overwhelms me to think about the "what if's" of what could happen to Jasmin. We have had a few scares, as simple as tripping at school and hitting her face on the back of the student's head in front of her and her eye swelled shut. Luckily it was the "bad" eye but my heart honestly stopped when I got the phone call. We try to not dwell on it and just make the best of each day. Who knows what the future may hold, we just hope and pray for the best and enjoy the moments as we live them.

So here we are, 2019 and still dancing. Now she has been in 7 full length ballets with featured parts and completed grade 1 - 3 RAD exams, two beginning level competition seasons that included winning a high point award for a solo under her belt and a 2nd place overall for a solo with 2 white diamond rankings as well, 5 advanced level competition season and is on her 4th year on the teen touring team at Center Stage in Orem, UT for 2018-2019 and also on their 801 Squad hip hop team.

Jasmin is going to ride this dream for as long as she is able to. We are trying to make it all possible for her.

We believe this gift of dance is straight from God. Dance comes naturally to Jasmin and we want to help her cultivate that talent through the best classes we can find. I have never had to remind Jasmin to practice, it is quite the opposite.

This site is set up to help cover the cost of all the fees associated with dancing. We have 4 kids, so I stay home during the day but try to bring in extra income by selling Perfectly Posh and doterra from home. I also work when my youngest is in preschool for Vivid as a salesperson who finds new clients.

If you can and are willing, please donate. Any amount is appreciated.

If you want to send money directly her studio, then contact us at Mrslewisandjazzyj@gmail.com and we will give you the address and our account number to include so that it goes towards her tuition and fees. Please know that from the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful for every and any donation.

Thanks for visiting our site, and thank you tenfold if you choose to donate whether it be financially or spiritually through prayers and thoughts on her behalf.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Update 12/2014

Jasmin has been stuggling a little bit with her sight, she complains sometimes of headaches, and she hadn't had her well check up yet this year so we called and got her in before the year was up.  Our doctor reccomended to go see the eye dr. again to see if there have been any developments with her eyes so we did and found out that the strain on her good eye has caused it to be near sighted now.  So our newest adventure in dancing is going to be: glasses!

UPDATED:  Here she is, stylish as ever!  We let her get 2 pairs, but is going to cause for some serious fundraising because they were not cheap ;)

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