Souls

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

And Merry Christmas to all of you and your families...

We wanted to thank everyone for all your prayers and support this past year. Our annual financial meeting went better than expected. We actually came out of it with money being owed to us! So thanks again to all of you that had been praying.

Our requests for 2009 will be that the boys continue to grow and develop to their fullest potential, whatever that may be, that the issues with Medicaid will soon be resolved, and that all our needs will continue to be met.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve & Day...

http://picasaweb.google.com/sptsimone/Christmas08?authkey=ekQZJo7BwAA#slideshow

Blessings,
Shanel, Brenden & Logan

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We hung out at the Shops at Willowbend for a while today and I was able to get a few pictures of the boys....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51176&l=d8e7b&id=641828092



We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Love,
SBL

Go Yankees!

Well not the real ones anyway. :o) The boys 'played' baseball yesterday and since it was such a nice day we hung out at the park after they finished wandering around in the outfield and sitting in the dugout for 45 minutes.

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/simoneboys00/Miracle%20League/BaseballFall08/?albumview=slideshow

Updated Photo Gallery

Here are some photos of the boys from their birthday party at Hawaiian Falls back in July and new photos from Camp Summit.

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/simoneboys00/New%20Photos/?albumview=slideshow

PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA!!!

What an awesome day in our history!

Its been 40 years since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and for those of you that understand the significance of '40' you know this means a time of REAL change for our country and world.

Happy Fall!!!

{Can we call it Fall if its 80 degrees and we're wearing shorts?? :) }

What a wild and crazy month October was for us. Things at work have been hectic but starting to slow down, we're still adjusting our daily routine here at home, and the boys are staying busy with various activities and therapies. We ended the month with a fun filled week of a 24hr hour stomach virus that kept all three of us at home and miserable, but thankfully we recovered in time for the Prestonwood Fall Festival. There was no way I was missing my chance for 'fair food'!

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/simoneboys00/Fall%202008/?albumview=slideshow

Also, I had my first presentation since starting this journey down wild and crazy Autism Lane. I'm not comfortable with public speaking, but everyone participated and they were very gracious. I led a discussion on living with Autism and provided some practical tips/advice with input from other parents on how we can more easily navigate this road.

The boys started and ended their Fall soccer season with Miracle League and are now on the Yankees for baseball through the week before Thanksgiving. I think bowling is still going to be our sport, along with horse back riding and their new favorite--rock climbing. Unfortunately because they were sick, they missed their first Special Olympics bowling tournament and the chance to earn medals. But I'm pretty sure they would have won golds ;).

Its hard to believe Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here soon! I'm really looking forward to having the entire week of Thanksgiving off for the first time ever! Right now, our plans are to be home for the holidays. The weekend before on November 23rd, we will be celebrating the opening of the new children's ministry building at church that includes a 5-room suite with a private and easy access entrance for special needs children and adults. What a blessing this will be to finally have space designed JUST for our kiddos!!! No more worrying about having all the right supports in place for them to be even more successful and secure when they're at church. The month of October marked our 5th year at Prestonwood and it is still very much 'home' to us. We have been blessed in so many ways by being a part of this church and I look forward to more of what God has planned for us with our church family.

Camp Summit Fall 2008

What a time we had! As most of you know, I'm NOT an outdoorsy girl, so this was just as much of an adventure for me as it was for the boys. :o) Kira, the boys and I set out for Camp Summit in Copper Canyon, early evening on Friday the 26th. Although our trip was cut short due to Brenden having an allergic reaction to the elements, they really had a great time.

We arrived and met with other families with special needs children for the 'welcome to camp' and a bonfire which of course included smores and camp songs. Our volunteers were Cindy (12th year of volunteering) and Nolan, a former camper.

Logan has been quite the night owl the last few weeks, but thankfully we were the only family in our cabin. We spent the morning before breakfast taking a short walk and the boys played on the playground. By this time, Brenden already knew how to get back to our cabin!

After breakfast we did a photo scavenger hunt that required all of us to take turns taking a picture of the group at each site. The boys spent some time with their volunteers doing arts & crafts and playing tee ball while I got some much needed sleep.

After lunch we hung out around the cabin and out on the deck of the lodge. Later on Saturday afternoon, we took the boys horseback riding and then to their favorite activity of all....the challenge course. I'm sure its no surprise that the boys were a natural at walking the ropes, climbing and of course they thoroughly enjoyed the zipline and rock climbing wall!

We had planned on attending the costume dance, but Brenden was really having trouble breathing so we decided to cut the trip short and head back to Frisco. We spent a little time at the ER on Sunday, and thankfully as I thought, he was having a reaction to stuff in the air.

I hope to take them back again for family weekend in the Spring and in a few years let them go for the whole week during the summer with other kids.

Photos & Video clips:

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/simoneboys00/Camp%20Summit%20Fall%2008/?albumview=slideshow

Welcome

We have been blessed to have so many friends and family praying for and supporting us and I want to thank all of you for being here for us in so many ways. God truly does provide us with all we need.

I also thought this would be an easier way for us to keep you up to date on how the boys are progressing as we enjoy life on the spectrum. :o)