Happy Early Birthday!

On Saturday, we had a joint birthday party with Megan's friend, Keren. Both girls are turning 14 but their real birthdays conflicted with the 8th grade end of year party and Memorial Day weekend. So, we celebrated a little bit early!

Here is a picture of the beautiful cake Troy made and some picture frames that each of their friends got to sign for them.

The party was held at a local skate rink. They had a great time!

One thing that amazed us is how tall Megan is compared to the other kids!

This is a picture of the kids resting after 2 hours of skating!

These lovely ladies are Paivikki, Gabriela, Nicole, Summer, and I can't remember the two against the wall.

This is Megan and Jake. Jake doesn't skate because last year he came to a different birthday party and ended up falling and breaking both arms. We think he and Megan are probably perfect for each other.

After all of Troy's hard work, this is what the cake looked like when 25 teenagers were done with it!

Megan and Karen had a blast opening presents together! They got matching bracelets here!

Both of the girls love to wear the bling!

We had a great time and we think all the kids did too!

It's hard to believe Megan is turning 14 in a few short days! It seems like only yesterday she was born!

Visiting Steven

Troy and I went to visit Steven on Sunday. We had a great visit and are amazed at the changes in Steven....both physically and behaviorally! This is a picture of Steven and one of his favorite aides, Gloria. She is the mother of 6 boys and she treats Steven as one of her own! They must be spoiled because she is really spoiling Steven, too!

One evening, Steven wouldn't eat his dinner, so Gloria got her purse and keys and she and Steven headed to a mexican drive through. She got him a burrito and Steven was in heaven! She said she'd never seen a white boy enjoy a burrito like he did that day!

Ever since then, Steven is boycotting meals when Gloria is his aide. He refuses to eat. Then, he leads her to get her purse and keys. Then, he signs "EAT". And, of course, Gloria takes him to the burrito store again! Just mentioning that we will go there brought smiles to his face! And, we have to admit, the burritos were really good yesterday!

We came back to the room and had some time to wrestle and play. Steven and Troy love to play rough. Here is a picture of my two favorite guys--the big man and the little man.

Next, we unpacked some movies and toys we had brought for him. I had asked him to give the videos to Daddy. Steven surprised us both when he started stacking the videos independently. It was really cool!

Before we left, the nurse came by to check his blood pressure and pulse. This is part of the daily routine. Many of you have accompanied us to doctor appointments in the past and may recall that we have never, ever been able to get a blood pressure reading. Yet, here he is patiently waiting for the nurse to be done. We can't believe it!

In this picture, you can also see how tall Steven is getting! He is quickly catching up to Troy!

In addition to getting taller, Steven is getting thinner. These pictures don't show it as well as seeing him in person. But, he has lost over 20 lbs. since moving to the dorm.

Also, we finally have an address for Steven:

Steven Gilchrist

c/o Abilene Supported Living

6700 Circle Drive

Abilene, TX 79602

Several people have asked if there is anything that Steven needs. His staff told us that he could use a few more toys. They also said gift cards for fast food are great to have on hand so they can go for the drives that Steven loves.

Overall, Steven is doing very well. His behaviors are exactly as they were at home. But, the staff that works with Steven are trained Behavior Support Therapists and they can handle anything he dishes out!

We enjoyed our visit and look forward to our next visit when Dad and Bev will be joining us in Abilene to see Steven!

She's smart.....it's official.

Megan was recently inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. To qualify for this club, she had to earn 92% or above academic average, be a leader among peers, and participate in community service. She was nominated by her teachers and had to go through the approval process at the school level. These pictures are of the induction ceremony. The first one is Megan standing in the line up with her certificate. Unfortunately we didn't get closer pictures due to the crowd.

This is a picture of Megan and her girlfriends sitting on the bench while waiting for the ceremony to start. It's so cool to see these young ladies all dressed up and being honored. They have all worked very hard and we are proud of them.....mostly proud of our Megan! We love you boo!

BBQ with friends

We are attempting to become more social. This is hard for us because we really just want to hang out and feel a bit sorry for ourselves. But, we know we need to make efforts to be more social. So, we had a BBQ with some friends from Troy's work.

It was very casual and very fun!

Making a Cake

Megan and Troy have started taking cake decorating classes. They are both amazing at this art! Below is a picture sequence of the cake Megan designed and Troy made for Megan's joint birthday party with her friend, Keren. It turned out so cool!

They call me Grace

Or at least they should. I know I am a klutz. I know that walking and chewing gum is a challenge for me. However, I also know that I have other strengths that help me overlook this gracefulness that I have been blessed with. (FYI I'm pretty sure it came from that "bad Lueders blood".)

Anyways, last Monday I really did a number on myself. I was carrying a plastic rolling cart down the stairs and missed the bottom two stairs. I must have bounced against the railing, the wall, the floor and the other wall several times to get all the bumps and bruises I ended up with. I, however, elected to get up and go to school.

As the day went by, I became more and more sore. I figured that was just the norm. When I took off my shoe that night, my left ankle swelled up like crazy. My right knee was already swollen since morning, and my right hand was also. So, off to pay another deductible to the ER. Good news is no breaks. Bad news is sprains and a boot. Oh well.

My students were very concerned that we might "have a subatute" and I would "have to go in a ambuyance". One little boy spoke up and asked if he could ride in that "ambuyance" with me if I had to go to the "hopsital". They are so darn cute!

Well, I'm off to get caught up on some posts so you all have entertainment for Sunday.

Betsy aka Grace

One Year Later

What changes our family has seen in the past year. One year ago today, we arrived in Flower Mound, Texas. We've experienced a year of firsts. Our first fall. Our first of each holiday and each birthday. Our first tornado. The list goes on and on. I look back on the blog entries this past year and can't believe how much our lives have changed.

Today, we can officially say we are Texans. We have made friends. We like our neighborhood. We have found good hairdressers and dry cleaners. Yet, some things have stayed the same. Troy is back working from home. I am still teaching. But the big difference is in the lives of the kids. Megan enjoys school so much more than she did in Arizona. She is challenged academically and has made friends. The kind of friends that we don't mind her hanging out with. Not the kind of friends you worry she's hanging out with. Steven is now living in the dorm. Who would have thought a year ago that he would be happily living 3 hours away from us and we would be adjusting?

Last year at this time, we were exhausted, sleeping on an air mattress, no furniture and the air conditioning broke.

This year, we are enjoying a relaxing evening at home, comfy on the couch, looking forward to going to bed in our comfy beds and the house is cool.

Yes, what a difference a year makes.

Aaah.

Betsy

Weekend Update

This has been a busy weekend!

On Saturday, I worked at the special education PTA resource fair. It's basically a bunch of special education service providers with a booth, giving out info. There were 56 of them. Then, the parents/guardians come in and walk through and gather information about services that are pertinent for their child. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. I remember attending it last year and that is how we got Steven connected for services and I got connected with the ladies on the board, who then recruited me to be a board member.

After the fair, I drove down to see Steven. I arrived there about 3pm and left about 9pm. We had a great time together and his aide, Joey was with us the whole time. We even went to a pizza restaurant for dinner---and got to EAT there! Steven loved his salad (and my salad) and his pizza! The food was good and I think we might make that restaurant a tradition on our visits.

After church this morning, we mowed the backyard, moved some shelves to the shed and tidied up the house. Now we are all just hanging out on our computers and thinking about taking naps!

All in all, a good weekend!

Betsy