Camp Walla Walla

Camp Walla Walla is the name of Jayden's class for the summer. His teachers Amy and Raquel have gone to alot of trouble to recreate all of the wonderful sites and sounds of summer camp. And let me tell you, they have done a wonderful job. They will never know how much it touches my heart to see all that they do for my son. The shirts these boys are wearing are made from leaves they found outside. They painted the leaves and left their imprint on the shirts, each one is unique. The campfire that you see behind them is made from their handprints. Every single time I walk into that classroom I have to keep myself from tearing up. Tears of joy to see my son being so involved with everything they do. Right now they have a tent set up in their classroom and a (fake) campfire that actually gives the illusion of a real fire and when the kids press a button smoke comes out of it. These are just a few pictures that I was able to get. Amy and Raquel have took some amazing pictures of Jayden but I won't be able to get them posted until Camp Walla Wall is finished :(

Each day at Camp Walla Walla is an adventure. Today the kids made smores. They each got to taste marshmallows, chocolate, and grahm crackers individually and then took turns pressing a button to pureed the 3 things together. I can't wait to see what they do next week!

Elmo Live

Jayden and I were lucky enough to be offered tickets to see Elmo Live at the Stockton Arena last Tuesday night. When we first arrived I found out that the tickets we had were literally out of my reach. I couldn't get his wheelchair anywhere near our seats. The people at the Arena were nice enough to accomdate us and move us closer to a section that was reserved for wheelchairs. Jayden had an AWESOME view!

Jayden actually watched the entire show. He loves anything with music and bright colors and this show had both. The show was all about Elmo trying to find a place to plant his little sunflower. During the show periodically the characters would walk off stage and say hi to the kids. Jayden was a very popular boy that night. He was visited by Baby Bear, Zoe, Grover, and Abby. They were all very sweet and grabbed his hand and blew kisses at him. While we were there we ran into Jayden's teacher Amy and her son Rocky. It was nice to do something fun with just Jayden and I. We both had a great time.

Frog Jump!

Yes you are looking at a picture of my precious little boy Jayden touching a nasty frog! Trust me it wasn't my idea.

Walton Special Center hosted its annual frog jump. Everyone gets involved. The therapists, foster grandparents, parents, early intervention teachers, people from our district office, and ofcourse the students gather around to see who can make their frog jump out of the circle first. You are not allowed to touch the frog you may yell, jump, or hit the ground to make it move. The principal of the school brought this particular frog over to Jayden so that he could get a good look at it and see how it felt. I was freaking out that Jayden was touching a yucky frog, so Tom thought it would be funny to make the frog kiss Jayden on his cheek! YUCK!

Everyone had a great time. This is just one of many events that Walton Special Center puts on during the year. Without their creativity many of these children would never experience something like this. We are greatful for all they do!

Andres 8th Grade Promotion

They day before Andres' promotion he had the nerve to ask me if I felt old because I had a son in highschool. I just laughed and told not at all I feel accomplished. Silly boy! I am so lucky and so proud to have such a kind hearted, intelligent, handsome young man. Andres absolutely amazes me everyday with his kindness and thoughtfulness. He has been my babysitter while I took classes. He's helpfull around the house. I could go on and on about this kid.

Son we love you and are very excited to see what the next four years bring you. Stay focused on what is important. Get good grades, prepare for college, and stay grounded.

Just look at him, I'm going to have to beat off the girls with a bat! LOL

Road Trip!

On May 14th my Mom, Jojo, Jayden, and I set out on a road trip to Gilbert Arizona to watch my good friend Jody graduate from ASU. I wasn't sure if taking a 12 hour drive was a great idea at first. I was worried about Jayden sitting in his chair for such a long period of time. I was expecting Jojo to complain and the drive to nothing short of excruciating. But to my delight Jayden and Jojo were both troopers! Jojo was the best big brother ever! He was there in the backseat with Jayden to entertain him or help him out if he was in a bad position. Since Jayden has the g-tube now it was much easier to feed him along the trip. My Mom thought I was crazy to teach Jojo how to unhook Jayden from the tubing from his feed, but I totally trusted him to do it. So when we would pull the car over and hook Jayden up to eat it was Jojo's job to unhook him so we could keep driving. I walked him through the steps and he did great! How many 7 year olds can do that?

Jody's daughter Jacy was so excited to see Jayden. She was all over him giving him kisses and rubbing his face. She was so genuinely happy to see him. Jacy just kept talking to him and finally she turned around and said, " I keep talking to Jayden but he won't talk to me." I just explained to her that Jayden couldn't talk but that I could tell that he really liked her. She seemed to be satisfied with that and went on her way.

I was excited to see Jody graduate from ASU. She works hard, she's a great mother, wife, and friend. I wouldn' t have missed it for the world.

You inspire me to hurry up and finish school. Thanks for sharing your special day and me and my family. We love you!