June 15, 2005
We've moved into a beautiful new home in Elk Grove, CA. The kids are adjusting well and Morgan has had some fun adventures. Caren and I are very happy with our home and excited about how this will improve Ethan's recovery.
Overall, I enjoy moving. Caren and I have been married 11 years (since '94) and have moved 8 times. And I'm
not in the military or a deadbeat :) I've always enjoyed going to a new area and exploring;
finding the best local Mexican restaurant, finding the good park for the kids,
getting to know the neighbors, etc. The only tough part of moving (for me) is
lugging the worthless big furniture around. We eliminated that negative with
this last move by hiring some movers. Man! That is great! So we've already found
a good park nearby and the city has plans to build another one within a block of
our house. Morgan and I visited the local library recently and picked up
new library cards.
Caren has met with Elk Grove Unified representatives a few times and is very encouraged by how eager they seem to want to help Ethan. How refreshing! Ethan's program had been fairly hampered over the last year with restrictions due to Rocklin School District and then with the move. Since the move his world has started to settle down and we already see some great improvements. His communication is improving extremely quickly. This is so exciting because now he can tell us what he needs or wants. He's been verbally asking for things he needs, he's been playing much more with his sister, he's continuing to increase his reading and sight communication, and he just seems so happy. He's been giggling a lot and wants to wrestle and play. This is so exciting. :)
Our
little hero Morgan is also very excited about the new home. She's met
two kids close to her age on our street and has had them over for bouncing
already. Our back yard didn't come landscaped so it's just dirt, or mud
which is fun to Ethan but not to Caren and her carpet. So we bought a
trampoline and the kids have loved it. Morgan is constantly asking me and
Caren to go jump with her. Her new friend likes jumping too. Morgan
has also enjoyed trying to catch the ice cream trucks as they pass by.
Last weekend me, Morgan, dad (Bob) and Mike Nichols attended a Giants baseball
game in San Francisco. Morgan had a blast buying cotton candy and playing
on the slide in center field. She also liked meeting Mike's dog Mertle
(?). We've not been able to give her as much attention as we'd like over
the past couple of quarters. So now that things are slowing down we're
going to get to spend time jumping, reading and playing games with our little Morgie.
We're extremely lucky to be in such a nice home and in such a great location. We moved to give Ethan a better shot at recovery and I think it'll pay off well.
-rob