Correction!

The date on the photo's below is obviously wrong. I will have to tell my dad he needs to go in and fix that lol. Honest these really are pictures from the last few days, I promise!

Dear Jeremy

Dear Jeremy,

We have missed you so much the last few weeks. We figure 3 sundays down only 12 or so more to go (fingers crossed).

We have missed all of your obnoxious jokes and even some (I said some) of your teasing. Most of all we miss not being able to talk to you. We miss the sound of your voice and hearing your unique laugh. We are sad that the ship can't get skype to work and love the few email's that you have been able to send. We hope you will be able to write more.

Here is a little update on what has been going on at home.

We have had a packed visit with my dad. He has been out here the last 10 days and we have tried to fit in a lot of sightseeing into our schedule.

His first full day out here we went miniature golfing and these are the before pictures



Here are the after....


He fell off the kiddie ride (while it was stopped) and that ended his great day. Afterwards he told me he never wanted to go miniature golfing again.

We went to Koaloa Farms and Beach with Lorenzo's ACES calss on Saturday. Lorenzo not only played in the sand, he got in the water and ok, this is the big one, he put his head in!!!! Needless to say this was a great trip!!! He was able to go kayaking and then they went across the way to the farm. he had so much fun, so did the rest of us, we were glad we got to tag along. (side note, good motivation for loosing a few lb's is looking at candid beach pictures of yourself eek! Zach says it is all the garlic butter hot dogs and he is probably right.)

















Here are a few other random shots from the week.











If you are wondering what that is on Tink's head it is a cool whip container. She would not stop inching her back so we had to put the collar of shame on her. She also went missing last week and I left the door leading out to the garage open because Riley was taking a nap in the car and she managed to hop up in the car with him and take a little snooze with him. I still do not know how she got up in the car.

Well we hope you are not sea sick and that the time is going by quickly. We miss you and will take lot's of pictures to keep you updated. WE love you!!! Be safe :)

Love the Fam

We will Survive!

Well we have made it through the first few days of Jeremy's absence. The hardest part has been that we can't call him. I have really taken for granted the little things and being able to pick up the phone and just chat is huge! They are hoping to get wi fi up and working in the ship and if they do that it will make getting emails a whole lot easier.

Lorenzo has been going full force with the Autism Demonstration Project. I got our authorization from our insurance today and the amount they have approved him for is more then Jeremy even makes in a year. I really love the Navy today. Just that alone is going to help me get through the next few months.

The program is awesome, Lorenzo has been going to day camp 3 days a week and then we have a tutor come to our home 2 days a week and Sat. they are planing fun wilderness activities. All of this is incorporated into therapy and providing Lorenzo with the extra help he needs. It is amazing!!!

Here are some pictures Jeremy email me today. It looks like they will be living in close quarters. He says he is doing well so far, it is really REALLY hot, he says it makes Hawaii seem cool. I feel bad for they guys he is rooming with that have to smell his feet at the end of the day. They leave for Tonga today. We are excited to get more pictures.

I am so excited!!!!

We had our first in home/school therapy session today for Lorenzo and we feel so good about the new program we are in. ACES just opened a branch out here and when I say just opened I mean JUST OPENED. They made it a point to put Lorenzo on the top of their list and both Jeremy and I are really impressed with what we have seen so far. When we had our first intake a few weeks ago, Lorenzo had really rough time at the start. He never does well adjusting from home to school and school to home and when we put a doctors appointment or evaluation in the mix we have a recipe for disaster, to put it mildly. They were awesome with him and helped him pull out of his upset quite quickly. They were super supportive to Jeremy and I and just made us feel like family.

After reviewing Lorenzo's observations and reports and also spending some time with him over the last couple of weeks they keep saying things like , this is typical autistic behavior, it feels so nice to think we are not the odd guys out and that there are a lot of families going through what we are going through!!! We have had a couple of people even tell us that they had have seen kids like Lorenzo who also first were dx with bipolar because autism behaviors can present like bp. It is just nice to know that we are not alone. We are going to be changing doctors this week and I am looking forward to having another opinion about the bipolar dx. We have had a lot of input from both our therapists and doc.'s that Lorenzo may have had yet another misdiagnosis. Oh, the joys of the dx roller-coaster.

The new program lorenzo is in is 6 days a week, we are going to be super busy but I really am feeling optimistic about it. They are going to be providing support for him in the school as well as at home, in addition his behavioral therapist can even come to doctors appointments with us, heck she will even go the the store with us. He has a tutor that will be coming to the house 3 times a week for 3 hrs. each session in addition to his behavior specialist that will be also coming 3 days a week too. Tuesday Lorenzo is going to start their day camp and they have even made accommodation for Riley to go with him. All I can say is WOW! we feel so blessed that ACES has decided to open their doors in Hawaii. After a full year trying to get approved for additional help and have it be something that would not send us to the even poorer house I am just thrilled about this :)

As for the rest of the family we are all doing well. We are trying to prepare for Jeremy's departure but I feel like we can make it. I told the kids it is only 13 or so Sundays and when I think of it like that it does not seem like all that long. I may be singing a different tune next week :)