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 :)

Ward 2040

Get Riled up for Riley Ward P.E.A.C.H.E.S. Vice President 2009-2010



It's official, he's on the road to the White House! The results were read yesterday and I told Riley to call me after he found out and he did not call so I was nervous all day yesterday. I took that nervous energy and made congratulations banners for Riley hopping I would not have to rip off the Vice President part if he did not win. I don't know if I can handle another election after this! The primary elections were a couple of weeks ago and I that was bad enough. They even made the kids keep a spending chart not to exceed 5.00. It was all business. I was so bummed when I found out that was not even the primary election. So I have tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing and tell Riley about being a gracious opponent and how winning is not important but I am glad it is all over and I can relax a little now.

Riley is really excited and this may be a taste of things to come as he is never shy about letting people know his aspirations for the White House. He was the spotlight in church a few weeks ago and under the "what do you want to be when you grow up" section I wrote politician. Riley made sure to clarify to everyone that it was not just politics he was interested in but that he has his eye set on the Oval Office. I do not think he will ever live it down.

Updated 05/29/2009

PEACHES is the acronyms for Riley's school. Sorry to confuse anyone.

Update and Pictures

So we have been super busy around her the last few weeks and my bloging has suffered. Riley turned 10, this does not even seem possible to me. I still feel like he is my little baby. Lorenzo had a birthday too and is happy to be 7. We are all just glad when he is happy lol! So besides April being a month of birthdays for us I also had a booth at the New Product Expo and it has resulted in more crazy busyness, but it has been good.



The kids also had their first annual fun run at school and it was a big success, they had a blast and raised a lot of money. Thanks so much to all of you who helped with the fundraising. They did not win the Nintendo but Riley won a gift card to Walmart and Lorenzo won an oil change, (he did not think an oil change was a very exciting prize, luckily Riley split his gift-card with him).



Liam started Preschool this month and I have really missed him. He loves school so that makes it a little easier having him gone but the house has been way too quiet! I feel like I am to young to have all of my kids in school!



Riley placed 2nd in his archery tournament and did a wonderful job at the school district's technology fair. He has been involved in an after school enrichment class and they built a website for their school. He has done a fabulous job!

We still do not know where or if jeremy is going on tour this summer. We are just kind of waiting to see what happens. I feel pretty confident that whatever happens happens and we will be fine. We would still rather have him home but we will be ok if he has to go.

We had a big evaluation with Lorenzo on Monday with a new group out of CA. They are an ABA therapy group specializing in children with autism. We feel really excited about the path they have laid out and best of all most of it will be covered by our supplemental insurance!!!!




last but not least, we added another member to our family. Meet Piper. Tinkerbell is in such demand around here that we thought (actually Jeremy thought, I know shocking) we needed to add another 4 legged friend to our brood. Piper is a sweet 6 week old miniature Schnauzer and we are loving her! it is so much fun to have a puppy again. It has also helped me be not so lonely with the kids all in school. (I know I will be singing a different tune when summer comes and I have 3 kids all home!)

WHAT?????

Ok, I am watching the news online tonight and as I am getting my all important swine flu update I hear the name on the clip of the ship Jeremy is leaving on in a few weeks. Ok, stop rewind listen more carefully and all I can say is you have got to be kidding!!! The humanitarian mission Jeremy was going on (that's right I said was) was canceled late today because the crew seems to have swine flu. I am speechless right now. I hope that this is correct. I know that not everything you hear on the news is true but please let this be. We really were prepared for this and if it still goes through we will be ok but we would much rather have him here!!

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The Talk

Well, it happened tonight. Riley asked the question about babies and although I have been trying to steer him off the path for a while now it did not work tonight. After a few min. of "Mom I just do not understand how one day there is no baby and then the next there is" I decided it was time to talk to him about the birds and the bees.

I always thought it would be Jeremy who would have this talk with our boys when the time was right but after tonight I am glad it did not come from him. Riley asked a few questions and then we talked about how Heavenly Father created both man and woman and how you need to have both a man and a woman to reproduce. He then said he understood and that was that. Jeremy, on the other hand was giggling and snickering almost the whole time and can't stop joking about it. Why is it that my 10 year old is more mature then his 36 year old father? All I can say is that I am glad it came from me and not from Mr. Class Clown, who knows what would have gone through that poor kids head had Jeremy had the talk with him.