Granger's Four Head

[I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I've added to the blog. Sorry- I'll do better!]

Elizabeth flew in for Christmas and has spent a lot of time with all of us. She and Granger have a particular bond that amazes us all. Granger calls Elizabeth "Neena."

Granger, with his sensory issues, LOVES to be scratched. He'll often present a body part and ask, "Please scratch." The day after Christmas, Granger asked Elizabeth to scratch his "four head." After a minute, he said, "Now please scratch my one head."

Elizabeth, intrigued, asked, "Which is your one head?"

"Up there, on the top!"

"Where's your two head?"

"Neena- I don't have a two head..."

"Three head?"

"No Neena- just a one and a four head," with a look of "Why don't you understand this simple concept?"

His language play amazes us all.

Elizabeth's Long Weekend

Elizabeth flew in for a long weekend, and we promptly set about having a good time. She spent most of Friday up at the college saying Hi to old friends and visiting professors and classes. (I love small schools!)

On Saturday we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. It's become a fall tradition for us, and we love it. We left early Saturday morning and got to the park around noon. Another piece of this fall tradition is that, for some reason, it ALWAYS seems to rain. This time, however, it wasn't too bad. We had a great time, rode a lot of fun things- Elizabeth and I even rode the Griffon! While we are usually so tired we leave the park early and head home, this time we were having such a good time we stayed until almost closing. It was a late night, but it was pretty amazing and definitely well worth it!

On Sunday, since Elizabeth was not coming back until Christmas, Sharlet decided to have an early Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. The kids and I cleared out and went on a ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway- it was absolutely breathtaking. Tried to get the kids to hold still for a few pictures- you can see the squiggly results. Prior to that, in church, Granger was in the annual children's program. It was nice for Elizabeth to be able to see that. And Granger did a GREAT job!

All in all- it was an absolutely wonderful weekend. Elizabeth flew back to Utah on Monday, and we were all sad to see her go. We're already looking forward to Christmas!!

Threshold/ Update [Parallel post from other blog]

[It's hard to believe I have not written here for a week. Life does get busy. This isn't really writing in the sense of creation, but it is sharing something in which those who follow this blog might have interest.]

Here we have it- a classic, good news and bad news. The good news is that I've met another goal in my weight loss program. The bad (for me) is that I'm about to throw out some pretty embarrassing numbers.

I began a serious weight loss/conditioning/ better health program in mid-June of this year. At that time, I was nudging too close to 250 pounds. Scary. I was OOO-bese. The program has been going quite well, as I've commented about before in my blog, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. This morning I passed another threshold and hit another goal. In my original goals, this was the one for Homecoming, which was last week. I was hovering, but didn't quite make it. So I'm a week late, but I'm there!! Today it's official. I'm in single digits- in other words- 2-0-something. I was actually 209. This is the first time in about 10 years that I have weighed in the 2-single digits category. VERY exciting. So in the 4 months since June 14th, I've lost 35-40 pounds.

In a few weeks to a month, I'll break through the MAJOR goal/threshold which is getting out of the 200's altogether. (And, I might add, KEEPING out!) I cannot wait for that, and honestly, don't know how long it's been since that has been the case. I suspect it's close to 20 years. (I'm 6'1" by the way, for those who are curiously calculating!)

I would like to thank all of you who have helped me in this program. And it has been quite a few. Even those who simply say, "Wow- have you lost weight? You look great!" And frankly, even the nay-sayers who ask suspiciously, "Are you keeping the weight off?" They certainly spur me on with greater determination! So many have helped, but I must express my deepest gratitude to my cherished companion in all things, Sharlet. For the past 6 weeks, she has been walking WITH me (She's lost quite a bit of weight as well.) and has been helping me with moral support. She's also become quite a phenomenal Smoothie maker!

Keep your cyber-calenders open, because in a month or so there's going to be a BIG (well- formerly BIG-) party. Under 200!! Thank you all.

Homecoming- 2008

Joseph (16) went to Homecoming last Saturday evening. He took Jessie Jolley. Because he did not go to her school, she had to ask him. She did so by color coding Alpha-Bits to spell out- "Will you take me to the dance?" Of course, he had to search through the entire box! The next morning, they had a pancake breakfast scheduled in their seminary class, so Joseph had three pancakes spelling Y-E-S made. That's right- the Jolleys and the Bouchelles have creative kids!!

Saturday night was also an important meeting at our church, and Joseph and his date agreed that they would go to dinner, go to the dance, Joseph would run to the meeting, and then go back to the dance. It was a very mature and wise choice- that he made on his own. We were very proud of him.

They seemed to have a great time. More photos will be coming soon!