Nate's First Day of First Grade

Last Day of Kindergarten

Once Nate was home from his last day of school, there was a surprise for both of the kids.  Water balloons! We had such a fun water fight that I think this may have to become a yearly tradition.  Do you have any last day of school traditions?

Starting Kindergarten

Today was a day I've looked forward to for years. It was Nate's first day of kindergarten. Let me explain. Back 3 1/2 years ago when Nate was diagnosed with autism it was so overwhelming. I couldn't think too far ahead about whether Nate would ever be able to have a job, graduate high school, or live on his own. The psychologist who diagnosed Nate suggested trying to focus on just a few years ahead. Work on trying to get Nate ready for a typical kindergarten classroom. So that's what we've done. All the ABA, OT, speech, music therapy, specialized preschool, IEP meetings, research, etc. has contributed to this goal. 

When we were starting to plan Nate's transition from preschool to kinder the plan was to have Nate in a typical class and also in a special ed class. We loved the special ed teacher and the school was great. We were excited for Nate, but it wasn't a fully integrated class which would have so many benefits for Nate. 

Well, at the final transition meeting of the year the plan changed. The school had enough incoming kindergarteners with autism to hire a special ed teacher to be in the typical kinder classroom. This meant Nate could now be with his peers all the time. No pull out for special ed. And that's really exciting for us. 

I'm so proud of all the hard work Nate's had to do to be ready for kindergarten. So today is definitely a day to celebrate all we've achieved.

What A Relief

Brad and I finished finals!!! Neither of us failed any of them so that was good. And I saw some hilarious things during finals week which made all the stress bearable. Like a girl who brought in a 5 foot long peacock feather attached to her pencil. The poor guy sitting two desks behind her kept getting it in his face. Too bad I was in the testing center or else I might have taken a picture.

Also, I almost got hit by a duck. If you have been on BYU campus you know there are ducks everywhere. So, I was walking home, minding my business, when a duck got scared and flew right in front of my face. There was a guy walking in front of me who turned around to see what was happening and he started laughing. It was just the sort of thing you wish you had on film because it will never happen again (at least, I hope I doesn't happen again. It was kind of scary.)

Mostly, we're just excited to be done and have a weekend together. We had it all semi-planned out. Tomorrow, we're going to Trevor and Shelley's wedding. The rest of the weekend will be spent doing spring cleaning and having fun together. Also, since Brad's birthday is next Wednesday we're going to do something fun for that as well. However, good news has changed some of our plans.

What is my good news? Well, I got the internship I wanted! I'm so excited. It's with a group called RISE and I'll be mentoring a child with disabilities for the summer. As part of this we meet together with a group of eight other kids and their mentors and go do fun things together like swimming, bowling, painting, etc. And I get paid for going to do all these fun things.

The bad news with this is I have manditory meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings next week which means celebrating Brad's birthday will have to be postponed. Brad has classes all day Wednesday so I'll have to figure out something extra special to do for him since I won't see him all day. But we'll have lots of time to celebrate since summer is finally here!

It's Official

I applied for graduation this last week. I'm going to be able to graduate in August! I'm so excited! I've been waiting on an internship to know for sure, but they just opened up a course that fulfills my capstone requirement which means I can graduate whether or not I get the internship. I'm still hopeful to get an internship, but it's nice to know that I'll be able to get everything all done.

Also, I got a call back for a second interview for the internship I would like. I'm hopeful that this will all work out. I'll keep everyone updated with how it goes.

Today was also interesting because I went to a graduation luncheon put on my major's student association. They had it in the new Gordon B. Hinckley Building. That is such a cool building. I never took advantage of the tours they gave of the building when it first opened, but I wish I would have. There was an exhibit about Christ in there that I think would be cool to go back and see. We were up on the third floor of the building which had very pretty views. There was about 50-60 people there and I actually knew a lot of people who were graduating.

When I was invited, they asked if I would like to invite a faculty member who has influenced me. I invited Dr. Elizabeth Fawcett. She taught my Theories in a Family Perspective Class which, despite it's boring name, has been my favorite class at BYU. So, I got to sit with Dr. Fawcett and another friend from that class.

And as with any good graduation celebration, there were speaches. At least they weren't the long, boring kind that were at my high school graduation. Short, funny, and with a good point. At the end, I even received a certificate of achievement for graduating as a member of the School of Family Life Student Association. But it all, once again, reminded me that I'm going to be graduating so soon.

It's a little bittersweet to be finishing school. I'm really glad to be done with papers, research articles, and exams, but I've also really loved going to BYU. Part of me wouldn't mind staying around some more. But I am graduating in August and now I have to figure out what I'm going to do out in the real world. Wish me luck!

News Update

So here is what has been happening in our lives over the past few weeks. First of all, and what we are most excited about is we are finished with finals!!!!!!!! Yay! And I think we both did rather well. We are so excited just to be able to relax and enjoy our Christmas break.

Second, next semester I'm going to start volunteering in the Pediatrics unit of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I've been working on applying for the last two months and I still have a few weeks before I can start. Some of it has been wait time, but there has also been a lot of training and orientations that had to be done. I still have orientation CDs and material to read as well. But I'm so excited to be doing this. I've known that I want to work with kids for a long time and this will just give me a change to start doing that. I do have to wear the salmon shirt when I volunteer though, eww!

Third, Brad and I are going to be at both of our families for Christmas. We're staying in Utah until after Christmas. That way we'll be here for my mom's birthday and Christmas day. Then it's off to Minnesota to spend time with Brad's family and for New Year's. I'm excited to see everyone and to enjoy Christmas!

Fourth, my grandpa gets to come home from the hospital on Saturday which everyone in the family is excited about. They let him come home for Thanksgiving day and for the UoU vs. BYU game, but it'll be so nice that he'll be able to come home for Christmas and stay home.

Fifth, it snowed. A lot. And I'm really, really, really happy about it. I love going sledding, skiing, or just watching the snow come down.