The end of Summer…

Summer ended way too quickly… I came home from Argentina and had a few days that were packed with appointments for Matthew… including our least favorite appointment, an Independent Medical Exam (IME) for L&I.  One of the reasons we dislike those appointments, so much is that the doctors always lie and say whatever L&I wants them to say… instead of what is really going on… and this one was the same as all the others.  The fight against L&I has been going on for 8 years this August… Matthew and I are both ready for it to end… unfortunately we see no end in sight.

I did get home in time to go to the last Wednesday night barbecue with the youth.  It was so much fun to see the youth and hear a little about their summer adventures and mission trip to Colorado.  I missed working with them this summer and cannot wait until school is done and I can spend more quality time with youth again. 

Wednesday Night BBQ & Bible Study... 

  Although work started back up, we didn’t have any students for the first couple weeks… which gave us extra time to get to know the new staff and train the new para-educators.  I was no longer the only ASC teacher which was a relief for me… one of the new teachers was excited to work alongside me as he also had experience with the students with more severe disabilities.  I enjoyed getting to know him and am looking forward to learning from his years of experience.  We still have a handful of para-educators we need to hire but so far, I feel confident about the ones that will be working in our room… even though they are all new but except for two (and one is looking for a job closer to home).  It is definitely a year of changes in regards to staffing.  

My Classroom all set up... 

Working with Sean... 

Classes at the University also started back up, so I was running full sprint by the beginning of September.  Matthew was able to finally take my parents on their airplane ride with Nate to Friday Harbor while I stayed home and worked on homework.  I did run outside to take a picture of them as they flew over the house.  They enjoyed the trip… especially my mom who has always wanted to fly in a small airplane.

Flying over the house... 

The last thing to start back up for the year is D-Group.  Naome and I are working with the same group of girls for the year… we are super excited to see the growth in the lives.  This year we are having them take on more of a leadership role in the study.  During the first quarter we are going to study the various fruit of the Spirits.  Each week the girls are going to take look for verses they can share on Wednesday night.  I love how much passion they have for the Word of God. 

Studying "Love" at D-Group