Saturday, July 31, 2010

Miscellaneous Summer 2010

We met so many wonderful people during the time of Ellie's treatments.  At the top of the list were Melinda and Rylan O'Neill.  Melinda is Rylan's grandmother and caregiver, and she generously provided for Ellie a new (slightly used) wheelchair and a new bath chair!

                                                          





 


Rylan and Ellie






We went to a water park in Gulf Shores one day while in Alabama.  Ellie loved it!
In the backyard pool at Gram and Grandad's in Mobile, Alabama

                                         Ellie and Sophee at the Powells' house


Monday, July 19, 2010

Summer 2010

Ellie and the rest of the family enjoyed a great 5 weeks together at my parents' house in Mobile, AL.  We are now based in Eugene, Oregon for the next 6 weeks.  This week we are the missionaries of the week for the Elmira Church of Christ Vacation Bible School.  We will speak at some churches and spend time with some friends and supporters in OR, spend some time with family and refugee friends in WA, visit a supporting church in CA, and go on a camping trip at Lake Lomolo in southern OR.

Ellie is doing fine and adjusting well to life here. In the last 2 or 3 weeks she is taking the initiative to TRY crawling.  She bunches her butt up in the air and tenses her arms but hasn't been successful yet.  However, it is progress that she WANTS to and is TRYING.  We work on crawling pattern as part of our daily exercise routines so we are sure she will get it sooner or later.

My dad bought a small pool to put in their backyard while we were there.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to use it much but the few times we did, Ellie really loved it.  The last 2 or 3 times, she floated and moved around the pool (on her back with a life-vest on) all by herself for up to 30 minutes, unassisted.  That's progress!

We have been trying to get her scheduled for some neurological testing while in OR, but so far have run into a bunch of hurdles.