WELCOME TO IOWA

Welcome to Iowa.  I haven't posted in some time so this is a longish update.  And for those without patience there are MANY, MANY PHOTOS.  Way too many.  BUT, I love to take photos so I have to share .....


Well the adjustment to Iowa living has been going much better than expected. The neighborhood we are living in has quite a few kids and 2 in particular are close to Logan's age and seem to enjoy playing the same types of things as Log.  It is nice for him to have some kids close by that he can go to and that feel welcome to come here.  One boy is a bit older and the other is a bit younger.  Great match up.


School has been a great choice.  I am so happy(SO FAR) with the decision we made to enroll him in school in Des Moines.  The teachers are very caring and all try to help Logan and his issues to make things go smoother for him.  Even the asst. principal and guidance counselor are helping him out.  He has made a friend in school, Stephen.  The boys sound quite a bit alike -- especially as far as their interests go-- but they seem to constantly irritate each other and bicker as well.  Logan is having alot of challenges navigating the world of friendships(not unexpectedly) but he keeps trying and progress while slow is still coming.  I am very happy with how well he seems to enjoy school.  He is starting to get challenged a bit for the first time in math.  Some subjects at the level and pace they are taught in school just don't seem like they will ever be a challenge for him-- classes like grammar, spelling, vocabulary, etc.  Things that just require rules and memorization just come to easy for the boy.  He gets 18 spelling words a week and generally knows 16 of them before we start and after 5 minutes of practice knows the other 2.   
Well anyway , next up are tons of pics from things we have done in Iowa.  Images from Pella, and the Iowa state fair, and a bike hike we took.  There are photos of downtown Des Moines that were taken from our apt. balcony.  And of course it is football season so there must be football photos.  Logan is NUMBER 29.  He is playing almost exclusively defense this year.  Mostly at cornerback for those of you who know these things.  Quite a change from center!!!  Unfortunately, his team is not that great and they got blown out in a first game loss.  Logan did very well the first 3 quarters of the game.  The last few plays of the game were tough as he missed 2 tackles and one of the missed tackles resulted in a touchdown for the other team.  However, he made a few good tackles, drove the action inside most of the day, and basically played pretty well.  However, you can see clearly how he felt about the loss and his play in the end of the game photo. 

This is pretty much it for me.  Talk to everyone soon.  Beth 

BUSCH GARDENS

well in preparation for the move to Iowa we thought we'd enjoy a little bit more of our favorite Busch Gardens and also try out Adventure Island. It was a great day at Busch and Adventure Island was empty. Almost no waits at anything. FUN!! Busch is still my favorite. Rick convinced Logan to try Kumba and Montu-- which he promptly declared as terrifying and nauseating but he loved Gwazi. Growing up right before my eyes. Hard to believe 5th grade starts in a month. At times he is so like Rick I wonder what I contributed to that child of mine. He is turning into such a typical preadolescent for good or bad. And in typical Logan fashion his mouth never stops. Its a wonder his jaw doesn't fatigue from chronic use.

Well here are the photos. As per my typical way more than anyone but me would want to see. BUT.... Enjoy. I'll update more as we get to Iowa. Beth

JUST MORE LOGAN PHOTOS

Well I am still suffering with the CRUD!! This stuff just doesn't want to leave. I have a few photos of Logan playing with Rick, being a star wars warrior, and just being Logan. Logan got an awesome report card for those I haven't told yet. Straight A's and all the social and behavioral stuff was ---TAH DAH-- satisfactory and outstanding(for doing his work on time) and the only thing that was satisfactory minus was paying attention and following instructions. Great improvement. Way to Go LOGAN!! That was his best report card yet and under comments it even said he was playing well with the children at recess!! Wow. So happy. He has really adjusted well to the move and is so much happier and doing so well. Rick and I are very pleased with his progress and how well he's doing. He still has a LOOOOONG way to go but he is definitely on the right track. Next week he is going to be 10!! How did that happen. I swear it was just yesterday I was trudging to the hospital with Rick to have him, wondering what he would look like and if he would be ok and now here we are 10 years later in a blink of an eye. How could it happen so quickly??
Well have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone. Talk soon. Beth

Can you believe that little, scrawny, baby is my Logie Boy!! Boy time flies and how he changes. So handsome and beautiful now and so full of life and personality. The boy would argue with the devil himself. From such little beginnings. Well that's all for now. Love, Beth

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well for Halloween Logan decided to be a very well muscled commando! He and a neighborhood boy went trick or treating until they decided to just go play. It was an atypically cold and damp night down here-- more like a northern night. Today--Sat. was Logan's last football game. They lost so they won't be going to the bowl game. I think Rick and Logan will be glad to have some time to themselves for a change. Logan played really well this season I think. He even started to like playing center and offense. He isn't sure if he wants to play anything else now for a while so we may have some quiet times. Here are some Halloween pics. He looks so young in these pictures. Hard to believe he is almost 10!! I will post some of the football pictures next week. Take care Beth

ANOTHER WINNING GAME

Well this was another great win for the boys. They won 31-6!! As you can tell they were pretty happy. As Logan plays on the offensive line as a center I don't get such interesting shots. There are only so many pictures of someone snapping the ball you can take before they all look the same.!!! I did get a few good shots of him blocking but even those shots are hard to come by. The line all blocks and so it is hard to get a clear shot of him when he is doing his job well because he is in the middle of the action. And Logan is number 54 for those who don't know .



In other news he continues to do well at school and as far as I know is on pace to make straight A's in the first semester. GO LOGAN. He is starting to make some school friends as well and today even played basketball with one of the boys in the neighborhood who is on his football team.


Monday he and Rick leave for 2 1/2 days for a school field trip to Jekyll Island to learn about ecology, biology and Florida ecosystems. I am not sure if Rick is excited to be roughing it and spending 3 days and nights with a
bunch of 9 and 10 year olds but
Logan is sure looking forward to it. I hope they have fun and that Logan

learns alot. Logan has really started to adjust well. He doesn't miss the old neighborhood at all anymore. He loves his new school, home, room, and neighborhood. He is even enjoying football for the most part although he REALLY misses playing defense. Well update more soon. Take care, Beth.