karate tournament

Jase and Jonah have triumphed at their most recent karate tournament held earlier this month. Although they'd both recently been ill, they decided to tough it up and attend a 6 hour tournament. Although 14 children were competing, Jonah won a 1st place trophy for his kata (forms). Jason also won a 1st place trophy in kata and a 3rd place trophy in sparring. They re-cap the event in the video below. I'm so proud of them!!!! Good job guys!

what is autism?

This is the title of a new photo montage I made about autism and Asher.

school's in session

I've decided to go back to school and obtain my real estate license at the Arizona Academy of Real Estate on Bell and 99th Ave. It is a 90 hour license and I should be finished in 11 weeks--if everything goes according to plan. This will coincide perfectly with my paralegal associate's degree and allow me to make productive use of my never-ending love of looking at houses.

Classes start 9/3, so wish me luck as I bravely venture into the world of books, studying, tests and using my brain...yippee!

wedding bells

Due to some gentle prodding last year, Kathy unexpectedly met a certain Val Moss, a rancher from Idaho, online. After many emails and visits, they were married this month at our local church. It was an amazing occasion...filled with excitement and lots of joy. We'll miss seeing her smile and hearing her laugh, but we know she's in a better place now---exactly where she belongs. We love you Nana and always will!!!

august

We had a great summer and got to travel to all sorts of exotic places...like Utah! Ryan and Sonja allowed us to crash their new pad in Sandy for a week and we got to see everyone and everything, visited Lagoon, and ended up in Park City for a few days. Overall, it was an amazing time. To see all our photos, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/elsberryfamily.

july

Ok...June and July were simply waaaay too hot down here, but we managed to try to have a good time despite all that! Our community pool opened up...so that's been a blast, Jase had his 35th birthday and got a new Zune mp3 player, and Jonah graduated from his 1st grade year being homeschooled. It was tough, but we made it through--hooray!!

We also tried to cool off by camping up north with Jase's brothers and Kathy. It was beautiful and serene and we had a great time just hanging out--we even survived the fire (sorry Teresa...had to mention it!).

may

We had a great summer and got it started with a trip to San Diego, CA. We enjoyed visiting the north beach, San Diego Zoo, and SeaWorld. We stayed at a nice little hotel right by the ocean...beautiful, but humid :) Jonah loved the rides everywhere we went and even Asher tolerated all of it with grace--except when he was splashed by the dolphins and the killer whale at SeaWorld. We'll have to remember to bring a poncho next time!

april

Having just started this blog, I'm making up for lost time and, therefore, going to summarize our busy summer months. March and April were busy with birthdays for the boys at our household. Jonah turned 7 and Ash turned 3. We also got a new addition to the family on Jonah's birthday--a puppy aptly named "Chewie" (Jonah's idea :) He is a toy poodle/mini schnauzer mix called a Schnoodle (I know, what will they think of next!). He is white and curly and if his facial beard is left long he looks like a Schnauzer, it he's trimmed he's a Poodle--dual personalities, cool. Anyway, Jonah has a play buddie and Ash is learning to tolerate his presence more and more. I think he'll be good for both of them.

Also, Jase and Jonah participated in their first karate tournament together. Jonah ended up with a blue ribbon for sparring and Jase took home a trophy for 2nd place in kata (forms)...he also ended up with a cracked rib, but he was a real trooper about it. Awww, the fun continues :)