Zion Leon

Zion Leon

Many of you may remember Mike, Andrea and Zion Leon from their time in Denver a few years ago. As you may know, Zion was diagnosed with Autism about 4 years ago. Zion is currently 8 years old, in the 3rd grade and attending Jefferson Elementary School in Sacramento. Zion is privileged to be in a specialized class room of only 6 students all which are Autistic. This allows Zion individual, specialized learning and care. Since entering this program Zion’s speech, writing and reading have greatly improved! His vocabulary has increase and he is able to site read/write many words and phrases.

This year Mike and Drea have asked me to help with donations for Zion’s class annual fundraiser. 100% of the proceeds are used directly for Zion’s class. All monies collected are utilized for computers, supplies, fieldtrips and classroom aides throughout the school year.

Zion will be participating in a class jog on October 5th. Last year he ran 8 laps on his own! He had a great time (he likes to play tag. He thought he was chasing the kids around the track!). Zion’s personal goal is $500. If you are interested in donating please contact me for details. Donations are due to the school by October 4, 2007.

Thank you for your love and support! Zion is a GREAT kid and I know he and his family appreciate your help!


Facts About Autism
Autism is a developmental disability, which usually begins before 3 years of age and is a life-long disability.
The incidence of autism is approximately 1 out of every 150 births.
People with autism have a normal life span.
Autism is 4-5 times more prevalent in males than in females.
Presently, there is no cure for autism. However, there are various treatment options to ameliorate the symptoms.
Presently, there is no known single cause for autism. However, autism is not caused environmentally by a child's upbringing.
Research indicates that people with autism learn best through a structured environment.
Autism occurs in all countries and within all socioeconomic classes.
Research indicates that the earlier the intervention, the better for people with autism.
Source – New Horizons in Autism www.nhautism.org

Good news!

About a year ago one of my good friends had the unfortunate and devastating experience of losing their 9 day old child. I have been amazed by their faithfulness to God and perseverance through out this trial. They took comfort in knowing that everything happens for a reason and that they were held close by the hands of the Creator. Today when we spoke I was given fantastic news! I’m happy to announce that she is pregnant again and with another boy!

Congratulations Thea and Micah!

Excuses

Excuses

I’m full of them right now as to why I haven’t updated my blog in the last two months. I’d have to say that the biggest one would be time. Previously I’d update my blog while I was at work. But lately things have been going ninety miles an hour from the moment I walk in the door until the second I leave. Two weeks ago I started tracking exactly what I do while I’m at work. I discovered that I do an insane amount of work for one person. Both my boss and I do. We’re currently using these ever changing and ever expanding list of task to petition the all mighty director (think pointy haired boss from Dilbert) to get us some help. If that doesn’t work I may take up residence under my desk to eliminate my commute time so I can spend more time in the office.

Now I bet your wondering why I have time to blog today? Well the truth of the matter is that I don’t. However, my boss has taken today as a sick day. And as they say – While the Cat’s away the mice will play! Lol

So my life isn’t all work. But by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is get on the computer and write about it(another excuse). I’ve been keeping busy with church and hanging out with friends. Danny and I (Danny is the youth pastor) have been doing a lot with the kids in the youth group lately. We’re currently working on a Christian concert scheduled for the end of October called Rockn’tober. We have 4 or 5 local Christian bands scheduled to play in the park on 10/27/07 (I’ll post more details later. Hopefully!). We also helped with a community event last weekend called Celebrate Natomas. We handed out about 1000 bottles of water to people at the event. Not to shabby for a church of only 65! And yes, I dressed up as a clown for our

Sunday school department. I’ve attached a picture for prosperities sake.

This Friday night we had a family fun night at Scandia. It’s the equivalent of Boondocks for those of you from Colorado. We had a blast! Luke and I (I live with Luke’s family) went on this Giant ride called the “Scandia Screamer”. I think it was the most fun I’d ever had on a ride. This thing goes up 168 feet in the air and spins you all over the place. The catch is though that you can’t scream! There’s a noise ordinance because it’s near a residential area. If you scream the kick you off the ride! Luke was absolutely hilarious on the on the “Scandia Screamer”. I laughed so hard I cried! Below are pictures from Scandia!

Adam after his world famous hole in 1!

Adam with Mr. Zion who does not like to have his picture taken.

Randy & Tina - I live with them and their family.

Me, Freke (our new friend from Holland) and Danny

Brittney, Lattavia and Dawnminique waiting for the go-carts.

Pastor D showin' us how it's done

The girls showing their driving skills.

The boys taking the game wayyyyy to seriously!

Let’s see what else… I still make it up to Stockton pretty often to see Janelle and the crew. Maddie and Tristan are getting so big. I remember when they moved to California and Maddie had not teeth and couldn’t walk. Now she chatters on all the time and is in ballet lessons! She’s such a cutie! Tristan just started kindergarten a few weeks ago and seems to like it pretty well.

OH I’m coming to Colorado for the weekend! I am coming out to get the remainder of my belongings and bring them to storage in Sacramento. I still haven’t had any takers on my house. If anyone is interested in renting it please let me know! 888 sf 1 bedroom 1.5 bathroom loft. Great location in Denver! Only $750/ month!

Love you all! See you soon!!

New Church Website

Our church website is finally done! Thanks to my good friend Michael - Sacramento's House of Praise website has been revamped! check it out!

Also, this Sunday 8/5/07 is SUPER SUNDAY! We're going back to the future with a 1950's theme Sunday of fun! Expect games, prizes, puppets and interactive worship for the whole family. And if that's not reason enough to come out and visit - I, yes I, have a puppet solo this month. Bet ya didn't know I had those kind of skills!

More Pictures

I am obviously not working much today...

Zebras and another african animal that I can't remember the name of :o)

Rocks along the coast

Danny before I yelled at him for letting the kids hike so close to the waves.

Ruins of a fort by the coast

Above mentioned waves.

Kiato being eaten by a lion.

More pretty flowers

Ceasar - nothing but air.

Lions & Tigers & Bears OH MY!

Lazy lions

San Francisco zoo

We took the kids from the youth group to the San Francisco Zoo this weekend. We had a great time! Below are a few pictures of our adventures!

Happy Feet!

Fun at the petting zoo. Jeni, Naomi & Brittney

Early morning flowers. They had us up at 6 a.m.

The boys -Cesar, O'Sae, Kato, Brandon, Brian, Luke, Nate & Danny

The Kiddo's at the Golden Gate Bridge

Found my cousin at the Zoo!

Golden Gate Bridge

Hiking up the coast

Pam & Jeni at the ocean

Mr. Polar bear - "What are you lookin' at?"

The bull

Our loco boys

Fishies in the rain forest exhibit

Did you know they are pink because they eat shrimp?

Golden Gate in the fog.

I do not like Red Bull

I Do not like red bull

I went for a walk in Capitol Park yesterday at lunch and ran into a team of marketing people. Their product for the day was Red Bull. A friend of mine is shamelessly addicted to these things. I’d only had it once a long time ago so I thought hey – Why not? Seeing how it was free and all. I, being the ever calorie counting girl that I am, chose the sugar free variation of the drink. I have to say that it’s just about the worst tasting thing I’ve come across yet. It was comparable to gritty, fizzy cough syrup. Yuck! Not on my top ten list of favorite things to drink. I don’t know how you do it Michael!

In other news I recently joined the 21st century and purchased a small MP3! I know I know. Everyone has either an iPod or a MP3 player. I guess I’m just not a gadget/technology girl. I didn’t get a DVD player until 2002, never owned a disc man, I use my cell phone *gasp!* until it breaks. I doubt I’ll ever own an iPhone until they cost less than $75. I’m actually pretty excited about my purchase. I’ve been going to the gym after work for the last few weeks and it’s been nice to be able to plug the head phones in and tune everyone else out. There’s nothing more annoying than working out on the elliptical machine and having Joe blow try to start a conversation.

The biggest Loser

Our bible study started a “Biggest Loser” competition about 3 weeks ago. For those of you who don’t know the concept behind “The Biggest Loser” it’s basically a weight loss motivation program. You take a group of people and you compete to see who loses the most weight in the designated time period. The results are calculated based on the percentage of your body weight you lose. Each person puts in $20 and at the end the winner takes the cash. So far I’m winning! I didn’t think I had any chance at all. I only have a total of 13 lbs to lose. So far I’ve lost 5.5. Hopefully I can keep it up and don’t totally blow it with all the Mexican food I’m going to eat when I go to Denver next week.

I have a couple of prayer request for everyone to keep in mind. #1 there is a lady in our office whose mother was recently made aware of a brain aneurysm. She is scheduled for surgery in the next 3 weeks. #2 there is a lady in my office who found out she has a brain tumor. She is having surgery next week.