Back to School 2009. Kids are all back in public school. Brandon is a senior at Northglenn Highschool, Brianna is a Sophomore. Katelynn is in 5th grade at Hillcrest Elementary. She wants to audition for the Denver School for the Performing Arts for Middle School/Highschool. These are school pics from last year.

Brandon spent 3 weeks this summer abroad as a People 2 People Student Ambassador. He visited Ireland, Wales, England, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. He walked the beach at Normandy where his great grandfather fought, sailed with the Wales Sailing Academy, climbed a castle wall in Ireland, rode the London Eye, saw Anne Frank's hiding spot, and visited his paternal family birthplace in Netherlands. He is working this summer at Water World as a deep water lifeguard. He is currently 6 foot 2 and still growing I think!

Brianna has certainly grown into a beautiful young woman. She will be getting a new motorized wheelchair this fall for school. Her scoliosis is currently at 30%. She got new PINK braces this summer, and we are still planning on oral reconstruction in the next couple years. She got to visit Aunt Janis in Kansas for a week and that made her whole summer!

Katie has been all over this summer and I've hardly seen her at all. Went to Camp Elim for a week, then Kansas, spent time with her cousins when they came to town, and camping with AUnts and Uncles. She is continuing with Children's Chorale this fall in the Apprentice Choir, and is entering a modeling competition in September. She plans on auditioning for Northglenn Youth Theater productions in the fall. We are currently searching for a quality talent agent.

I have been enjoying my summer off from teaching, but have been busy playing with my new group Flute Salad. (flutesalad.com) We have played several gigs in the community and have upcoming performances at Children's Museum and Children's Hospital. We were featured in the August 6th issue of the Denver Post in the Your Hub section. I also played the last year with Thornton Community Band. I will start teaching again with a full schedule in September, and am currently employed by PASCO as a CNA and get paid to perform full time home care for Brianna. We hope to upgrade our vehicles this year with the extra income!

Neal continues to work at Graebel Companies. He is now a blue belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and is still very active in scouting. He will be working exclusively this year with Brandon to finish his Eagle project and badge.