"First" Day of School Photos

September 09, 2009

"First" Day of School Photos

Oliver is handing me a leaf. He loves to "garden".

Oliver looking proud in his backpack

Getting some energy out before the bus arrives

Waiting for the bus

Practicing stairs

Doing laps while waiting for the bus

Beautiful Waverly

Wearing her backpack (I love her feet)

Very proud

Lover her smile.

Waiting with Daddy for the school buses

Comments

the deKorne family said…

Shannon, I have never commented before...but am friends with Carrie Johnson and have followed your story for a long time. I just had to write and tell you those pictures are absolutely so precious. Waverly looks so beautiful and has such gorgeous hair! And Oliver looks so handsome and like such a little man. Thanks so much for sharing them for us to see! Your family is in our constant prayers.

September 9, 2009 at 11:09 PM

The Leivas said…

These pictures are worth the wait :) They are beautiful!

September 10, 2009 at 9:48 AM

Laura said…

Beautiful pictures, Shannon!

September 10, 2009 at 7:02 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.