MARCH/APRIL BIRTHDAY PARTY 2011

Saturday after the Easter Egg Hunt we celebrated birthdays for late March and April. We had 7 birthdays, but Tom wasn't able to attend, so we celebrated 6.

Lyndi is 3

Kyle is 14

Jenn is 24

Alicia is 25

Chanelle is 32

Lena is 35

We had dark blue cupcakes (left from Erik & Andrea's reception) and spice cake with ice cream

What would a family party be without a little visiting?
Here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment.

Jenn

Alicia

Lena

Chanelle

 Kyle

Kyle

Lyndi

FAMILY EASTER EGG HUNT

Saturday, we gathered at Aunt Karen's house for our annual Easter Dinner and Easter Egg Hunt.
Dinner was really good, I didn't take any pictures of it. After dinner some of the adults went out and hid Easter Eggs. There were hundreds of eggs. Some were hidden in plain sight for the little kids.

Some were a little harder to find.

The kids had fun opening each egg to see what was inside.

Trevor & Rich

Andrea helping Makayla

Caralie

Cara

Andrea, Makayla, Aiden, Carson & Jonah

Back: Ryan, Kaela,

 Middle Kyle, Lyndi, Darren,

Front Trevor, Logan

All of our egg hunter's for Easter 2011

HAPPY EASTER

MY COMPANION VOICE

COMMUNICATION for the COGNIZANT NONVERBAL PATIENT by Jean Alleman,Trudy Brown & Susan Robison

About the Book:

If you're a patient whose mind knows what to say but whose mouth is unable to convey those thoughts, you've probably become very frustrated with finding a way to get your needs met. If you're the caregiver watching or trying to help the patient, you've likely become frustrated as well. Communication is about to become easier. With the help of this book, patients will finally be able to express their needs without speaking.

Simple sentences such as 'I am thirsty. May I have some water?' and so forth allow patients to point out the thought they need to share so caregivers know just how to help. With colorful illustrations and an easy format, Communication for the Cognizant, Nonverbal Patient is the book that will give a voice to patients.
This is a wonderful book that provides a way for patients who have lost their ability to speak to still communicate their needs. It was created by 3 sisters who dealt with the frustration their Mother had in trying to communicate with her caregivers, at the end of her life.
It includes simple sentences that express the needs of a patient. It has big print so patients who are visually challenged can use it too. I took a couple of pictures of the pages so everyone could see how it works.

There is a section on basic hygiene.

 Food

Comfort

And there is a page with letters, so the patient can either point to the letters to spell out a need . The alphabet page is numbered so that if a patient can't point the caregiver can still find out what they want.

I spent several months sitting with my Dad in a care center last fall and while he was able to make his wishes known, I saw a lot of people that would have benefited from this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has family members who aren't able to communicate, or who works in a Care Center.

For information about ordering go to: http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-917-6.

You can check out My Companion Voice on www.facebook.com

A copy of this book was provided to me by Cheri Crane.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

We got together last night at Tammy's house for Girl's Night Out and to pre-celebrate Ginger's Birthday.
We had lots of Munchies and then Those who wanted to did Karaoke.

Ginger

Tammy

Leanne

Adrienne

After singing there was a Wii dance competition.

Joanne,Leanne, Tammy & Adrienne

Debbie,Abby,Nicole & Ginger

Here are some more pictures from last nights GNO for your viewing pleasure.

THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND

195 DRESSES

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find a modest prom dress? One young woman in Arizona came up with a solution for her community.

ONE DOWN

THREE MORE TO GO