Abby & Frank update - June 3/4

When we went to bed last night the wind was blowing, the rain was pelting, and the power was off (sorry--no blogging), but we awoke (early) this morning to a great day!

Today was the first day of Frank's lacrosse camp in Austin. I'm afraid he likes it--afraid, because it takes a long time to drive to the UT lacrosse fields, especially in morning traffic (and maybe a little afraid because they gave him a whole bunch of burnt orange stuff--naw, maroon's still his color!). No kidding, he really had a lot of fun, as you can see...(he's the long-legged boy in black shorts, white jersey, and white helmet-- in their "armor" all of them tended to look alike today!)


Waiting for some action








Frank makes a move...







It can get a little rough out there!









One tired lacrosse player







Abby and I had a good time, too. It really was a beautiful, cool morning. We walked all the way around the athletic complex and had an amazingly good birding experience--seeing scissor-tailed flycatchers, ash-throated flycatchers, mockingbirds, grackles, killdeer, doves, and, believe it or not--parrots! I'd known that Austin is home to a feral population of Quaker parrots (aka monk parakeets), but it was still quite a surprise to find out that the piles of woody debris high up in the lights of the field were nests for hundreds of parrots! It just made me and Abby "home"sick for Australia and all its parrots...

Abby also started a new therapy today (although I've tried to avoid that word, I didn't really manage to fool her). We've learned of an innovative therapy called Interactive Metronome that uses rhythmic responses to improve brain processing time and organization. The therapist at Austin Neuro Clinic who offers this, Linda, described it as "physical therapy for the brain." IM has shown improvements in test scores, reading comprehension, attention, even athletic performance (that last attribute has been the biggest "carrot" for Abby). The treatments will involve two trips to Austin per week, but I've promised Abby that we'll try to tie them to fun activities like movies, visits to friends, agility practice, etc.--We just really feel that it's an opportunity that fits our availability this summer, so we'd like to take all the chances we have to move forward.

So, please pray for us--as we negotiate Austin traffic again (every day this week for lacrosse), for Abby to be able to enjoy her summer even with a little therapy, and for continued improvements--from IM and from God's hand...

Thanks for praying and for letting us ask...
Lee Ann, Gordon, Abby and Frank