September 6, 2010

We've had a good Labor Day weekend. Grace went to her best friend Madalyn's house on Saturday for most of the afternoon. Grace and Madalyn spent a year together in preschool and have everything in common, and this summer they started having regular play-dates at each other's house. They're going to different schools now for Kindergarten, but hopefully they'll continue to stay friends.

Sunday we went to Breda for the baptism of Grace's cousin Sophia, then we headed up to Okoboji to go boating with her Grandpa and Grandma Nelson. We lucked out with the weather and had a great time--and both Grace and Claire had their first experiences at the Barefoot Bar. We stayed in a hotel up their last night and just got back to town a little while ago.

Kindergarten continues to go really well for Grace. She loves every part of it and talks about a number of friends.

Can't remember if I put this in our last post, but Grace got to meet Kirk Hinrich last Monday. She didn't think it was a big deal until she got to the event and saw all the people and cameras, then I think she felt pretty special. He autographed a T-shirt for her, but the funny thing is that at this point in her life an autograph from a Briar Cliff basketball player would probably mean more to her.

August 29, 2010

Grace has had seven days of kindergarten, and she loves it. She really likes her teacher, and it sounds like she's made some good friends in her class. Nodland is a small school that is only K-2, and we like that. They moved all her equipment from preschool, so she pretty much already had everything she needed at the start of the year (classroom chair, lunch chair, etc.).

This weekend Grace is battling Strep Throat, which is no fun. She started not feeling well Friday night, and Michelle took her in on Saturday morning. She's had a full day of medicine now, and as of Sunday afternoon she's feeling a ton better--pretty much back to normal.

Tomorrow Grace gets to go to a photo shoot at Kirk Hinrich's annual golf benefit in town. She got invited by the people at Camp High Hopes, which is the main benefactor of Kirk's event. Camp High Hopes will serve children with disabilities, and it's supposed to be open within the next year. There is nothing like it all anywhere close to Sioux City, so it should be a really positive thing for the region.

The Beaverdash in Des Moines is about three weeks away, and we're looking forward to being there this year. It's the main fundraiser for the Iowa SMA, and a lot of the Iowa families turn out for it. We missed it last year because Michelle was about due with Claire, so it'll be great to get back.

August 18, 2010

We're close to a milestone in the Nelson house: Grace starts kindergarten tomorrow. We had back to school night last night, and that just increased Grace's excitement level. We're happy because she can't wait for school to start, and she's never expressed any fear or concern about her new school. Her teacher Mrs. Hunter seems very nice, and she'll have the same classroom aide she's had the past two years in her preschool.

Michelle and Grace starting school means the summer is coming to an end. All in all we've had a great summer, starting with our Make-a-Wish trip to Orlando and Disney World in June. We had a positive trip to Iowa City for Grace's annual appointments there in early July, and in late July we had our most successful Race 4 Grace ever. On that note, we're getting ready to send out T-shirts to those who don't have them yet and thank you's to everybody who participated.

August 1, 2010

RAGBRAI is over, and it was a great year for our annual Race 4 Grace event. We had a booth in both Sioux City and Kingsley during the first and second days, and our riding team went three days. We had quite a few people who participated in RAGBRAI for the first time, and we've had a ton of people participate in Race 4 Grace for the first time through their donations. We have so many people to thank, and we'll get to all that. We also have a lot of pictures from RAGBRAI which we'll get on the site eventually. We are still taking donations, and we are pretty much assured of having our best fundraising year since our inaguaral event in 2007. We've also gotten a lot of great publicity, getting articles in the Des Moines Register, the Sioux City Journal, and even in the Sioux City Diocese Catholic Globe newspaper. More to come!

July 19, 2010

Six days to RAGBRAI. The Sioux City Journal did a story on Race 4 Grace for Sunday's edition, and they put a video on their website. For some reason I can't figure out how to copy the video into this post, so if you're curious, go to www.siouxcityjoural.com and find the video link. They did a good job.

This week will be the usual last week stuff of finding out who's riding, who needs bikes, who's driving, how we're getting people home, etc. Should be a blast!

July 8, 2010

We got back from Iowa City this week from Grace's annual appointments there. We saw a number of the doctors who've worked with her since her diagnosis, and as usual it was a busy day there. All in all it was a good trip, and we don't have anything new to report. She's doing extremely well, and we're very happy about that. We'll see her main doctor from Iowa City again when she comes to Sioux City in September.

Grace is really into Toy Story right now. Michelle and her went to Toy Story 3 in 3D last week, and so of course she's consumed with it. I think it was Grace's first movie in a theater, and she enjoyed all that as well.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Beginning of the 4th of July weekend. We're heading up to Emmetsburg tomorrow to spend the day with my extended family, then early next week we're heading to Iowa City for Grace's annual appointments there. We don't have anything specific that we're going for this summer, mostly just to see all Grace's doctors there.

Grace's summer is going well. She's been pretty busy with swimming, little league, play dates, etc. She's going to start a ballet class in July, and that could be a little bit of an adventure. The class's teacher is going to make some accommodations, and Michelle and Grace have been to watch one of the classes. We'll see.

RAGBRAI is now only three weeks away. Preparations are coming together. If you're reading this and want to be involved somehow, get a hold of us asap.