2008 and closing

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Here is a photo of the girls with Santa. I prepared Isabella for her trip to see Santa by telling her what a wonderfully well-behaved little girl she's been all year. She was scared of Santa last year and was afraid to get close to him. Well with a little preparation, she was comfortable around him and was easily able to sit on his lap. Bree, the social butterfly that she is, was very happy to see the jolly old man! You'll also see pics of the girls in the Naughty or Nice scale. You'll notice the worried look on Bella's face. Of course, she was nice! Bree was just happy to press the button.



Well, this year is finally coming to a close and we're preparing for the new year. This year has been quite a roller coaster of amazing times and difficult times. But we all know Life is What You Make of It, so I am making lemonade with lemons! We have grown stronger through our trials and together Dave and I can overcome any obstacles placed against us. Of the amazing times, one to mention is that Dave and I finally got married after being together for 6 years. During these 6 years, we have been blessed with two beautiful little girls, Isabella and Bryanna. They are the light of our eyes and have taught us the true meaning of love, sacrifice and humility. Without these little girls, our lives would have no meaning.

At the beginning of the year, we were told that Isabella was having developmental delays, speech delays and had a sensory processing dysfunction. This was very scary so I began my quest to understand what exactly would help her to function well enough to adapt to life. I took this time to really make sense of what was happening and decided not to pursue my career as an FBI Special Agent. It was a very exciting opportunity and I had already reached Phase II in the process. Although this was an exciting journey, I had a more important calling to take on and that was as mother to my babies. The career would have taken me away from her and Bree for 18 weeks which would have been very detrimental. So I decided to pursue a career in education. I began working as a Developmental Specialist/Support Coordinator for infants and toddlers with the Division of Developmental Disabilities. Through this experience I was able to serve other children, including Isabella, and teach families how to help their children reach specific milestones in their development. At this time, I also decided to go back to school to attain my M.Ed in Special Education. I was finally able to understand exactly what Isabella was struggling with and how to help her.

The position with DDD helped me to learn quite a bit about children and how they learn. This was a wonderful stepping stone for me to shift into the education field rather than the social working field and gain employment with a school district. I now am working at Sahuarita High School, my alma mater, as a Special Education Math and Science teacher. I absolutely love my new career and love my students. It's been a great learning experience and I look forward to many new challenges both at work and at home. Recently we received Isabella's progress notes from school which showed her continued progress in speech and language expression which was a huge issue for her. She is now able to verbally express herself much more rather than have complete meltdowns all day long. Yeah Bella!!

March 1st was quite a day for our family as well. Our beloved head of the household "thought he was Superman" rode a bullet bike and took a massive spill, severely injuring himself. Dave is an extremely strong man, to say the least, because after having had two surgeries to his left leg which involved two plates, 12 screws, a skin graft and a meniscus removal, he was able to play football at the Ward Turkey Bowl last month. He truly earned his name "Superman". We are grateful for our blessings as well as our trials as they have made our family stronger! We thank all of our family and friends who have been there through the good times and the difficult times and hope we can be there for you as well.

Happy New Year! With Love, The Logsdons