Brock's Artwork

Brock is a phenomenal artist and has decided that this is what he wants to pursue in college. We are so happy for him that he has found his passion and we are very proud. This picture below is one that he did from a scratch board. The board is completely black and he has to scratch it off with a tool to uncover the copper beneath and create his picture. Truly breath taking!

He drew this free hand from a picture!

Brock and Therese with a picture that he drew of them with dots!

Happy Halloween

Well another Halloween has come and gone. We still only made it to 2 houses this year but at least we attempted. He had more fun playing with grandpa and spinning shoes (his favorite past times) than worrying about trick or treating. Zach was a military man this year and if you ask Frank he was a Marine. :-)

Getting ready to go

Daddy and Zach signing "I love you"

Zach got tired of his helmet and took my parents neighbor's hat!

Star Wars and the Marine!

Zach spinning papa's shoes!

Baseball Time!

We decided to put Zach is in the Miracle League this year for the first time. This is a baseball league for disabled children in our area. It is a phenomenal experience for kids with a multitude of disabilities who would otherwise never get to experience sports and everything that goes along with that. We have had 2 weeks of play and it has been interesting and fun! He has had a great time with his daddy as you can see from the pictures below. The first week was difficult. His game was around his nap time and it was hot which is a problem for him but this week he was great. We had a few tantrums but at least we didn't have any full blown melt downs. YEAH! Zach was able to swing the bat all by himself this week and he actually made contact with the ball. It was very exciting and we are so proud of him!

Deciding if we are going to warm up! :-)

Out on the field with daddy!

Water Break!

Warming up his arm!

Zach hitting the ball!

Rounding third with papa!

Rounding third with daddy!

Crossing home plate! YEAH Zach!

Update!

Well I have been reading other's blogs for sometime now and since my little sis is doing it I thought I would join her. Where to start? Frank and I currently live in Georgia and absolutely love it! We have 3 beautiful children ~ Brock, 17, Therese, 15 and Zach who is 6. We recently built our dream house on an acre and are very close to my parents. (right down the street) As for our header (Hope~Energy~Life) is has great meaning to us. It is the motto that we live by since our youngest was diagnosed with a Mitochondrial Disorder. The plain English explanation... Mitochondrial diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. I keep a site going on his progress so feel free to stop by there and check it out. (www.caringbridge.org/visit/zacharyboutwell)

I will try and put in some updates on the past few months as well as upload some pics for everyone. Thanks for visiting!