To say that this year has been full, is definitely an understatement!! Last year's letter told you that we were considering a move to the States to get more help for Alex. At the time of that letter, Kevin was on his way back from Portland, Maine and the final interview process within SimplexGrinnell. He was to take on a Management position here. We decided, after prayer and too many things falling into place, that this was where God was sending us. We figured it would take awhile for everything to fall into place, from the legal and immigration side of things. But NO! Kevin arrived home around the 10th of December last year and by the 15th of January, he was here! The work visa and all other documents were done with 3 weeks!! Over Christmas and New Year's! Amazing! He has done very well with all the differences between Canada and the States and West to East! I'm so proud of his ability to soak in all this information and make a huge difference here!
We decided to keep our townhouse in Cloverdale and rent it out. We have a property manager that is great and looking after that angle of things. Then we had to find a place to rent here. First we had to do research as to the best school district to help Alex. Our consultant in Vancouver, had grown up in Maine and we asked her and her Mom to look into things for us. Cape Elizabeth was one of two places that would best suit our situation. Cape was also closer to Kevin's workplace.
So after packing our house again - two times in two year's! (not recommended), arranging movers and flights, school registration and transferring a whole raft of documents!, Janine, Chelsie and Alex flew in to start our life with Daddy on the East Coast! Even though we missed our connecting flight in Chicago, we made it! For those of you on the West Coast, you'll remember that we had snow in November and December of 2006 and that was it. So Janine was DONE with winter right? Yeah, NO! We landed to snow and started all over again!! The kids loved it and the day after we arrived, we went to Fort Williams to go sledding!
Snow came and went for awhile, right through April. Then we got to experience the 5th season around here known as MUD! Lots of fun! This next picture was taken right outside our door. We also now know the meaning of 'Snowday' - which means no school.
We had been here for two weeks when we brought our consultant from Vancouver here to help Janine with the transition of Alex into this school. Again, God walked before us and prepared all these things. Apparently, here in the States, no child with special needs may enter the school system without having an IEP (Individual Education Plan) in place. Different from Canada in that, the child may go to school until the paperwork catches up to them. We were told that this process here could take up to three months! Katie (our consultant) did more footwork for us and pretty much bypassed much of the red tape and got us fixed up for the start of March! God's provision! We were also NOT expecting to get THIS much help!!! Alex has someone with him all day (this fall, it's two people during the day). He has a Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Social Worker, Program Coordinator, etc... not to mention a regular classroom setting where the kids love him as he is. I can't explain the relief in knowing that he is getting what he needs all day! The stress level has been cut down significantly!
Chelsie settled into school quite quickly and made many new little friends. She has been on more playdates than ever before! She was even interviewed for the school newspaper as the new kid from Canada! This fall, the kids started taking the school bus (they LOVE it!) and consequently, we have met more of our neighbors around here. Alex had a harder time transitioning to a new way of doing things and a new environment. The school works hard to meet all our needs. He ended up going to summer school/day camp everyday and that helped with the transitions too. So much so, that this fall, he ASKS for school every morning - including the weekends!
April brought lots of things our way. We had been figuring things out here - very different from the lower Mainland and Canada, for that matter, when we had a 'Nor'easter' blow through. Wow! The Patriot's Day Storm of 2007 will be remembered by the Gray's as the day that the tree fell on the house we are renting!!!
Never a dull moment! The power had gone out that morning and the kids were on the main level with Janine as the tree hit. A blessing that Alex wasn't upstairs in his room playing as that is exactly where the tree landed! We stayed in a hotel that night. Mommy was a nervous wreck for a couple days! But we came through it all!
This summer brought lots of activities: Chelsie went to Jewish Day Camp for two weeks with one of her new friends, Alex had school and Day Camp too. Summer also brought visitors! Gwen Scott and Marg Gray! It was fun to show the 'Moms' around our new found places. We travelled down to Boston, Cape Cod, Kittery, Kennebunkport, Freeport, and downtown Portland. One of our favorite things to do is go down the beach. We usually go to Fort Williams where the Portland Headlight is located. (Lighthouses are called Headlights on the East Coast.)
The following was down at Cape Cod, Maasachusetts. The water was SO warm, unusual for the Atlantic Ocean! We love to collect seashells and beach glass.
This summer took us back to Vancouver for three weeks. It was awesome to see family and friends! You don't know how much you miss them until they aren't within arms-length!
The Gray's, the Jones' and the Scott's
Chelsie and Sydney Gray
We came back to start school and time seems to have flown by since then. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, Halloween and American Thanksgiving. We have had fun experiencing picking apples and in the spring, we want to try Maple Tree Tapping (syrup making).
Last night we decorated our Christmas Tree and so the season to remember the birth of our Lord begins.
Well, that's us for this year! We would love to hear from you all! Our e-mail address is: liven4lobstah@maine.rr.com
Love to all and may God bless you each richly in this coming year.
**The wonder of Christmas is not in the presents but in HIS presence.**
Kevin, Janine, Chelsie and Alex
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