Santa Claus lives in Franklin!

Last night we took Anna (Jessica went to a Fall Festival with a friend) trick or treating in our new neighborhood (that in itself made this night even more magical - walking around in a real neighborhood) and believe it or not Anna actually wore a Snow White outfit and said "Trick or Treat!" when the person opened the door. This is a big deal because we never know quite how she will react towards new things. Well, we went to about 7 houses before we happened upon a home that is always decorated for Christmas. And there stood and I am not kidding, (drum roll . . . ) Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus! Their license plates on their cars even read "SCLAUS" and "MSCLAUS". The couple looked just like the real thing! I wanted to run home and get a camera! Unfortunately Anna decided she was done trick or treating before we got to their home so I didn't get to meet them. But imagine the merry old couple living right here in Franklin, and in our neighborhood! The man has a real snowy white beard and the Misses was just as if she were in costume for the holidays. We can't wait to see what they do for Christmas! If curiosity has the best of you, please feel free to visit us for Christmas!

Happy first of November to everyone! We are also enjoying all the beautiful leaves in our yard. Our home looks like a Hallmark card! The yard is covered with all colors of leaves, there are pumpkins on the porch, and there sits a huge pile of leaves in the backyard just waiting to be jumped in! Well. . . Jessica has raked it, jumped into it, then raked it up again. :)

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"People have no idea..."

Below is a link to a video about living with a child with autism. We really debated on whether or not to even post this message, but after thinking about it we decided to go ahead. Please know that our motivation is purely educational. While the video is very emotional, we aren't seeking sympathy, just understanding.

When we first saw this video we both agreed that this is the most accurate portrayal of daily life with a child with autism that we had ever seen. Most people still think of Rain Man when they think of autism, and although Dustin Hoffman's portrayal is somewhat accurate, it just isn't reality for most people.

There is another caveat, too - we are very blessed with Anna. Although she leans toward severe on the spectrum, she isn't as bad as some of these kids. We experience probably 80% of what you see in the video. However, every single thing that is said by the parents in this video, we have said, thought, experienced, agonized over, suffered through, and worried about. That is what we wanted you to see. We want you to know that when we say we battle with Anna, this is pretty much what it looks like. When we are stressed about money, or we are tired, or we can't go somewhere, this is why, and this is a lot of what our life looks like.

Extra credit also has to be given to Melinda. Unlike the women in this video, she works full-time. She sacrifices more than most when it comes to life with Anna. She is truly an amazing person and deserves all the credit, encouragement, and reward for everything she does. All day. Every day.

That being said, the video is called Autism Every Day. When you click the link, just go to the section called Autism Every Day and choose your bandwidth.

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New digs...

A lot of you have been asking for house pictures (Oh! You didn't know? We moved last month!). Like the blog, getting to that simple task these days is more difficult than it sounds! We really want to give you the "grand tour" through pictures, but we will need a little more time to get it together.

In the meantime, enjoy this shot of the front of the house. At least you will have something to refer to when you think of us living here in Franklin!

Stay tuned! We will have more up soon!

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Need to do a quick Bible search?

There is a new link over on the left. It's to a revolutionary Bible search website called eBible.com. This is a joint venture between Scott's company, Thomas Nelson, and a company in Calgary, Canada called Godspeed Computing. Scott was instrumental in the ideation of this website. The development was passed on to some other very talented people, but he stills feels some affinity for this project.

Check it out! Scott guarantees you have never studied the Bible like this on the internet!

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Since Matt & Mary Jo are showing us up...

Here is a little update on our blog since we have completely fallen off...

I can't seem to figure out what time it is in Ireland while reading all of Matt and Mary Jo's updates, so I hit the web. I found a cool little utility that will put a clock on your website or blog. Pretty cool! I sent it to Matt and MJ, so hopefully they will add one for Ireland for people like me.

In the meantime, enjoy a clock of the local time in Franklin (more for fun, not because the math is that hard!), and I also put a link on the side for Matt and Mary Jo's Ireland blog.

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Scott's Trip to Seattle

Recently Scott went on a business trip to Seattle and took some great pictures. Below is a slide show of some of the highlights. If you hover over the top and the bottom you will get some options for viewing - you can speed up or slow down the slide show, or you can look at pictures invidually and more. Click on the picture and you will see a description.

Enjoy!

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Fried Dough Anyone?

We've added a link over there on the left. Check it out. And if you are ever in Memphis you have to go and sample some of the best donuts ever. No kidding! Be sure to tell them we sent you, and you might even get a free sample! Yum!

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Oh My!

Oops. Looks like the blog has gone by the way of the newsletter we talked about in our first post! Has it really been over three months since we last made an entry?! That is both sad and indicative. Sad that something so simple can be so elusive, and indicative of our time of life! We have been extremely busy. We know that's the worst (and oldest) excuse, but when it's true, it's true.

Your next question may be - why are you so busy? Or what are you so busy with? Both are great questions! As a matter of fact, that will be a great action plan for the next few posts! Look for updates on each member of the family over the next few weeks. That way you'll be caught up, and we might get in the habit of writing on a regular basis! Wouldn't that be nice for everyone!

So stay tuned! More will be coming soon!

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