It has been a busy spring for us, with traveling, sickness, and lots of excitement.  I wanted to share a few of the highlights from the past couple of months.

One of the most exciting things that happened was traveling to New York City to see Owen’s picture on display for the Positive Exposure Pop Up.  I can’t express how much I love that he is helping to shape how people view disability.  Yes, we have challenges in our life, but more than anything, Owen is just like any other kid.  He loves doing all the things that you love doing, playing video games, dancing, riding his bike, and hanging out with his friends.

My favorite part of the night we visited the exhibit was when I walked Justin and Owen out to get a cab, it was soon time for bed but I decided to stay a little bit longer.  On my way back inside a woman was coming down the street in her wheelchair, she pulled up to the window and looked inside where she could see beautiful portraits of people in wheelchairs, people with chromosome disorders, and all sorts of other conditions.  She looked up at me and exclaimed, “This is so amazing!”  You can’t imagine how meaningful it is for people like Owen to see themselves represented in such beautiful photos.

Owen also joined a little league team this year!  His team is called the Challenger Team, it is filled with kids with special needs, kids like Owen, Johnny who is in a wheelchair, Xavier who has autism, and many others.  There are 18 kids on his team in all!  It’s so amazing to watch them hit the ball, run the bases, and play in the outfield.  I feel so blessed that he gets to experience that!

The opposing team plays just for the fun of it, letting the Challengers hit the ball, run the bases, score, and tag them out.  I was a little afraid that these kids might make fun of Owen’s team but they have always been so nice and twice I have heard at least one child exclaim happily, “This is So Much Fun!!!”

Finally, one of the best things to happen is that Owen got a special adaptive trike!  A bike like this can cost $2000 or more.  I had no idea how we could afford that but there is an organization locally that raises money to provide them at no cost to families!  I can’t tell you how humbled I feel that someone would do that for us!

Owen loves his trike!!

I hope your spring has been just as exciting!