A NEW YEAR IS HERE!

The founder of CARD, Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh was named by Fox News as an American Hero of 2011. Here is a short video that was posted by Fox. She is at the head CARD office near Los Angeles, CA.

CARD video:



Well, Happy New Year to everyone! We hope your holiday season has been peaceful (joking, a little), joyful, and totally awesome!! We have had a great time here in Austin for the holidays. It was a great Christmas for our family. Although we missed being with extended family, like we have always done, we really enjoyed it being just the 4 of us this year. Andrew and Kylie had a ball and really loved every bit of Christmas Day!! It was very relaxing and we just took our time enjoying the day!

Here is a photo album of our holidays here; the quality isn't great, but it will give you an idea of some things we did, such as a breakfast with Santa at Kylie's school, going to a light display one evening, in which the kids LOVED, and Christmas Day.




As we reflect on our year of 2011, we can't help but think of so many things we are thankful for this past year. Here is a few things we thought of; well, 12 things; to look for 2012, but also because there are 12 months in a year. . . . right??

12. A year of aggressive assessments (and treatments) for Andrew!

11. So thankful that we found River's Edge Christian Academy in February 2011; a Christian co-op that really changed Andrew's perception of school from negative to positive and gave him the confidence he needed to succeed!

10. We are so thankful that Andrew has responded so well to a gluten free, casein free (dairy), soy free diet which has really improved so many of his symptoms. We are thankful that it really isn't as hard as everyone thinks it is!! If you know someone with autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and I could go on and on, you should encourage them to try the diet! One at a time is helpful!!

9. We are so thankful that Doug's mom, Julie, survived a terrible motor vehicle accident in April and has done well after suffering some broken bones and doing some rehabilitation.

8. We are so thankful for every milestone that Kylie meets and to see the development she makes each day. She is a funny, funny girl and provides hours of entertainment (if you have time!!)

7. We few so grateful that we were able to attend the 2011 Spring Autism Research Institute Conference in Atlanta that really did change our lives (and Andrew's!)

6. We are so very thankful for Humana insurance and the contract that they agreed upon with CARD (Andrew's ABA therapy here in Austin). This is what allowed us to make this move.

5. We are thankful for CARD and all the folks associated with them to help Andrew.

4. We are grateful for the easy transition that our kids (and we) have had to Austin, including schools for both kids, church, the house, the city, and the missing of our family and friends.

3. Having all of our family come for visits to Austin has been wonderful!! Still waiting on Doug's sister and family and Kristin's brother and wife. Then, it is time for our friends to visit, too!!

2. Going to Kristin's brother's wedding in August was great! We really struggled with what to do, since it was right in the middle of our move. . . . but we wouldn't change our decision for anything and so happy we went! It was so much fun!

1. Of course, we are so thankful for how far Andrew has come this year! It really is amazing when you look at all of it! We look forward to continued RECOVERY IN 2012!!


For those that are really excited about the Yeager's first Christmas in Austin, here are some short videos of the kids on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Enjoy!


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