And the obligatory first day of school picture. What a difference from last year--last year he went without hair, an immune system, enough red blood cells or a leg. This year he had all of it and all the confidence that comes along with overcoming hard things. Go Steven!

Goodbye summer

Where has the summer gone? Tomorrow my boys start school and I can't believe that our lazy summer days will be over. We've had a lovely summer with the perfect amount of down time and fun time. We have seen so many old friends and made new ones, too. In our spare moments, the house has kept us busy (of course, that won't change anytime soon!) We've spent lots of time with family and have loved every minute. And then there were the Olympics if we ever got bored . . .This has certainly been a summer to remember.

As I have gone through my photos, I realize that I haven't taken as many pictures as I should have. It's kind of like I haven't blogged as much as I should have (or cleaned as much as I should have... or really "anything" as much as I should have, except maybe slept). But here are a few. One of the kids favorite things all summer were swimming lessons and while I have plenty of video....I guess I didn't take still shots. Steven rocked at swimming lessons and was beating his class in some of the strokes.

You'll see I have several photos of Steven with other amputees. Meeting these other amputees has been a highlight for Steven this summer--for sure an inspiration. We cheered so hard for Oscar Pistorius, the bilateral amputee that ran in the Olympics. That was our favorite Olympic moment.

I think the amputee thing has been a huge part of our summer, mostly because Steven more than ever is finding himself able to do almost anything he wants. For the most part, he has gone forward all summer without letting his leg situation hold him back. But every once in a while he is reminded that he has limitations.

One of those moments came this summer at the swimming pool. He has loved swimming all summer--the water puts him as an equal to the rest of us. Once we went to a pool with a high dive. He was so excited to try it out. First he hopped down the diving board of the low dive and jumped right in. Then he slowly climed the stairs of the high dive and crawled out to the end. He didn't quite dare stand up, but scooted himself off the end. After he went in, the lifeguard came and asked him not to go off the high dive anymore because it made him nervous. Poor Steven was devastated. Just not a fan of anyone telling him what he can and can't do.

We haven't met all our goals this summer. One was to get Steven up on a bike. And because we haven't done that yet, I'm not really counting the start of school as the end of summer. It's not officially over until September 22nd, right? So stay tuned for even more fun--even school won't hold us back from packing some in!

P.S. If you double click on the slideshow, it will take you to Picasa where I have captions that explain the pictures.

Good scans

I am happy to report that all went well at Steven's scans today. He is looking good and I am feeling very relieved. I feel like he has been given at least a three month guarentee on life or at least three months to not worry too much. Steven was just so happy when he heard the results--he has been the picture of cheerfulness all evening. We have been having a fun summer and I have some pictures I need to post soon. Things are good.