Day 776 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was our first full day in Mammoth. I skied for a few hours this morning while Regina got Grayson up and ready for his day. This afternoon Grayson took his first lesson of the new season at Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra. He was excited to go skiing again!

Grayson did well at his lesson today. His balance was good and he was almost immediately taken up the lift. He was successful following directions and skiing around "obstacles" (such as beginner skiers). His instructors had him playing a game to try and get him to complete his turns and it worked well with him. It was a successful day!

Austin and Xixi arrived on the Horizon Air flight just after Grayson's lesson ended. We unpacked and decided that tonight was an "eat out" night! We had a wonderful dinner the off to the market to lay in supplies for the week. As always, Grayson was my cart pusher!

We came back to the condo and settled in for the evening. Most of us were very tired from all of the various activities we have been involved in. An early night sounds like a good idea even if it is New Year's Eve!

Pax!

Brant

Day 775 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

We left town at 3:30 today and arrived in Mammoth at 8:30 PM. We ran some errands, had a delightful dinner, did some grocery shopping, unloaded the van into the condo we have rented for the week, did some unpacking and – wow it was midnight! The day was uneventful (a good thing on a travel day!) and we are all safely snuggled in our beds – at least everyone but me.

Grayson was very alert all day. Regina and I think that there may be another one of those little growth spurts going on, but we are not sure yet. We will continue to watch and wait and see.

Unlike last year when Mammoth had record snow, this year there has been almost none. The ground in town is bare but they have made a lot of snow on the mountain. I'll have a better feel in the morning when I give it a whirl!

Tomorrow Austin and Xixi arrive and then we'll have a full house for New Years Eve.

Pax!

Brant

Day 774 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

We are madly packing for Mammoth VII – the 7^th annual Reed family ski vacation to Mammoth Mountain. Tomorrow is a travel day. More news soon!

Pax!

Brant

Day 773 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Grayson was back on a normal schedule today. Anishka took care of him while I madly tried to catch up on a myriad of personal business items. 2011 is almost over!

Grayson was a bit off his game again today. He was a bit slow all day and he repeated some words over and over. This was a bit disconcerting to us. He was better after he had been up a while so we pushed it to the back of our minds, but we'll keep an eye on this.

Pax!

Brant

Day 772 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

This morning I had to jolt Grayson out of a deep sleep to get him to a doctors appointment. In high school that meant that we were in the car in 20 minutes or less. Now it is more like 1½ to 2 hours to get Grayson out the door – and it requires continuous energy on my part (or the part of the person getting him ready) to make it happen. We were in and out in 30 minutes, then met up with Regina for lunch and picked up one of our cars that was in for service. For Grayson this morning must have felt like a blur – sleep, breakfast, shower, clothes, car, doctor, car, Mom, lunch, car – it makes me tired when I think about it given his limited capacity. Fortunately Grayson is always a good egg and will go along with anything!

This evening we met up with Regina again at the Apple store to set up her new iPhone (my Christmas present to her.) After the set-up (not as painless as one would have expected given the Apple hype, but we did manage to get through it) we had sushi for dinner at a restaurant next door. We returned home to watch the end of the Kennedy Center Honors, then off to bed with Grayson.

Grayson was a bit off of his game all day. Perhaps it was the rapid decompression between sleep and having a dermatologist poking at him, but he was a bit off all day. Tomorrow Anishka will be back and "normalcy" will resume – for two days anyway!

Pax!

Brant

Day 771 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was Boxing Day! We celebrated by sleeping in late, reliving a little bit of Christmas, enjoying coffee, watching some Christmas movies, and generally keeping a low profile all day.

Grayson and I took a walk today. For the most part Grayson was pretty alert. Because of sleeping in, he was only up about 12 hours today. Frankly I wish that I had only been up 12 hours today!

Pax!

Brant

Day 770 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,

God bless us, every one.

Regina