Rachel Coleman

No shots here!

Here’s the first batch!

Yesterday we went in to the University of Utah Travel Clinic for a health consultation about our upcoming trip to Ghana Africa and (drum roll please) we had our first round of shots! We had our “exotic shots” done today and we will each see our regular doctors for the less exotic shots. An exotic shot is Yellow Fever, we also had MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) shots because they have shown that live shots should either be received on the same day or a month apart. Believe it or not the stuff for typhoid is taken orally. The consultation and paperwork took more than 3 hours.

Alex had never had a shot in his whole life, so he was a little concerned about the whole thing. We went oldest to youngest and Alex and Leah laughed hysterically as each person winced at their shots. They laughed at each other but neither one was laughing when it was their turn.

Alex Gets His First Shot. Leah Laughs Hysterically!

Not SO Funny Now is it Leah?

Rachel’s First shot & Rachel’s Second Shot.

Aaron’s Second Shot. Leah Is Empathetic.

After Alex’s second shot he turned very pale and then almost green. I said, “Alex, you don’t look so hot!” He said, “I feel sick!’ Aaron grabbed the garbage can. I grabbed a cup of water. Then we had Alex lie down on the sofa. He sucked on a candy cane and eventually the color came back to his face… eventually.

Every time I see the countdown to our flight on my blog my heart jumps! I can’t believe how soon we are leaving. We are scheduled to get our shots on Friday. But, I am having a hard time finding skirts for Leah and myself in the middle of winter!

Today I was able to find a fundraising tracker – so you can see how we are doing. I could not set it up to acknowledge all of you fabulous people who already donated on-line. So, right now I need to thank the following generous individuals who together (in increments of $5 to $2000) have helped to raise over $11,000!!!
D Wade
M Parker
Warner Trucking
D Koerte
S Perez Ayala A
R & K Malone
S Malone
J Burgess
K Summers
M Hanson
D Christensen
L Casey
K Ley
B Minas
S Braun
C Breger
E Mitchel
LJC de Azevedo
L Mason
Allstate
Disney
Creek Road Neighborhood Christmas Party
A Meyer
McDermott Insurance
T & R Escobar
A Stewart
A Anderson
G Calfee
J Jeffers

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for believing in us! Thank you for standing for change and education for the deaf children of Ghana! We have less than 3 weeks to go. Chip in today!

I don’t even know how to sum up last year! For me, it would be a blur of airports, taxis, orange zip-up jackets, lights, cameras, “action!” with a constant score of “Signing Time!” in the background. I can rattle off airport codes, area codes and zip codes. I think I covered the country. PA, NC, New York:

IN, KY, NV, CA, Texas:

AL, MI, ND, MA a total of 58 days on the road. Well, I did break my elbow just to mix it all up a bit.

For Aaron it would be a blur of powder days at Snowbird, editing, camping, hiking, assistant coaching soccer, packing up our old Two Little Hands office and moving it to our new Two Little Hands office, snapping photos and rolling tape… all with a constant score of “Signing Time!” in the background.

Leah just turned 11. She won the school Spelling Bee in June. Dad filmed, we screamed and everyone cried. It has been viewed over 7,900 times on youtubee. (She’s practically a star!) She spent literally every day of her summer with her cousin Alex by her side. They had their hair and wardrobe done each day… you can guess where this is going, can’t you?…

all with a constant score of “Signing Time!” in the background.

Lucy is 7. This year Lucy accomplished one of her biggest life long goals. Lucy was able to (as her shirt says below) “defy gravity”

She took her first steps! Lucy has a walker and she graduated from her weekly physical therapy visits, she thought it was weekly torture. Lucy spent the summer playing on an AYSO “Very Important People” (VIP) soccer team.

She also learned to hold her breath under water in the pool. Lucy learned quickly that every time mom said, “Hey Lucy, want me to curl your hair today?” What mom really meant was, “We need to film you doing a few signs for Signing Time!”

I am not sure what 2008 will bring, but I have a feeling there are orange zip up sweaters in my future and a constant score of “Signing Time!” in the background.