History

Monday, October 26, 2009 9:38 PM Pacific

Happy Fall friends and prayer partners,

Fernanda had a blessed Summer with many activities out of the house. She went to different parks, had a girls movie night at our home, celebrated her older and younger sisters and Papa’s birthday, attended a dance, started soccer, went to the movies, went to Day Camp at Lake Anderson in Morgan Hill, took daily walks, shopping at the mall and the highlight of the summer attending the Jonas Brother Concert at the HP Pavilion……. The lovely time of Fall when seasons change has also brought considerable personal change to Fernanda and her family. Fernanda started at a new school in San Martin in August, she was in San Martin for a month then switched to another school in San Jose at the end of September; Jacob was laid off from full time employment in mid September without yet being able to secure a new job and Fernanda’s grandmother, Jacob’s mother died last Sunday the 18th of October after suffering a long illness over the last year.

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”

We request your covenant prayers for Jacob to find a new job this month; this has been our prayer since mid-September. Please also pray for Fernanda’s transition to her new school goes smooth, praise God all has been going well at school and pray for Jacob’s extended family in their time of mourning.

Thank you to so many who have mailed postcards from your various business and pleasure travels. Fernanda has received quite a variety of postcards from many destinations, domestic and international. She LOVES the cards! Her eyes are focused and listening as I present and read the card. Thank you for remembering her as you go far and away! Our home address is 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437. I have also created a Facebook account for her, you may look her up by her email address Fernanda_hernandez@sbcglobal.net .

Don’t forget to sign her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

and I add new pictures at different times they are located at her
Photo Gallery
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/photo.htm check back often

School

Fernanda promoted from Charter School in June, Debbie and a couple other close specialists on her education team helped evaluate and search for a new placement. We identified a placement in San Martin, close to our home as her new placement. After a month at the school her family decided it was not the proper placement. Debbie started the search once again for a new school. Thankfully one of her specialists from San Martin was very helpful in helping us identify a new placement. I went to see the school, made a subsequent trip with Fernanda and decided to move her placement. She is now at a high school campus along with other special needs children which meets her individual needs. It has been a rough road during two transitions though it is well worth it. The school change has also dictated a significant change in our schedule as Debbie gets up at 5am to start getting Fernanda ready for a 7:15am pickup by the bus! Then Andrés is picked up at 8:15am, mornings are busy around here!

The home hospital schooling services Fernanda has been receiving ended a couple of weeks ago since Fernanda is now in a longer school program each day. She is now gone at school, away from the house 6 ½ hours vs. last year 2 ¾ hours.

Fernanda continues to work with her new computer and new software program. Her new special therapist at school is also trying different types of switches for communication access.

Caregivers and Medical

We said goodbye to our summer college student Sara W., she was so much help while Christine was nursing her injured back. Christine came back to work as Sara W. left for school. God’s providential timing was impeccable.

Due to the crisis in the California budget the programs we use for care continues to be in a state of chaos. I live in fear of a letter may arrive in the mail cutting our services. I had some concerns about a month ago as to whether Fernanda’s night care was going to be approved. Praise God it was approved for another 9 months!

Therapy and Doctor Appointments

During the late summer we began seeing an inpatient speech therapist at Kaiser; this was in resolution to our grievance. The therapist saw Fernanda for 4 consecutive weeks and has since approved continual visits every other week. The caregivers here at home have been trained on the new focus for therapy, movement of her tongue and de-sensitizing her mouth. So far so good! The progress is really slow, though in the right direction.

Fernanda has had multiple visits this summer for replacement of her footsplints (this takes a few visits), new handsplints and wheelchair modifications. There has been a loss of range in her ankles from last year. We are not clear if it is due to poor casting and fitting of her splints made last year or Fernanda’s growth. The physical therapist is closely monitoring the new set of splints this year.

We added regular use of a bike pedaling machine for her lower extremities to her home treatment program. She uses it two to three times a week for 15 – 20 minutes while watching a DVD or TV. It is helpful for cardio vascular exercise and blood circulation.

Hanging out, going out…

Fernanda and Andrés joined a special needs soccer team this Fall. They are enjoying the time with their friends! It was real special to have the girl’s competitive soccer team to help one Saturday. All the players had a great time! We continue to enjoy weekly outings of bowling with other special needs children and their siblings.

Alejandra started college at San Jose City College; she is living at home and commuting.
Andrés returned to school at Los Paseos in south San Jose, we are very pleased in the growth in his academics. His academics are still far behind though making progress, he needs to continue to work on his behavior, pray in this area for him. Debbie started homeschooling Elena in September. She and I are enjoying our time together daily. Jacob is working hard daily on finding a new job as well as helping his father in the loss Grammie Hernandez. Debbie helps other families informally advocate for their special needs children. Debbie has also joined the special needs advisory council in Morgan Hill in a leadership capacity.

We enjoyed some very special visits this summer: Fernanda’s God parents, Steven and Linda Kent, from Washington state ; a dear friend Debbie use to work with at HP, Nancy Schreyer and her family, they live in Pennsylvania; Sally and Sarah Witmer, friends from Charter who moved to Japan two years ago. A blessing of kindness they each took the time out to visit Fernanda and our family.

The Jonas Brother’s concert in early August was fantastic. Debbie took Fernanda along with Alejandra, Debbie’s niece and a couple friends. Debbie contacted the Jonas Brother’s a couple weeks before the concert to try and meet them; we just missed meeting them by 45 minutes. The tour manager replied to my email 45 minutes after we left for the concert. As a small token the Jonas Brothers mailed her a signed picture, it hangs proudly in her room. Next tour we hope to take advantage of meeting the JB!

Shared Adventures put on a special day on the beach in July, we all had a chance to enjoy a picnic on the beach, walking on the beach, Fernanda had a beach wheelchair and Andrés and Debbie took a ride in a kayak in the Santa Cruz Bay.

Wish List

The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of October are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) To help us meet our grocery and household needs gift to Wal-Mart, Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joes, Costco and Safeway would be great. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437).
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our October prayer requests are:

• Pray God will provide full time employment for Jacob by the end of October.

• Pray God will provide for the Hernandez family financial needs.

• Pray for our faith to remain strong in the tide of trials.

• Praise for improvement in our relationships with each other, specifically with Jacob, Debbie and Alejandra. Continue to pray in this area.

• Praise for the new school placement.

• Pray for Jacob’s family, particular Alex his father in the loss of Fernanda's Grammie Hernandez.

Coram Deo,

(Jake and) Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Friday, July 3, 2009 9:58pm Pacific

Dear friends and prayer partners,

Today marks Fernanda’s 5th anniversary of her brain trauma. The day started off in haste, not how I would have preferred. A rare breakfast together as a family was fun. We rarely have the opportunity to have all 6 of us sit around a table for a meal. At lunch it hit me hard, 5 years ago today we were doing the same thing, sitting down to eat a meal with all of us and Fernanda was able bodied, talking and a healthy girl. Little did we know a dramatic change of events in her life and ours would take place in a few hours. Each anniversary of her trauma is difficult, with this being the 5 year mark made it more emotional for me than the last three years; the 1st anniversary was a very hard for me too. Jake and I were talking after lunch, he said “The fact she is here today is a gift. The Lord has been faithful to our family. Yes it has been difficult; remember the story of Job and many trials he went through. Our family has grown in our faith and we continue to be very dependent on others. The trial we have gone through has not been in vain.”

We do get out and about quite a bit, our family does appear on the surface to be doing well though there are still many struggles for the Hernandez family that are not always apparent. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, I have detailed some specifics below.

If you leave town for the summer, please remember Fernanda by dropping a postcard in the US Mail or signing Fernanda’s guestbook. She receives great joy knowing she is not forgotten. If you would like to come by give us a call on our home phone, 408-776-7979.
Our home address is 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437 . I also created a Facebook account for her, you may look her up by her email address Fernanda_hernandez@sbcglobal.net .

Signing her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

New Pictures in her Photo Gallery
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/photo.htm

The last three months have brought many decisions, emotions and outings. Fernanda was promoted from 8th grade at the school she started as a founding 1st grader. Alejandra graduated from high school there were joyous parties for them both; looking for a new school placement for Fernanda; hiring a new caregiver for the summer; regular visits to the bowling alley and playing baseball with other special needs children.

School
In preparation for a new school placement the county psychologist paid a visit to our home to meet Fernanda and discuss with me Fernanda’s needs and capabilities. I personally searched out four different schools for Fernanda’s placement for high school. Some of the schools required multiple visits or requests by myself to other individuals on Fernanda’s team to visit. The school district and our family agreed on a new placement in San Martin, a county classroom with several disabled children. It will be a huge school environment change for our family, a difficult decision indeed.

Debbie helped work on a 8th grade party for Fernanda and her school classmates. A team of families put on a beautiful party for the group of students to enjoy. This was the last time they will be together as many of them are going to several different high schools. Jacob helped chaperone the party!

We lost of our home hospital teachers, Terry. He has left employment with the school district. Kim, Fernanda’s other home teachers is taking over as many extra days as possible.

Fernanda is working with a new computer and new software program. The school district purchased the new equipment/software earlier this year. A team of specialist are building new tools and documentation in hopes to provide Fernanda with more opportunities to communicate through a computer and give her control. The two switch control we started working on earlier this year did not progress, Fernanda was getting too confused. We backed off and went back to one switch access.

Caregivers and Medical

A new college student Sara W. was hired in late May, she will stay on with us until early August when she returns to her nursing program at SF State. She came in at the right time as one of our other caretakers took an extended leave to visit Spain. Praise God the schedules for vacation and caregiver’s availability has worked out. Typically I have had more trouble finding caregivers to hire, this year I am having a challenge with finding the hours to pay the girls as one of the programs I use to pay the caregivers cut our hours earlier this year. During the summer months I need more hours since Fernanda is home through out the day. A dear friend has volunteered to help one 1/2 day a week, there are few gaps when no caretaker, all and all we are really blessed with the individuals working with our family.

California budget is in a state of crisis it definitely is on my mind how the changes in the budget will affect our care.

Therapy and Doctor Appointments

Our grievance for home speech services I filed at the end of December finally was resolved this month, it only took 6 months. The grievance would have likely fallen by the way side had I not kept on top of Kaiser. The resolution they proposed is to see an inpatient speech therapist; Fernanda will work with her for four sessions. Small goals will be set, if Fernanda makes progress there is a good chance inpatient Kaiser will continue to treat.

In early June we visited California Children’s Services for Fernanda’s yearly exam for her range of motion and wheelchair evaluation. The therapist gave us some new arm stretching exercises to work on which have proven to help relax Fernanda’s arm for computer switch access. They also make some small wheelchair modifications and suggested some changes to her foot splints.

She continues to do well on the tilt table, standing for an hour.

Hanging out, going out…

Fernanda was promoted from 8th grade!

We went to see a couple movies, Hannah Montana and Earth!

She is taking in the lovely weather with walks and being read to under a tree.

Fernanda and Andrés played baseball March through May with the special needs baseball team. We are now meeting with some of the same children bowling. Fernanda gets to bowl too, there is a special apparatus we use to hold the ball. Fernanda uses her arm to push it down the alley.

We continue to enjoy church on a weekly basis, most Sundays Fernanda is able to participate in Sunday school and month we have a fellowship meal together a congregation.

Cousin Chuck Dowell from Washington paid a visit to see our family, unfortunately this was the same night Fernanda’s eye was scratched. Fernanda was out of sorts this weekend and could not socialize with Chuck. The eye did heal after a couple of days of wearing a patch and with some ointment.

The Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras was a blast!

Fernanda attended Alejandra's graduation ceremony at Presentation! Fernanda also made a the small trek via the EuroVan up Mt. Madonna in Watsonville to see our God daughter’s presentation about her trip to Africa in the Spring.

Jenny and Pam Leding from our church baked and cooked a delicious meal for us to share at a lovely promotion party for Fernanda at our home.

Every other week this summer we have been going to the library to see special events they present, such as Python Ron with his reptiles, insects and snakes and this week a magician. Fernanda and Elena are so entertained by the shows. Fernanda has also been attending meetings every couple of weeks for a Girl Scout Day camp she will attend in late July.

Getting Fernanda ready during summer vacation usually means we have more time, one morning a few weeks ago Elena was such a dear to Fernanda. It was early in the morning, Fernanda had just got up in her wheelchair and was still in her PJs. As I was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready for us all Elena took Fernanda into her room and turned on a Jonas Brothers CD. Elena proceed to go to Fernanda’s room to pick out all Fernanda’s clothes for the day, put them on her (Elena’s) bed. It is not easy to change Fernanda on Elena’s bed, though how could we hurt her baby sister’s feelings after all her effort. It was a precious site.

Wish List

The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of July are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437).

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our July prayer requests are:

• Pray God will provide for the Hernandez family financial needs.
• Pray for guidance and strength for Jacob and Debbie in raising our family.
• Pray for our relationships with each other, specifically with Jacob, Debbie and Alejandra.
• Pray for a new aide who is a good match with Fernanda’s needs. School starts in late August.
• Praise Christine’s (a prior caretaker) back is healing!
• Pray for Fernanda's Grammie Hernandez, Jacob's mother who suffered a massive
brain hemorrhage in the Fall 2008.

Coram Deo,

(Jake and) Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Sunday, March 29, 2009 5:19 PM Pacific

Happy Spring Family, friends and prayer partners,

It is gorgeous out today, Praise God for his creation! How blessed He is to us. Our family has so much to be thankful; unfortunately due to our sinful nature we don’t always come to this realization each and everyday as we live out His plan for our life. Thank you for so many of you who do pray for our strength each and everyday as well as send in donations/gift cards through Emmaus Christian Fellowship. Your generosity of sharing gifts from God and your time through prayer in this extremely tough economic time means so much.

December, January, February and now it is March! Where and what have we been doing in the last 3 ½ months. We have been blessed to be able to enjoy the birth of Christ; Fernanda had a check up with her gasteronologist; she participated in a comprehensive feeding specialist evaluation, presently is working with two switches on her tray, had a haircut, attended a few movies at the local theater, celebrated several family birthdays, saw the Nutcracker ballet, drove to UC Berkeley for a vision exam, went out to dinner with her family a couple of times, went to Great America and saw the dentist (This is not a comprehensive list!). Whew, Fernanda is a busy girl!

If you leave town for the Easter break please remember Fernanda by dropping a postcard in the US Mail or signing Fernanda’s guestbook. She receives great joy knowing she is not forgotten.

Our home address is 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437

Signing her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

New Pictures in her Photo Gallery
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/photo.htm

School
A new school aide started with Fernanda in January. You may remember in the last update her school aide had to leave suddenly. The new aide is also new to Fernanda; hence it has required extensive training from the different specialists on Fernanda’s education team. The new aide is very consciousness and teachable, very receptive to how to work and what works with Fernanda. The aide is a shy which is makes advocating and socializing with others a challenge for Fernanda. The school aide makes a huge difference in Fernanda’s school experience. This is the fourth school aide in 11 months.

A significant assessment was just completed by a state agency called the Northern California Diagnostic Center (DC). Typically the local school district does assessments on children though for those difficult to assess the DC steps in to assist per the school districts request. One of the two members who assessed Fernanda was the same individual who evaluated her 3 years ago. What progress he observed in Fernanda in 3 years. The purpose of the assessment was to profile the type of high school setting Fernanda would benefit. We are in the process, along with the school district of looking for a high school placement for Fernanda.

Caregivers and Medical
Praise God we have a new night time caregiver, she started in mid December. Fernanda now has night coverage 6 nights a week between two caregivers. Recently a friend from years past called us, unbeknownst us she has been following our journey. She contacted us regarding a friend who is a certified home health caregiver looking for employment. I spoke with the friend and put her in contact with the agency that provides the night care for us. We are hopeful the person may be hired as a backup.

Medical passed on another 1 % reduction to Home Health Care workers; unfortunately the state is using the already low pay of home health care workers to balance the budget. The budgets of the state Regional Centers also were passed on a reduction which too affects our services.

Therapy and Doctor Appointments
January we went to Santa Clara Kaiser for a year exam with her gasteronologist, he checked her weight, GT site and what we were feeding her. This month we had several blood tests run which showed we are doing a good job balancing the nutritional content of her meals.

The end of December marked the end of Kaiser’s contract for speech therapy for Fernanda. We were receiving services at home primarily focusing on her oral feeding. I have filed a grievance with Kaiser; initially they denied my appeal though when sent to the regional committee they approved our request to see a feeding specialist. Fernanda was provided a comprehensive exam by an OT feeding specialist earlier this month; we are waiting the referral to the speech therapist. Fernanda has made quite a bit of progress in her feeding and feel she can make more progress.

A new holder was made by a local plastic company to hold two switches for Fernanda! (She has been using 1 switch up until about two months ago.) Fernanda is using her right hand with both switches on the holder in a close proximity. She hits one to the right and roles her hand to the left to hit the other. The school district is in the process of ordering a new computer giving Fernanda more multimedia access capabilities.

We traveled to UCB in mid December for an eye exam; Fernanda has been to the clinic at UCB in April of 2006. The evaluation revealed significant improvements in her vision from 2 ½ years ago!

Hanging out, going out…
One of Fernanda’s favorite outings is the movies, she went to see Bride Wars for her 14th birthday we several friends and family. We celebrated with a small lunch party at home. She also went to see a few other current movies, Jonas Brothers 3D and Bedtime Stories were her favorites! The week before Christmas we attended Nutcracker with her younger sister and grandparents.

December through early March we visited Grammie Hernandez in the local Kaiser hospital on our way home from church. Grammie H. recently moved to a skilled nursing facility in Gilroy. Grammie has been vomiting on an off the last couple of weeks, the medical staff at Kaiser has been unable to determine a cause is not sure why. Please pray for her.

The dentist and orthodontist both gave glowing reports to the health of Fernanda’s teeth.

We went out shopping and dinner on New Years Eve Day; Fernanda enjoyed some soup with her family.

Fernanda loves to receive visitors; one of her dear friends from the home our family lived in North Morgan Hill came by for a visit in January. It was fun to see the girls together and how they have grown. Please consider stopping by to spend some time with Fernanda.

Andrés and Fernanda joined a new special needs baseball team hosted by the Morgan Hill Pony Baseball league (see picture on Fernanda’s website). Our entire family is having fun each Saturday; please join us if you can at 11:30am, Johnson Lumber Field at Britton School in Morgan Hill.

Sleeping
Thankfully it has improved on a weekly basis though sporadically it does continue to be an issue.

The rest of the family
 Alejandra traveled to Washington DC for a 7 day trip to see the Presidential Inauguration. She is playing softball in her senior year of high school and preparing for next steps after high school.
 Andrés transferred schools in mid February; the new school is working out quite well for him.
 Elena is working more on her preschool program at home and how to be a helper for big sister Fernanda and mom.
 Jake took on a new role in the same company as a program manager. He continues to provide significant support to his father and siblings with his mother’s illness.
 Debbie is busying managing the day to day operations of the home, the medical and special educational needs of Andrés and Fernanda. Debbie is also finding moments to go out with her girlfriends.

Wish List

The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of March are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Donations for the garage sale planned for April 17th and 18th. Assistance is sorting, cleaning, marking and working the garage sale.

2) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437).

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our March prayer requests are:

• Praise the Lord provided a night caregiver for two nights; we now have night coverage 6 nights a week.
• Praise a new aide at school was found for Fernanda. Pray the school aide will put into practice the training she has received from various specialists.
Pray as well the school aide will be a stronger advocate for Fernanda at school.
• Pray God will provide for the Hernandez family financial needs.
• Pray for guidance and strength for Jacob and Debbie in raising our family.
• Pray for our relationships with each other.
• Pray for Christine, one of our day time caregivers who left suddenly due to medical reasons.
Pray for her healing and if it is God’s will for her to return employment with us later this year.
Pray for the training of the new caregiver I hired earlier this month.
• Pray for Fernanda's Grammie Hernandez, Jacob's mother who suffered a massive brain hemorrhage in the Fall 2008.

Coram Deo,

(Jake and) Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 1:09 PM Pacific

Dear Family, friends and prayer partners,

It is hard to believe 5 months have passed since our last update on Fernanda. Life has taken over leaving less time to communicate with you via the website. There have been many blessings and circumstances which bring me to my knees praying for God’s will to be done, His strength and praise for each any every trial. Many of you tell us you continue to pray for our family, thank you deeply. I know God hears your prayers.

If you leave town for the Christmas break please remember Fernanda, by dropping a postcard in the US Mail or signing Fernanda’s guestbook. She receives great joy knowing she is not forgotten. Our home address is 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437

Signing her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

NEW school Picture courtesy of Dana Miller Photography
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/

Sleeping
She does continue to have spells of problems, though typically they are farther and fewer between. Every few weeks she will have a sleepless night, we are not sure why. Daily we do make sure she has a nice stroll outside for some sunlight and she is up on the tilt table daily. The sunlight and physical exhaustion I believe make a difference in helping her to sleep.

School

She enjoyed five weeks of summer school at Charter School where she had the opportunity to be instructed by a large group of occupational therapy interns from SJSU. The interns did a fantastic job integrating Fernanda in all the classroom activities. She would use her step by step talker to give instructions, emcee a car race of solar cars the class made by hand and more! Her aide from February to June was her aide in summer school. Fernanda started off the new school year in August at Charter School of Morgan Hill 3 hours daily with new classes, teachers and a new aide. (Her aide from last year fell ill.) It has taken a few visits by me, Fernanda’s speech therapist, the vision specialist and augmentative communicative specialist to the classroom to help the new aide, Sara and teachers. It really paid off as Fernanda is a participant more than previous years in the classroom activities. Unfortunately last week Sara had to leave for a two to three month break. Fernanda was greatly saddened with Sara’s departure as is Debbie. The aide plays a huge role in Fernanda’s school experience. MHUSD is now in the process of looking for a new aide. Pray a new one will be found soon. I took Fernanda on a couple of day field trips with her class, Science camp in Marin Headlands and a play at the De Anza Theatre in Cupertino.

The home teachers provided by the school district have also been another challenge for Fernanda this Fall. The home teacher she had during the summer left, it took several months to find a replacement. We now have two teachers who share the five day a week, 1 ½ hour sessions. They are becoming familiar with Fernanda and trying new things, such as testing her color and reading skills.

Caregivers and Medical

Three nights a week we continue to struggle for a nighttime caregiver. An agency in Santa Clara hires the night aides for us; even after an ad was placed in the local paper we have been unable to hire a replacement. It has been about a year since we have had a stable person for three nights of the seven. Praise God he has maintained Chona’s assistance with us for four nights a week. Chona has been with our family just about four years; she started with us when we brought Fernanda home from the hospital in January 2005.

I hired a new daytime caregiver in September, a nursing student from SJSU. Unfortunately she was only with us through the two week training period before she fell ill. She had to leave employment with us shortly there after. Praise God he provided a new caregiver in late November, a young Christian woman who lives locally and goes to college. So far so good after 2 ½ weeks.

Therapy and Doctor appointments

Fernanda had a few therapy appointments at CCS to have her hand splints refurbished and a new pair of foot splints created. The existing foot splints are bulky and are used for the nighttime. The therapist wants her to wear foot splints all day, hence we need a different style created.

Fernanda's tolerance for the tilt table is increasing, it is our goal to have her standing for 1 hour by the end of the year, and she is at 56 minutes! The upright, standing position provides weight bearing for Fernanda's body of which the benefits include breaking up her spasticity, helping with her bone density and brain development. Fernanda also had her baclofen pump refilled in October, out last visit was in February. The concentration level was changed in February allow longer time between visits.

Hanging out, going out…

Debbie’s Aunt Candi shared with us a free service which creates songs for children; Fernanda received her song this summer. It is so fun! Fernanda smiles and laughs when she hears it. Here is the website where you can learn more about the service, recommend to other critical ill children and donate. If you would like to hear Fernanda’s song, send me an email, I can send you the song via MP3 file. http://www.songsoflove.org/

Fernanda cut 10 inches of her hair off in August, She donated the hair to Locks for Love http://www.locksoflove.org/ in honor her cousin Alexis in Washington. Her new hairdo is so cute. She loves the lack of tangles in her hair 

This Summer and Fall was different than prior summers as we were able to go out and about with Fernanda to places we had never been since her traum. The 4th of July was spent at the Morgan Hill parade and then our neighbors for swimming and a BBQ. The farmer’s market was a weekly tradition for Debbie and several times Fernanda enjoyed coming along. We always ran into a friend of Fernanda’s or our family friend. We continue to go out to the movies on a monthly basis a treat Fernanda, Elena and Andrés enjoy the time out too! Grammie and Papa Wilber usually join us. The Oakridge Mall was an out of town adventure Fernanda enjoyed with a couple of friends as well as shopping for new clothes at Limited Too. This was a highlight trip for Fernanda during the summer. The van lift broke during this outing which gave Mom some muscle exercises as she had to manually stow and deploy the lift. We have since had the switch replaced! We also took Fernanda and the family to Sunset Beach in Watsonville where Fernanda was able to get in a sand wheelchair and go right next to the beach water. This was another highlight of the summer! See her Caringbridge website photo album for a picture. Gilroy Gardens was another fun place we went as a family, there were only two rides Fernanda could ride on though the atmosphere and surroundings were lovely for us all. Just this last weekend we headed up to Santa Cruz to a fellow church member’s home for a Christmas brunch, it was a lovely day!

The Jonas Brother’s and Miley Cyrus continue to be her favorite entertainment!

The rest of the family

Alejandra is a senior in high school. She has been working hard at keeping up her social life. She has a job at the local Centennial Recreation Center in the “Kid’s Zone”, taking the SAT and ACT for college admission requirements and applying to schools. She loves going to the movies and hanging out with her friends. Alejandra celebrated her 17th birthday in August!

Andrés started 2nd grade in the Fall at a local school 5 minutes from our home. The start of the school year has been very tough for him; all the teachers, specialist, bus drivers and school setting are new. Transitions are tough for him as a result we have spent most of September, October and November working with the school staff on developing and implementing a behavior support plan. This has resulted in his school academics suffering. The last two and half weeks have gone very well for him, pray he continues to respond to the behavior support plan and is in a mode to learn while at school. Outside of school he taking lessons for swimming at an indoor pool and finished up participation in a special needs baseball team.

Elena turned 4 October 22nd; we went as a family, with Fernanda to the Disney on Ice show in downtown San Jose. Elena is Mom’s little helper at home, most of the time. She enjoys going out to the weekly library story time and every other week playing with a group children while with Mom at a mothering group sponsored by a local church.

Jake is working feverishly at the startup he joined a year ago and supporting his father and family with care for his mother who suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Pray for Jake’s strength and healing for his mother.

Debbie joined a local mothering group which meets every other week. This has been a blessing for both Elena and Debbie to be in fellowship with other Christian women and children. Elena needs the social time with little ones her own age and I need encouragement in raising our family.

Wish List
The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of December are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Help with decorating the house for Christmas inside and out.
2) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437). 3)

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our December prayer requests are:

Prayers...
• Pray for Fernanda's Grammie Hernandez, Jacob's mother who suffered a massive
brain hemorrhage November 10th and is seriously ill.
• Pray for a new aide to be found for Fernanda at school.
• Pray the Lord will provide a night caregiver for three nights.
• Pray for guidance and strength for our family in raising our family.
Pray for our relationships with each other.
• Praise for the cancer free report for Debbie’s cousin Alexis in Washington.
• Praise for the new daytime caregiver we hired in November.

A verse exhorted last week in Sunday worship which has me praying, meditating and try to memorizing is:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

May you keep the Lord Christ Jesus the focus of your Christmas season.

Coram Deo,

(Jake and) Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Thursday, July 3, 2008 10:51 pm

Dear Family, friends and prayer partners,

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Fernanda’s trauma. Our dear daughter has come a long way since God’s predestined event. Our family has come a long way, a trial beyond all trials we would ever imagine God would place in our life. Never did Jake and I envision, our second child would undergo such a traumatic event while sustaining so much pain and suffering. We hold fast to our faith in God day in and day out. It is not an easy road we travel daily, some days we feel God’s presence stronger than others helping us manage each hour, each crisis, each decision, giving us the encouragement we need. Other days are long, lonely, sleepless, and low and we don’t know why we are going through this trial. It is my prayer we have glorified God in each and every action and how we have lived our life since July 3rd 2004. It is our prayer we will continue to glorify Him and be the Godly witness he so commands us to be. Praise to God for you our family, friends and prayer partners who have continued to walk with us on this journey. Please continue to up hold Fernanda and our family in your prayer and support our family as each day holds a new experience, trial, growth opportunity from our omnipotent and providential God.

While you take your summer vacation, short or long please remember Fernanda by dropping her postcard in the US Mail or signing Fernanda’s guestbook. She receives great joy knowing she is not forgotten. Our home address is 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437

Signing her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

Middle School Dance, Alejandra’s Prom, and relaxing on the chaise Pictures
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/photo.htm

Sleeping
Sleeping is becoming easier! We are seeing her have problems sleeping farther and few nights. Considering we do not have night care three nights a week this is a blessing.

School
School closed for Fernanda on June 11th, she finished of the year on a wonderful note. Her classmates were learning and asking to work with Fernanda frequently. They had mastered when, where and how to integrate using her step by step switch in class. She became a participant in the class rather than an observer. During Fernanda’s adaptive PE class a prior softball teammate and friend, Tara came in for a few visits. Both the girls enjoyed the company. Fernanda is preparing to start summer school at Charter School of Morgan Hill on Monday, July 7th. The program for summer school will be different since the large group of interns from SJSU occupational therapy program are heavily involved in the day to day activities. Fernanda is excited to be going to school to interact with her friends.

Caregivers and Medical
We said good bye to all the caregivers I hired at the start of the school year 2007-2008 or this spring due to graduation. Unfortunately we also said goodbye to a nighttime caregiver which means we are back to only four nights of coverage. Praise be to God for San Andreas Regional Center for stepping in on the last day of June to provide the gap funding for Care at Home (the agency providing the Medical funded care, 65 hours a week). The State of California has put on hold all Medical payments for several types of Medical providers until the State budget is signed. Last year the budget was signed August 22nd. Please pray the budget is signed immediately and the cuts to areas of health care and social services are minimal.

Therapy

The new home hospital teacher, Valerie assigned in April has been coming on a regular basis. Fernanda has benefited from the ongoing sessions as demonstrated in an extended team meeting for Fernanda last week. Peggy, the alternative technology communication specialist said during the meeting, she has mastered her switch control; we need to identify her next step. Peggy brought in a super soaker last week; the soaker’s battery power connection was interrupted with a short wire and hooked it up to her switch. Last Saturday Denise, her speech therapist and Jacob plugged in the soaker to the switch, Fernanda had a ball spraying her little sister Elena and little brother Andrés.

Hanging out, going out…
Fernanda had a couple doctors’ appointments, two in Oakland one in early May where she visited with her neurosurgeon’s physician’s assistant. He read the new CAT scan taken in late April. All looks well with the CAT scan of her head and he released Fernanda for two years. The second appointment in Oakland was with her orthopedic surgeon for her back. A new back x-ray was taken; all looks good two years post scoliosis surgery. He released Fernanda indefinitely! Both trips to Oakland Fernanda traveled so well, unlike three years ago where she would cry on and off up and back. The trips to Oakland usually take 7 to 8 hours. These two trips there was no crying!!

Fernanda visited the California Children’s Services clinic in South San Jose a couple of times, the OT fitted her with new hand splints, checked out her wheelchair and did some range of motion measurements. We have been directed to wear her foot splints 24 hours a day for 4 months due to a loss of range in her ankle muscles. Next week Fernanda has another appointment to take more range of motion measurements and fit her for new foot splints.

Fun activities for Fernanda over the last three months included going to the Middle School Dance escorted by her big sister Alejandra, seeing Prince Caspian and Kung Fu Panda at the movie theater; attending the Family Fun Festival at Charter School of Morgan Hill, she loved the petting zoo, the talent show and seeing all her friends; she attended her cousin’s graduation (Aunt Maria’s son) from High School in Menlo Park; not to mention weekly to every other week dips in the neighbors pool or spa and walks to the local park. Last week Fernanda along with Papa and Grammie Wilber and her siblings and Mom attended the Red Robin Restaurant grand opening. Fernanda enjoyed watching the group fight over the huge piece of mud pie!

The rest of the family
Alejandra attended her school prom in May; Fernanda was part of all the pre prom conversations around the house, her eyes and head seemed to perk when this topic came up! She also had the opportunity to take part in the pre prom photo op at Alejandra’s friend’s home in San Jose. (See the pictures in Fernanda’s photo album.) Alejandra is a senior in August! She has been enjoying her summer looking for a job, babysitting, reading, swimming with Fernanda, Elena and Andrés in the neighbor’s pool, going to the movies and out to dinner with friends!

Andrés finished 1st grade and will be moving to a new 2nd grade program at a new school in August. He is presently attending summer school, day care, attended a basketball camp last week and playing baseball off the T in the backyard with Elena. His academic progress this last year was outstanding. Debbie continues to work with him on routine basis under the guidance of Sharon Sousa, a devoted servant to our family.

Elena is 3 ½ and as smart as a whip! She can be big helper around the house though also continues to challenge Mom on a daily basis. Her favorite pass time is to play with Zorra in the backyard, jump on the trampoline and go swimming at the neighbors.

Wish List
The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of July are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437).
2) Help framing photo graphs received in our Christmas cards.
3) Assistance with organizing Fernanda’s files for her school documentation.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our July prayer requests are:

Prayers...
• Pray the Lord will provide a night caregiver for three nights.
• Pray for Fernanda as she starts summer school Monday, July 7th.
• Pray a new caregiver for the day shift will be found to help starting in late August
when several of the current caregivers go back to school.
• Pray for Debbie’s cousin Alexis in Washington who is receiving treatment for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Pray for treatment of her lung which may have a fungus infection. She too has a caringbridge site, please keep her in your prayers http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alexishengbeckley

Coram Deo,

Jake and Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Friday, April 11, 2008 519 PM PDT

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
but trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast;
unfolding every hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower.
by William Cowper

Dear Family, friends and prayer partners,

I started off this update with a poem that touched my heart. The word of God and the hope He gives us continues to sustain me as our family goes through trials in one form or another day by day.

The last couple of months bring praise for the health of Fernanda, for the most part has been very healthy. She fell ill with the flu for a couple days back to back weeks in late January, outside of that her health has been fantastic. During the flu season of 2007 she was ill just about each week the first two months of the year. Debbie also caught the flu for a couple of days in February, thankful it was quick. Please take a moment to sign Fernanda’s guestbook and check out her pictures. She receives great joy knowing she is not forgotten. A postcard through the mail is another idea.

Signing her guest book
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/guestbook.html

Pictures
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda/photo.htm

Sleeping
Sleep continues to be a battle for Fernanda one to two nights a week. She appears to be tired though has difficulty falling asleep, we try to communicate with her to identify if there is a pain, needs to be moved, too hot/cold… though it is difficult to identify if there is an irritant. We have been working with her on the tilt table 5 days a week for 33-36 minutes to see if this may help break up the spasticity and tire her out (possibly these may be bothering her at sleep time). The new regime doesn’t seem to make a difference.

School
Fernanda goes to school at Charter School of Morgan Hill 5 days a week, two hours at a time. In January the school district assigned a couple of different inexperienced aides to assist Fernanda at school. She was not benefiting from school hence I starting sending to school the graduate student I had hired as well as recruited Fernanda’s Speech Therapist to assist. They worked with the aides and the teachers to facilitate Fernanda involvement in the classroom and in a social setting with the school population. In late February Fernanda was assigned a new aide, Usha whom will be with her until the end of the school year. This week I had the opportunity to meet Usha and share personal tips on Fernanda. We are very pleased with the new aide!

Caregivers
I hired a couple new caregivers, Kourtney and Tara. Kourtney is a graduate student from the OT program at SJSU. Tara is a recreational therapist student also from SJSU. She had a traumatic brain injury just a few weeks before Fernanda in 2004.

Our night time caregiver situation broke down abruptly in late March when our Monday and Tuesday night caregiver was let go by the agency. She let her license expire and has no plans to renew. The agency has not been able to replace her which leaves us without night care on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights each week. If you know of someone who has their Home Health Care Certification (HHCC) and might be interested in a night shift please have them contact me. I will put in contact with the agency. The training to secure a HHCC is very short, about 21 days.

Therapy

Unfortunately Jim, Fernanda’s home teacher has fallen ill with various aliments and has been unable to see Fernanda over the last couple of months. The district assigned a new teacher, Valerie. Denise, Fernanda’s speech therapist has been helping with training Fernanda. The teachers are working with Fernanda on her volitional movement hitting her switches, as well as visual tracking and head movement. In addition to these therapeutic exercises they are reading grade level appropriate material.

Peggy, the alternative technology communication specialist visited us to try a few low tech eye gaze systems with Fernanda. The systems did not work well for Fernanda; the contrast with Fernanda’s eyes is not significant enough for the system to recognize.

She doing so well with her oral feedings with Denise, she has her down to 14 minutes for 60 mls of puree food.

Hanging out, going out…
Our family enjoyed going to church in Sunnyvale and brunch with our extended family at our home for Easter Sunday. Fernanda goes to her age appropriate Sunday school class at church each week. I am working with the teacher and other student in the class to teach them how to use the switches. We went out to lunch as family in downtown San Jose. Fernanda’s blender came along with us and she was able to eat with the rest of us. During Girl Scout cookie sales Fernanda helped sell cookies with her troop at the Morgan Hill bowling alley. She has taken in a couple of new movies, Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who and College Road Trip. Taking in a movies is one of Fernanda’s favorite outings; it is a joy to see her laughing so much during the movies!

The rest of the family
We celebrated Jacob and Grammie Wilber’s birthdays in February and Andres 7th birthday in March. Alejandra is enjoying playing softball for Presentation High School. She is a junior this year.

Wish List
The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of April are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437)
2) Out door wheelchair swing for Fernanda, I have some ideas on what would benefit her sensory system we, need someone to take the project lead to quantify the design, work involved and costs. A second team would be needed to fundraise.
3) Help framing photo graphs received in our Christmas cards.
4) Help with hanging pictures on our walls.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our April prayer requests are:

Prayers...
• Pray the Lord will provide night caregivers to help Fernanda and her family.
• Debbie’s cousin in Washington received a diagnosis of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) in mid February. She too has a caringbridge site, please keep her in your prayers http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alexishengbeckley
• Praise Fernanda remained healthy during the flu season.
• Pray for Fernanda’s new aide at school and the therapist working with her at school. Praise for the new aide who was assigned to Fernanda
• Pray for the IEP meeting we have with the school district regarding Fernanda on April 24th

Coram Deo,

Jake and Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

Monday, January 28, 2008 3:50 PM Pacific

Happy New Year Family, friends and prayer partners,

Our family had a blessed Christmas season in part thanks to many of you who gave us presents, stopped by to visit, donations to Emmaus Christian Fellowship and gift cards. There were also a few who stopped by with creative talents, Kathy Kahlenberg helped decorate our home, David Nitoff, Carlos and Jerry Bressler who hung Christmas tree lights on our home. Our family of 6 enjoyed many times together over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Debbie’s aunt and family came in from Washington for Thanksgiving at the Wilber’s. During Christmas we all had two weeks off which gave us many times to hang out at home or do day walks in our neighborhood. The time together was a blessed time most of the time though can be trying too. Praise God none of us fell ill, well until the week before last, Andrés came down with strep throat and an ear infection. Thursday, Fernanda came down with a mild case of the flu, she stayed home Friday from school. It seems to be a mild case though please do keep her in your prayers, last year she was sick just about every week during January and February.

We mailed out several photo Christmas Cards in late December, if you did not receive one from us and you would like one please let us know. Many people tell us over the year they use the photo card as a reminder to pray for our family. We are so grateful for your continued love, care and concern to our family; it makes a huge difference in our day to day life. It has been 3 ½ years since Fernanda’s trauma, the day to day life goes on for our family and yours, the support many of you give help the Hernandez family as we take each day at a time living Coram Deo (before the face of God).

Sleeping
Fernanda’s sleep patterns for the most part have been very good; there have been one or two nights a month where she is up until 4 or 5 am though thankfully it is farther and fewer days between such long nights. We have been given her Melatonin nightly at ~ 9 pm, an hour before bedtime to jumpstart her sleep pattern.

School
Last week Fernanda started a new schedule and new classes, Nutrition and theater arts at Charter School. We are hopefully the content and structure of these classes will lend itself to more opportunities for Fernanda to interact with her peers and participate. Two new aides hired by the school district have worked with Fernanda over the last three weeks, one filled in with Fernanda the first week of January and another the last two weeks. We are not clear on where the school district is at on hiring a long term permanent aide. Here your prayers are needed; it makes a world of difference for Fernanda school experience to have the “right” aide.

Caregivers
We hired a new daytime caretaker in December, her name is Christine. We said goodbye to Marisol in late December, she had been working for us for a year. The agency that provides us with a small portion of our day care hours and all our night care hours sent us a new person in January; she lives locally allowing her to work shorter shifts. The night caregiver situation continues to be a struggle on and off. We do not have a night caregiver on Sunday and Mondays through mid January through mid February.

Speech Therapy, Home Teaching and Alternative Technology (AT)
Her oral feedings continue to maintain at 60 mls of puree food twice a day. Her speech therapist Denise and Jim her home teacher created a new board, they place laminated DVDs and CDs covers on the board affixed with velcro. Fernanda is asked to use her eyes to find the covers and track them both with eye and full head movement. She has a goal to turn her head both directions 90 degrees. During December her OT, AT specialist and home teacher met together with Fernanda to evaluate her use of the switches in different positions. She is doing okay with the switches though where she has progressed more rapidly is with her visual tracking. The same team is getting together in mid February to review her progress and possibly try an eye gaze system with Fernanda.

Hanging out, going out…
She continues to go out and about to the movies; we went out as a family to Cheesecake Factory during the holidays. Fernanda enjoyed a pureed soup. It is quite loud in the restaurant; before we entered we put her ear plugs on which helped considerably. During December we were invited to a couple Christmas parties, one by our prior neighbor the Goslins and Make a Wish. They happen to both be on the same day. Santa visited both parties, in Santa Clara at City Beach and in Morgan Hill. The first weekend in December we celebrated Christmas with a party at our home hosted by Debbie's father's friend Marianne. Our children loved the early Christmas festivities. In late December the entire Hernandez family attended a surprise birthday party in Gilroy for Grammie Hernandez. It was a fun evening for all and a rare opportunity for all the Hernandezs to get together. We visited the orthodontic doctor in November, he is evaluating whether he can do anything about the considerable crowding of Fernanda’s teeth. We are going to wait to do anything for a couple of reasons, she has teeth still coming in and she needs to be able to mover volitional control of her mouth. Fernanda had her pump refilled a couple of weeks ago; they changed the concentration of the medication which means Fernanda does not need another refill until October 2008. Lauren (one of our day caregivers), Fernanda, Elena and I went to the local Centennial Recreation Center last week for a dip in the indoor pool.

Fernanda is a teenager
That is right, she is officially a teen, January 5th she celebrated her 13th birthday with a few friends and family. We went out to see the movie Enchanted and returned to the house for presents and pudding pie.

The rest of the family

Jacob took on a new job with a new company in late November which has brought him many new opportunities to grow.

Alejandra secured her drivers license at the end of November, the new found independence is a joy for her. 

This year Elena embraced the magic of Christmas, she was so enamored with the tree, lights, decorations, stuffed animals and of course presents! Awe the magic of Christmas in a child’s eyes! She is growing and becoming Mommy’s little helper at home.

Andrés is progressing in school with his academics, just before the Christmas holiday we noticed a jump in his cognitive skills. We are pleased he continues to progress and so enjoys going to school daily. Debbie continues to work with him on therapy to help him with his sensory integration problems and academics. He is also growing physically, any type of physical activity, given another person is engaged is a favorite pastime. He continues to be a challenge at home demanding a considerable amount of mom and dad’s time.

Debbie found a couple opportunities to go out with a girlfriend for lunch and another time to have a pedicure. These times out of the house are a joy and refreshing for me.

Wish List
The Hernandez Family wish list items for the month of January are located at: http://www.emmauschristianfellowship.org/custom.cfm?CustomLinkID=7 ;

1) Gift cards for the following stores are very useful in helping meet our daily needs, Trader Joes, Costco, Target and Safeway. The cards may be mailed directly to our home address, 18334 Christeph Drive, Morgan Hill, CA 95037-3437)
2) Out door wheelchair swing for Fernanda, I have some ideas on what would be nice though I need someone to take the project lead to quantify the design, work involved and costs. A second team would be needed fundraise.
3) Help framing photo graphs received in our Christmas cards.
4) Help with hanging pictures on our walls.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please call 408.997.9866 or email ecf_sj@ix.netcom.com for more detailed information as to how to do so and where to mail the contribution. You will receive a receipt reflecting the total amount of your donation.

Our January prayer requests are:

Prayers...
• Please pray for Fernanda to stay healthy during the flu season.
• Pray for Fernanda as she starts new classes at school, pray for her teachers and the children in the class. Pray for the permanent aide yet to be hired by the school district.
• Pray for the IEP meeting we have with the school district regarding Andrés on Wednesday, January 30th.
• Pray the Lord will continue to provide caregivers day and night to help Fernanda and our family.

Coram Deo,

Jake and Debbie
www.caringbridge.org/ca/fernanda

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