Church and Cousins

Yesterday Kylie and I tried a new church. I have to say that this is the first time that I have ever had to "look" for a church. I mean, my parents always had strong ties to the church we were attending. Everyone knew every one's family, their accomplishments and their flaws, and what color their poop was on a bad day. Then at Harding, I went to the church that my circle of friends attended. I loved it because they had a traditional service (which I went to when I was homesick) and a non-traditional service (which was kinda like being at camp with good clothes on and a warm shower beforehand).

Then Alan and I accompanied my brother to his big church and gained a small group to share with immediately. We were so lucky to meet and share with so many people. A lot of them were there for me when Alan and I hit rock bottom with the diagnosis of our son. It became harder and harder to go to church as a family with Riley and a lot of people can't understand that, but if we were filming a reality show and cameras were there 24/7, it would be a lot clearer.

Warning: Pitty Party coming up------
I have blogged before about how I would take Riley to class and then cry outside the door in the hallway. His peers would be patiently sitting at a table as if they were going to take the Pre-SAT. Riley was clearly a distraction and I even had women who wouldn't hide their disdain for his appearance. IN MY OWN CHURCH!! There were also times that friends or some random stranger would take me in a room and comfort me. Thank you, Tracey!! And then was the time that some sweet friends of ours offered to be his "shadow" in the same room they were teaching. Thank you Mike and Amy!! In the end, we couldn't handle it and so I would go with Kylie one week, Alan would go with her the next, until it got to be too much for our family. I will never forget all the people that were so supportive of our family and constantly asked for updates on Riley! :)
End of Pity Party-------

Now that we are in a new town, my sweet friend Michael Ann offered to stay with Riley during church if we wanted to come to their church. We considered it but the church is a little far for Riley to handle at this time so we are back to going with Kylie every weekend or finding a small church where everyone knows our situation and can handle it. Alan's family goes to a small church- they just broke off from the larger church they were a part of- and want us to come visit. The church meets at a school now and there is another boy with autism that attends and everyone knows and supports the family. We have a lot of thinking and deciding to do....

So after church, I stopped by Aunt Donna's house after Kylie and I grabbed a bite (I am learning to just drop-by cause that's what Aunt Donna said. "Just come by...we don't need to plan stuff. We're family!!") and we had the best time catching up. I then took Kylie's cousins back to our house. Kylie and Jaydon get along SO well and Jenna and Alan play Wii. I got to play Wii with Jenna yesterday. We played boggle and had a blast!! The girls are also so good and sweet to Riley. Maybe Kylie will catch some pointers! HA!

Riley smiles so big when he sees them and barreled out the door to jump on the trampoline with them. When the girls would get tired, Riley would point at them and yell, "MORE JUMP!!" It's all about the pointing now and I LOVE THAT!!

All in all- we had a great weekend!!