Hey, BIG NEWS!!! Nancy here (MOA -- mom of Aren). Aren has been accepted to the Outdoor Challenge Camp at the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center in Colorado. A week of camp sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of Colorado (BIAC), this camp is open only to those with brain injury and is something that the folks at Craig Hospital have recommended for Aren for a few years now.
Canoeing, rock climbing, lots more is adapted for those with brain injury. Amazing, eh? We'll have to get some photos showing how Aren can do these things....
Excitement and hopefully just the thing to stimulate Aren's cognition...but it comes at a price.
Come late August, our family will be down in Denver for doctor and dentist appointments at Craig Hospital before we head to Breckenridge for the adventure. Chris and Chelayne are coming too! We'll have time for visits with Colorado friends before Breckenridge, and then we'll be on our great camping challenge -- out to western CO, south to Durango, then hopefully some exploring around the Sangre De Cristo and San Juan mountains. Will time let us also get to Colorado Springs and the Olympic Center for the gathering and subsequent climb up Pikes Peak for BIAC? Mmm, it's in the plans.
After the Colorado Challenge adventure, Gary and Aren and I will then take a family vacation drive to CA to see family in Long Beach and the bay area before driving north and home to Alaska. Woo hoo! So many miles.... But, Aren absolutely gets livened up by traveling, so here is a present to you, our beloved son.
The Colorado and Challenge Camp trip is $$$$$. We probably can only afford $ or $$ or maybe $$$ :) So if you are in the Palmer area, keep on the lookout for a musical fundraiser...and if you are an old friend of the family, you may be blessed enough to receive our fundraising letter. Aaaargh! I can't believe we did that, but other old friends asked for it.
Would you like to help? Contributions can be sent to "Challenge Camp Fund" at the Michaelson home or made directly to Wells Fargo, specifics below. Any amount would be appreciated, but $20 or even more would especially help. Thank you, thank you, thank you ahead of time for whatever your contribution is, be it financial or well wishes.
Gary and Nancy Michaelson 7799 N Palmer Fishhook Rd, Palmer, AK 99645
Wells Fargo, "Challenge Camp Savings Account", #8249490155
Please send us your contact info or check back here for updates, photos, and "travelogue" at summer's end. And thank you again for your support, from the bottom of our hearts.
"Nothing is a reason to be closed. Everything is a reason to be open."
