December 9th

What a couple of months Ashley has had.

Our last update was just prior to our Victory Junction Camp Weekend with the Transverse Myelitis Association. Our third trip; what a blessing. We caught up with several old friends and established many new ones that we will treasure.

Out on the dance floor with Crew Chief Vandy and Mom

Ashley is asking Crew Chief Bill if she can have the Taylor Swift pickup truck when Victory Junction isn't using it.

So are we close or what? (l-r) Jeff, Pauline, Mary, Dr. Sim, Ashley & Sandy

Pauline and Sandy's son Dave and his wife Kat volunteered and kept Ashley's smile bright.

What made this trip stand out was that it provided an opportunity for a historic gathering of people with ADEM. Below is a photo of 6 individuals with ADEM (not counting Betty Boop in the VJ theater). At no other time, or place, have there been as many gathered. It certainly puts into perspective how rare it is. With that said we are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated support group and collection of doctors, researchers, therapist and specialists that are dedicating themselves to healing demyelinating illnesses.

Nice October weather allowed Ashley to take a spin on her bike. Yes, bike. Ashley now has a 3-wheel bike. We have every expectation that come spring Ashley will be ready to do some real biking.

Ashley assumed the role of handing out candy on Halloween. She had a busy night. She donned her UVa Medical Center Neurosurgeon garb as a costume.

Ashley’s new netbook (gift from Midwest Orthodics) is getting a lot of use. We have loaded MicroSoft Office and will be installing speech therapy related tools. We have joined the legions of folks that are now Skyping on line (what a great way to communicate). Ashley is hoping for more eBooks for her Kindle for PC application (we can adjust the font size and Ashley can advance pages by touching the screen) and audio books that she can also play on the portable PC. We feel pretty confident that she is on Santa’s good list this year.

We had a download issue on the WNDU news story link that covered Ashley getting her PC. That has now been fixed and can be viewed from the link in the right column on the blog.

On November 2nd Ashley cast her first vote. As such if she wants to complain about anything political she has earned the right.

The crowning event in November is a significant milestone that Ashley reached. Just before Thanksgiving Ashley had her feeding tube removed! Since mid July Ashley has taken all her nutrition and hydration orally so she was given the green light to have it removed. It was an quick in-office procedure and it has healed up nicely.

December 2010 will be marked in the Ashley archives as a pivotal time in her speech recovery. The mechanics are coming together. Ashley is forming words and is making dramatic improvements in pushing air through her vocal cords to get recognizable sounds. While there is still a long way to go the progress in the last couple of weeks has been amazing.

Another area of major improvement is with Ashley’s right arm. This is not a photo-opp. Ashley is now able to hold the posts on the stationary bike with both arms and petal continuously. Note that she does not need an ace bandage on her right hand to keep it on the post.

We continue to be in awe as Ashley perseveres in her recovery. We receive words of encouragement everywhere we go and know that you are all continuing to pray for Ashley. We thank God for you all.

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a blessed New Year!

October 5th

Where do we begin to talk about an exciting September?

As is always the case Ashley has pushed herself in reaching new goals in therapy. One of the most exciting achievements was in speech. A bit of background first. ADEM has affectd Ashley's vision. It is not so much the clarity as it is her ability to maintain focus. An example is drawing two thick lines on a 3' x 2' whiteboard. It is difficult for Ashley to follow a specific line from one side to the other.

With that in mind what occurred during speech last month amazed us. One of her therapists pulled out a card that had a sentence on large font that filled a few lines. She asked Ashley to look at it. She than asked questions about the statement. Ashley answered them all. She has regained the ability to focus sufficiently to read!

September means football and gave us a chance to visit Austin-Miles and take in an IU game. What made it even more special is that it fell on Ashley's birthday. Austin-Miles chose the restaurant, Yogi's (good food and atmosphere) and we had a great time catching up with him and celebrating Ashley's birhtday. Then it was off to the game. We caught up wiht Ashley's friend Emily and her boyfriend Dean. It was an evening game and the weather was ideal.

Austin-Miles was filming from the south end zone above the scoreboard (he's between 'Indiana' and 'University'). The entire 90' x 30' scoreboard is one huge jumbo-tron.
Here is the view Austin-Miles has. We were sitting in the first row on the right side (east) of the field.
They showed the plays live and even though we were in the front row at midfield we found ourselves watching the live action on the scoreboard as often as we were looking at the field. During half time several high school bands joined the IU band. It was fun being so close to the field to watch them and also having the benefit of looking up at the screen to the 'bigger' picture going on out on the field.
Backing up on the calendar a bit; Bernie Veldman of Midwest Orthotics, the company that provides Ashley with her ankle-foot orthotics (AFOs), said he wanted to do something special for Ashley. Bernie and his staff went well beyond that. I'll direct you to the WNDU-TV link under 'News Articles on Ashley' in the right column on this page and to the video link within to see exactly what they provided Ashley. Then read on...

This hybrid PC combines the functionality of a fully loaded PC with the adaptability of a tablet with a touch screen. Ashley has been improving her ability to use the touch screen on her communication PC. While she still needs assistance in supporting her arm, she is able to touch the large icons on the screen to launch Facebook, Audio Book Reader, Internet Explorer (which defaults to this site as its home page), Skype and Kindle for PC. In addition there are speakers mounted on the back of her chair that provide excellent audio when Ashley plays her iTunes which are also accessible on the PC. Below we were taking a walk on the new walk/bike path in our neighborhood while listening to music on Ashley's new PC. There is a trackball mounted on the left side that will help Ashley improve the motor skill of her left arm. Another benefit coming from the trackball is that it will help Ashley control her electric wheelchair that has a joystick mounted on it.

Earlier I mentioned that Ashley read large font sentences on cards at therapy. We downloaded Kindle for PC. As a test we downloaded a free book and found we could adjust the font size to what Ashley needed. Just as she did in therapy Ashley was able to read and answer questions about the subject matter. What increased our excitement was that Ashley merely has to touch the right side of the screen to advance the page, or the left side to back up. She can place a 'bookmark' where she stops so the next time she opens the book it will open to where she left off.

We have also downloaded an audiobook that we will be listening to via Ashley's PC during our road trip to Victory Junction Gang Camp in North Carolina. As you can probably picture, this device is more than a mere convenience. It is opening up several doors toward Ashley's recovery. We can not sufficiently express our thanks to Bernie and his fabulous staff.

Another wonderful person that came into our lives is David Affholter. Followers of this blog will recall from the July posting that David and his wife Emily had their third child, Hope Ashley, that our Ashley is pictured holding. In this link David tells the story of faith he experienced via his life altering injury and meeting Ashley that includes a song called 'Swingset'. Well done David, well done! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=152268941478030

We will be going to Victory Junction soon. We are looking forward to seeing more of the amazing people God has put in our lives. Count on us to take lots of pictures and to post them as soon as the internet connection allows.

May God bless your October!

September 3rd

August was a wonderful month for Ashley.

There was a trip to the lake. She supervised Austin Miles' move into his Bloomington apartment. Multiple visit from friends. Ashley continued to make great strides in her recovery as well. During the entire month of August she took all her hydration orally. At times Ashley has been able to hold a glass and sip through a straw without any assistance.

Ashley offering Austin Miles some decorating tips for his apartment

During a check up with her doctor last week it was decided that if this wonderful advancement stays on track Ashley will have a swallow study in October. We expect that to have positive results and for her feeding tube to be removed shortly after.

Ashley continues to make progress fighting the tone she has in her right arm. It is still a struggle, but is insisting on using it more and we are happy to assist.

Although Ashely amazes everyone with her unwavering spirit and motivation it seems like a second wind kicked in during August. She didn't seem to tire as often as she worked at tasks. In fact she has been pushing us to extend the therapy regimens we do at home. When she is on the exercise mat at home she is doing leg lifts and stretching with vigor. She is truly pushing herself and she is seeing positive results.

Ashley with some of her cousins during the family reunion at Big Lake

Here's a first. During the Slater family reunion Ashley's Aunt Jill got a three-wheel bike for her birthday. Below you see Ashley on the bike. It was more than a mere photo op. Ashley pedaled and even in the grass was able to go a good distance.

We are excited to see the progress Ashley will display in September. We will be making a trip down to one of the IU games to visit with Austin Miles and now Ashley has two friends that have just started grad school at IU. Hopefully they will be able to pull away from their studies for awhile and tailgate with Ashley.

October is another month that has us energized. We will be making our third trip to Victory Junction Gang Camp ( http://www.victoryjunction.org/ ) in North Carolina (hopefully hurricane Earl doesn't have a cousin planning to drop by). This will be a weekend event so we will be packing a lot of activity into a short period of time. Ashley will be seeing some 'old' friends and we will be meeting new ones that we have only had contact with via the phone and internet. Victory Junction is a magical place because it facilitates the gathering of those with a common bond.

We are so fortunate to have the Transverse Myelitis Association ( http://www.myelitis.org/ ) fellow members for support. It is awesome to experience the camaraderie that developes between those that suffer from the affects of demyelinating conditions as well as their families and the fantasitic group of doctors that have devoted so much time, understanding and love to help.

We hope your summer has been as blessed as ours. Your continued prayers have certainly played a role in making it so. As we head into the fall Ashley and the rest of us will continue to offer prayers of thanks for all that you have meant to us as we continue along our journey. God bless you!

July 27th

It has been an exciting July.

Trips to the lake for the holiday and for cousin Jessica’s graduation party. Each time the weather has cooperated and the low humidity has made those upper 80 and 90 degree days enjoyable. Andrea, Ashley’s friend from St. Mary’s, came for a visit. A namesake birth with family friends.

We just received our hardcopy of the Transverse Myelitis Association Quarterly Newsletter. Transverse Myelitis is the spinal cord condition of ADEM. Sandy Siegel, President of the organization and the newsletter editor published an article on the visit we had back in March with Sandy and his wife Pauline, and it was our first opportunity to meet Al Lugo in person. There is a link to the article in the right column under ‘News Articles on Ashley’ titled “Ashley meets Dr. Lugo March 2010”. Be sure to have some Kleenex nearby as you read it.

Another special person in Ashley’s life is Dave Affholter. Two years ago Dave suffered a severe spinal injury but made a remarkable recovery. We met Dave, who was the Videographer for the University of St. Francis Football team, when Austin’s football coach introduced them. Dave arranged for Austin to meet the Videographer at IU which lead to Austin working for the IU team (a job he loves). Austin also works for Dave during the summer and just this month was down in Alabama filming the National 7-on-7 High School Championships.

We soon introduced Dave to Ashley and they immediately formed a connection. Dave could relate to the issues Ashley faced in rehabilitation since he had experienced similar challenges.

Dave and his young family have visited several times and it is always special. On July 7th Dave’s wife Emily gave birth to their third child. Her name, Hope Ashley.

Needless to say Ashley is Hope’s biggest fan.

Ashley’s motor skills with her left arm have improved markedly this month. She was in the front seat of the car and was able to reach across and unlock the car door without any assistance. She is increasing the tasks that she is able to accomplish at therapy as well.

On the communication front Ashley is now able to hold her communication PC’s activation button in her hand and squeeze it rather than rely on raising her arm. This is significant since the only support we have for the button is on her wheelchair. Now wherever Ashley is she can use her PC to communicate. Please pray that the sound will soon come behind the letters and words Ashley is mouthing.

Ashley’s oral intake of fluids also continues to improve. We are optimistic that her feeding tube will be gone before the year is out.

Although progress is slow it is miraculous. A little over a year ago I wondered if she would ever be able to close her lips on her own. Now she is forming letters and words with them. After three years of recovery Ashley shows no signs of slowing down.

Thank you for all your prayers. Every day we see the positive impact not only on Ashley, but on the rest of us. Your prayer support has been a source of energy for us and we are ever so grateful.

3 Years

It has now been three years since Ashley was suddenly and unexpectedly struck with ADEM Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. Since then her recovery has been slow, but Ashley continues to show signs that she will not give up.

>Although she has yet to find her voice there are more sounds and an increase in the letters and even words being mouthed.

>Based on her improved ability to go both up and down stairs Ashley is sleeping in her own bed almost every night now.

>Pureed foods are still necessary, but Ashley is able to chew and can even use her left arm to place foods in her mouth. Her right arm still has a lot of tone but she is able to move her fingers and arm. Since being home Ashley has maintained a healthy weight within just a few pounds. She is the healthiest eater in the house.

>Orally consuming liquids is still a work in progress, but there has been a lot of progress. Ashley is typically drinking over 36 ounces a day and now rarely coughs or chokes.

>The affects of ADEM make it hard for Ashley to focus for reading, but she has become a big fan of audio books. Each day going to and from therapy she is listening to an audio book. She listens to a range of categories. Nickolas Sparks ranks high as her favorite author.

>Keeping up on current events is also important to Ashley. She likes to watch the local and national news and we discuss various topics.

>Ashley has not wavered in her faith. Just try to begin a meal with her before saying grace and you will get a scornful look from her. At mass she is able to receive the Eucharist.

>At night she still is wearing Ankle/Foot Orthotics (AFOs) so she needs assistance turning, but Ashley can sit up in bed and when her AFOs are off she can swing her legs to the side of the bed. At that point she only needs balance assistance to stand up. Her muscle tone continues to improve.

>Ashley is a good hugger and is now puckering up for kisses. Of course she still has her award winning smile which melts everyone that comes in contact with her.

Throughout her life Ashley has set goals and worked hard to achieve them. She also knows that she is the source of inspiration to so many others. Giving up has never been an option. Ashley has adapted and continues to strive for every milestone. Each time she reaches one and receives affirmation her beaming face is reflection of God’s love and Ashley saying, “It is not just me, it is everyone that has prayed for me that can share in this and each victorious step I make in my recovery.”

So what has Ashley been up to the last two months? Given the beautiful weather we have had most weekends there have been several trips to the lake to visit with the grandparents and other relatives. Last weekend she saw her first 3D movie, Toy Story 3. Given all the coming attactions that were also in 3D it looks like this format will soon be the standard. At least the glasses are stylish.

A boat ride with mom on Mother's Day.

Dad gets a hug on Father's Day.

Soaking up that vitamin D and summoning the lotion boy's stand in, Austin Miles for some more block out at the lake.

Don't disrupt Ashley while she is getting caught up on the day's news. She is the go to person for what's going on.

Hanging out with Grandpa, dad and cousin Alex (he is kneeling).


On behalf of Ashley and our family, thank you for all your support. We pray that God provides you with the blessings of love we have felt and that your summer is full of sunny days.

April 30th

The saying is “April showers will bring May flowers”, but with Ashley we are wondering if “April voicing and letter/word patterning will bring May speech”. That statement may be premature, but given the strides Ashley has made so far this year it is not out of the question.

Ashley has been more vocal and she is increasing the number of letters and even whole words that she is forming. Add to that the increased amount and regularity of vocalizing and it looks promising.

Just three months ago the speech therapist was coming down to watch Ashley in the pool during physical therapy because she was vocalizing and the therapist want to hear her (we think the water pressure on her diaphragm made it easier to push air through her vocal cords). Now Ashley is voicing up each day in speech therapy.

Physical strength is also continuing to improve. Ashley is now often able to stand up and balance from her wheelchair without assistance. While there is still tone in her right arm she is showing an broader range of control of not only that arm, but also her fingers.

In the past week Ashley was able raise up from all fours to balancing on her knees. In addition to that she then pulled on a ‘thera-band’ with her left arm. The therapists were impressed with her ability to maintain her balance while also repeatedly pulling on the resistive device.

Yesterday Ashley wrapped up another round of serial casting on her right ankle. For three weeks she had casts placed on that lower leg twice a week in an effort to improve the range of the ankle. The measurements following the castings were not all that great, but time will tell now that it is off as she begins walking with the same shoes on both feet.

Later today we will be off to visit Grandma and Grandpa who recently returned to the Hoosier state from the Sunshine state. This will be the first time they have seen Ashley since October and she is ready to show them the progress she has made.

March 29th

March on!

This has been an exciting month. Ashley has done exceptionally well with liquids this month. She is now drinking 8 ounces of milk or juice at each meal. In addition to that there have been several days that she has had drinks in between meals. Just yesterday Ashley drank a 16 ounce shake. Thankfully what is becoming more rare is for the liquid to go down wrong and cause Ashley to choke.

Our next step will be to start giving Ashley skim milk as we move to thinner liquids. Once we see she is able to consistently drink water without an issue her feeding tube will be history.

Austin was home two weeks ago for spring break from Indiana University. While we all enjoyed having him home for a visit it was obvious that Ashley was delighted to spend as much time with him as she could. Austin is doing quite well at school and Ashley is quite proud of her little brother.

Ashley’s long time swim pal Rachel visited her at therapy during break. Rachel is studying to be a therapist.

We have great news to share on the communication front as well. First, when Ashley wants to communicate something we either have her spell it on her PC (with her button she can pull up a visual QWERTY keyboard and select letters as the PC goes through them sequentially). If the PC is not at hand we go through the alphabet orally. As you can imagine this takes a bit of time. We finally noticed that Ashley was often moving her lips and tongue when we would ask if she wanted to spell. We put two and two together and realized that Ashley was showing us the letters she wanted.

Last week Ashley ‘mouthed’ B-A-B-Y B-E-N. I guessed the letters without going through the alphabet and learned that my nephew Ben and his wife Beth were expecting their first child. Congratulations Ben & Beth! It was a wonderful way to get the news.

The second advancement with communication is that Ashley is training with an ‘eye-gaze’ computer. As mentioned above Ashley uses a button to select pre-established options on her PC. When she hits the button with her left arm the PC says what the selection is. As such Ashley has to wait for the PC to sequence through the options and then hit the button when it reaches what she wants to express.

Eye-gaze is an attachment to her custom PC. I would compare it to the Wii game console. Anyone that has a Wii knows that there is a signal reception bar that you place next to the TV that displays the games. That signal bar detects the movement of the Wii hand sets and translates that into movement within the game in real time.

The attachment on Ashley’s PC (following a calibration set up) can detect exactly where Ashley is focusing her sight on her PC’s screen. If she holds her sight in one spot for a selected period of time (a fraction of a second) a red dot appears on the spot and acts the same as if the touch sensitive screen where pressed.

Ashley’s eye sight has been affected by ADEM so we were not sure if she could even use this technology. So far it looks promising. Ashley has gone through several tests of the system and while parts are still a challenge it appears that this will work. The result is that Ashley will be able to ‘look’ immediately at a selection rather than wait for the computer to cycle through all the options. As the icons get smaller and more are added to the screen it starts to overwhelm Ashley’s ability to process, but that was to be expected. We are confident that with time she will be able to work her way to having more and more options on a single page. The good news is that we can customize the icons to the size that works. So at first she may only have a handful of icons at a time. Yet as her brain adapts we will be able to reduce the size of those icons and get more on a single screen.

Ashley’s accomplishment in other areas gives us the confidence that she will successfully adapt to the eye-gaze. As with those other accomplishments it is a combination of Ashley’s hard work, positive attitude and all of your pray support. Thank you!

This last weekend we had the pleasure of meeting Al. Al was struck with ADEM shortly after earning a degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan. He had just started a job. That unwelcome event in his life turned into an epiphany. Al will graduate from medical school at Ohio State next month. This fall he begins his residency in neurology in Detroit.

Accompanying Al were Sandy and Pauline whom appear in pictures throughout this blog. Pauline contracted Transverse Myelitis over 10 years ago. The two of them spearheaded the creation of the Transverse Myelitis Association (myelitis.org). Because of their efforts we were able to find the experts that helped with Ashley’s diagnosis and treatment. That also put us in contact with other families facing rehabilitation and lead to our attending a symposium on these related diseases and our two trips to Victory Junction Gang Camp in North Carolina.

As we were swapping cameras and taking shots I failed to get Sandy, Pauline and Al in the same photo.


From right to left, Mary, Ashley, Pauline and Al. Kazu is catching a nap at their feet.


Here are Sandy, Mary, Ashley, Jeff and Al.

We visited for about five hours, but it felt like a lot less. Al still feels the affects of ADEM. It is nothing short of miraculous that he was able to successfully complete medical school. In turn we realize that Ashley shares those priceless traits of motivation that Al has. His perseverance provides all of us with the confidence we need to see Ashley reach her full potential. We are blessed to know Al and we look forward to talking with him in the future.

We will be keeping you in our prayers Al. Ashley’s legions of supporters will be praying for you as well.

Al is hoping to attend the next young adults’ weekend this October at Victory Junction. We are looking forward to hearing how he has settled into his residency at that point. Sandy and Pauline will be there as well. The young adults’ weekend was the first Victory Junction event we attended in October 2008. Ashley is looking forward to seeing many of the participants she met at the first camp.

What a wonderful start to spring. Each of you reading this blog has played in instrumental role in Ashley’s achievements. We have had the honor of meeting many of you, and you have personally encouraged us. Many more are cheering Ashley on and we appreciate each and every one of you. God Bless You!

February 28th

Let it snow…

Ashley took advantage of the heavy snow this month by going for a sled ride through the back yard.

The most exciting advance this month has been Ashley’s improved ability to swallow fluids. As followers of the site know Ashley has been eating pureed foods for over a year. Drinking liquids without occasionally chocking remained a challenge. Ashley has been drinking up to 3 ounces in a sitting the last couple of weeks without a problem. About a week ago we heard a sound that would normally be considered poor manors, but for us was an event for celebration; Ashley, using a straw, reached the bottom of her glass and slurped!

We have every confidence that 2010 will see the removal of Ashley’s feeding tube. Thank you all for your continued prayers that have helped Ashley reach this point.

February means Valentines Day and Ashley pitched in to make some cookies.

Speaking of cookies…

On the eating front, as we reported last month, Ashley has been able to pick up a pretzel rod and graham cracker and get it to her mouth and take a bite. It is still a laborious process but Ashley just yesterday added a third item to her list. She is now picking up cinnamon flavored corn puffs and eating them. We are looking forward to the day that she can have a bowl of these and eat them like popcorn all on her own.

The Eating portion of Walk, Talk and Eat is on a promising track.

Since Ashley has had physical therapy in the pool twice a week she has increased her ability to kick her legs, roll over and as you can see from this picture Ashley is a right at home in the water.

Ashley is getting down the stairs from her bedroom on the weekends easier. She is going down side ways using the wall for support. While we were right there to spot her she took most of the steps on her own. This approach has proven a lot easier for Ashley than going down straight.

Last week Ashley accompanied Aunt Ann and Mom to the Fort Wayne Home and Garden show. They had a good time seeing the wide variety of exhibits. Later Ashley said the variety and sheer size of the show made it tiring for her. All of that visual stimulation is still a lot for her to absorb. Even so she had a good time and was glad see went.

While we are still relying on spelling words with Ashley our conversations continue to broaden. We are going beyond responding to basic needs and comfort and getting into more in depth conversations. This is a good thing because Ashley is frequently reminding both mom and dad of things we discussed in the past and forgot to follow through on. It just shows how complex Ashley’s malady is. While some functions are severely affected by her demyelization there are some areas that are not affected and, encouragingly, other areas that are healing and revealing welcome progress in her recovery.

Although we still have snow on the ground we are anxious for some warm weather in March so Ashley can get outside and take a walk in the neighborhood. It may be a short walk but it will be a walk and we hopeful that it will be the start of ever increasing distances this year.

January 31st

Ashley is off to a great start this year.

The biggest advance is that Ashley fed herself. She picked up a large pretzel stick and she was able to get it to her mouth, take a bite and eat it. While it is not a seamless flow, it takes her awhile to get the pretzel to her mouth, it is a significant milestone. For the first time in over 30 months Ashley has given herself something to eat. She has also added graham crackers to her practice.

In therapy Ashley walked (with support, but without any patterning) around the entire Lutheran Hospital outpatient rehabilitation main room last week. That’s about 200 feet.

While we are still waiting on those first words Ashley is mouthing individual letters of a given word. It gives us a chill of joy up our spines to realize that she is closing in on regaining the complicated mechanics of what we pray will be her restored voice.

Pool therapy is back twice a week. The buoyancy allows Ashley to walk more fluidly. She also rolls from her back to her stomach with relative ease. She moves her legs to the therapist’s request more frequently and to a greater range. The pool time is a definite plus. One thing the physical therapist noticed was that Ashley was more vocal in the pool. They shared that with speech therapy so her speech therapist came to the pool (this is in a separate facility) to see what Ashley was doing to possibly augment her speech rehab.

Ashley is improving her practice with drinking liquids with a straw. While Ashley very rarely has a problem with choking when it comes to food (pureed, or something she is chewing) liquids are still a challenge. She will master this with time as well.

Ashley visited with several friends before they returned to school and even took in a movie (Blindside) with two friends (Rachel and Jessica who coincidentally are studying to be a physical and occupational therapist respectfully).

We traveled down to Elwood, IN for a post holiday Slater side of the family get together a few weeks ago. Ashley’s cousin Lara and her husband Daniel were our hosts. It was wonderful to visit with the extended family. Ashley’s progress was on display. She walked into the house (with support) and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

Ashley also has paid a couple of visits to the newest addition to the extended family, Nora Grace.

We continue to witness the miracle of Ashley’s healing that is a direct result of all the ongoing pray support that we are so fortunate to receive. We cannot fathom how anyone could confront the challenges Ashley faces while maintaining such a positive focus and optimism without strong faith. Ashley is unwavering in her faith. She will not begin a meal until grace is said. She takes on an aura of peace at night following evening prayers at bedtime. Although Ashley cannot speak aloud yet she most certainly has an open line of communication with God. He has plans for Ashley and we have seen first hand how she has such a powerful, positive impact on so many people that have crossed her path.

Ashley’s friend Emily coined the phrase Walk, Talk & Eat. We are praying that 2010 is the year when ‘talk’ joins ‘walk’ and ‘eat’ in Ashley’s rehabilitation. We appreciate your prayers for words to flow from Ashley again.