As always, Surfers Healing was awesome this year. It was huge turnout, bigger than ever! Gavin even had his own little fan club there to "Ooh and Aah" over him! It was an unforgettable day, especially since Sara was starting to go into labor with Bodie! We knew from the previous two births that she labors slowly and methodically, so we felt it best to spend the beginning stages of labor at the beach! It sure beats staring at the ceiling in a hospital room!

Gavin did pretty well this year. I was worried he would be scared, because he's been a little bit leery of things lately. We had a bad experience at the waterslide in town this summer. I spent ten minutes talking him into trying it with me, and he loved it! That is, until the very end when we flipped off the tube under the water. I felt pretty awful about that. He was only submerged for a second or two, but he got a nose full and came up screaming. I lost a little bit of his trust on that day, I think. When it came to surfing, though, he was prepared. We showed him lots of surfing videos and home movies of a younger Gavin surfing in prior years. He really loved it, but he wouldn't let his feet touch the board. The poor surfer had to hold him up the whole time!

It was a perfect day at the beach. Gavin's entourage included his Grammy and Papa Geno, Aunt Mollie, his school counselor, teacher and developmental therapist. All of these awesome, caring people got such a kick out of seeing Gavin's happy face while he rode the waves. We feel lucky that Gavin has so many people in his life that love him. It takes a village to raise a child, and Gavin's village is full of the best.

If you haven't seen the "tribute to Surfers Healing" video we made, you should go watch it. On our home page, click the "learn more" in the green box, and it'll take you to a page with the video. Or, here's the address:                          http://www.snugfits.com/Surfers-Healing.html