To read about Chris...
To order his book...
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Introducing Simple Spirituality
Christopher Heuertz (Class of 1990) currently serves in an administrative capacity with Word Made Flesh in Omaha, Nebraska. His new book, Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World, has just been released. Visit with Chris at his book signing on July 23rd and/or August 10th.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Meet Ebony the Service Dog
Dear Family and Friends,
It is with much excitement and anticipation that we introduce Ebony, Ryan's autism service dog. Many of you may wonder "what can a service dog do for a child?" and we would like to answer that question for you. But before we do, we want you to understand WHY Ryan needs his companion.
In January of 2006, he was officially diagnosed as autistic. While we were devastated with the diagnosis, we were well aware that Ryan will always be a special needs child as he had previously been diagnosed with epilepsy, developmental delay and mild cerebral palsy. Autism, though, is a terrible disease to live with. The daily struggles are exhausting, but at the same time, we are so very blessed to have Ryan in our family. He is a sweet, social, outgoing, lovable four year old boy. Some of Ryan's favorite things are to swing in the backyard, go for stroller and car rides, play peek-a-boo and be chased around the house. He also loves anything that spins, balls and musical toys. As hard as it is to raise a child with autism, we love Ryan so very much and thank God every day for the privilege of being his parents.Autism Assistance K9s are full scale service dogs whose tasks include interrupting repetitive behaviors exhibited often by autistic children, offer safe physical control by both being an anchor for physical management of an autistic child to prevent wandering or rushing away during an emotional crisis, utilizes body weight to offer deep compression maneuvers which are common therapy, decrease the number of emotional meltdowns due to just the emotional support through offering the consistency to the child, are very vocal to let you know if your child is untethered from the dog or trying to get out of the room, stops the child from leaving, and if your child should still get lost they are avid trackers as well.
To bring Ebony home, we will make two trips to Leitchfield, Kentucky, home of Kentucky Working Canine Association-Rehabilitation & Rescue. The first trip will consist of three days of training starting with one to three hours of training just with Kim and the dog. After Kim's training, the dog will be introduced to Ryan and we will spend the rest of the time learning how to work with Ebony and Ryan together. After these three days, we will return home for forty-five to sixty days and then make a second trip to Kentucky. This trip will last one day where we will work out any kinks, "test out" and show the trainer our skills and work through any problems that have come up.
Please continue to follow us on this journey by going to Ryan's website...
http://www.caringbridge.org/ne/ryanm
With much love,
Travis and Kim (Lucht) McClintick, Class of 1991
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Shanaeya Comes for a Visit!
Every summer, Shanaeya makes a trip back to Omaha from California to say hi to fellow BCHers. Pictured here are Shanaeya Burton Nelson, Sara Denzler Nylin, Joy Favara Schulz, Julie Jensen Ostrand, Tiffany Novotny Donahoe, Stacy Scott Russell, and Joanna Bingel McAleer. Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Earth Shakes as Couple Meet Son
Kari (Wilson) College, Class of '91
By Michael Kelly, published June 1, 2008 in the Omaha World Herald
Eight minutes after a joyous Omaha couple met their first child, adopted in China, the earth began to shake and the joy turned to fear “We’ll always remember the earthquake as the time we met our boy,” said Scott College . “Unfortunately, it was such a time of loss for others.”
More than 68,000 died in China’s May 12 earthquake, and 15 million-plus have been relocated. Fears are that lakes formed after the quake will burst their banks and cause floods.
Scott and wife Kari met 2-year-old Elijah at 2:20 p.m. on that Monday in Chengdu. They sat on a floor, getting to know this “amazingly adorable” child. At 2:28 p.m., the building shook. Kari grabbed Elijah and all ran outside, soon to see thousands of others running to the streets. The rumbling, 57 miles from the epicenter, lasted two minutes. “All of a sudden we had the instant bond of a family,” Scott said. “We quickly had gone from two people to three in a crisis.”
Today, for the first time, Scott and Kari will bring Elijah to their Omaha church, Christ Community, where the adventure of becoming a family began. A year ago, Kari joined a group from the church to volunteer in a Beijing orphanage. She and Scott , who married in 1996, had talked about an international adoption, but her trip cemented the idea of applying to China.
When she returned home, Kari went online late one night and saw a special-needs child. She woke Scott , telling him she felt as though the boy — who had a cleft palate and lip — was looking back at her. His name was Zhongfu. Because of his health problem, the adoption process was expedited to less than a year. Scott , who works in the actuarial department at Physicians Mutual, and Kari , a kindergarten teacher at Saratoga Elementary, left Omaha for China on May 6, spending a few days in Beijing. They flew to Chengdu, a city of 10 million, two days before seeing the child they would name Elijah Zhongfu College .
The earthquake cracked buildings in Chengdu, but most weren’t severely damaged. Aftershocks, though, frightened many people. The Colleges, staying on the 18th floor of a hotel, were advised to sleep in their clothes and keep a bag of essentials handy for a quick exit. They couldn’t immediately reach their worried parents, Gene and June College and Don and Dee Wilson, but eventually did so. Scott and Kari left Chengdu with little Eli four days after the quake, spent five days near Hong Kong getting the child’s visa in order and flew 14 hours to Chicago. Eli slept seven hours, and didn’t cry the whole way. The family then flew to Omaha, arriving to a welcome by relatives at 8 p.m. on May 22.
Kari plans to take next year off from teaching. Scott returned to work last week, and at home the child walked from room to room, looking for his father. If all goes well, Elijah will have surgery this summer on his cleft palate. He probably will need speech therapy, Scott said, but his health otherwise is good. Scott said he and Kari have felt God’s presence and comfort and a renewed spiritual connection with each other.
Today, the director of the Chinese orphanage where Kari worked last summer will speak at Christ Community Church, and people will remember the victims of the May 12 quake and others who have suffered. The Colleges, meanwhile, will get to show off their new son. That won’t make world news, but Eli means the world to them.
■ Contact the writer:
444-1132, michael.kelly@owh.com
By Michael Kelly, published June 1, 2008 in the Omaha World Herald
Eight minutes after a joyous Omaha couple met their first child, adopted in China, the earth began to shake and the joy turned to fear “We’ll always remember the earthquake as the time we met our boy,” said Scott College . “Unfortunately, it was such a time of loss for others.”
More than 68,000 died in China’s May 12 earthquake, and 15 million-plus have been relocated. Fears are that lakes formed after the quake will burst their banks and cause floods.
Scott and wife Kari met 2-year-old Elijah at 2:20 p.m. on that Monday in Chengdu. They sat on a floor, getting to know this “amazingly adorable” child. At 2:28 p.m., the building shook. Kari grabbed Elijah and all ran outside, soon to see thousands of others running to the streets. The rumbling, 57 miles from the epicenter, lasted two minutes. “All of a sudden we had the instant bond of a family,” Scott said. “We quickly had gone from two people to three in a crisis.”
Today, for the first time, Scott and Kari will bring Elijah to their Omaha church, Christ Community, where the adventure of becoming a family began. A year ago, Kari joined a group from the church to volunteer in a Beijing orphanage. She and Scott , who married in 1996, had talked about an international adoption, but her trip cemented the idea of applying to China.
When she returned home, Kari went online late one night and saw a special-needs child. She woke Scott , telling him she felt as though the boy — who had a cleft palate and lip — was looking back at her. His name was Zhongfu. Because of his health problem, the adoption process was expedited to less than a year. Scott , who works in the actuarial department at Physicians Mutual, and Kari , a kindergarten teacher at Saratoga Elementary, left Omaha for China on May 6, spending a few days in Beijing. They flew to Chengdu, a city of 10 million, two days before seeing the child they would name Elijah Zhongfu College .
The earthquake cracked buildings in Chengdu, but most weren’t severely damaged. Aftershocks, though, frightened many people. The Colleges, staying on the 18th floor of a hotel, were advised to sleep in their clothes and keep a bag of essentials handy for a quick exit. They couldn’t immediately reach their worried parents, Gene and June College and Don and Dee Wilson, but eventually did so. Scott and Kari left Chengdu with little Eli four days after the quake, spent five days near Hong Kong getting the child’s visa in order and flew 14 hours to Chicago. Eli slept seven hours, and didn’t cry the whole way. The family then flew to Omaha, arriving to a welcome by relatives at 8 p.m. on May 22.
Kari plans to take next year off from teaching. Scott returned to work last week, and at home the child walked from room to room, looking for his father. If all goes well, Elijah will have surgery this summer on his cleft palate. He probably will need speech therapy, Scott said, but his health otherwise is good. Scott said he and Kari have felt God’s presence and comfort and a renewed spiritual connection with each other.
Today, the director of the Chinese orphanage where Kari worked last summer will speak at Christ Community Church, and people will remember the victims of the May 12 quake and others who have suffered. The Colleges, meanwhile, will get to show off their new son. That won’t make world news, but Eli means the world to them.
■ Contact the writer:
444-1132, michael.kelly@owh.com
Friday, May 23, 2008
Congratulations Chad and Allison!
Alexis Ann Reznicek arrived on May 21, 2008 at 12:38pm.
She weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.
She joins big brother Tim (10) and sisters Calli (7), Tiffany (6), and Chloe (2).
Friday, April 4, 2008
Congratulations, Julie and Karl!
Congratulations to Julie Jensen Ostrand (Class of '92) and her husband Karl. Emerson (Emme) Dorothy Joan Ostrand was born April 4, 2008 at 6:34 pm. She weighed 4 pounds, 9 ounces.Sunday, February 3, 2008
Congratulations, Russells!
Elizabeth Anne Russell was born to Stacy Scott Russell (Class of '92) and her husband Andrew on February 3, 2008 at 9:06a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Congratulations, Stacy and Andrew!
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