Summer Break :)

I decide to take a summer break and spend time with my children. I hope you, guys have a great summer! I'm not sure who wrote this poem. It's written by Suzie, I think. Go Joyously and enjoy reading this poem!

Summer Song

Summer breeze
summer long
I'll sing to you
my summer song

Read a poem
A summer song
It isn't long
It's just a song

From my heart
a poem long
but not at all
my summer song

My summer long
is something special
a poem, a song
to my heart belong

Summer breeze
summer long
I'll sing to you
my summer song

More Pictures in Windsor, CO

A lot of damages ... we were in awe!
(buildings, telephone poles, trees, cars, daycare, the big storages, and homes)
There were a lot of national guards and people who were helping in Windsor, Colorado.
And of course, a lot of visiters like us. People with camera and videos. I also saw the Channel 7 van there. After visiting Windsor, we're so glad to be home now!

Pictures of the massive destruction from a tornado in Northern Colorado

We decided to visit Windsor (about 15 minutes from our home town),and we took few pictures of the damages there.

News:
About 100 homes were destroyed and another 100 were destroyed when the tornado bounced along a 35-mile-long way that began near Platteville, then Milliken, and then the hardest hit in Windsor. It moved through in that town in about three to five minutes.

A 52-year-old man was killed at a campground near Greeley where we live. More than 100 people were hurt. About 100 lost/found pets and some reports of cattle death.
The tornado hit 6 times in Colorado so far.

7TH picture of the gas station...It was SHELL, but now it's spelled HELL. It's pretty funny, because in that town it WAS like hell.

The story of my dad:
Ron's shop (this is my brother, Ron) was 5 miles from where the dairy was leveled. It was just a big black wall moving closer. When it was about 5 miles from us it turned to the west a little and went by us and passed on to Windsor. It's RARE for the tornado to be this close to the mountains but common in eastern part.

My story:
I picked my son from his Junior High school at about 11:30-11:45 a.m. and drove along on 65th avenue on the way back... it was surprising to find out we were driving about 3 miles from where the big black wall (the tornado) was moving north. I asked my son if he knew what it was, but he wasn't sure about that. It was hard to tell. I didn't realize that it actually was the tornado moving towards Windsor. I had a hard time to keep driving straight on that road because of the strong winds. It was really dark and a lot of tumbleweeds kept crossing the road..it seemed like over a hundred of tumbleweeds got in our way! But we arrived home safely, and my husband and our daughter, Hannah got home from her elementary school. After we got home, our power was off for awhile. Then it came back and we found a lot of calls on the missed call list on VP and a lot of emails from our friends. It took me two days to inform them all that we were safe and sound.

Buddha Deaf Quote

Buddha Deaf Quote:
"If you talk much, this will make you deaf to what others say. "

Have you met any deaf Buddhists? I have a deaf friend who is a Buddhist, and he told me that Buddhism isn't religious. I admire points of Buddhist philosophy and quotes even through I'm not a Buddhist. I guess that they're true. It just helps people to understand moral and leads them to a happy life!

Buddha Quotes/Philosophy

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

"To understand everything is to forgive everything. "

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything what we think we become. "

"The mind is everything what you think you become. "

"You will not be punished FOR your anger. You will be punished BY your anger. "

"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path. "

"What do you think of the quotes or the philosophy?"

Quotations for Deafies and Hearies Alike

Hello! I want to thank Mike from Oh I See and LaRonda from Ear of My Heart for giving me an opportunity to post their pictures along with some quotes.
I took my kids to the library, and I decided to pick out a book from the nearest shelf. After picking, I sat down reading while they were looking for books. My youngest boy that next to me was playing cars on a rug that has roads on it. In the first glimpse of the book I picked out, I noticed it was called, "Quotations for Kids" complied and edited by J.A. Sean. Quotations for Kids? It could be a life time of quotations. It can also be a great reminder for all of us, including the Deafies and Hearies. All is the same, they need a healthy medicine by remembering and doing SO. The quotes are very simple but great!

ADVENTURE
"Can't keep still all day...I like adventure. And I'm going to find." Louisa Alcott

Photo by Deb Ann

"Never say NO to adventures. Always say YES otherwise you'll lead a very dull life."
Ian Fleming


Advice
"Be Careful...of the wind you choose." Avi

"Advice to a fool goes in one ear and out the other."
Danish Proverb


Beauty
"Beauty is but skin deep" English Proverb

Photo by LaRonda


BOOKS
"A book is a friend" American Proverb

Photo by Mike
"A book is just away to remember a story, like a photograph is a way to remember a friend." American Proverb



CHANGE
"The need for change bulldozed a roaddown the center of my mind." Maya Angou


Photo by tomeil04
"Things just are, and fussing don't bring changes. " Natalie Babbitt



CHOICE
"Once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart" Irene Cooper

Photo by annfrau
"You have to make your own choices. And then live with them" Irene Cooper

Silly Girls at Gally

My roommate Susan and me at Gally in our first year! We shared pictures with full of memories on Video Phone ,and we scanned all the pictures of wild kids and parties through emails.




It has been 23 years. We miss having a blast at Gally and want to be young again once more!

My Deaf Childhood

I was 11 months old. My parents didn't know that I was deaf until I was about three years old.




My senior picture in 1985





Val Vasquez and I grew up together since we were in preschool. He was also my high school boyfriend. :) Well, I can't find a picture of Allen. We grew up together since we all were about three years old. Val teaches ASL classes at UNC and CSU. I used to teach ASL classes with kids for five years in Denver. Val, Allen, and I fell in love with ASL. Kissssss ASL!



My friend, David and me at Deaf camp. He was the only person who helped me. I didn't know ASL..nothing! I had no friends at the camp and was so alone. He was there for me and teaching me ASL. He's my first friend at the deaf camp. I grew up with SEE...PURE Seeing Essential English....David Anthony is the father of SEE. Sure, it sucks! I think Signing Exact English and PSE are better and easier than Seeing Essential English. But ASL is a fun and beautiful language.




(Above) My mom made these dresses for me. When I was little, ASL was my first language until David Anthony came to our school. I remember several words in ASL.
He told us not to use any of ASL at all and made us to learn in SEE I (it's not Signing Exact English, but we use some of them during classes with the interpreters)




It was me at two and my oldest daughter, Tami at the same age. You see me in
a blue dress. My mom made it out of her prom dress (I think) and she made
a dress for my oldest daughter.
Sign Language is her first language. I'm so proud of all my hearing
children who exposed with their first language. They can speak
so well.
My kids learned the first word, "milk" at about five-six
months old.

My Gally Boyfriend, Rafi and Me

Rafi and I were steady for two years in D.C. He's a best ASL signer and at that time, I wasn't great in ASL. I became fluent in ASL through him. It's like when he adopted me, and he had a lot of patience with me!

Gally Class Of 1990

I only stayed for the first semester and then they moved me to the class of 1989 in the second semester.

Can you find me? I'm in the first row...wearing a pink and white shirt. Click at this picture to make it enlarged.

The embarrassing moment I had in my first year at Gally! When I say, "fined,” I used "Fine" and "ed"..in pure SEE.... I was signing in a whole sentence, my new Gally friends were laughing at me, and of course, they were insulting me. I felt so embarrassed. I was so careful not to use ugly PUREEEE SEE. But I learned so fast through Rafi Diaz. Thanks to Rafi for being so patience with me. My roommate, Susan was there for me and had a lot patience with me, too. I'll post few pictures of Susan and me later on. I need Susan to email me some pictures of her and me. My pictures were not good, and I know it would embarass Susan if I post my pictures into my blog.

Don't Let Your True Self Hide

Don't let others make you confused


Trust down deep inside where your spirit does whisper


Don't let your true self hide


Stand tall and show your pride


Love the way you are


Don't let others control you


Listen deep inside where your spirit does whisper


Don't let yourself be lost


Stand tall and show your pride


Know where you want to go


All in all, let it shine upon you

Deaf Child's Bill of Rights Becomes Law

Deaf Child's Bill of Rights Becomes Law in Colorado
Posted May 1996
Colorado Governor Romer signed the Deaf Child's Bill of Rights (DCBR) into law on Monday, March 18, 1996. The bill's chief provisions are:

1. educational options for all Deaf and hard of hearing children will continue to be available,

2. deaf children will be protected for their language development need, and

3. the school of choice rights for parents will be protected.
Synopsis of the Bill
Recognizes the unique needs of children with low-incidence disabilities. Identifies

The specific educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing children.
Requires the committee that prepares an individual educational program for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing to consider child's specific communication needs, including the child's mode of communication; the availability of peers, adult models, and staff with whom the child can communicate; and the availability of appropriate educational services.
Specifies reasons for which a child may not be denied education in a particular communication mode or language.
Allows a child to receive education in multiple communication modes or languages.
Requires that a child receive education in the communication mode or language that is deemed beneficial for the child.
Clarifies that the committee does not have to ensure the availability of a specific number of peers, that the provisions of the act do not abrogate a parent's statutory rights to educational choice, and that no school district is required to expend additional resources or hire additional personnel to implement these requirements.
As stated above, the new law does not mandate school districts to allocate additional funds for these requirements, but does prevent them from closing existing programs.
DCBR and Others
The Colorado Association of the Deaf (CAD), along with members of the local chapter of the A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf, and the Colorado "Parent Support Network" for deaf and hard of hearing students worked cooperatively to support this bill. Stella Sanfratello, chairperson of the Deaf Child's Bill of Rights Committee (DCBR) of CAD deserves our deep appreciation for her work. State Representative Moe Keller, a teacher of deaf students, carried our bill the whole time. It was also supported by State Senator Sally Hopper. The vote in the House of Representatives was 64-0, and in the Senate, 33-2, which shows overwhelming support for this bill designed to preserve options for the education of deaf children. Parents, teachers, and the deaf community were instrumental as well.

By NAD