10 mins read

Two-Time Olympian Balances Training and Twins

Julie Swail (Ertel) seems to do things in pairs: competes in two Olympic Games, excels in two different sports, and then gives birth to twins. Only a true athlete could tackle all that, and Julie does it like a champ. She was the captain of the 2000 USA Womens Olympic Water Polo team and took home the Silver medal in Sydney. Eight years later, she was once again competing in the Summer Olympics, but this time in Bejing and in the sport of triathlon.

5 mins read

To Keep Pedaling

To Keep Pedaling   It was a Tuesday. I had been married about a month and a half. I got up early to ride my stationary bike before work. My husband was getting ready to go to his office. He got a call from a friend. “Hey, you should probably turn on your TV. There’s…

4 mins read

Accepting the Autism Diagnosis

Accepting the Autism Diagnosis I was recently reminded of the early days and months of our child’s autism diagnosis. Did we accept the diagnosis right away? Well, our son was too young for an official diagnosis. In those “early days,” he was developmental delayed. We were given a provisional diagnosis from a California Regional Center…

5 mins read

Autism and Vacations

My son loves to travel. He got that love to travel from his parents. A few years ago, my son and I took a road trip together—just the two of us. We hit some great Western states and tourist stops. We drove a lot in those twelve days. My son was eleven. We had taken…