Shaved the Cats! Yes, you read it correctly...

OK, before I talk about the cats...
Dad is doing great! He's home and the kidney is working great. He's keeping his follow-up appointments at UCLA and he sounded downright giddy when I spoke with him yesterday. So far so good. Thank you everyone for the prayers, and the notes, and the concern. We ALL appreciate it more than you could know.

Now, the cats! While Taylor and Eric were away this week, I took the cat hair problem into my own hands - or hand! I called the mobile groomer and had him make our two longgggg hair kitties look like well groomed mini lions (or poodles). Sammie was upset with me after the first cat re-entered the house. She screamed and blocked the door. Later, she calmed down and liked the look. They're much softer now and are really acting pretty happy too! When I told Eric over the phone (he was in NY at the time) he said "Wow, Taylor is going to be so mad at you!" Well, he was right and I knew that she would be too. When I picked her up from camp today, I chose my moment very carefully before returning home. I told her, and she screamed. (Maybe I underestimated the value of cat hair?) After calmly reassuring her that she had every right to be upset, and that it was OK. I reassured her that the boys (that's what we call Odie and Howie) were very happy and acted like they like the lack of hair! She calmed down and really was just fine. I don't know if I'll ever do it again, but I do know... next time I'll make sure she knows ahead of time!

Kidney's and other "Parts" of our life...

Life never seams to slow down, it just changes to different paces throughout each day. Each days brings new challenges, laughter, thoughts, and most of all blessings. The latest blessing comes in the form of a new kidney for my Dad. At this time, he's at UCLA in the ICU with a newly given kidney. The kidney comes from a tragedy another family experienced (car accident from 19 year old), and they brought life to my Dad from it. This selfless acts reminds me that we could all stand to be more selfless each day. It's not about me right? Dad is doing great and is happy to not only have the kidney, but the stuffed "Papa Bear" build-a-bear that Taylor and Sammie gave to him that has a recorded voice of them saying "Get well soon Papa. We love you!."



On another note, Eric is preparing to run a 1/2 marathon in San Diego this weekend, and I'm preparing to start coaching soccer Today!!! I'm looking forward to seeing what name they pick for our little team (dressed in pink/blue) uniforms.

Next week Taylor will embark on a journey that will take her away from home for 5 days to learn more about the Lord with our church at camp. As she's packing right now, I'm reminded just how much she is growing up - I wish this pace would slow down. I'm missing the coloring at my side days (as Sammie is doing as I type this!).

So wherever you are today in your journey, I'm hoping your pace is just right and that you recognize the blessings in front of you - however great or small. I know mine are all around me, and for that I'm so very thankful!

Spectacular!

This past week (or should I say blur) we've been headed off to church every morning for our annual VBS - Vacation Bible School! This high energy event pairs 3000+ kids with willing adult leaders (like me) to teach them about Jesus in a fun and exciting way. We have a loud and vibrant band, water games, theatre and a minimum of 10 kids per adult to care for. Well, having read about our past month you can imagine how tired we all are already, and Taylor did get sick and miss the last 2 days of the camp. However, Sammie and I persevered, along with Ellysa Lim (from our Rwanda trip) to lead our group all week.

I think we're all looking forward to slowing down in the coming month to bask in the sun & do nothing. We're hoping so spend some time in my parents pool, lay in the sand at the beach, and connect with a few friends in a very LOW key way.

For now, we're glad to have been a part of VBS, but we're also glad we have a non-packed month ahead of us.