Wake up Sleepy Head

(Pictures of pets. Mostly sleeping during the day. What a life!)

Saturday morning. 6am. Cat crying. Dog wiggling. Why can’t they wait until the alarm goes off at 6:30?? I let them out for their morning jaunt. Sit. And pray. 

Today the boys take their first college entrance exam. In my hometown. Oddly surreal. Oh how they have grown in stature and maturity in the 9 years since their dad died. So I pray - that they have total recall on the things they know and total peace about the things they don’t. And- that they will wake up in a decent mood. Haha! Unless we are leaving for a great adventure, a 7am Saturday morning wake up call is not a welcome activity. One early morning last week, I was on the phone and caught a glimpse of a creature crawling across the pool deck. Wasn’t sure what it was. Too slow for a squirrel or mouse. Nope. It was a little turtle. Or tortoise? (Which is which?) It was just before 8am but I went to wake up the boys to share my treasure. Fortunately, they were as excited as I was and gave me some grace for the early wake up call.

Waking them up today was also easy. (Thanks be to God!) Maybe they’ll go to college. Maybe they won’t. But as I drive them to the testing site (on the campus of an amazing Christian college right here in our town!) I think to myself…this is why I was compelled to move back here. Opportunities for them. Oh, and I’m also thinking about our running family joke, “it only takes 10 minutes to get anywhere around here.” I’m telling you, I’ve saved so much on gas!!

So as they navigate a new neighborhood and a new church and learn to make new friends, I am asking the Lord for His blessings this day. 

Now I sit here in the car, grading Spanish and literature homework, in the silence, waiting for them to finish their test. My in-laws have asked for a status update. Other friends have too. I am sorry my posts are so infrequent. It’s been hectic. Probably more so than I like- getting them started on school, which is still going well, progressing nicely. Yessss! My work has ticked up in volume. And I got my first call last week (two calls, actually) for jobs here in Texas to cleanup QuickBooks so clients can file their tax returns by the 9/15 extended deadline for corporations. But today I finally feel still enough to contemplate. 

I want to share this song. I don’t know why it came to mind right at this moment, but thankfulness is a such a good practice.

Charity Gayle. Thank you Jesus for the Blood.

“Thank you Jesus for the Blood applied. Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white. Thank you Jesus, you have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.”

Philippians 4:20 “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Puppy Love 2.0

So we've had our puppy for almost 2 months.  She's gained at least 10 pounds. Her last weigh-in at vet's office? 35lbs.  ANYway, here's an update on her cuteness.  Seriously.... and she has a sweet personality to go with her cuteness.  Despite losing a few socks, pencils, Legos, etc., (haha!) we do feel truly blessed to have this Perdy dog.

Ah, but don't be fooled, while cat and dog are not necessarily "friends", they can sleep near each other without fighting.  I personally think the kitty is a bit of a tease, as she frequently leads the dog on chases throughout the house. 

Even with the potty training and the up-in-the-middle-of-the night stuff, the only really hard part I've noticed about puppies and kittens is that the more pets you have, the less easy it is to pick up and travel.  Our friends also adopted a puppy recently, and we used to trade off pet duties with them.  It's not impossible to get away now, it's just more complicated.  I think we both have someone lined up for our next big trip....  we are heading back to Mexico in November for another mission trip with Strong Tower Ministries.  Please pray for us to have a fruitful trip there and for our team of 12 to gel.  We are looking forward to it!

Puppy Love

Have to share a few puppy photos...irresistible cuteness!

So yes, she gets to sleep on my bed at night.  But she has done really well in the crate (so far) when we have to leave the house.  Potty training - she's got this down too (so far).  And it's funny.  Like when you get a new car, and then you notice every other car on the road that is the same make and model as yours...we see pit bull mixes everywhere.  People love their dogs in the Northwest!

Canadian Summer

This weekend we made a quick trip north with our frequent travelling companions - The Evans Family.  The destination?  Waterpark!  It was our friend Ethan's 16th birthday.  So there was lots of celebrating.  We had a ton of fun.  Was nice to get away for a couple of days and not think about the responsibilities of work or school (for me).

After dinner out, we went to a spot with underground mini golf, go-carts, and an arcade. They also had batting cages and a shooting gallery, and a whole upstairs area we didn't even have time to explore.  After a bit of trouble with our credit cards (Chase cards were not working internationally at this specific location) we got it all worked out and each played a round of golf. Boys did go-carts and a couple of arcade games, including a laser maze (see video below).

 

Felt kind of like a repeat of Florida last year.  The 4 boys made up a team and the girls plus Derek made up another team.  A lot of fun!

 

Video of Cole in the laser maze below:

 This park is bigger than Birch Bay.  Several more slides and a bigger spot for shallow swimmers (a.k.a. little kids area).  AND, there is a short lazy river...which is the only ride I personally went on.  Everyone else, including little Emily went on slides.  I think everyone had a fantastic time.  Worth the 2.5 hr drive.  Hardly any traffic.  Set in the hills of the Fraser Valley.  Just beautiful.  It was roughly 75 degrees (or 24 C, because it is Canada, after all).

Boys stop for a food break

Today it was back to reality.  I woke up with a sore throat and coughing.  Stayed in bed most of the day.  Keaton and some of the Evans' clan are nursing sunburns too. We had our first overnight without the puppy - - a friend stayed with her and he said she did great!  I think being able to sleep on the bed is a bonus for her....

Someone to Love

Last night I asked Keaton some questions (click here for link to video),

And then a friend dropped this someone to love in our laps....

Need I say more?