And yet again...

I know I am a slacker, but I'm sure you will all get over it. I'll try to keep this short even though it has been two months. Since I last wrote, Mike finished his second year, PRAISE THE LORD! I won't say it was an easy year by any stretch of the imagination, however, it didn't kill him. We are thankful to have another year done and I know Mike is thankful for the break from having to think too much.

We had a few weeks together before his brother got here to just relax and go out and do stuff together. We just did day trips, saw tons of movies that we had wanted to see, and yet again...we added another one to our family. Yes, we are crazy, but I can handle furry children right now instead of the real thing. On May 29th we took extra food that we had acquired during the school year to the animal shelter and I pressured Mike to look around. Yes, this one is all my fault, he tried to resist but in the end he couldn't either. We made it through all of the puppies, dogs and thenI entered the cat room. I was drawn to her right away and then Mike was a pushover and we brought her home that afternoon. Her name is Maggie and she is ~ 9 1/2 months old. She has some beautiful markings and is so sweet and a lover. If you just walk in the room after she hasn't seen you for awhile she just starts purring. She hung out a few days in our bathroom until we could get her into the vets, but now she is fully acclimated to the rest of the family. If anything she is a big bully, especially with Henry. She has learned the hard way not to mess with Tiger and Cinder, while her and Hammy are best friends. Poor Henry, he is just misunderstood.

A few days after Maggie, Mike's brother, Jason, flew in and visited with us for about a week. Jason was going to help Mike drive back to PA for the summer. They got their video game time in as well as their movie fixes. We also went to the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Salina, KS. We had a good time and the weather was beautiful. But then came the day they had to leave. I don't think the dogs had a clue what was going on, especially when Tiger ran around the entire morning looking for Mike in every nook and cranny of the house. Sad to say but Tiger will not be seeing Mike for awhile.

On the drive back to PA, Mike and Jason spent tons of money on gas and also realized something was wrong with my Jeep. Needless to say, here was the diagnosis from the mechanic...the manifold air pressure apparatus (MAP) burst somewhere in Missouri when the Check Engine light started flashing so the car could of either not had enough fuel being pushed through the engine or it could have had too much. I guess there were angels around Mike and Jason because it kept pushing gas through all the way to PA to a trusted mechanic, however, by that time the gas leaked all over, the spark plugs were all black and covered with carbon and the O2 sensor was destroyed because carbon flakes had gone through the exhaust (which would explain why my Jeep was puffing out black exhaust off and on during the trip also). If you could imagine, Samson really needed a tune up after all of that. So we are hoping that Samson is okay now and will be able to make the trip home in July, if you all can remember that in prayer. So Mike is home now even though a majority of the time he would love to be back in Kansas. He has a lot to accomplish there before he heads off to my uncle's dairy farm. So I also covet your prayers for him back home, there are a good number of issues that have arisen and Mike has his hands full.

Since Mike has been gone I've held down the fort, kept making the money so Mike can spend it : ), started to sew my first quilt (thanks to Lindsey, Jenny and Cherry), and kept myself occupied. I miss Mike dearly but at the same time I know God has a purpose for Mike back home right now, otherwards he wouldn't be there. But God is good and is working on Mike and I...who can complain about that? God has also blessed us with amazing friends who have helped in ways we can never repay. We thank God for the support and love!!

So this is our life right now...