Going to play catch up...here we go!

Kansas

Two weeks before we left Kansas, we had a scare with Mike's old white car dying on us and we really had to consider what to do with the car. We got it fixed, however, we knew that it wasn't going to make the trip through the mountains, so we quickly sold the car and Mike picked out this Jeep to replace "Willie." Thanks to many helpful friends, we closed the deal and picked the car up less than a week before we moved. So this one's name is "Bender", after the Futurama cartoon. It has been a blessing to know that we now have two reliable cars and one with very few miles. It has been used many times already for my trips back home to DE and MD over the past few months.

North Carolina

So we've been in Ocean Isle (where Mike works)/Supply, NC (where we live) for about 4 1/2 months. We've enjoyed being back near the ocean and the dogs like it as well. During the summer they got to go for walks every week with us on the beach. Tiger loves to run along the edge of the water just as long as it isn't too deep for his little stature. Henry is somewhat afraid of the waves crashing on the beach, but if he sees another dog that he wants to be friends with (which is all of them : ) ), then he'll bolt for the water. He still hates to get his paws wet though.

Here is a picture of our home that we are renting from another veterinarian that works with Mike. We have loved it and Dr. Ray and Alice have been such a blessing to us here in NC. This house has given us enough room to have many visitors come, including Mike's dad, Mike's dog, sister, 2 nieces, my best friend (Val) and a lifelong friend (Mark). It just so happened that they were all here at the same time. There were 2 children, 6 adults, 3 cats and 3 dogs..talk about a full house.

And of course, we had to make one of our guest bedrooms a K-State room.

While Mike's dad was visiting us for six weeks, we got to take him and Pepe (his dog) to the beach with us as well. Mike's dad liked to be able to put his feet in the sand and enjoy the nice cool evenings. We were glad that we could provide him with a place to vacation. We went and visited Myrtle Beach a few times, including the Aquarium (nowhere near as good as Baltimore or New England Aquariums, but it was something to see), the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and we all loaded up on fresh seafood often. I have to admit I have started to like different types of seafood. I guess it helps when it is fresh and cooked right.

It was nice to also have Val and Mark come and visit. It was hard in Kansas to reconnect with close friends from home, but thankfully God has blessed us with multiple chances to do so since we have been back east. Val, Mark, Mike and I were all over the place while they were here for 4 short days and we had a blast. We got to celebrate Mark's 31st birthday (or as Mark says, "His first anniversary of his 30th birthday") at Joe's Crab Shack on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach after going go-karting all afternoon. We had a blast.

After we were done racing go-karts for hours... Mark wasn't too happy with me because I kept getting the fast cars and he would get the Sunday afternoon drive cars...HEEHEEHEE!

Eating out on the deck at Joe's Crab Shack

Val and I were feeling a little frisky with Joe, the fisherman

Val having one of her crazy moments, even the people in the background thought so. This is why I love her so much, she always finds ways to enjoy life.

I also took all of the family and friends to see Mike's clinic and as Val said, "Pretend to be a doctor." That wasn't the only time that Val was sarcastic, however. She also suffered from foot in mouth syndrome when she told Mike's boss that he didn't act or dress like he could be a doctor. Luckily, he has a good sense of humor and played along.

Mike and I working on Pepe's eye

Mike and Rebecca doing an exam on Bobbles, the canine greeter and mascot at the clinic (Bobbles got her name back from when her head was not attached to her spine and she had to have surgery at the clinic; one of the vet techs adopted her and she has remained there ever since.)

Stay tuned...there is more to come since this only covers up through the middle of August...