The Latest BUZZZZ....

Last week we welcomed another new member to the family . . . a kitty named Jennifer. The first week was absolute chaos as Lexi became confused with this moving "play toy" and any training that we taught her was thrown off. Jennifer was wild and seemed to enjoy taunting the strange new puppy. The success we had with potty training Lexi turned into instant failure and many wet cleanups. Shaelyn and Todd concurred that poop was a lot easier to clean up then pee. This pet thing was not Todd's idea and he maintains that fish are much easier to take care of.

This week though, the drama has settled down and Zazu, Lexi and Jennifer have found themselves "their order" in the animal kingdom or shall I say the "food bowl" order. It is now a common site to see all of them "partaking" in each other's food and water bowls. Lexi and Jennifer eat side by side, Zazu hisses at the two of them but has not ever attacked the two little intruders.

We are experiencing one of the warmest summers on record. Last week the temperature climbed to 38 degrees. We have never been so thankful for our pool and a/c. We have had a ton of pool parties and friends and family over.(check out the pictures of who has been in the pool).

Shaelyn is looking more and more like a Barbie doll with her dark tan, bleached blond hair and long, long legs. She loves having her friends over and entertains almost everyone who comes to the house. She has done skipping camp, she went to camp Stillwood and is looking forward to a soccer camp later this month.

Although the hot weather has left Kourtney home bound she is doing really well. She has been swimming everyday and her skin continues to improve dramatically . . . to the point that she can get in the bathtub without dressings on and she doesn't even shed a tear. We are now really doing a lot of physio with her in the pool and she plays her Wii everyday. Her recent swabs have shown that the infections have backed off completely. She has been off antibiotics since June . . . longest time she hasn't had to take them. She is feeling a bit of cabin fever and is looking forward to doing something fun . . . like camping. Planning is in the works. A lot of planning!!! Kourtney and Shaelyn both have gotten stung by wasps. Kourtney had minimal reaction but Shaelyn's bites swelled up.

After Kourtney's last trip to Children's Hospital in July, we were told she may need a blood transfusion if she didn't start perking up in the next couple of weeks. Much to our dismay Kourtney did not perk up and her skin, despite looking better, was taking a long time to heal. The emails started going back and forth to Dr. Courtermanche (the plastic surgeon). We had a day arranged at Children's for a blood transfusion and also a dressing change so he could see the progress of her skin. We didn't want to tell Kourtney until closer to the time, but Kourtney's keen eyes one day caught one of the email titles. Kourtney was so upset that she decided to email Dr. Courtermanche. She told him she wasn't coming there for a dressing change and if he wanted to see her skin he could come out to Abbotsford. Todd and I read the email after it was sent and although we were horrified at first, we applauded her for being her own advocate and taking matters into her hands. To make a long story short, the "Big City Doctor" is making his way out to hick town, Abbotsford this weekend to see his little patient . . . all because she asked him. After that we will decide if she should be transfused or if she could just have more iron. I can't say enough about Dr. Courtermanche. He truly has been a huge gift to our family and has really carried us through this last year. I have learned a lot from him and he has been there through the stressful times. He says it like it is and keeps an open door policy to our family no matter what we encounter. Even when I ended up in the hospital he stood by our family and never once belittled us for what we were going through.

Todd and I are doing well. We definitely both can recognize when we need to take a step back from Kourtney's care and let each other take over the responsibility. We also have really loved having my 2nd cousin, Brittany, around working at our house playing with the girls and being a huge helping hand. We are also thrilled that Brittany's mom, my cousin Leanne and family have moved to Abbotsford. They have supported, mentored and been there for us over the last year. They have become very committed to our family and very sensitive of the "special needs" of our entire family.

Life is going well and we are anticipating it to continue to be on the upswing. We continue to covet your prayers and support . . . we love getting emails.