Rick Update

All is going well with Rick's recovery. He's been very good and patient thus far. He's getting a little ancy and tried to move up his next doctor's appointment but no luck. His next appointment is on July 7th and we think at that point they will start him on P.T. and start applying weight to his left leg. The rash is all gone and we are well in the swing of our new "normal" routines! Thank you still for your continued prayers, well wishes and thoughts!

The Ariana has landed....

Drumroll please! I ventured up to Hee-Haw Land on Tuesday to pick up our precious baby girl from Kanakuk, where she had been for the last 12 days. When she came marching in with her cabin, I hate to admit it, but I didn't recognize her at first glance (I think that would probably kick me out of the running for Mother of the Year I'm sure, seconded with my freakish skill of utilizing my extra large paint stick to spank the kids as I'm driving down the road!!!!). Anyways, I truly didn't realize it was her at first glance, I took a second glance and realized it was her and we both went running at each other! She just looked so old and mature, and her front teeth had come in so much, as she came walking into the K-Dome, I literally burst into tears as she jumped into my arms. I'm sure I looked the fool between my mascara running down my face and the sweat marks ALL OVER my dress!

The net-net of the entire Kanakuk Kamp experience was:

1. She absolutely loved it. I even had gotten a really nice room at Chateau on the Lake for the both of us, and she wanted to stay the last night at Kamp with her friends (mind you, this was my little girl who absolutely HATES to sweat and the cabins are not air-conditioned and it was about 110% humidity on Tuesday!)

2. She has matured both socially and spiritually. They had a new award at Kamp this year called the Invisible Hero, for those kampers that had a servant's heart and did little acts that they thought were unnoticed or without being asked. Ariana was one of the kampers that received this award. We were so proud of her!

3. She went not knowing a soul, and now has about 14 new best friends, that she sobbed for a good hour after we left, that she didn't want to leave and is missing terribly! And she was the youngest kamper in K-1 Term 2 13 day kamp by about a year, she's amazing, what can I say!

4. She learned how to go tubing behind a boat, canoeing, archery, how to shoot a bb gun at a target (this should come in handy shooting at the brothers one day!), jumped off a super high tower, played lots of tennis, went camping and slept in a tent, read her Bible everyday, and some much more I cannot even list it!

5. She grew and matured so much. I mean I was still giving her baths and washing her hair and brushing her hair and she did all of this herself at Kamp. Last night when we got home, she was so proud of herself that she got to take a shower by herself, wash her own hair and even did an amazing job brushing it! She had to do chores at Kamp too, I mean like clean the toilets and clean the showers and she didn't even mind it. Needless to say, she'll be learning to clean her bathroom this weekend!

After a late night on Tuesday, I went back to the hotel and showered (for the 3rd time that day!). The next morning were the final closing ceremonies and unfortunately, Ariana's tribe, the Kiowa's, didn't win the tribal war....She then hugged all her friends and counselors good bye, we hit the outlets real quick, grabbed some lunch and made the trek back home. Evan and Tye Hill had missed her so much. Every day Evan asked if we were picking Sissy up from camp and was disappointede every day for 13 days that we weren't. It was so cute when we walked in the door at Bebe's house, Evan just came running at her and threw his arms around her....that friendly love lasted until this morning! Though Evan is asking when is he old enough to go to camp, 3 long years buddy!

Rick and I are so thankful and blessed to be able to send her to Kanakuk. Insert shameless plug here! But really, it is such an amazing place for kids, no one could ask for a safer environment with amazing role models for your children. Wow, is all I can say, what a blessing! Ariana cannot wait for next summer to be with her friends and to be at kamp.....if you want to know more about it, just ask her...she'll tell you all about it and the I'm Third philosophy.....truly spectacular!

Trust me after you visit this place, it will make you want to be a kid again and spend your entire summers here....the views amazing, the kamp grounds are gorgeous, there is more to do than you can imagine....just unbelievable.

There was this Bear.....

No really there was! At Chateau on the Lake like I said, they had impeccable service. They had a Bear that came around to the kids rooms and delivered milk and cookies at bedtime. Rick and I thought it was cute, ok maybe I thought it was cute and that the boys would love it, but I had forgotten how they hate Clifford the Big Red Dog during the Book Fair, the Easter Bunny at the mall, even Santa Claus is a chore to have pictures taken with......so when the bear finally got to our room and knocked on the door, I opened the door and Tye Hill literally screamed bloody murder and took off like a bullet shot out of a gun which in turn freaked Evan out and he began crying too! Rick and I were laughing so hard and brought back memories for me of when my mom and dad thought it was so funny to put on those terrible Halloween masks and freak me and Tye out...ask me about the instance at TG&Y and hiding in the camera department when I was about 3! Yes, I still remember that!!!! Needless to say, the boys did not stop crying until the bear was well gone and even when we went down to the pool afterwards, we narrowly missed a disaster meeting in the elevator landing! Tye Hill just kept saying, "Bear gone now?"! The cookies and milk were delicious though!

Tye's new toothbrush!

Thursday before I headed out the door for my tennis lesson, Ariana yelled, "Mommy, Tye Hill is making a huge mess in the bathroom." Let the pictures speak for themselves!

Evan's 1st Tee-Ball Game

Evan is playing tee-ball this summer and he is so excited! His team is the Royals and he has several school friends on his team. They had their first game last Thursday night and the boy can run! His team won and Evan is ready for the next game!

Just returned from HEE-HAW Land.

We just returned this afternoon from taking Ariana to Kanakuk up in Branson, MO. Such a gorgeous part of the country, green, lush, lots of trees, the Ozark Mountains, beautiful lakes and then you have Branson. The town is such a nightmare, traffic was a nightmare and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a "Senior Citizen" or a tacky, tacky, tacky show/dinner theatre (don't even get me started on the hideous billboards that litter the scenery for these atrocities). I can't even complain that it was Hillbilly Hell because the people that have to live in Branson were delightful, it's the rest of it that was so bad, I'm truly being nice right now. It literally took us 45 minutes to go about 3 miles this morning, can you say hot pokers in the eyes! We did stay at a excellent resort on Table Rock Lake called Chateau on the Lake. Wonderful suite, great pool, excellent margaritas and pina coladas, amazing views, the best, most impeccable service....if you are up there, we would recommend it....and though I did not get a chance to experience it this time, they have an amazing spa!

Ariana is attending the flagship camp at Kanakuk, K-1 Girls or Kanacomo. Rick and I both always wanted to go here when we were kids and we were so jealous when we dropped her off Friday night. It is everything you'd expect a summer camp to be, slides, neat cabins, lake views, cool counselors, everything. She is staying for 13 days and we go back up on the 23rd and 24th from the Closing Ceremonies. We were able to go online when we got home this afternoon and view some pictures of Friday and Saturday and spotted her in a couple! Rick and I both cried like babies when we dropped her off, but she did not shed one tear! I walked with her to her cabin and gave her kisses and I could tell that I was definitely cramping her style...she practically shooed me off! Evan and Tye Hill were in awe of the camp and Evan was ready to stay himself! We know she is having the time of her life but it sure is quiet around here tonight!

An oasis in the country....

not so much an oasis, but an Oklahoma landmark for sure. The Timberlake's invited us out to Eischen's with them Friday night. So we loaded up both our brood's and headed West! This was a first for both of us! The children had a blast running around and playing video games. I swear they probably went through $25 in quarters. And they ate like they hadn't been fed in days, wait that was the adults! The chicken was hot and good and the beer was cold and delicious. It was a fun little trip and Okarche is such a cute, clean little town. 2 thumbs up from us! Then Ariana and Evan spent the night with the Timberlakes....yes they are crazy to have 5 kiddos in their home at one time! Thank you Brian and Allison, we needed the quick getaway!

GOOD NEWS!

Good news on the Safi homefront yesterday. Rick had his appointment with Dr. Kammerlocher (whom we highly, highly recommend!) yesterday morning. After the horrendous debacle on I-35 because I guess most Okies don't know how to drive in the rain, we arrived 30 minutes late and were expecting to wait quite a while. But we hardly sat down and were called back. They quickly got to work cutting off Rick's cast so stitches could be taken out, the Dr. could take a look see and a new cast put right back on......but the Dr. couldn't believe the awful rash that was covering Rick's leg everywhere the cast had been. So much to everyone's disbelief, including Dr. Kammerlocher's nurse and cast guy, he said Rick would not have another cast but go straight into the Cam Boot! Rick has prayed and prayed that the itching he was experiencing the last 2 weeks would cease and that he wouldn't have to get another cast, God heard! The Dr. couldn't believe that Rick hadn't called about the itching, but Rick knew that they would just say, "Yea, you have a cast, it's going to itch." He truly was glad to see the rash and know that he wasn't just imagining the intense itch/pain and that he wasn't going crazy. So, the stitches are out, the boot is on, but still no weight can be placed on the leg so he's still got his trusty sidekick with him, his scooter! We go back on July 7th and then Rick will slowly start putting weight on his left leg. We also have decided not to cancel our trip to the Beach, yippee!!!!! He will have the screw that is screwing his tibia and fibula together removed right when we get back from vacation. I told Rick that God gave him the rash to answer his prayer of not another cast, one of those watch what you pray for situations. After we left Dr. Kammerlocher's, I drove him straight to Dr. King's office and he got a steroid shot in the rear and a Rx for some oral steroids to try and knock the rash down. It is brutal looking, looks like the worst poison ivy you've ever seen. We think he was either allergic to the cast material or the soap the used in surgery, b/c his leg was never cleaned after surgery before casts started going in it. To say that Rick is excited, thankful, grateful would be a huge understatement. He got to take a shower last night without a bag over his leg! Such a small thing, but so wonderful to be able to do. He actually felt clean for the first time in over 3 weeks! In other good news, Dan the Man came home on Sunday morning!!! He's feeling o.k. and trying to get back on his feet again, continue to pray for him and for Bebe, she's the one having to help us all out! She's the absolute best and we are so fortunate to have her so close...what a woman! God is good.

The last week..

Rick is on the mend, very slowly but surely. Each day I see a little more energy, in turn a little more of Rick. So thank you to all of you for your continued prayers, thoughts and calls, it truly means the world to us. Elsewhere on the home front besides the blasted wind sweeping down the plains.....Evan started t-ball this week and he loves it. His first game is next Thursday at Boomtown Ballyards and he will be proudly sporting his KC Royals hat! He also starts Kick-n-Gym today, which is a combination of karate and gymnastics classes. I am almost positive that this will be a hit, much to Ariana and Tye Hill's demise! Ariana is still doing equestrian lessons, and still wants a horse which just ain't happen anytime soon! Last but not least, Tye Hill is going to Sandcastle's with Ariana and Tye Hill at First Presbyterian 2 days a week for the month of June, and he still is less than thrilled when I take him! I've been taking the children almost every day over to Bebe and Gangan's to hit the pool for the last week and we are all brown like little pinto beans already. We've also been riding our bikes every night and capping off the evening with Hide and Seek, which you can see their favorite place to hide is Miss Dana's canna garden, oops! Gangan is in the hospital at Baptist since Monday with a kink in his small intestine. Please pray that the kink "works" itself out and surgery is not needed. I think that pretty much wraps up our past week. Again, thank you to everyone, we are truly blessed.