Praise GOD!

So sorry to not have updated/posted sooner. Seems like the older Jonathan gets, the busier we get. I was under this misconception that as he got older, things would get easier, and life would slow down. Not really the way it works! In some ways, he is much easier, but he is also much busier!! Of course, I love it and him and all the things we do together.

ANYWAY!!! First and foremost, praise God!! We had a wonderful appointment in OKC. The appointments are always so stressful as we never know what they will say. WE think he is doing well, but you never know what they will say. It went well though and we are just so very thankful to God for the powerful healing of Jonathan's body. His kidneys looked great and they were very impressed with his progress. He will be having one more touch-up procedure in October. This is something we had known would need to be done, but they have been putting off til he was older and ready. So it is oddly satisfying to have made it to this point. This SHOULD be the last thing that will need to be done. Hopefully after this, then we will just be going for yearly check-up visits. How wonderful that would be! Thank you for praying for our little man. Please continue to remember him as we gear up for this last surgery.

May 25th was Mark and I's Eighth Wedding Anniversary. It is so hard to believe that it has been eight years!! since we got married. They have been wonderful and I just love Mark more and more as the years go by. The good Lord definitely knew what he was doing. Here's hoping for 80 more together!! We had a rather low-key anniversary as it was Labor Day as well, but we really enjoyed just staying home and being together as a family. We went out Friday night for dinner at Riverfront Steakhouse in NLR. They have a great steak and a really nice salad bar. The staff is always very polite and sweet to Jonathan, so that is always a plus as well.

My parents came to visit that weekend and Jonathan had a lot of fun playing with them. He is always so excited to be with them. Saturday morning was his friend Ali's third birthday party. The party was at Wonder Place and he had a great time playing with all the children. Ali's Mom, Edie, had done a great job on the invitations and party favors (she is my digital scrapbooking friend, and had done everything on the software we have).

Jonathan & Ali.

The party favors were very neat. The theme of the party was ladybugs, and for party favors, she had a bug catcher full of ladybugs for each of the children. They also got a huge bubble wand and bubbles. Jonathan loved the ladybugs. We released them Sunday afternoon and he thought that was so much fun. Did not particularly like the bugs landing on him, but other than that, he had a great time with it.

Jonathan & MaMa Deb. He was most insistent that she sit with him!!

Saturday night we took Jonathan to his very first movie at the theatre, UP. He LOVED it!! He sat so big in the booster seat and never moved. Had his eyes glued to the screen and would only move them for a few seconds to tell you something about the movie. He was VERY well behaved so I guess we will start going to a few more movies now. Hopefully there will be some acceptable movies coming out sometime soon! My parents went with us to the movie and had a great time experiencing this first with him.

Sunday night was the Burton's baby shower. Jamie has been on bedrest, so it was nice to see her and bring some goodies for the baby. The guys and kids stayed outside most of the night and had a great time playing. The girls had fun sitting inside and visiting. She's got seven weeks to go, so hopefully baby Jackson will stay in for a few more weeks!

This past Thursday was the Easter Seals Preschool Graduation. I usually go to see all the kids I work with. This year was especially special for a couple of different reasons. I was able to walk one of my kids across the stage in her walker to receive her diploma. To have seen where this child came from, it was a very special moment to see her actually walking on the stage. They always do a slideshow of the graduates and some of the kids in preschool each year. This year there was a wonderful picture of Jonathan from preschool. He is such a ham and just looked so cute! The real highlight though was a big surprise. I was the PTA Vice President this year. The President ended up moving to NC a few months ago, so I became the President. As a thank-you, the preschool made me a beautiful piece of framed art. When I went to accept it, they told me that Jonathan had made the art! It is just so wonderful and so unexpected. I cannot wait to hang it up in my office.

We had lunch today at Pinnacle Mountain with the co-op students from Mark's work. Mark ended up grilling the hamburgers and hot dogs. They were delicious and it was nice to visit with some of his co-workers. Jonathan had a great time throwing rocks, sticks, etc. into the little stream. He was also a HUGE fan of the M&M cookies. At last count, I think he had four. Only ate 1/2 of a hot dog, but four cookies! Not really a balanced meal, but oh well, he'll survive.

Once again, no pictures. We have had multiple computer problems lately and Mark doesn't want me downloading the pictures until he can fix our back-up drive. He's been working on it, so hopefully it will be fixed soon. We would be in so much trouble without his computer skills! Hope everyone is doing well. Send us a note when you get a chance and let us know how you are doing!