Today is the first post of several I will be making where I clean out the photos on my phone.  One of the many things I LOVE about my smart phone, is that I always have a camera nearby!  The problem is that I have way too many photos on my phone so I'm going to post several at a time so that I can delete them.

My nephew Daniel crawling up Papaw:

 Greta and Scott sleeping on the couch:

My niece Laura playing in Papaw's closet:

 

The line to get baptized at church one Sunday in August....

I took a picture of the outside of the building later  that day....

Laura and Nana (sorry that Nana is rather blurry)

Laura climbing on her dad

Kevin gave Sophie a bath

And one more of Greta:

 

This concludes photo dump #1.  I hope you enjoyed the photos.  Now I'm going to clear them from my phone.....maybe.  

Sophie Update

Sophie is doing well thanks to Team "H".  I spent some time with Sophie after work tonight.  Here's a picture of Sophie wearing her "circle hat" as my nephew, Daniel, calls it:

Where there's a camera, there's a Daniel.  After taking a picture of Sophie, he told me it was "Daniel's turn".

Lately, it always seems to be "Daniel's turn".

Sweet Sophie

If you have been reading this blog for long you will remember my brother's dog, Sophie.  The truth is that since my family lives within walking distance of each other, Sophie is sort of our "family" dog.  She actually spends most of her time at my parents' home and I walk over and play with her whenever I get a chance.

Last week we found out that Sophie has cancer and on Friday she had surgery.  It has been a difficult weekend for all of us.  We have been taking turns spending time with Sophie and trying to make sure she gets plenty of rest and refrains from taking the staples out of her leg.  Even though she is 11 years old, she is still very energetic and keeping her calm is not an easy task.

Saturday night I chose to stay up all night and keep an eye on our girl.  As I sat there looking at her, I thought about how she must feel.  I'm sure she is wondering why she had to go through the pain and suffering of this surgery.  Why is she being contained in very small area when she wants to run free.  Why is she being forced to wear this uncomfortable lampshade around her head.  She can't see that all of this hardship that she is going through is for her own good.  Then I thought, this must be how God feels.  I'm sure it hurts him to see us suffering.  We can't understand why we have to go through the things that we go through but God can see the whole picture.  He knows that sometimes we have to go through the valleys to get to the mountaintop. 

I was told that Sophie has a very aggressive form of cancer.  Please pray with us that the vet was able to remove it all before it spread.  No matter what the outcome, we are all thankful for each and every day we share with Sophie.  Pets are such a gift....they bring so much love and joy to our lives.  That is a very important and very much appreciated job!

Update on Greta

Snaggletooth is doing great after her dental surgery.  She has very few teeth left but that isn't stopping her!  So far, she is still able to eat everything she ate before with the exception of one of her faves.....grass.  It is pitiful to watch her confusion as she tries to tear off a piece of grass.

I hope I'll be able to get a picture of her mouth one day.  You really can't tell that she is missing so many teeth.  She has all of her tiny incisors and her 3 canines but no teeth after that!  Don't tell her though...she still plays like a kitten!

"No more pictures...please."

The surgery and recovery went off with only one hitch.  Apparently Greta can't take morphine.  She had quite a strange reaction to the pain medicine.  For 2 days we had "paranoid kitty".  Thankfully, the vet knew exactly what the problem was and then we had our girl back.  Life is back to normal...

Are You Listening?

Mom and I walked for Autism Speaks yesterday.  Our walk, 2011 Walk Now for Autism Speaks: Carolinas, was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The Carolinas' walk is the largest walk for Autism Speaks in the US and also the largest fundraiser for the organization.

Organizers were expecting 9,000 walkers but I think it's safe to say they exceeded that number. 

That picture doesn't do it justice because there are many, many more people in front of me and many walkers are around the turn where you can't see them.  It was a great day in the fight against Autism. 

This is why we walk:

Buddy Walk

Saturday was a beautiful day to celebrate some very beautiful people.  Along with the outreach ministry of my church, I walked in the Down Syndrome Association of Charlotte 2011 Buddy Walk.

Cat (Catherine) is a very special girl whom I attend church with.  I have had the honor of serving along side her and her mother in our church eHQ.  I don't have any pictures of Cat, but I saw her Saturday along with her very large entourage!  She was recognized for having raised a large amount of money and I am proud to say that my church donated to Cat's team.

The Buddy Walk was by far one of the most fun "walks" I have ever taken part in.  The atmosphere was all party with smiles on every face.  Here are some of the participants showing off their dance moves....

I wish you could've seen these kids dance.

There were thousands that participated in this year's walk.  I took all of these photos with my phone so I hope you can see them.

People with Down Syndrome are some of the coolest people you could ever hope to meet.  I spoke with Cat and her mom at church this morning.  Cat was walking up to EVERYONE and talking to them about "her" buddy walk.  I'm sure she is smiling about it right now.