The thing I love about kindergarten is that their baseline is joy. You can't underestimate when your little and come from a loving home, sure they'll have ups and downs but they'll recover quickly. And easily get excited about simple things like spirit week. I dress up like Cinderella at least once a year because it always lands well. The ninja turtle was a hit too. Another year of kindergarten in the books. 4th down, probably at least 4 more to go.
I've been thinking a lot about this... A Chinese story begins as a man’s son finds a beautiful horse. “How fortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man. Then the son falls off the horse and is permanently injured. “How unfortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man. A conscripting army comes but doesn’t take the injured son. “How fortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man." .....
Life has so many ups and downs. Holman bought his "perfect dog mix" about three years ago for $20. He's a Husky/ Great White Pyrenees mix, named Appa. Since he was a a little pup he's always been rather ornery. He's moody and growls but never snaps or bites. Back in December we woke one Sunday morning to take the dogs on a walk. My daughter noticed right away Appa kept bumping into things. It was as if he was blind. The next day we took him to the vet and then to specialists. This began months worth of eye treatments. At its worst we were giving this ornery dog 16 eye drops a day along with a slew of medications. In the beginning each successful eye drop took about ten attempts. It was exhausting. He became a legend at the vet office. They made sure to have extra staff on hand when he had an appointment. We finally trained him with a muzzle and it was a complete game changer. Holman is in Thailand. He is serving a mission for our church, his wish "please don't let my dog die." We kept praying for some positive change that Appa would be able to see. Benjamin and I had basically become vets through this process 😅 April came with no positive change in fact his eyes had gotten worse. It was recommended that we have his eyes removed. With our sons request ringing in our ears we went ahead with the surgery. The result? We have a happy dog! He wags his tail way more now then he ever did before. When we walk the creek and he is off leash he actually comes when he is called. He doesn't growl. He runs happily without being able to see the step in front of him. Imagine the courage to run and not see. I don't know what the "we'll see" of this story will be. Will the disease that took his eyes take his life? Or did the surgery stop it from spreading. This is not our first blind dog. We know this obstacle well. Our other dog knows exactly what to do because his old buddy, Luke also had courage to run the creek during the "we'll see." So much of life is "we'll see". Time and attitude determines so much.
The wedding was successful! Barbara had made hundreds of cupcakes but hired the same caterers we used for Bella and Sam's wedding. They are Nathan Claridge's sisters. Sarah Potter, Lily Clark, Bella and Sam Pershing flew in for the event and Aaron Howe drove down and officiated. He did a great job. Bekah's bridesmaids all flew in for it too.
Mercy, how did this sweet little boy turn teenager then on to an almost grown adult! Benjamin and I woke up early to heart attack his door with loving messages. After school we went out to dinner with Adrian and Olivia to Parkin's dinner of choice The Olive Garden. Then we went to a movie, Fall Guy. We came back home and had an ice cream cake. It was a perfect day honoring one of our favorites!!
Parkin is one of the coolest people. He is kind, smart and oh so very helpful. He loves to learn, swim and take care of plants. He loves all things nature and we love all things Parkin! We got him an Apple watch and a couple of new plant babies. He's got one more year of high school and we can't wait to see what's in store for him. He is strong, very capable and can accomplish anything he sets his mind to!
