Hardest blog to write

We're just sooo happy! We're having Mexican food. 

It has been just over a week and so much has gone on that I am thinking it's too much to include in a blog post, so I will just skim through it and let the pictures and captions speak for themselves.

From Monterey, CA came Stephanie, our oldest daughter, soon joined by Tia, her oldest from Las Vegas, so that three generations of oldest daughters were gathered here. We had so much fun. We dined out on Mexican food, we pulled out all the old carpets from the house as well as the bazillion staples that were holding the carpets fast to the floor. Go figure?

Why would you put a mop here?

We also played with the dogs. Tia's Buddha and Odin respect any barrier, even a mop handle placed in a doorway, and will not cross it. They are so well trained. Baby Snooks was too tired to play but laid out in the grass to watch.

Richard had a mysterious infection on one of his fingertips which extended under the nail. Finally, we got him to see a doctor who lanced it, and we were all amazed at the amount of pus in the wound. He's been on antibiotics several days now and it is healing nicely.

We had noticed an increasingly foul odor and assumed we needed to empty our black water tank, the one which stores water from the bathroom sink and toilet. Emptying the tank didn't improve things, but did reveal soaked carpet in the basement (storage area below the living space of the motorhome, similar to where buses put luggage). Things were really wet! And stinky, since there was a sack of dog food and several cardboard boxes. I am sure there was swamp gas in there, too - ugh!

So, the search was on to find the leak, and it didn't take long to discover. Water was dripping from a T-joint in the propane line from up into the living area. I emptied the corner lazy susan area where I keep cleaning supplies, and the whole floor was wet... and looked like it had been wet a long time. What a mess! Oddly, we couldn't tell where the water was coming from, so we disconnected the water to the coach and opened our faucets to release any pressure. Now, we will watch and wait until it dries out for any hints as to source.

Meanwhile, Tia and her boys went home, and we continues to work on the house. We took Stephanie to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakespearian Festival here and she treated us to dinners at the Pastry Pub as well as the Bard... and Baby Snooks struggled more each day to breath and to even move.

We took our sweet little friend back to the vet although we knew there was nothing more medical science could do. After so much prayer together, we had come to an agreement that Snooksie must not suffer any longer. She had refused all food for two days and now was not even taking water.

I put my face up close to hers as the doctor injected the sedative ever so slowly. She drifted peacefully off to sleep and the struggle was over, but not the pain. I could not have imagined such a big hole in our lives with her gone. Plans and thoughts of almost every aspect of our lives included Baby Snooks for so many, many years...

Will we get another dog? Almost certainly, but we will wait until YHVH puts one in our path. Will another dog replace Snooks? Never!

It was soon time for Stephanie to head back to her military duties. She drove a long way to be here and I believe our loving Lord brought her at just the right time. She and Tia were messengers of His love and tenderness and helped us through a painful experience.

It is time for us to keep busy getting Stephanie's house and our coach chores all done up and making plans for our next move.

We are doing some painting and a few more repairs here at Stephanie's house, with breaks to work on a puzzle and trips to town to do laundry and just "get out."

On Shabbat, we took another ride, worshipping our Creator while wandering through the local mountains, poking around the back country.