June/ July update

June went by rather quickly. Sophia competed in her final horse show of the spring season and did very well.  She was Grand Champion for the spring series in her division.  She is enjoying riding Ella.

Sophia and Steve were glad school was over and summer has started.  Sophia started swimming on the swim team again.  Practicing in cold water in early June was hard but soon enough things warmed up.  Sophia had a great swim season shaving over 20 seconds off her strokes from the time trials in June to the end of the season in July.

July 1, 2006 was our referral day.  It was the first day we saw a picture and got information about Sophia.  Every year we take a picture of her holding the referral photo.  I am amazed to see how big she is getting. We are so thankful she is part of our lives.

July had our share of losses.  Grandma Beadle turned 93 on July 1 and died on July 2. Nick and Aiden came down for a weekend and we celebrated Grandma's life. Thankfully she died peacefully and without suffering in her sleep. She was an amazing woman, she loved to read and enjoyed sitting and hearing stories about our lives. She will be missed.

On July 6th we lost Shadow. He had been struggling the past seven months but held on. He never seemed to be in pain. Always cuddled and was happy to get loving. His last day he was having trouble breathing and he seemed to be in distress. We did the thing that was best for him and put him down. It was very hard especially after giving him so much attention and nursing over the past months. He was Steve's cat. They adored each other. Life isn't the same without him. After losing him we slept in a bed without cats. I have had a cat in my bed for the past nineteen years. Mr. Twinkletoes does not sleep with us. Very strange waking up without a cat in our faces. Even though we kept Mr. Twinkletoes and Shadow separate during the day for the last couple of months Mr. Twinkletoes  looked for him and made his come play with me sound for a few days. Kaegogi sat at the top of the stairs where he and Shadow rubbed noses at night. Losing a friend is hard.

In July we took a trip to Connecticut to visit Linda and the girls. This was our first trip back to visit since my mother died last August. It was hard being in Connecticut without seeing my mother. I missed our late nights at her kitchen table eating ice cream, our shopping trips and dinners. I missed playing cards with her and Sophia. I missed seeing her smile and have her eyes light up when Sophia kissed her. Sophia and I drove by her house. Linda, me and the girls went to the cemetery. So very hard. Thankfully spending time with Linda, Stephanie and Hollie took away some of the pain. Danielle even came up so the cousins all hung out and played. It was nice to see them all together. We visited Aunt Philly for a little while. It was so nice to see her and she so so happy to see the girls.