TGIF!

Well we have almost finished another summer week here and I just have to say, "I SO love summer!" I would love it even more if I didn't have to deal with this shoulder thing. It makes playing with the kids harder! But, I can be thankful that I still have one shoulder. :)

The boys have had swim lessons the last 2 weeks and they have enjoyed them. The only prob is that, this year, not very many kids signed up for lessons so they put the whole age group in one class and didn't have levels. Most of the things the boys did they learned last year. Michael and I were a little frustrated because we wanted them to progress but they did learn to patiently wait even though they were bored. (This is a good life skill.) They also fine tuned some of last year's skills and that was good. So, it wasn't a total waste of money. :) They enjoyed being in the water for 2 weeks. Gideon just took the pre-school class again. He did learn to jump in by himself, dive for rings, and kick and move his arms simultaneously. He still can't keep himself totally above water without help but he is getting close!

Yesterday we went to a friend's pool and we had a great afternoon. The older boys are swimming like fish now. It's SO nice to be able to sit and slightly relax while they swim. The big surprise there was Gideon. He hasn't liked jumping in at the pool because he doesn't like to go under for long. Yesterday I had a life jacket on him because of my shoulder and he decided he wanted to jump off the diving board like Judah and Thomas. I told him to go ahead. Karen and I moved into the deep end and away he went. His smile was HUGE when he resurfaced. He did it over and over!! I was so proud of him. YAY!

I'm not sure what we are doing this weekend. I'm hoping to do our monthly shopping for July on Monday. I need to get that out of the way before the surgery on Thursday. :)

I hope that y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings!-Angela

Busy Busy Busy!!!

We're all doing just fine here. :) We've just been crazy busy. What have we been up to? Well, I'll tell you...

First of all we're busy doing summer things; playing outside a lot, drinking lots of water, and hosing down the hot alpacas.

The boys started swim lessons last week and they will finish up the session this week. The coach is going S L O W L Y! In fact it's too slow but at least they get to be in the pool and have fun with other kids. :)

The alpacas are doing well despite the high heat. If you scroll down to the post before this one you will see the new alpaca news. :)

Our worship pastor called me on Tuesday morning and asked me for a favor. The choir is doing a service of encouragement through song tomorrow and one of the women who had 2 solos had to go out of town for a death in the family. :( He asked me to fill in for her. So I have been BUSY learning 8 songs this week, two of which I have solos in. OY! It's been FUN but definite work. Please pray for a strong voice anointed by Him tomorrow. My vocal chords are tired from all the hours of rehearsal. THANKS!

Michael's mom was here a couple weeks ago and we had fun spending time with her! She's such delightful company. She is so easy to please and not critical! We love her. :)

Michael and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on June 12th. We went away for the weekend. That's the first time we've ever done that! The boys had a fabulous time with good friends of ours who stayed at our house for the weekend and watched not only our boys but took care of the animals too. We are now indebted to them for LIFE! Hehe!!

I guess the only other thing is my shoulder. I don't remember posting about it before here. Here's the deal...

I noticed some pain in my shoulder about 4 (or so) months ago. It gradually got worse until it was pretty painful a lot of the time. I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon. I had already tried resting it and slinging it. He gave me a Cortisone shot and I waited 3 weeks. I got A LOT of relief from that shot. Then, I went back for a second one. Didn't finish it off. Tried physical therapy for a few weeks. Didn't help. Doc ordered an MRI and found out that I had 2 things wrong. Bursitis and arthritis. WHAT?! I'm only 32!! Anyway, the bursitis is swelling and the arthritis is swelling and they are irritating each other and pinching things and impeding movement, causing lots of pain, etc.

I am scheduled for surgery on July 2. Please pray that God will guide the Dr's eyes and hands. Pray for a complete and total healing!!

I know that I COULD PROBABLY try to rest it and do enough PT to bring down the swelling but it's pretty much impossible with the 3 young boys and the farm. I just have to do too much. Plus, I forget not to do things. I cannot sling it all the time because it could "freeze". That would be BAD! So, I feel, that this is the best option for me at this time.

After surgery I will have 6-8 weeks of Physical Therapy 3Xs a week. Fun, fun!!

So, that's what's been going on around here. :)

Hope that all of my readers and friends are having a wonderful summer!

Blessings!-
Angela :)

It's a BOY!

We have a new addition at Sweetwater Farm! Well to be exact, Mommy and new cria still live in VA. We will re breed her there, next month, and pick her and baby boy up probably in August. :)

This is not the greatest pic but you can still get a glimpse. :)

Cocoa and baby are the darkest ones in the pic! Cocoa looks weird because she was newly sheared. Hehe!!

We are SO excited! I can't wait to bring them home to live HERE!