Are We Having Fun Yet?

Hello All,

God has truely blessed us by sending wonderful people to enrich our lives. We feel everyone's love and support just like Sophia's fishy blanket wrapped around us. We really believe that it is thanks to all of you and God above that we are able to carry on. We have been on some wonderful adventures over the past 2 weeks. We visited Fresno PD Skywatch, toured the Cat Haven, watched the K9 unit train and were able to express our gratitude to the community at the Elbow Room fundraiser.

Where to start...Natalia has grown stronger every day. She continues to put back the weight she lost over the past few months. She is eating and drinking like a champ. We still stick to softer foods that are easy for her to swallow. She is able to finish her sentences and talks and talks and talks...awesome! She makes it to the bathroom again and walks around the house with little to no aid. Her balance is still off and when we are in unfamiliar territory she is shakey but all in all much, much stronger. Elbow Room day...started at 5am with Natalia asking if we were ready to go...hold on tiger not till 1pm. She was excited to meet and greet everyone. Once again she walked the room and spoke a little to people who came out to show her their support and love. Boy, was the vibe in that restuarant incredible. But when she was done that was it. "I'm done let's go home." and away we went. We got the opportunity to personally thank some of the people who helped us with this journey. A HUGE HUGE thank you to EVERYONE who made this event possible.

We started our adventures by visiting Skywatch. The girls got to sit in the helicopter and feel like big shots...how to know Natalia was feeling better at this point...people who didn't know her that well could tell she was excited just by her facial expressions. Of course, the OH MY GOD when she saw the copter helped a bit. Melissa Herring took tons of pictures for us.

The Sierra Endangered Cat Haven...WOW! A huge thank you to Julie for this opportunity. If you love the big cats you must head up Hwy 180 toward Sequoia National Park and visit this place. They house all different types of cats, tigers, leopards, jaguars and many others. This was a wonderful chance for all of us to see these animals up close. The volunteers are knowledgable and make the tours a blast. The enclosures the cats are housed in allow them a fun enviroment while giving you a chance to get a really close look at them. The girls screamed and laughed their way through the park.

Cats one day dogs the next. We were a bit afraid for this one. While the girls love dogs and have met Sepp before how were they going to react to seeing the K9 unit train. I lost my fear of that when the first dog came up and licked their faces and begged to be petted. Now keep in mind these are BIG dogs. The smallest of them is bigger and heavier then Sophia and some rivaled Natalia in size. The girls giggled their way through the whole beginning of this adventure. Then came the for the bad guy to suit up and the dogs to go into action. The girls cheered the dogs on. They really understood that, just like Poppa, they like to play and have fun on their down time but when they go to work they are all business. They cheered the loudest when Edgar put on the arm glove and Sepp grabbed him..GOOOOO Sepp! Get Him!!! A huge thank you to Gene Johnson and the rest of the officers...PS Natalia doesn't take off her K9 t-shirt.

This Sunday, there is a party at the FPOA headquaters for Natalia. Make A Wish is giving her a donut send off party before we go to Cancun. We can not wait...more adventures to come.

Love to you all,

Roni