Has it seriously been TWO months?

Oh my goodness- I'm sure some of you are still checking our little website here. :) Things have been quite busy. I'll try to highlight a few things over the last two months.

1. I am a Master of Divinity! I graduated on May 5 from Haggard School of Theology. The ceremony was very nice--well planned and wonderfully accessible! The night before graduation there was a smaller "hooding" ceremony with just the theology students and professors. It was very meaningful and they gave me a standing ovation. :) I wasn't sure if it was really for me, but Aaron assured me it was. Getting my robe on was tricky! We actually ended up cutting the back out of the robe and tucking the rest around me. It worked! A couple of professors walked by as we were hacking up my robe, but they didn't say anything. :)

2. Aaron has 2 more days of school!!! He has had such a difficult year. But in spite of the challenges, his groups performed very well. In May, he took his advanced band to a larger regional festival in San Diego where they scored a superior rating in the competition. He was very proud of his students and I was very proud of him! A couple of weeks ago, he was presented with a beautiful plaque recognizing his committment and dedication to his students in spite of the difficult personal circumstances the past couple of years. It was very special. The parents also gave us a gift certificate to a travel agency so we could go on a vacation! We were so surprised! We are very blessed to be part of such a great school district. I could not even begin to describe the incredible support we have received from the Riverside/Gage community.

3. My dad is hopefully finishing up his final round of chemotherapy tomorrow! The tumor has shrunk significantly and an MRI will determine where to go from here. Please keep him in your prayers. Even as the cancer seems to be diminishing there are still significant pre-existing health conditions that make life challenging for him. He was finally able to get a wheelchair and van to make him much more mobile!

4. My brother Dustin had a pretty crazy couple of months. He had some medical conditions that put him on light-duty for a couple of weeks in Iraq. During that time one of the platoons from his company hit a roadside bomb and one of the soldiers was killed. So that has been pretty difficult. Dustin's physical health is fine now. Just pray for the emotional and mental health of the soldiers.

5. My dear friend Amy is still in the hospital in Las Vegas. She has been there for over a year! Her health is very fragile--she's still on a ventilator. It's very sad and VERY frustrating to know how much insurance or lack of insurance affects the quality of healthcare in our country. If Amy had received the proper care in the beginning, she would be so much better. It's not fair. Please pray that she would be transferred soon to a hospital in California so she can at least be closer to her family.

6. Aaron and I are leaving on Thursday for our big summer adventure. We are driving to Colorado (yuck) for a wedding this weekend. From there we journey to Chicagoland to spent some time with our friends and family (Aaron's)--and then we head to Omaha, NE to spend time with my family. On our way back to CA we are stopping in Vegas to see Amy. We will be gone for almost 4 weeks! We are excited to get in our van and hit the road! Hopefully we will get to see many of you on our journey! Pray for safety as we drive.

Well- that's it for now. Please drop a comment! We love hearing from all of you. I'll try to write again before another two months goes by!
Many blessings to you all-

Kari.