New events

Each season (or at least at a twice/year minimum) we try to encourage our children to pick a sport or activity. I asked Dreyton if he wanted to play soccer again or try football. Dreyton decided to go with football for the first time (his father tried not to jump with joy when he heard this). He really didn't know much about the sport and was very nervous. He is on the Newberry Panthers football team, and he seems to be enjoying learning and playing football. Donovan is a little excited too! Go Gators and Go Panthers!!

Yep, we bought a brand new Toyota Sienna. This is our first brand new car. Donovan and I had a talk with our kids about the van. We wanted to make sure they understood not to scratch or do foolish things in the minivan, or we would freak out! The kids are so excited about the DVD in the van and power doors. I have found Jasmine in the van serveral times messing with all of the switches and gadgets (but then again, Donovan has found me doing the same thing!). It is a novelty to the children. We were hoping to get a different mini van in Aug. or Sept. The air-conditioning was not working properly in our old Caravan and we had an oil leak. The brakes were also having troubles. It is very hot here in the summer months and to not have air-conditioning in a car can make people very cranky. And as you who know us are aware, we are already WAY ahead of the curve when it comes to crankiness in even temperate, mild temperatures, so you can just imagine us in hot humidity. We took the Caravan to the repair shop in June and decided to wait to fix the van. Since we had been discussing buying a new car now for a year, we decided to buy a new van rather than pay for the Caravan's costly repairs.
Dominique wanted to make sure we took a picture of the spoiler. I didn't really care if it had a spoiler or not as I was hoping for cool hydraulics and low rider rims and wheels (ha, ha). There weren't many 08's on the lot to pick from, but we were happy with our pick. We are officially a Toyota family. Donovan drives a Toyota Corolla and I drive the Sienna. I know there are some that would never own a minivan (maybe John Bauer for one), but it gets ok gas mileage and is very nice to travel in. I would prefer a toyota Sequoia, but that is a little out of my price range. When we have our next child (which will be a boat), we will have to worry about getting something to pull it like that.Jasmine started her first week of piano lessons. Her teacher said Jasmine seemed very excited to learn and was happy to have her as a new student. We hope Jasmine will continue with her enthusiam towards piano. I would like to take lessons again myself. My mom let me quit my freshman year, because I was involved in other extra curricular activites. I wish I would have stuck with it. Maybe my mother-in-law will give me some free lessons when she visits in November as an early Christmas present...:)

Fun in the Heat

We told the kids that daddy would not be able to go to St. Louis. It was like we moved all over again. They all shed a few tears and now have accepted the idea that we will be staying here in the Gainesville area for now. Donovan is finalizing all of his paperwork to start as a Research Assistant Professor. It has been a very long time in coming, but we are happy to report he will be phasing out of clinical care and he will have one job. Can you believe it? One Job!


It was so hot in Florida that the girls had to cool down their backsides to keep them from melting off. We call it the Florida Butt Shrink-off. Janae is working on getting her backside to heat up even more for that!

Jyllian! Be careful! You may have melted away too much of Jasmine's pa-tootie.
Take a close look at Jyllian's face in this photo as she gives commands to the dog, Daisy. The youngest has to have someone to boss around, doesn't she? She holds the ball in front of Daisy and says, "You want it? Go get it!" And then she throws the ball.

These are the best dart guns ever. The kids just love them, and we highly recommend them for all parents needing to take out some aggression on their offspring! Protective eyewear included to avoid any difficulites with Child Protective Services.

Donovan's 36th Birthday

Most of our posts have been fun activites that we have done as a family, but this post is about Donovan. On August 25th, Donovan had his annual visit to the cardiologist. He has to see a cardiologist annually, due to his Mitral Valve Prolapse. On August 27th, the Dr. called to speak with Donovan. He wanted to meet with him at his office. We all know that getting called into the Doctor's office after tests are run, is not a good thing. On Friday, August 27th, Donovan met with the cardiologist and he said, his heart continues to show good function, but it is leaking more than previously. The Dr. has some concerns about some of the chamber dimensions in his heart. Because of these concerns, the Dr. thinks it will be best to repair his valve, even though he is asymptomatic. To repair the valve, Donovan will need to have open heart surgery. The Dr. said it should be done sooner rather than later. If he waits until there are problems, he could have permanent heart damage. So, we have had some major decisions to make in our life. Donovan was scheduled to go to St. Louis, MO for an interview at Washington University. He was supposed to arrive Sept. 14th, but that has all changed. We were also offered a job to stay here and work as a research assisant, but Donovan wanted to interview at Washington University first. Donovan is currently a Post-doctoral Fellow and doing clinical care as a Physical Therapist part time. After the surgery, Donovan will not be able to do any clinical care for two months, because he can not lift or overdue it. Well, most people can't be out of a job for two months and support a family of six, so we decided it would be best to stay here. Donovan will take a job Sept. 15th, which will increase our income, but at the same time he will stop clinical care. We had been praying as a family and trying to decide where to go next in life and the Lord has given us a few signs along the way.

I will keep everyone posted when the surgery will take place. Most likely it will take place in November.