Katy has begun pushing herself up with her feet when you pick her off the floor. I know, it might not seem like a lot to many, but for us, this is a big, big step.

Hope has begun her training classes. Slowly but surely, she’s learning how to behave. She is most definitely still a puppy. We have discovered that she loves to run and is actually better behaved during jogs than she is during walks. We may actually really get in shape with this little addition to our family.

For some quick hits from the rest of the family, Bryan and Maggie just got back yesterday from a week at camp – Bryan at a true “roughing it” camp at Camp Ondessonk in Southern Illinois and Maggie at a resort-like lodging in Potosi’s Camp Lakewood (part of the YMCA’s Trout Lodge). Timmy earned his driver’s license on his 16th birthday (6/18) and promptly put 100 miles on the car during the first day. And Sean just threw four innings of two-hit baseball during a St. Louis-area all-star game.

For those of you not in and around St. Louis, we’re not in danger from any of the flooding. At it’s closest point, we are about six miles away from the Missouri River to the Northwest. The Mississippi flooding has affected areas that we normally are involved in, though. The recent levee breaks of late last week have flooded Sean’s main soccer competition fields. Also, the route we took to pick Hope up less than a month ago is completely underwater for miles.

Talk to you soon!