Allison

... affectionately known as Alli, struck a rather formal pose when she saw the camera. I'll try to catch her in the much more common, stretched out on the floor in the sun or jumping for joy at the sound of her food bowl being filled, pose before we leave tomorrow morning for the long drive home to Florida.

My nephew M is still in post-operative intensive care but says (as relayed by our niece J) that he is doing better than he expected (he's been through this before) and I imagine he'll be transferred to a regular room soon. Again, thank you kindly for the prayers for M and his family, they have been much appreciated.

It doesn't seem possible that we've been here a week. I'm going to miss the animals but mostly I'm going to miss getting to really know our two great-nieces and being part of their life for this little while. Life I suppose boils down to a series of arrivals and departures and the memories we make in between. We made some good ones this week ... and the adventure, with all the ups and downs, continues.