My son Gabe....

For all of you who have been wondering and asking how Gabe is doing, here is an update. He is wonderful. God has really blessed him and us with his health. He is just over 7 months old and currently weighs 19 lbs and is 28 inches long. This is not huge by some standards, but it is almost average for his age and EXTRAORDINARY for a baby with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Most babies with HLHS are nowhere close to his size. He has completed three surgeries (two openheart repairs and one exploratory surgery), but we still have one open heart surgery left. The doctors tell us this will probably somewhere around a year in the future. They say that.....but he is growing sooooo fast. All of his doctors are very pleased with how he is growing. He was a little slow rolling over, but now he has it and would be happy to roll everywhere he goes. He sleeps through the night and eats like a mastodon. We are teething (not fun at all), and leads to some interesting nights and days. Especially when the child is not supposed to cry a lot because it puts strain on his heart. Someone needs to rethink that rule. Have any of you tried to keep a teething baby from crying? Not very easy. Almost impossible really. He has also begun his veggies and other stage one foods. The picture included is of our dinnertime fun. We are going slow with the food by orders of the doctor, but he is doing well with them. He loves sweet potatoes, applesauce, and bananas. Not so much for green beans and green peas.

Anyways, please continue to pray for him and us. He is doing wonderful and so are Marisa and I. We still have a long way to go and everyday we do well is a blessing. Every prayer is needed and we are thankful!

BT, Marisa, Baby Gabe

THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM BREITBART.COM
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070724144415.2esww75r&show_article=1
I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IRAN IS ONE OF THE MORE POWERFUL NATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND CURRENTLY THREATENING THE UNITED STATES WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. SLEEP GOOD!

It all starts with one simple sentence, spoken almost in a whisper, but which has a thunderous effect.
A female police officer deployed in Tehran's latest moral crackdown tells a woman that her manto (overcoat) is too short and infringes Iranian Islamic dress rules.
"Azizam (my dear), good afternoon, if possible could we have a friendly chat, please allow us to have a small chat," the officer, a graduate of Tehran's police academy, tells the young woman.
"My dear there is a problem with your manto. Please do not wear this kind of manto. Please wear a longer manto from now on."
Some are just let go there, but others are escorted to waiting minibuses with dark black tinted window panes and labelled "Guidance Patrol."
A girl in a short white manto whose long hair was tumbling out the front of her headscarf is taken by the police to one of the minibuses on Vanak Square in central Tehran -- an unexpected and unhappy end to her shopping trip.
Another arrested woman is already inside the bus. She begins to cry. "I promise, I promise!"
And the minibus doors slam shut.
Tehran's police have said they are operating a three stage process in implementing the new wave of a crackdown on dress deemed to be unIslamic, which started with some intensity on Monday afternoon.
First, women are given a verbal warning on the street. If the problem is not resolved there, they are taken to the police station for "guidance" and to sign a vow not to repeat the offence. Should this be unsuccessful, their case is handed to the judiciary.
"Sure my manto is short, but there are many others whose clothes are more seductive than mine and they walking by without any punishment," one of the arrested girls in the minibus complained bitterly.
The arrested women will now go to a "centre for combating vice".
Their parents will be phoned and they will bring a longer coat and fuller headscarf for their daughters. If the young women sign the pledge they will then be released.
"We want our words to have an effect on people," a female Iranian police officer, who by law was not allowed to give her name, told AFP before being dispatched to take part in the crackdown.
"Our method is through guidance and via words. We do not face an instance that prompts us to be physical. We do not have any bats or sprays, in the toughest instances we may grab her hand and 'guide' her to the minibus," she said.
"I am doing this it as it is my duty and my job is supported by the religious teachings," another women clad in the black chador uniform of Tehran's female police added.
A girl confronted by the female police for having overly short trousers and transparent stockings apologizes.
"I am wearing stockings but, sorry, they are too light. Sorry I will change them, definitely I will change them. Now can I go?"
Not everything goes so smoothly.
One young passer-by rounds on the police for devoting such resources to moral crackdowns rather than other social problems as the minibus -- now filled with "badly veiled" women -- speeds away to the police station.
"Shame on you, look what you've done! The people's problem is not this, go fix your traffic situation, people are stuck in traffic for hours, go fix other real problems," she shrieks.
There was already considerable controversy inside Iran when the first stage of the "plan to increase security in society" was launched in April.
Many conservatives have applauded the drive, but moderates have publicly questioned whether Iran would be better off tackling poverty and crime rather than slack dressing.
Just before the new crackdown started, popular television host Farzad Hasani grilled Tehran's police chief Ahmad Reza Radan about the drive on his talk show, accusing the police of "not differentiating between people and thugs."
An old woman in a black chador in Vanak Qquare echoed the sentiment.
"Our youth have no peace of mind. They are afraid to go out, they are afraid that if they go out they will be taken to the police. Aren't they saying that there is freedom?"
Copyright AFP 2005, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

THIS SUMMER

Hola'

I thought that I would let you guys in on what has been going on with me this summer. The previous list that I published was not exactly what actually occurred. Here is what did happen!
1. Changed ridiculous amount of dirty diapers.
2. Cleaned the house (probably not as well as I should have)
3. Finished one side of the flower bed in my front yard. (My yard is now lopsided)
4. Almost completed the room downstairs in my basement.
5. Got stuff ready for football in the fall (more to come later).
6. Helped my church move into its new building.
7. Helped my wife move her to her new office in the same building (wow she has a lot of books)
8. Spent time with my family.
9. Ate too much on several occasions.
10. Spent time with my little boy Gabriel and my wife Marisa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, when I go back and think about it, I really did get a lot done this summer. By-the-way, my hat goes off to all of those of you who stay home with small children on a daily basis. That can be a handful....in a good way.......but a handful none-the-less!