La Doña de la Casa

Our Boxer dog, Doña, was put to sleep last night. Engracia informed us that her arthritis had worsened to the point that she couldn't climb stairs & no longer wanted to eat. Although we knew this day was coming, we were saddened to not be able to say a final goodbye to "La Doña de la Casa".

Doña was probably our favorite of all our dogs. Everyone that came to our home left as good friends of Doña. Favorite memories include:

• when she was but a pup, she stood on her hind legs & put her front paws on Alina Burnam's shoulders to "dance" with her
• every group that came for a retreat - although many began the weekend afraid of Doña because of her bulk & hearty bark - ended up taking pictures with her at the end
• many people we meet in other locales ask "Come esta la Doña?"
• despite how long we'd been gone - 15 minutes or 15 days = Doña would always greet us joyfully (and always inspect our suitcases for the inevitable treat!)
  
• when it was close to dinner time, Doña would "talk smack" to Toby - she should have been in pictures!

Coco Dog will miss her friend, even waits at the window for her return. We will be looking for a puppy on our return. Doña was our 5th dog...only lived 7 years...but won the prize of our hearts. We will miss her.

More Valencia Pics!

After we downloaded pics from Becca's camera, we found better pics of Valencia - as well as some on the beach there.

Valencia (day 2) - travel w/ la jovencita

Tuesday, we explored the city to find the University of Valencia where our jovencita (Marilyn) studied Spanish many years ago. (or did she pretend to study Spanish while she checked out the Spanish?) After a couple of false starts (it seems the campus she attended is so old it's been abandoned other than for conferences(-:) But we finally found it & snapped a few photos while reminiscing of our misspent youth! And praising God for His protection over a young naive college girl far from home.

We briefly returned to the science museum (too brief for the engineers- too long for the liberal arts majors) before retiring for a paella dinner. Then Jason finished his work so we had to return across the country to BJK's home in Madrid.

Valencia

We LOVED Valencia! It's on the Mediterranean about three hours east of Madrid. Jason had business there so we went with him. They have really spectacular architecture in the newly modernized central section. If you want to see some of the pics, go to http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/

We spent Monday at the aquarium. It was spectacular - the best any of us have seen. They had several tunnels where you walk through the middle of the aquarium tank. In one of these there were HUGE sharks swimming just a couple of feet above your head. It was pretty disconcerting. After a nap, we went back for the dolphin show. We enjoyed that immensely as well. Then we went down to the beach to dip our toes in the chilly Med water. We ate paella at sunset. Quite an enjoyable day.

Mariachis!

Mariachis in Madrid. We were pleasantly surprised to come across a mariachi band in downtown Madrid. As you can see, their attire was not quite as spiffy as in Mexico, but the music sounded familiar. They attracted quite a crowd.

Madrid!

We made it safely to Madrid!

After connecting through Paris (seeing the Eiffel Tower out our window!) we arrived last Wednesday. Although we felt like we were in a fog the 1st few days, we've enjoyed joining Becca & Katie in seeing the sights of Madrid.
We didn't see much of Jason the 1st few days as all of the SW Europe reps were in town for training so he was getting to know the gang. But we enjoyed a chilly, wet trip around the center of Madrid. Then Becca & Jason treated us to a wonderful dinner at their favorite restaurant - we were even up past midnight (at least on someone's time clock). Saturday we visited the famous art museum El Prado (not a great hit for any of us who were tired after being out so late the night before(-:

Then Sunday we got to enjoy their church experience - the service was different as there was a guest children's band performing. But we got the full treatment with dinner @ the pastor's house lasting most of the afternoon. In attendance were Irish, Hungarian, Brits, S African as well as several displaced Yanks. Then from lunch we left for Valencia. More on that later!

We passed the test!

Praise the Lord with us! Toby passed the test @ the doctor's appointment. For once we had an uneventful doctor's visit. At our request, he did a stress test to ensure that Toby's heart was in good shape for the trip to Spain. The doctor said there was no change from the last test in February. So we leave TOMORROW to visit Becca, Jason & Katie. Thanks for praying with us!