They Draw&Cook

Seriously, they draw and cook?! What better combination could there be for a website?

I found this wonderful little website through the Pioneer Woman, and was captivated by it straight away. What a wonderful idea: a place where anyone can upload their favorite recipes in illustration form.

Salli Swindell

Katie Daugherty

Alect Pee

Shirley Ng-Benitez

Lindsay Schmitt

Heather Bryant

Linda Silvestri

Amanda Kastner

These were just a few of my favorites that I've found so far. They're all so fun, stylish and inventive. Go on over and check them out yourself. Have fun exploring at theydrawandcook.com!

New Addition

You're going to be seeing a lot of this cute little face in the future, because...

...this is our new addition to the Patty family!

We honestly debated not getting another dog. We weren't sure if we could go through the whole puppy process again, if we could travel with her, if we could say good-bye to yet another dog some day. We went for two weeks like this, trying to get used to a dog-less house. It didn't work though. Our family is not complete without the love, affection, and joy of a sweet doggy.

After some thought and prayer, we finally started looking around on the internet for breeders. We still weren't sure if we would find one that we liked, but figured it was worth a try. Eventually, we found one breeder, who sent us pictures of her available 6-month-old puppy. We fell in love with her right away.

The first picture.

 Dad called the breeder and talked to her about the possibility of getting her. She said she wanted her to go to a loving family, because she had a special affection for this specific puppy! She didn't want her to go to just anybody...she wanted her to be a part of a family. Check! I think we've got that part down!

On Wednesday, we drove about two hours to meet her family, and to take her to her new home. When we got to the breeder's, we were tackled by 15 precious Cavalier King Charles Spaniels! They all wanted a piece of the party. Cavaliers are some of the friendliest, most loving dogs I know. Seeing them all act that way reminded me yet again that this dog was the perfect one for our family.

So, meet Kaylee! 

We're still getting to know her, but we can already tell that she is loving, spunky, careful, and observant. I can't wait to find out more about her personality. She's already won a place in all of our hearts.

We all still miss Lily so much, but having Kaylee around does fill a hole. And it's nice to have a daily reminder of the love that Lily gave us. Thanks to her, we have even more love to give to Kaylee. The Lord really did bless us with this sweet new gift. I thank Him so much for knowing our hearts and our desires. He is so good!

Bittersweet days

These past few days have been...

....bittersweet.

In this time of great grief for our family over Lily, we have experienced God's enormous strength, comfort, love and grace for us. That eases the pain, but it's still there.

Our family was blessed to be all together until Monday, when Tyler had to leave for training on the other side of Czech. Caleb started helping out at training on our side of the country this week. And I'm slowly starting to plan for English Camp (JV's summer evangelistic camps) which starts on Saturday. I'm thankful for this time that we've had together. God knew we needed those days to recover, so we could move into English Camp next week.

Please pray for English Camp! It's an amazing opportunity for open hearts, God's hands to be working, and for each and every one of us to grow.

*Photo credit goes to Mom for taking the picture...and Tyler for editing.

Sad night

I can't even bear to relive last night to you all, but for the sake of remembering and honoring her, I knew I needed to write something.

Our dear sweet 7-year-old dog, Lily, passed away last night at 10:50, lying in Caleb's arms. It was always her favorite position to be in, and we're so glad that she could relive that one last time.

This absolutely captures who she is to all of us. Taken this winter.

She had been having some health problems for months now, but we never could figure out exactly what was happening. Finally, when we came back from the States, she took a turn for the worse. We took her to the vet and sat with her while she got blood tested, had an ultrasound, and had an IV for 3 hours. The vet put her on some antibiotic and did all he could. But dear Lily knew it was her time. And she waited until the whole family was together before she finally let go. It was a window of 48 hours that we were together as the 5 of us, but the Lord was good to us, and kept her with us long enough.

I can't even express with words how devastated and sad we are. Lily was all and more than we could ever hope for in a dog. She always comforted, always greeted, always stuck close by, went everywhere with us, and loved our family right up to the end. I'm going to miss everything about her.

Lily, thank you for hanging on for us all. You were so brave. We miss you. Lord, please take care of her. I don't know from your Word if she is with you or not, but I pray that she is. I know she is loved by her Creator. You, Father, took just as much joy in her as we did.

I know that this is not how God intended life to be...pain, suffering, death. But God has bigger  and better plans for us in the end, and that's all that can really, truly comfort me right now. I'm thankful for Him.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

  Philippians 1:6

If you would like to hear more of the story or see more pictures, my Mom wrote it very well on her blog. Click here to read. 

Taken in June 2008. One of my favorite pictures with her.

Always a part of our family...then, and forever. 

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort." 

2 Corinthians 1:2-4

Everyday joy

There is one thing that without fail always makes me happy. I can't imagine my world without it. I find it everywhere, and encounter it every single day. I try to capture it with photos, art or by staring at it long enough.

Can you guess what makes me happy?

(*Stay tuned for the answer in my next post, and until then I'd love to hear what your guess would be!)

In personal news, we're home from the States! After a long trip home, we finally made it. Now we're trying to catch up on our hours, sleep and get over jet-lag...the usual "after-traveling" routine. It feels good to be home, but I miss all of my family and friends in the States. I loved seeing so many dear people! 

I'm looking forward to spending some time now with some of my friends and "adopted" family here in Czech! Happy Summer!!