It's been quite a while since our last blog update and a lot has changed over the past month. Rachael has been super busy but she hopes to give a full update on Mia in the next couple of days or so. Overall Mia has been doing very well. She has started to use her hands a lot more and has even started to grasp things; something she hasn't ever done before. She has been doing some breathing trials called Continues Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) for 15 minutes at a time. This is a significant development because for over a year we thought she didn't even have a respitory drive which would make CPAP impossible. In reality Mia does have a drive but because of her low muscle town her breaths are very shallow causing the machine to not pick up her own breaths. The RTs at the CRC found the key is having the sensitivity set high enough on the machine so that it does detect her breaths. This is a huge answer to prayer because a respiratory drive is something that can be worked with for weaning. Without one it would be impossible to ever wean her off the vent. We still don't know if this means Mia will one day be off of the ventilator but at least it gives us something to work on and hopefully progressing in that direction. Rachael will hopefully fill in more details on how these runs have gone.

As far as our family/work situation we have had a huge answer to prayer! It looks like the Air Force has agreed to move me from AFROTC Det 088 at Sacramento State to AFROTC Det 045 at San Jose State! When I get back from Alabama (more on that later) I will wrap up my responsibilities at Det 088 and move sometime during September. This will be the first time in over a year that I will be with Rachael and the girls for longer then just four days at a time. I have to thank my current boss at Det 088 LtCol Davis for helping me as well as his boss Col Martin at AFROTC Southwest Region for really pushing to make this possible. There is also a MSgt Walker at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) that has been instrumental in making this happen.

Just before I left for Alabama we made the big push to move out of our Sacramento house. Thanks to the help of my cousin Josh, my Uncle Thor, my mom and dad, Rachael's family and others we emptied our house in about 4 days. Rachael and I had thought that we already eliminated a lot of stuff but after this move it is apparent that we still have a LONG ways to go before we will fit comfortably in our one bedroom apartment. Right now our apartment is standing room only, one entire wall consists of storage bins that is over 6 feet tall and probably close to 20 feet long. We also have a lot of stuff up in Chico including all of my woodworking tools I have. Over the next several weeks Rachael hopes to be able to go through all of the stuff and sell/donate/eliminate anything we don't need. What is left will either be used in the apartment or be stored up in Chico for the future.

Just before we moved, Rachael and I were looking at how to furnish our new apartment. After looking at the options at Ikea and other stores we decided that since I have been buying all of the woodworking tools for the past two years that we should just build our own instead. Even though we were short on time we preferred to spend money on wood rather then purchase furniture that we wouldn't really care about. Rachael had several things she wanted made but time only allowed for us to build an entertainment center and a large bookcase. Working with Rachael on these projects has been great; we seem to have finally found a common interest (aside from our girls) that we both enjoy doing together. It is very special for me to have Rachael by my side working together building something we will have for years to come. Rachael may post some pictures later on so you all can see what we have been up to.

Now that our house is empty we have been in the process of trying to get it rented out. We decided this time to use a property management company since we really didn't want to have to worry about things. Yesterday we found out that it looks like we may have 4 girls that are graduate students that want to rent the house and hope to move in by August 6th. Rachael and I are a little concerned about the age factor and that they our students but our property manager does a thorough background check and even spoke with the girls parents. We just hope our house doesn't turn into the next party house... It's an answer to prayer to have it rented but we will continue to keep praying that these renters will respect and care for the place.

Moving on to Mercedes; she is doing very well. Rachael and I have been discussing her starting school this fall. We are going to home school Mercedes and I know Rachael is looking forward to it. Our number one goal this fall is to have Mercedes reading books on her own. It's hard to believe she is already at this age.

Finally, for those of you that don't know I'm at Maxwell AFB located near Montgomery Alabama from July 23rd to August 29th. I will be leading a group of Air Force cadets for close to a month putting them through their field training (boot camp) encampment. I will be responsible for up to 22 cadets and will be working from 3:30 am till at least 10:00 pm every day for the next 30 days. I am excited about it but I know the work will take it's toll on me physically and mentally. I appreciate your prayers in keeping me sustained through this time.

Well, that is all I have for now. I hope that Rachael will be able to post an update in the next couple of days.

Robert