Where did July go?

Hi everyone. As you probably know, we've had a pretty interesting month. July started out quite normal: a night out for fireworks, a trip to the museum, lots of fun and sun.

Anna pretending to pump water Laura Kate "churning butter"

But, on the 13th, that all changed. Laura Kate began to get ill. At first, she had a stomach virus. By the 16th, she had to be hospitalized for dehydration. We got her home the next day and she still didn't feel well. She was pretty lethargic and complained of a severe tummy ache. By Saturday the 19th, we were back in the hospital...this time Scott and White in Temple. She had developed Henoch-Schonlein Purpura, a type of vasculitis. This caused her immune system to attack the small blood vessels in her body, causing rash-like bruising on most of her body. Also she experience joint and facial pain and swelling, abdominal pain, and nausea.





















Left side of her face swollen due to HSP Three weeks later, and feeling a little better!

After two hospital visits and an emergency room visit, she has been doing pretty well. We had a little scare yesterday with nausea and vomitting, but she came out of that pretty quickly. Her stomach is still bothering her, but that is to be expected. We'll have ups and downs, but eventually she WILL get better, so that's quite a comfort. Another huge thank you to all of you who have and continue to pray and offer help and encouragement!


Meli, Anna, and Laura Kate. You can still see some of the "rash" on Laura's legs and feet.

Now we have a different kind of excitement around the Mitchell house. We've adopted a cat, Meli. Anna named and fell in love with her pretty quickly. She is a very sweet and mellow cat. She is excellent with the girls. All she requires is food and love, which is in good supply here. Having her is helping us to teach the girls responsibility. They are in charge of feeding and watering. We'll see how well they do and for how long ;) For now, they are taking this on like big girls!