Phew! Where has the month of June gone? Summer is always a busy time of year, however, this year I have been especially busy. We have hosted a few different barrio, construction, and even VBS teams. However, what has kept me most busy is that on May 25th, Osa had 11 puppies, with Arlo. Osa had the puppies in Santo Domingo. It was advised by Osa’s vet that it would be best for Osa to have the puppies in the capital because she was having so many. The puppies started to be born around 3:30 am, and I was able to call my vet, and she was over by 4am. When she arrived, Osa had already had three puppies. I feel so blessed to have a vet like Jen, who came to assist. Osa had an X-ray a few days before having the puppies, that showed she would have ten puppies. Puppy number 10 came out as a still-born, and despite Jens efforts, we were not able to revive her. This was heartbreaking. Jen spent about 10 minutes trying to bring the puppy back to life. After the 10 minutes of working towards bringing number 10 back to life, I looked down and Osa was pushing out number 11! Number 11 came out a golden girl. When I found out Osa was pregnant, I had said I wanted a golden girl, and this was the only one. I have called her lucky number 11 since the day she was born. I will be keeping her!

The puppies have kept me on my feet, but boy are they fun! I will share some photos below. June has been busy with teams as well. This summer we have had many small groups coming to serve. If I am being honest, I love hosting smaller teams. I am able to connect, and get to know so many in the group this way. Northwoods Community Church came down, and did Vacation Bible School. This trip reminded me of my first trip in many ways, both because of their team size, and Dave Murphy led the team. Dave led my first trip to the Dominican Republic in 2012, and has been like a grandpa to me ever since.

The guesthouse has continued to keep me on my toes, with another big flood at the beginning of the month. The floodwaters entered in the Guesthouse just as fast as they did before. We think we have an idea of where the issue is coming from, and are working towards getting the problem fixed. Until then, we will continue to take pre-cautionary steps to try to keep the guesthouse from experiencing serious damages if it were to flood again. I am thankful for a staff who came together, and got the guesthouse cleaned and ready to welcome a team just 15 hours after the flood happened!

I celebrated my 25th birthday this month. My friends blessed me with three day weekend full of festivities! On Saturday, which was actually my birthday, we spent the day at the pool. All of my friends, who are my family here, were there! I am so thankful for this friend group.

Unfortunately there is no big update for my residency. We are still working towards getting one document that we just can’t get right. I hope to have better news next month! Please continue to pray with me that we get this issue resolved.

Prayer Request:
Residency
Puppies will find good homes, and sell fast!
Upcoming travel home for fall break.