Back in the Saddle-

It has been two weeks or so since my last entry and for that I must plead laziness. When I wasn't being lazy I was busy. It seems I have only two gears.

I will cover:

Ed Rapoza's Visit to the US.

Summer Tour

Belle

Belle-

The start of March we adopted Belle. Belle is a miniature poodle (bigger than a toy poodle but way smaller than a poodle). She was raised as a human baby by her original owners and by the time she was 9 months old had lost many of her "dog skills". She never went for walks. Rather she was pushed around in a stroller. So "going for a walk" was new when our friend took over care-giver needs. A month later we adopted her and she has been learning how to be a dog again. Thank you "Dog Whisperer" TV show since many of the techniques we've been using are from that show. She is a real character and in one months time has really become a part of the family.

She did have to be "fixed". She didn't realize there was anything broken to "fix". So she had to wear the "cone of Shame", as Cynthia calls it, to keep her from licking the surgery site.

We are slowly beginning to train her to perform in the show.

Ed's Trip to the US-

I have been friends with Ed for over 18 years. We met in Japan and he joined me on many projects out there. I also want to mention he has been in Japan for nearly 28 years. he hasn't visited the States in over 10 years. During those years he grew ever frustrated with life and the cards he had been dealt. If I may stay on the card analogy, he was down to his last chips and he held a losing hand. He had reached his bottom back in November. But God did some remarkable things with him. First, in an act that can only be by His hand, Ed met a Japanese-Singaporean young man who was living in the US studying but was home in Japan for vacation, Kyle, around Christmas time. Kyle is a Christian and spoke to Ed of remarkable things. Ed also noted that Kyle was filled with an awesome Joy he had rarely seen in others.
Next, after many years of silence Ed was led to call me up one night a month ago and with tears in his eyes and sorrow in his soul poured out his heart. I invited him to come and stay with us. He did.
While here he took the opportunity to relax and recharge. But God had more plans for him than Ed could imagine. Ed spoke many times with James and Mami about his life and the comforting words that came from my family members' mouths were pure Gospel. He attended church with us and was astounded how the messages the pastor gave seemed to be speaking directly to him. Then Mami gave him a Bible and the very first time he opened it the verse he came to was a direct message to him. (That would happen many times over the weeks.) After 2 weeks here Ed Rapoza surrendered himself to God and was Baptized in the Feather River in Oroville. Pastor ken Killinger, a family friend, James, and Kyle (who flew out from Chicago) all shared in the ceremony.

Summer Schedule:

Though we are still booking shows we have a pretty full record breaking summer-fall tour.

Ten states and Canada are on the schedule. July and August are full and we are working on filling Sepetember up.

We are also on the hunt for and RV.

This year has so many new things going on. The new travel laws means passporst for everyone. Then there is the whole family traveling together for the first time. We may also be moving to KY and are working on the logistics for that. At first we may just rent a house in KY while we rent out our house in CA. Then, after a year, we will decide the final move.

Since we are adding an RV I am looking into a class A license and running down options for the actual purchase of the RV.