Today was a pretty fun day here. We started out pretty relaxed, while Christine went out to go to 'hot yoga,' the girls and I played around the house, and did some of our chores. Christine had a great time at yoga today, she went with one of the volunteers from the house, and it sounds like she will be going at least a couple more times throughout the week. This is great news! She really needs to have some time for herself like the rest of us get.

Once Christine got back, one of the other families in the house that we have really bonded with, went for a walk to one of the many parks in the area, and played for quite some time. It was beautiful out this afternoon. It was sunny and the perfect temperature. We all had a really great time, right up until about 50 meters from the house on the way back from the park, when Brenn fell and skinned her knee. The cut that she got was not to bad, it bled a little bit, but it really was pretty minor. I think that as a result from all of the medication that she is on, as well as all of her pent up emotion about all the she is going through combined with the scraped knee was a recipe for a major break down. We tried to make her feel better, by cleaning her knee and bandaging it, which worked really well until the point that we put on the band aid that she asked for. She started screaming, and would not stop for over an hour. Both Christine and I (especially Christine as she is way better than I am at this kind of thing) tried to settle her down, to no avail. Joe and Debbie VanCalsteren also tried to calm her down when they phoned, which did help some, but it was really hard. Brenn just wanted to cry for a while, so in the end we took her upstairs, away from the few people in the house, and let her go for it. Once she was done, it took her a while, but she stated playing, and talking, and eating her dinner again. So all in all, it was really not a big deal. I just hope that she is okay emotionally, seeing her unable to stop and just wanting to cry things out for a while was pretty hard, and I really hope that it helped her feel better. It's hard sometimes remembering through all that is going on that she is still a 5 year old little girl, that sometimes has trouble working through her thoughts, feelings, and the things that she is afraid of, or doesn't understand.

I would really like to take a second and really deeply thank everyone up in Prince George for everything. It was really great to see just how many people came out to really help Brenn. Everyone from Cedars Christian School, Ospika Heights, Westwood Church, Simba Motors, Integris Credit Union, Centre City Electric, and all of the individuals who have put in such a colossal effort in helping out our family. It was incredible to see. Everyone that I got a chance to see was amazingly supportive, and I thank everyone for all of the dinners, and lunches that you all so graciously supplied for Samantha and I. I realized when I got back down here, that I had not turned on my stove one time. In fact the only thing that we ate at the house was yogurt, cereal, and yogurt drinks! Everyone that I didn't get a chance to see, I am really sorry, I would love to see everyone, but I really did have a very truncated trip north. It really would have been great to have a couple more days in Prince George, but I really felt that it was important to spend as little time as possible up there in order to get back here with Christine and Brenn. I am really looking forward to seeing all of you again soon.

Love the Smith Family