Here are some of our Algonquin Park trip pictures. The first picture is mom and dad with all 8 grandchildren in the canoe. They are from left to right: Joshua, Alexandra, Grandpa, Rebekah, Isaac, Sarah, Benjamin, Mackenzie, Grandma, and David.
Rebekah and David at the island that we canoed to.
Hiking on the Big Pines Trail
Isaac and Grandpa enjoying the sand and water at the beach.

Love to all
Joel, Jennifer, Rebekah, David & Isaac XOXOXOXO

The lastest picture of Katja's feet. It has improved SO much! See how straight her left foot is? The Doctor says it's basically corrected, it just needs to be held in place now! Very exciting!


Our Sweet-pea, asleep on our bed Sunday afternoon - completely out, as you can see.
That's all for now, Love Liz

p.s. any more news about Bella's results yet?

Sarah asked me to post this for her...

Here's Noah, who just had his 8th Birthday!!

Hello Family: This afternoon we called Rachel on their new cellphone...we were very anxious to hear how it went at the doctor's when Bella had to go back to have blood taken again for another HIV test. They were in Kenora and will be staying overnight there (tomorrow is the "debriefing" day for their summer teams). Rachel asked us to let the family know how it went for Bella today. We're happy to report it went much better this time! She was asleep when she got there and so she didn't fight it as hard as last time. It only took one try and in about 5 minutes they had all the blood they needed. When we talked, I could hear Bella making happy sounds in the background. We're happy too!!
And now the difficult part...waiting again...please keep on praying for our little Bella.
Love, Graham & Grace.

Hi family, thanks so much for your prayers. I'm sure many of you are wondering if we've heard the results of Bella's HIV test. The answer is no, unfortunately. The doctor's office called two days ago and informed us that they hadn't drawn enough blood the first time, and we'll have to do the whole thing over again. Waiting has been really hard, and now the prospect of having to wait possibly another two weeks is agonizing! We're going tomorrow to have more blood taken, and we'll ask if there's any way they can put a rush on it.
When we first heard this news we were really upset, but we've been doing a lot of talking to God about it, and we're feeling some peace. It's not easy of course, but we're able to function normally, and put it out of our minds most of the time. God is in control. He's brought her through so much already, and we believe he'll bring her through this as well.
Please keep praying for her, and while you're at it, please pray for a smooth day tomorrow. Last time she had to have blood taken was pretty awful. I was crying about as much as she was. Poor Austin had to hold her for twenty minutes while they tried (in both arms) to find the right vein. It was pretty upsetting, so we're feeling a bit apprehensive about going through that experience again. Thanks so much for your encouragement and prayers through all of this!
I love that we have this outlet to share with the whole family... great job Liz and Trevor!
Love,
Rach and Austin

Here are some more pictures of the Sharp family cottage week. It was really great to all be together - just relaxing, eating, talking, eating, playing games, eating...yep, there are likely a few pounds for all of us to lose now! =)

Love to you all, Steph Jared and Marika with Nana in the paddle boat

Katja, cute as a button!

Trevor and Marika colouring - not sure who is enjoying it more... =)

Doing a bit of fishing

Snuggling on the couch

Sorry this is sideways, I'm at mom and dad's and can't figure out their picture program! This is on our way through, (we drove), to the cottage in Honey Harbour where we stayed this past week with the whole family together! SO wonderful! Grandpa holding Katja at A. Heathers home. We have a blackmail picture of A. Heather wearing glo-glasses, but thought we'd wait until we needed to use it! :)

All the kiddos at the cottage - Jared, Marika, Shaelynn and Katja (looking bored with it all)

Our waterproof camera was a great source of adventure for Trev as he snorkled about by the cottage. As he swam, he'd look behind and see fish following him. Here are some Bluegills and Perch that he happened upon.

Playing the Settlers of Cattan - we got several more people hooked on this game that we love so much. Jeff was reading a book and Dad taking the picture - a happy family!

Hi Clark family,
I'd like to ask for prayer for Bella. As some of you know, Bella's birth mother is HIV positive. Miraculously, Bella has tested negative three times. We were told that this was pretty much a guarantee that she would be permanently free of HIV and the confirming test would take place at 18 months.
We had her doctors appointment last Friday. She had to have blood taken to do another HIV test, and Austin asked the doctor what he thought the probability of it showing up at this point might be. We both expected that if he said a 5% chance, that would be high. He said there's about a 25% chance. We were completely floored.
The rest of the day I was a wreck, but I realized immediately that I needed to entrust her to God. As Austin keeps reminding me, she belongs to Him. I've been able to do that for the most part, and I've been able to function. The challenge is the wait; it could be about 8 more days until we find out the results.
Please pray for a negative result.
I know and I've seen the evidence that God has been protecting Bella since the very beginning, and I believe that He will continue. Prayer moves mountains, so please pray for Bella.
While you're at it, please pray for us. It's hearbreaking as parents to go through this, and above all we need the strength and the ability to release her to God. He created her, He loves her, and He can protect her when we can't.
Thanks for your support!
Meegwetch, thank you.
Austin and Rachel.

After seeing Rhonda's pictures of our "Great" Grandpa, I had to add this one too. Ben & Joshua were swimming with Grandpa "swimming" with them. He later became the "bridge"with the boys and Sarah swimming between his legs!! We all really enjoyed having Grandpa with us for a week.

Here is a picture of the "3 kids" - Sarah, Joshua & Benjamin
Ben is 6, Josh 4 and Sarah turned 1 in June.

Thank you so much to Liz and Trevor for all the work setting up this site and the newsletter. We have enjoyed both - it is so nice the hear from the family and be able to see upto date pictures.

Love to you all,

Steve & Karen, etc.

Hello Family!

We have so enjoyed reading the Newsletter and the items posted on this site - thanks so much Liz & Trevor for gettting this together!

I am going to try to add the pictures taken with Grandpa at BathTub Island. Grandpa really is a great sport!
To the left is "Great" Grandpa and Alexandra on the path to the beach.

To the right is Uncle Murray and Devon helping Grandpa up onto the Island.

After we were all safely on the rock Grandpa took a few minutes to soak up some rays.

Of course the kids also thought this was a great place to swim.


I'll add more later if this works!

Love,
Shawn, Rhonda, Alexandra & Mackenzie