Oh for the love of………. STICKS

The last few months have been crazy at my house.  The loss of Indy, bringing Zipper and Buttons home, Zipper leaving, several family birthdays, vacation, a TON of drama at work and putting the house up for sale.  During all of the craziness I’ve been trying to train Buttons and just spending time getting to know her and her personality.  She is a much different dog than Indy.  I forgot how much work a puppy is.  I think we have made a lot of progress.  She is sitting on command, is crate trained and house trained.  We’re getting to be a happy little family and I grow to love her more each day!!

  

This past week I took her to get spayed, have her dewclaws removed and to get microchipped. It was very difficult for me to leave her at the Vets office. The staff at the office knew that I was nervous and said that they would call me as soon as she was done. I dropped her off on my way to work and by the time I had gotten into my car I already had tears in my eyes.  All the emotions of having Indy at the Emergency Hospital came back.  I quickly reminded myself that this was a completely different situation and these procedures are done everyday. They called at 2:30 to say they had just finished with her and she was doing OK.  I picked her up at 5:30 and I could tell that she was not happy with me and did not feel well.  I got her home and put her in my bed to rest.

    She had four difficult days following and I was pretty worried about her.  The last couple of days have been much much better.  She is starting to get her personality back and is started to eat and drink like normal.  The Vet instructed me to keep a close eye on her (since she had a couple of difficult days following the procedures)  and keep her inside with limited activity for two weeks.  That is not any easy task with a puppy.

Ever since Zipper moved Buttons has had a fascination with sticks.  Everyday when I get home from work she has brought another stick into the garage.  It’s amazing to me how she is getting these sticks threw the “doggie door”.  It isn’t that big.  I would love to have a video camera on her while she is doing this. 

 

I’ve been letting her go outside to go to the bathroom and then making sure she comes right back in.  Sunday, I put her out and then ran to the bathroom myself. When I got back somehow she had gotten a stick stuck in her “helmet”.

How in the world did she do this????  Then yesterday I let her out again and went quickly to change the laundry.  I couldn’t have been gone that long but when I got back… she had brought these two sticks back to the door with her and then went to stand in the sun. 

These were today's finds….    

 

and lastly….

 

Oh for the love of….. Sticks.  I guess I’m not keeping a good enough eye on her.

Happy Easter

This past weekend I celebrated Easter with my Dad and Kelly’s family.  Kelly and Dave have to work on Easter so we just pretended that Easter was Sunday.  The kids didn’t know the difference because they had their Easter lessons at church because of General Conference is on Easter weekend this year. 

Kelly and I had been talking for a couple of weeks about doing a little photo shoot with the kids in their Easter clothes.  I’ve been practicing my photo skills every chance I can get and this would be a perfect opportunity.  In my mind I had imagined some really bright colored flowers and the kids with big happy smiles.  That didn’t happen.  The flowers weren’t bright and the kids’ faces didn’t have big happy smiles.  We left the house late and the kids hadn’t eaten lunch and we were headed to church after our picture session.  I tried to bribe the kids with McDonald's on the way to church if they were good for the pictures.  I was able to get a few good ones out of the m. 

 

Yes, we went to McDonald’s on Sunday and on the way to church.  Not the best decision but it was just one of those days. 

After church we went to my Dad’s and had an Easter egg hunt,

decorated a Easter bunny cake, (I had a little OCD with the Jelly beans)

decorated Easter eggs, 

and had a fabulous Easter dinner that Dad prepared!!! Great family fun.  I can’t wait for this Sunday and celebrate Easter Sunday with Noelle, Mom and Chris!!! My favorite part…. a fabulous Easter dessert!!!!

Take me out ballpark

Thomas started his first season of T-Ball a couple of weeks ago.  A week before his first game my Dad, Kelly, Noelle and I went to four different parks to find a baseball diamond that we could play on.  The weather had been pretty good that week but everyone we went to was either flooded or being used by other people.  In the end we went back to the first one we went to and the people had left.  We wanted to practice with Thomas a little before his first game since he has never been on a baseball diamond and ran the bases.  We have taken him to a few professional games but he has never played on one or ran the bases. The practice didn’t go as well as we would’ve liked.  We had sat through 3 hours of church went home changed our clothes and by the time got to the field we had been in the car for about 45 minutes. Practice lasted about 20 minutes before both kids were having serious meltdowns.  While we were walking back to the car he was telling me that he never wanted to play baseball ever again! Please don’t take me to the ballparkSaturday came and Thomas was really excited to be in his uniform and to play in his first game. I was a little nervous that he wouldn’t know what to do but he was a natural.  He hit the ball well, ran the right direction to the bases and was an excellent catcher. 

      

 

Packin’ up and Movin’ on

Kelly and I talked a couple of months ago about her selling this house and me purchasing a house of my own.  After a lot of thought we both decided that it was the right thing to do.  It was a great time for her to sell and a great time for me to finally find something that I could afford on my own.  After a lot of preparation, it went on the market on March 12th.   

By March 20th we already had 5 offers.  I really didn’t think that it would go that quickly.  I had planned for at least 3 or 4 months.  I was wrong.  In 9 days we had 14 people come look at it.  I’ve looked on the internet several times and I found a few things that I’m interested in but haven’t gone to look at anything yet.  Kelly agreed to let me stay with her when we put the house up for sale so that’s where I’m headed until I find the perfect home for me and Buttons.

So…. I’m packin up and Movin’ on. 

Anyone want to come and help me pack…… don’t raise your hands at once!!! I HATE MOVING!!!!!

Cruisin’

In February Kelly, Dave, my Dad and I went on a  Carnival cruise. We were all having birthdays or had a birthday earlier and this was a perfect way to celebrate.  This was their first time on a cruise and that made it all the more fun for me to see how happy they were. 

  On our stop at Catalina Island we took an adventure in a golf cart.  I was really excited to the be driver this time.  I’ve done the Catalina Island tour two other times but I’ve never been the lucky golf cart driver!  I must say I was a little nervous in the beginning but I warmed up pretty quickly.  It took the rest of the family a little longer to warm up to my poor golf cart driving abilities.  Although when I asked if anyone else wanted to drive, there were no volunteers. 

The next day we went to Ensenada.  I didn’t want to lug my massive camera around with me so Kelly has all of those pictures so you will need to check out her blog  to see the fabulous pictures of our adventure in Mexico.  When we arrived one of the private schools was having a parade down the main street and the kids were SO cute.  They were all dressed in their school uniforms and they all had huge smiles on their faces.  You could tell that they were so proud to be there and happy to see all the tourist standing on the sidewalks watching them. 

*** Kelly’s blog address is http://daveandkellysfam.blogspot.com ***

I love to do all of the activities on the ship.  We played bingo and trivia, we gambled a little, went to a couple of shows, we hung out by the pool and we  went to karaoke every night.  The karaoke on this ship was fantastic.  I wish that I had the courage that these people had.  Their were plenty of people that actually sounded OK and then there were people that just down right sucked but they didn’t care, they did it anyways! Good for them.  They are better than I am.  Maybe one day I will have that courage. 

We had such a great cruise and I really enjoyed spending time with them. I was lucky enough that Sandy agreed to take care of Buttons for me while I was gone.  It made leaving her at home so much easier.  Sandy did such a great job and did much more than I would have ever expected.  I was also grateful for my Mom and Chris for taking care of Thomas and Noelle so Kelly and Dave were able to come along.  The kids had a blast with Grammy and Pop!!!

Best Friends

It’s amazing how much joy a dog can bring to a home.  When I lost Indy all I was so lonely.  The joy of coming home and having her run to greet me wasn’t there.  I missed having that companion that I was so used to having.  I needed something to bring that joy back into my home.  I knew that there wouldn’t find another dog like Indy.  She was one of kind. I wanted to find a new companion that would bring joy back to coming home each day. 

I had felt a lot of guilt when I wouldn’t be able to come home right after work and Indy would be left alone even longer than she already was.  I always thought that if there were two of them to keep each other company I wouldn’t feel guilty.  So, when I decided that it was time to get a new dog, I decided to get two. The majority of my family and friends thought I was crazy and thought I should start out with one and see how that goes first.  Then if that went well I could get another.  I didn’t like that idea.  I had their names already picked out  (Phoebe and Chloe).  I just needed to find them. Then one day while looking in the Pennysaver I found someone that had 4 females.  I jumped on it and a few days later I went and got them.  They were adorable. However, their names really didn’t fit them or their personalities.  The small one was crazy and jumped everywhere and was always on the go.  The larger one was quiet and more reserved.  She just wanted to sit on my lap and be loved.  So, with some help of my family we came up with Zipper and Buttons.  A couple of weeks past and with each passing day Zipper became more aggressive.  She would often bite Buttons and then Buttons would go and hide under the table.  The more attention I paid to Buttons the more jealous Zipper would get.  Then one day I was putting on Button’s leash so could go and Zipper came over and growled at me and bit my hand pretty bad.  At that time I knew that something had to give.  I couldn’t have her around the kids acting that way.  I would’ve hated it if one of them was playing with Buttons and Zipper bit them. 

I decided to put an ad in the paper and in the pennysaver.  I felt extremely guilty and I really didn’t want to have to sell her.  A few days passed and people were calling and asking about her but I couldn’t bring myself to answer the calls or return the messages.  Then finally one day at work one of my friends heard my cell phone ringing and said I had to answer it.  My heart started pounding and I got nervous but on the other end was a nice elderly man asking if I still had her.  He had told me that he had a Boston Terrier for 15 years and she had past away last month (around the same time Indy died) and that he lived alone and was lonely.  He asked if he could come and see her.  I told him that he could come that weekend.  He said that he was anxious and would really like to come that evening.  I wasn’t that hip on having a strange man in my house so I asked my Mom if she could come over, then I called him back and told him he could come.  That evening he got there all he could do is talk about how wonderful his other dog was and how much he loved him.  I could see that he was hurting just as I was when Indy died and that he would be good to her.  I told him that I had an appointment that following Monday to get her shots and since I had already paid for them he could come back and get her Monday evening.  He really wanted to take her that evening so I gave in and said that was fine.  I told him I could call the vet and having everything transferred to his name and then he could make an appointment for her to get the rest of her shots.

I had kept Buttons in my room while he was there because I didn’t want the two dogs fighting while he was there.  I thought for sure that when I brought Buttons out and Zipper wasn’t there that she was going to search the house and cry.  She didn’t do either.  That evening she got in her crate and slept fantastic. Never a peep from her.  Around 7:00am the next morning, I received a text message from the man saying how much he loved Zipper and was thankful that he found her.  By that evening he had sent me around 10 messages and pictures from him.  He had put a cute purple bandana on her and changed her name to Sadie. That weekend Buttons turned into a whole new dog.  She was happy, she was running around the house and had completely come out of her shell.  Then Monday morning when I walked into the Vets office there he was with Sadie.  He thought he would come join us for our appointment.  All he could do for the hour we were there was talk about how wonderful she was.

It’s amazing how things happen in our lives and how we don’t always understand why things happen the way they do but in the end it all makes sense!!  This was a match made in heaven for Ray and Sadie and for Me and Buttons!!!

Playtime with the kids

A few weekends ago Wanda, Cassandra and I decided to have a play date at my house with the kids.  Noelle loves Baby William and Baby Evan and she was really excited that they were coming to play.  It was nice to see them all playing and really nice to get sometime to chat with Wanda and Cassandra away from work. 

I can’t believe that Thomas turned 5

Thomas had his 5th birthday on January 20th.  I can’t believe that he is 5 and how much he has grown up in just the last few months.  He is such a sweet boy and really tries to be a good big brother.  In just a few short months he will be going to Kindergarten!

The weekend before his birthday we had his birthday party with Hanna Banana.  All of the kids had a blast getting their balloons made and playing games with her.

She even got the parents and grandparents in on the action.

Dave was lucky enough to get the suit of armor that Thomas didn’t want.

My Dad and one of the parents had to try and pop the balloons with their arms. 

My Mom and Shelly had to try and pop the balloons with their legs.

Lynn had to jump rope with the balloons.

And Hanna Banana tried to guess what Chris’ shoe size was.  I'm not quite sure what the crazy hat had to do with anything.

In all all the kids and the adults had a great time.  That is until Hanna Banana backed in to Shelly’s car.  I guess the fun has to end at some point right?

 

One last good-bye

As many of you know already my dog passed away on Monday evening.  I have had a very difficult time dealing with her loss and have tried to find away to have a little closure.  I hoping by writing this and getting my feelings out that it will make it just a little easier.

I will always remember the day that Kelly and I went to Riverbank and picked Indy out and brought her home.  It was September 17, 2004.  We picked the smallest of the litter, the one with a crazy tail and one blue eye. The one that was just a little different than the rest.

See, by then I had been told that I would need to have a hysterectomy, there by taking every opportunity for me to have children away. At the time Kelly was pregnant with Thomas.  Although I was happy for her, I was saddened at the same time.  So, when we brought Indy home it was almost like therapy for me.  Indy was that one thing that I needed at that time.  She brought me happiness when not much could. Indy was that one thing that I had in my life that depended on me. I loved taking care of her and having the responsibility to ensure that she had what she needed and provide love to.  I always thought of Indy as that baby girl that I would never have. 

From the time we brought her home she brought excitement to not only my life but to my family’s life.               She loved going to my Dad’s house to play with putter.

Indy was patient, loving, and energetic.  The minute Kelly brought Thomas home from the hospital, he had an instant friend.  Indy loved him. 

 

Indy wanted to be wherever Thomas was. Whether that was laying under his crib while he slept, laying by his swing, in the bathroom while he had his bath or sitting on the couch with whoever was holding him at the time.

People always say that dogs take on their owners characteristics    That was true with Indy.  It has been an ongoing joke at our house that Indy was a doggie school drop out (although I wasn’t a drop out, school wasn’t my favorite thing).  Indy and I tried to do well but she was just to social (she took after Kelly with that). She couldn’t stay still long enough and disrupted the rest of the class so we were kindly asked not to come back. Indy has always been a social dog and loved when people came to visit.  She loved to look out the window and watch as people walked by. 

Indy was a loving dog.  She saw me through some of the most difficult times as well as some of the happiest times in my life.  She could sense what kind of mood I was in.  When I was sad she constantly wanted to be with me.  Sitting on my lap or laying on my feet.  When I was happy about something she would run around the house as fast as she could.  She could leap from one couch to the other like it was nothing. 

  

When Noelle came along she had another instant friend. Noelle could pull her ears, put her fingers in her eyes, try attempt to sit on her and chase her around the coffee table and never once did Indy snap at her or cry.  Instead, she would lick her and walk away.

Indy was a smart dog.  She knew my schedule.  She knew that in the mornings when I would leave she would get two bones, one in her bed and one on the door mat.  She didn’t eat them right away but made sure they were there. Once I put them down she would run out the doggie door to the backyard.  She knew that after I came home from work, if I was leaving again that she would be going with me.  She sat and waited patiently at my car door and would jump in and get in her seat, which was Thomas’ car seat.  She knew when it was Sunday and I was headed to my Dad’s house for the day.  Don’t ask me how she knew all of this but she did.  So when I went to leave on December 30th things were just a little different.  I tried to get her to eat before I was leaving but she wouldn’t.  She followed me around the house, sitting at my feet, and a couple of times jumped on my luggage.  I had arranged for my Dad to take care of her while I was on vacation with Thomas.  When we got to his house she jumped out of the car and ran in the house, just  like she always did.  I can remember telling my Dad to make sure and try and feed her again because she hadn’t eaten at home.  I was neurotic about making sure she ate.  I said good bye to her not knowing that would be the last time I said good bye when she was happy.  On December 31st she got out at my Dad’s house.  My sister has done a wonderful job of telling the story from here.  You can check out her blog if you want at Nurses Notes. 

Everyday, while she was missing, I drove through all the neighborhoods I could think that she could get to with tears running down my face.  I imagined seeing her running down the street and all I would need to do is open my car door for her jump in as she always did.  When I hadn’t found her, I headed home. I would drive up to my house, open the garage door and with the slightest bit of hope that she would come running down my driveway as she always did. In hopes that someone found her and brought her home.  I had not prepared myself for what happened Monday night.  I never thought I would be trying to comfort her at the emergency vet’s office.  I was hysterical that night and I prayed over and over that she would be OK.  I remember the vet telling me that I needed to leave so they could do their work and thinking there was no way that I could leave her on that table.  My parents told me that it was for the best and we would be coming back for her.  I whispered in her ear that I loved her and I would be back.  A gave  her one last kiss and walked out the door.  Not knowing that the next time I would see her would be after she had passed away.  I’m grateful to the vet and all of the staff that took care of her and did the best they could to try and help her.   By the time I had arrived they had her all bandaged up and wrapped in a blanket so that it would make seeing her just a little easier.  I’m grateful that they gave me the time I needed to say my last good bye and give her that one last kiss. 

As you can see Indy was much more than just dog to me. She brought me happiness and joy. She filled a void when I needed something good in my life. I loved taking care of her.  I loved coming home at night to see running to my car to greet me.  She wasn’t just a dog, she was part of my family.  I’m grateful that I was able to try and help her in her time of need as she did for me so many times.  I grateful to know that she isn’t out their in the world lost or with someone that couldn’t love her nearly as much as I did.

I’m also grateful to all my friends family that helped me search for her.  I have cried more than I think I ever had and my friends and family have been there to listen and comfort me.  Thank You!!

So, my this is my last good bye Indy girl.  Thank you for all the love you gave to me and for all the good times we shared.  I love you more than you will ever know.  I love you!!!!!