Lots of Love for Sadie

Here goes another post about dogs...

This is our sweet little Sadie Lu. She is a 3 1/2-month-old Jack Russel Terrier mix with a whole lot of spunk. Unfortunately, she lost all that spunk last week when she contracted Parvovirus.

Some of you may be thinking, "Wait, don't they immunize dogs for that terrible disease?"

The answer is yes, they ("they", apparently meaning people other than me) do. I had this great idea to wait until we moved to immunize her. It was one of those things that kept nagging at me because I knew I needed to do it. But I wanted to save a bunch of money by doing the immunizations ourselves (which is illegal in Arkansas). I thought, "Eh, nothing bad will happen. It's not like she's going to get rabies or anything." But she did get something terrible!

I will never let a pet go without their immunizations again! Seeing her on the brink of death has been an awful thing to watch. We are just so thankful that she made it through.

Good Friends and Stray Dogs

As most of you know we are planning on leaving Arkansas very soon (either over Thanksgiving break or Christmas break). Beau is already in Nevada and has a second interview today for the job we are really hoping for. So, as another (somewhat) sad farewell approaches, I thought I'd show you all this cute picture and talk a little about my two favorite things here in Arkansas - Stray Dogs and Good Friends.

We live in a small town (about 2000 people) where there are no rules about letting dogs run wild. Another interesting phenomenon here is that people don't seem to find fixing their dogs important. The unfortunate result is a lot of homeless dogs roaming around making more homeless dogs. Although this is sad, I have to selfishly admit that I love all the dogs. OK, so I hate that the dogs are often hungry and lonely, but we have grown some attachment to several of the strays that roam our neighborhood. Many of the dogs are well known and loved and are eventually given more than a few names. The dog in this picture was a very sweet stray and bears the names "The Tiger Striped Dog", "Yodi" and "King Ralph". He was recently taken in, cleaned, fixed and fattened up by a very nice family who live across the street from us. Because he was so loved by many in the neighborhood, the family brought him out the other day for a little rendezvous.

Also in this picture with my kids and "Yodi" are Misty and her 2-year-old son. Without them, this past year would have been very difficult. While we have had a great time criss-crossing the country, there have been some lonely moments. Coming to the deep south, it has been wonderful having great friends from out west to help cushion the culture shock. Misty, Oscar and their little one have been incredibly wonderful. I have learned to be a better person just from knowing them. I am so thankful for good friends and we will miss them terribly!

Our BIG Kid

So, our youngest turned 6 last month. I can't believe how fast life goes by! He was born 6 days before September 11th happened and it just seems like yesterday! All he wants to be when he grows up is a soldier.

The other day I asked him if he is going to get married someday. His response was, "No-o, Mom! I'm going to be a soldier." Like-DUH, mom! (OK, so he has told me this many times before...it's just too funny not to ask again.)


So, I said, "Well, where are you going to live?"


"I'm going to be in the war." Still with this impatient attitude-duh mom? Don't you know anything?


I pressed him further, "Well, where will you live when you come home from the war?"


"I'm going to live with you guys."

"Oh, really?" I asked.


"Yep!"


At least he has it all figured out!

SIX

When I was One, I had just begun

When I was Two, I was nearly new.

When I was Three, I was hardly me.

When I was Four, I was not much more.

When I was Five, I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I am clever as clever.

So, I think I'll be six now forever and ever.

-The End, by A.A. Milne

A Blog For Joy???

So, I have finally given in to peer pressure and have created a blog of my own. I honestly don't know what form it will take...I may just have pictures...but, I would like to journal a bit because I have a terrible memory! My kids are getting so big and it would be nice to have a place to record the funny goings on at our house. So...here we are!