The Next "Not-So-Ansel-Adams"

Connor has been borrowing the camera a lot lately. Here are some of his greatest pics!

More Pics of the Kids

Just some random pictures/videos I thought were cute.

Our first attempt at dying Easter eggs. I have memories of doing this as a kid and can now appreciate that my mom was really doing all the work/cleanup and I just remember the fun!

Connor entertaining Charlotte at Walmart.

Yum--Prunes!

Connor decided it would be fun to stick his head in Charlotte's toy. Hey, whatever keeps him entertained!

Connor riding his bike. Our goal is to have the training wheels off by the end of summer.

Don't worry (mom)--I only put her here when I am right in front of her cutting vegetables or something.

Trying to teach Charlotte how to sit while I also hold the camera.

Connor's Big Break

Thought I'd give you an update on Connor's arm.

You can see the break near the center of the bone. Connor thought it was super cool to see his x-ray!

After wearing a metal splint for 2 weeks he finally got his cast. He was excited because he wanted it to be orange.

The doctor who treated him in the ER just happened to be in the office as we were leaving. The color is not true. The cast was the exact same color as a traffic cone--flourescent orange!

Yesterday he got the orange cast off but..........

Unfortunately, we had made a big deal about how he could play soccer, take a big bubble bath, etc. and then found out he had to get another cast for 3 more weeks! We played it up as a good thing because he got to change colors and it's a little shorter.

Charlotte's 5 Month Photos

A Few More of BB

I realized that I didn't have any pictures of Aaron and BB. Actually we hadn't taken any since we bought a digital camera so I had to go scan them in. These are some of my favorites!

This one was probably taken just days after we had gotten him. This is how he looked when I first thought he was a stuffed animal.



This is my absolute favorite of Annie and BB. They had just met and got along great!


How cute is he!

Our Little BB

I don’t even know where to start—I guess March 9, 2001. I came home from work and there was a stuffed animal sitting on the end of my bed except it suddenly moved! Aaron had surprised me with a little white toy poodle. I can’t remember if we were talking about getting a dog or not.

I remember holding him and thinking “I’ll never love another dog like I did Toto”. I took 3 or 4 days off work since he had to be fed so often. My boss probably thought I was crazy. He was so small only weighing 1 pound when we got him. We named him BB because he seemed “as small as a BB”. I could type stories for days about him. My mom probably thought she’d never get grandchildren.

Annie followed 6 months later but she has never been a cuddly, playful dog like BB. He was plagued with medical problems from the start—bad joints, surgery for bladder stones, and finally this past fall he was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. We always joke that it was meant to be because if someone else besides a crazy dog person had picked him he’d never have made it. I’m glad I can say we spared no expense (aside from a heart transplant I guess) on medicines and special food. By Thanksgiving he was really going downhill and couldn’t even run to the mailbox. Three times I took him to the vet for Lasik injections to drain the fluid out of his lungs but even those stopped being effective.

On Tuesday, April 13 he just couldn’t hold on anymore and I took him to the vet at 7 a.m. Dr. Layton met me and since we were the only ones there I helped give him oxygen while she put in an IV. After a few hours he still had trouble breathing on his own and they told me it was time. The vet said he had probably had a stroke a few days earlier (He was holding his head sideways and being very uncoordinated).

He just wasn’t himself that last morning.

Even though he and Annie had a love/hate relationship (basically give me all your food or I’ll attack you) she does seem a little mopey. The house is extremely quite. I guess BB was actually the barking instigator!

BB, you were such a good boy. You were always so eager to please and just wanted to be cuddled in someone’s lap. We will miss you so much.

Special thanks to:

The Colony Animal Clinic and especially Drs. Wild and Holt who took care of him for so many years. Also, Dr. Layton was so wonderful on that last day. I know she did everything she could.

Toothacres who handled his remains with such respect and care.

Pam (& Mark), who came over so early that morning and sat with me while I cried and then watched the kids when I took BB to the vet. Also, for the many times of dogsitting which is no easy task with Annie & BB.

Clint and Tammy for all the dogsitting (who else would I trust except someone who has been through the almost exact situation) and comforting . I’m sure BB and Emmitt are having fun!

Thank you to everyone who loved BB.

The Rainbow Bridge
inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever, And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

At Least it's Not a Full Body Cast.....yet

These two pictures are the reason for the next two pictures.

Connor broke his arm on Tuesday night. I was out running an errand and Aaron called me and said to go to the hospital. I thought he was joking until I heard Connor screaming in the background. Apparently, he was standing on the window seat in the living room trying to catch a mayfly and tripped and landed on his right arm. Luckily he is left handed.



Aaron said he knew right away it was broken since he has quite a bit of experience in this area. He managed to somehow load up both kids, drive to the hospital, and CARRY them both in. I, in the meantime, was also speeding to the hospital and got pulled over. Luckily, they believed me, told me to slow down, and let me go.

Connor was given morphine right away and then he started telling knock knock jokes and talking about waterfalls. He screamed and had to be held down when they put in the iv and then when they set his arm. He broke both arm bones all the way through. They gave him amnesia medicine so he doesn't remember them setting it.

Once he came to he realized how interesting everything was and didn't want to leave. We walked around the ER and let him check everything out. The doctors showed him his x-ray and gave him a copy to take home.

Of course he threw up all over himself as soon as we got in the car. Between the cast and the puke I had to cut his shirt off when we got home.

Yesterday he was pretty mopey and teary but today he went to school and did great. It was the best thing because he was forced to figure out how to do a lot of things with one hand knowing mom and dad weren't there to help him. Unfortunately, he cannot play soccer anymore.

Aaron says this is just the first page in a long file they will have on him at the hospital.