Yesterday I had the privilege of serving at 3-2-1 DASH with Elevation Outreach.  The 3-2-1 DASH is a 5K that helps to raise funds and awareness for the Down's Syndrome Society of Charlotte.  My friend, Cat, has 3 #21 chromosomes.  It is always a privilege to serve alongside of Cat.  The picture below is of her and her father, George.  George ran the 5K. 

After serving at the DASH all morning and coming home for a quick nap, I went to church with my good friends the Mackay family at Transformation Church.  It was awesome to worship with my friends.  

Today is Daniel's 5th birthday.  Not surprisingly, Daniel chose Red Robin for his birthday lunch.  He also chose "Cars" for his party theme.  Here's a picture of the birthday boy blowing his candles out. 

As always, Daniel asked for helicopters for his birthday.  To his relief, Nana and Papa gave him helicopters.  Uncle Scott & Aunt Julie (that's me) gave him a playmobil car and....a rocket launcher.  The rockets launch when you step on an air pillow (see top of picture for rocket).

A few more pictures from today:

 

Even Sophie came to the party.

One more picture before I go.  Here's a picture of what happens at my house almost every night....

Ketchup

Since we last spoke, I made a new friend...

It may come as a surprise to my blog reader, Sophie (my family's dog) is still with us!  Two and a half years ago they told us she had a very aggressive cancer.  Here's a picture from last week:

Sophie is such a joy.  I try to visit with her at least every other day.  We've had the privilege of being loved by her for 13-14 years so far. 

Here's a recent picture of Laura.  She lost her two front teeth early last fall and I sure can't see any sign of the new ones yet.  Poor thing...can't bite into an apple.

I have the "never dull" task of driving this one to PreK every morning.

 

Blossom has the best posture in dog world.

I really don't know what to say about this one.

 

He seems to sleep with his mouth open about 65% of the time.  Balto always knows how to get comfortable.

Most importantly, here's our oldest.  She turns 15 later this summer!  I guess she'll be asking for a car soon.  

 

 More to follow....

August Life

On the 15th, we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary:

To my surprise, I received flowers at work:

In other flower news, I bought a plant for my desk to cheer up our empty office:

 

My "niece dog" Sophie is loving the cool weather. Memorial Day weekend, my friend, Jenny, came over and shaved Sophie's hair.  It is really starting to grow back out.  We are all so thankful to Jenny for shaving her Sophie!

 

The Dynamic Duo or "Double Trouble" (depending on the day) are doing well.  They never seem to get tired of playing with each other. 

 

Balto is always upside down and "smiling" at us. 

Work is going.  I really miss the way things were before my old company sold our office.  But I am reminded of what my pastor said in a sermon the day before the sale went through.  I had no idea that he was talking to me....

And I believe Romans 8:28:
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

That doesn't mean that my new position will be easy but God will use it to teach me what I need to learn at this time.

  

And finally, Greta posed for this picture yesterday:

Catching Up

There's way too much to catch you up on so here's a brief summary:

I've enjoyed spending time with my two favorite people on the planet...

Daniel spent all day Friday with Aunt Julie & Uncle Scott.  We wore him out.  Here's one of him awake:

I noticed that I am wearing my work keyboard out in an unfortunate way.  What does this key do?

(Yes, I do eat a lot at my desk)
Blossom is still in her "puppy chewing" phase.  Here she is eating an American Girl Doll Catalog.

Sophie had more surgery but, praise God, she is doing AWESOME now.  Here's a photo before she got rid of her e-collar.  She wore it for 12 days and then she decided she'd had enough.  

I've been to hockey, hockey and MORE hockey games!

In fact, here's a picture of Christy and I on the train headed to last night's game...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Mom & Dad's house...

Well, those pictures are going to have to wait because the computer is not reading my photo card right now!!!

And, last but not least, Greta is still running the house!  We love Greta!

I Don't Know

What an exhausting week.  I'm so tired I didn't know what to title this post so I titled it "I Don't Know".  Very creative, I know.  I'm falling asleep at the keyboard so please don't judge me for this random post.....

Here's a picture of Blossom just after she took Scott on a wild run this morning.  Scott said she chased some geese.  They both looked pretty exhausted when they came back.  I'm sure the heat/humidity did not help. 

 

The girls are still getting to know each other very slowly.  It is going to take some time.  Greta is very curious about Blossom but Blossom wants to play a little too rough with her.  Here's a picture of Greta hiding under the bed.  

Here's a picture of Saint Princess Blossom sleeping. She is spotted all over....check out her belly.  (Some of it has been shaved for her surgery.) 

I can't wait to introduce Blossom to her new cousin, Sophie.  Unfortunately, Sophie's leg is not good so they won't be able to play too hard.  Sophie got a bath this weekend.  She's a little wet in this picture. I love that wet dog....

Oh and here's a picture of Blossom's first nap at our house.  This picture is from Friday.  

Now it is my turn to sleep. 

Dog

It's hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since we said goodbye to our beloved Sadie. I think I'm finally ready for another dog.

Boy, was that girl loved.  I'd be lying if I said being a one cat family doesn't have its advantages.  We love our Greta, and are very lucky that she is such a fun and loving cat.  There are so many benefits to just having a cat...like not having to wake up at a certain time to let her out.  Or, not having to worry about leaving her in the house all day by herself.  Cats aren't needy.  Our cat is just plain good. 

I've come to the conclusion that the perfect dog for Julie is a Newfoundland.  

 

The problem is that Scott (the husband) says that I absolutely cannot get a dog with black hair.  Enter the Landseer Newfoundland:

I think it looks like it is part Sadie (Great Pyrenees). If we lived in the country, or if the Pyrenees did not bark so much, it would be a no-brainer....we'd get another Pyr. 

I'd really love to get a dog that I can have certified as a therapy dog.  I hope to take it to visit hospitals and nursing homes.  I also believe it would be a great benefit to my nice who has autism. It isn't easy getting a dog certified as a TDI therapy dog.  The test is hard and requires a dog that is extensively trained and is under the handler's control at all times. 

I don't know if Scott will let me adopt a Newfie but I'm going to try.  I don't necessarily want a puppy, however, look how cute they are...

I know someone else that would love for us to adopt another dog....Sophie!  She sure loved Sadie!

Time will tell how the dog situation pans out.  I'll keep you posted.....

Sophie

It has been a while since I gave you an update on Sophie.  She is doing great!  Here are a couple of pictures I took of her yesterday.  She was sitting behind my dad's shed. 

Here she is cleaning her paw:

And here's "smiley" again:

Sophie is just a big ball of happy wherever she goes....

Random Photos From My Phone