Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize the little things were the big things. ~Robert Brault

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

What Dorks

While we were in Maui last week Ryan and Bryan were determined to body surf. For those of you who have been there before, you know how the waves crash there: RIGHT on the shore. There are places where they crash further out, thus allowing you to ride the wave in. Obviously, this is not one of those locations. It was a crack up to watch and I had to get it on video.

Saddest Question in the History of the World

Bryan and I just got back from a week in Maui. (Yes it was amazing but that will have to wait for another post.) After we had been gone for 4 days Carter had had enough of it. He was very melancholy all afternoon. When Grammie put him in bed that night he quietly and thoughtfully asked her, "Grammie, did Mommy and Daddy go to live with Violet?" He thought we had died. Seriously.
BROKE MY HEART!!! I cried though the rest of the conversation with my mother-in-law, while I was telling my friend Courtney about it, through my entire shower, and then finished the day by crying myself to sleep.
I think that's the last time we'll be away from the kids for THAT long (a week) until they are a bit older. We need to just stick to long weekends...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Her Latest "Trick"

So, we all know that parents are FAR too doting. I am the FIRST to admit that this may be one of those moments. At any rate, here is the latest face she is pulls. I don't know if you can hear it but she breathes in and out of her nose over and over really hard while she does it. It cracks us up every time because she looks like a little old man who forgot to put in his dentures.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Baby Games

This little "game" between 10 month old Blake and one year old Addi was so funny to watch. Addilyn wanted to play with Blake's bottle... he was fine with that, but in true "boy" fashion, he made her work for it. He kept taking it away from her just to hand it back a minute later. She did NOT think this was funny. Every time he would take it from her she would burst into tears, which would make Blake belly laugh while handing the bottle right back over to his high maintenance cousin...



She is NOT laughing in the picture above... she was MAD!

Baby Blake

A few weeks ago (can you tell I'm playing catch up?) Bryan's sister Natalie and her hubby, Matt, and baby Blake came into town for a weekend. It was SO much fun to see them. We played a lot and had a ton of fun together.
Addilyn is 10 weeks older than Blake... not that you can tell. He is just as tall as her, crawled LONG before her, and is nearly walking... which is good since his Mommy is going to have another baby in less than 10 weeks. :)

I just loved how her eyes looked on this towel... and who could resist taking a picture of those PONIES!!Carter helped Granddad pick up all the rotten fruit. He loved spending the time with his sweet grandfather and was more than happy to help out.
When all the hard work was over (which involved a short photo session with Blake) we all just hung out and played in the back yard.

Last Memory

A few weeks before Violet died I took these pictures. I am so glad I did and that I have them to show Carter in a few years when she is just a distant memory. (Right now he still tells me every day that he's sad that Violet died.) We went in the backyard after dinner to have an ice cream dessert. As you MAY be able to tell, Carter got a little bit dirty. He also couldn't finish it. Vi was MORE than willing to help him out while Addilyn just played in the rocks. How awesome is this next picture... GROSS!!! Lap it up, Carter!This one below is one of my faves because we look like your everyday white trash family. Carter in his undies, ice cream everywhere, little kid sharing with the dog... who completes the picture with a fly on her head... NICE! We finished the evening off with hosing everyone off and playing in the water for a while. It was a really fun evening and I am SO glad I got my camera out for it.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Saturday, July 5, 2008

When It Rains...

It pours.  This afternoon we got a call from Bryan's mom telling us that their dog died this morning.  She has been the family dog for 16 years.  We were all hoping she would make it until Bradley got home in September but...  She and Vi are playing together in Heaven; which according to Carter is at the Temple.  :)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Goodbye Sweet Violet

Many of you know that we have a dog that is so ugly she's cute. She's a white boxer and SO adorable. She and Carter are thick as thieves. They have SO much fun together.
Some may wonder why her name is Violet. (She's a 60 pound white dog...) When the boxer rescue called us (we had been talking for several months about adopting one) they told us that she had been found on the streets of Yuma pregnant and SPRAY PAINTED purple. PURPLE!!! It absolutely broke my heart. I told them that we wanted her for sure and called the foster home immediately. The woman told me that we couldn't take her for a few weeks because she was raising 5 little kittens that had been orphaned. (If that doesn't melt your heart...) When we did finally get her she was nothing short of darling. When Carter came along a year later she really proved herself. She was SO gentle with him. With Addi it was the same way. She would rough house with Carter but be really gentle with Addilyn. In the past few weeks Addi even decided that she liked Violet. She would crawl over to her and jingle her collar.
Anyways, we are in San Diego right now and Kevin, my brother, is feeding Violet. When he went over there yesterday morning she was, what he thought, sleeping. When she didn't respond to her name he went over to her and realized that she was dead.
This came as a HUGE shock to us. We knew when we adopted her that boxers don't have long life spans but she was only about 6. We thought we had another 2 years or so. We think she had a brain aneurysm or something along those lines. Aside from the obvious shock, we had to have my three wonderful siblings deal with her because we were gone. Kelly finally found a nice company that came and got her and cremated her.
I cried for a good portion of the day for several reasons. Most of all, how do you tell your 3 year old little boy that his dog just died. On top of that, I felt HORRIBLE that she was alone when she died. I am also going to miss her. Here are my top ten things I am going to miss about our little Vi.
10. She's my company when Bryan is gone playing basketball late at night.
9. She LOVED to play hide and seek with Bryan. He would hide somewhere and then call her name and she would search and search until she found him.
8. She would let Carter yank on her tail as much as he wanted to. (and she actually enjoyed it!!)
7. She was normally ok with me kicking her out into the backyard when people came over.
6. She LOVED lounging in the sun when the weather was nice.
5. She would let Carter flop her chops up and down while he sang songs pretending she was the one singing. (again, she loved this. She would way her tail the entire time.)
4. She ALWAYS came when Bryan whistled for her. (Carter quickly learned how to imitate the whistle and would do it and then yell "Bliolet!")
3. She loved to lay underneath our bed with nothing showing at all.
2. She had the BEST puppy dog eyes.
1. She was Carters best friend and played SO well with both of the kids.
Don't get me wrong; there will definitely be some things I won't miss: holes in the backyard, poop all over the grass, white dog hair all over EVERYTHING, Carter smelling like a dog 10 minutes after his baths, she chewed up one of my high heels about 4 years ago... things like that.
The hardest part about this whole thing was telling Carter. He doesn't really get it. We're not home right now so I'm sure it will be different when we get home and she's not there.
When we told him that Violet went to live with Heavenly Father he said, "But how did she get there? She doesn't have a car." We told him that Heavenly Father came and got her and he said, "But she can't go play with Heavenly Father. I want to play with her." What do you say to that? It was heartbreaking. And of course, made me cry all over again.
Maybe we'll get another dog someday. Bryan said she was the only dog we would ever have. I haven't ever really fought him on it because I though she would be around for a while longer... We'll see I guess. (I normally win these kinds of things and I have a feeling the kids will be on my side...)
We will really miss our sweet Violet. She was a great dog and most of all, she loved my kids. When I get home I'll add some pictures.