A Visit to the Past

We went to visit Cassie and Kyle in NM this past weekend and had such a wonderful time! It had been many years since I was in Farmington and it was so exciting getting to show Matt where I went to High School and where we lived and all my old stomping grounds. It has changed SO much ~ but still the same in many ways. We also took a drive up to Durango which was even more beautiful than I remembered! Matt used to work for a window company and part of his territory was Durango. In our search for somewhere to let the doggies run around we drove down a little side street and lo and behold ~ there was the window company Matt used to service!
Cassie and Kyle were such wonderful host/hostesses and we enjoyed our time with them so much. We were able to meet several of Kyles family members and were quite entertained by his little niece who was doing her best to make everyone laugh....just by giggling!! :) We were introduced to a couple of wonderful little breweries where we got to hang out on the patio and enjoy good conversations....It was wonderful to be able to sit outside in the middle of the day and not pass out from heat stroke!
Molly and Daisy got along wonderfully and didn't even try to escape from the yard while we were gone. I think Molly thought she had died and gone to heaven with that much running room ~ and a sweet little playmate! :) Daisy decided to sleep on Molly's bed the whole time and jumped up on it when Matt picked it up when we were ready to leave. :) I think she just didn't want us to go. She even went to Molly's protection when we were in Durango and a couple of big Huskies scared the bajeebies out of Molly! :)
We had such a wonderful time!!!! Even with the horrible movie selections! :) Thank you for letting us stay and for making our time there so comfy and fun!! :) Love you ~

Take A Moment

I just wanted to take a moment to remember the victims and their families that were affected by this date 7 years ago. Not only the innocent people who lost their lives on that specific day, but all of the people whose lives have been affected since then. I don't know how this current war will end, but I pray that it's under peace and safety for the men and women who are still over there and the countless innocent victims whose lives have been turned upside down due to it. I pray that it's soon so that no one else loses their life. I pray that our next president can make this happen....whoever that might be.

Not this time either...

It's not completely official, but it looks like they've chosen another family. There were so many reasons that I thought this might be "the one", but.....instead of preparing for a new addition to our family, we're left picking up the pieces of another disappointment. Yuck...I hate this feeling.

Requesting Your Thoughts and Prayers

Our profile is going to be shown to an expectant couple tomorrow and we would love it if you could send some prayers or special thoughts out for us. :) This baby is due Oct. 4th ~ it appears to be a situation that would fit into our family wonderfully. :)
We are excited, nervous, anxious, scared, worried, happy that we've been given this opportunity and hoping that their decision is made quickly. :)
Thanks so much!!

So, the birdie saga continues....

Last night we had a pretty heavy thunderstorm with lots of rain and wind. We went to check on the little birdie that is refusing to leave his nest. Well, Matt comes running in to get a flashlight because he says "something" us up on top of our house. What?! So we both go out with flashlights and Matt's made me completely freaked out that something is going to jump onto my head as I run out from under the house. Lo and behold there is a cat laying, oh about a foot above the poor little birdie nest. We made enough commotion to scare him off...but only until this morning when he was back again. :(
Anyway...during the windstorm our little birdie lost his nest. :( It was on the ground this morning when I went out to check on him. I looked around the ground for him and didn't find him. Finally I looked up and see him wedged onto a little tiny ledge right below where the nest was. So, all day he has made changes to his location and now....he's sitting in the spot right where his nest had been. :) He REALLY does not want to leave. There was a point when I thought maybe I should try and put the nest back up there, and then I thought...no, maybe mother nature is subtly trying to tell him it's time to hit the road! :) His mama (or daddy) periodically continues to check on him and keep watch. I'm not sure that this little guy will ever leave! He's a pretty big birdie now...it's really amazing how fast these birds grow. I think I'll be sad when he actually does decide to leave....

Round Two

Well, a couple of weeks after we lost our little mourning dove family...a new little family decided to take up residency in the nest that was left. I thought to myself "oh great, we have to go through this again!". So far this experience has been quite different than the last one. We did have a very close predatory encounter, but I think everyone is okay. (I hope!)
There were two little baby doves that were hatched - Matt saved one of the shells to show the little kiddos, but it was starting to gross me out having a it on my counter so I threw it away. :( For quite a while I could see two little birdie heads popping out of the nest. It was so cute! There was always a mommy or a daddy taking care of the little ones. I kept expecting to walk out and find one of the babies on the ground like last time....but it never happened until this past Wed. I had the door open to the backyard and Molly and T were enjoying the cool morning air. Well, all of a sudden there was a big swoosh headed straight for the ground. We went outside to see T laying under a bush right below the nest and both adult doves flopping around acting like they were hurt. I thought it was just because T was so close to the nest. Well, halfway through his pounce to go after the "hurt" doves, I grabbed him only for Matt to realize he had a feather sticking out of his mouth (classic!) I almost vomitted thinking that one of the baby birdies was in his stomach! Once I got him inside we looked back by the bush he was laying under and saw one of the babies. He was pretty big and his wings looked all spread out and awkward. I thought "wonderful ~ he's going to lay there and die and I can't do anything about it!" I could watch him from the family room window. I knew I wasn't supposed to try and help him ~ I knew his parents would do what they could. I kept checking on him until all of a sudden he was gone. He kept moving closer and closer into the shade as the sun continued to rise in the sky. His little wings were folded perfectly to his side and he was looking around at everything. The last time I saw him he was semi under a vine between it and the house and his mama was perched on the fence right above him. The next morning he was nowhere to be seen. I'm choosing to believe that he found his strength and has flown away. That's what I'm choosing to believe and hopefully it's the truth!
Now for this other little birdie.....I don't think he wants to leave home. Both parents are hardly in the nest at all these days. Last night for the first time he was perched a little outside the nest and I expected to see him on the ground this morning, but nope....he's snuggly secured within his nest again! :) Maybe he's really a chicken and not a mourning dove. :) Can you blame him after what he witnessed with his brother!? :)
Needless to say both Molly and T are on house arrest and Molly is only allowed in the backyard under strict supervision ~although she'd probably just want to be friends with the birdies anyway!

Show and Tell Time :)

I've tried to make a little space for creativity between my mandatory book reading and reviewing. :) I finally got around to making Wyatt's rag quilt. (it's only 10 months late!) It was fun and reminded me how much a enjoy creating things. I thought I would post a little photo of it for you. :) (it's the red,white and blue one ~ haha!)
Yesterday while I was at JoAnne's I saw the "pattern" for these little blankets and thought for some reason that Molly needed one for when we go camping and especially for "her spot" on the couch. So...here's the little blankie I made Molly too. :) It was fun and super easy!!