The Best Dog EVER!!!!

So, it's with lots of sadness that I write this post. I was trying to put it off as long as I could because I wasn't sure if I could find the time to type everything I wanted to. But, I am going to try. In July of 2003, I went to visit my friend Katie in Conyers, GA (we were still living in GA at the time). She had just had a baby and I went to hang out with them and meet her little girl. During that visit my friend Katie was telling me about their new dog Scooter too. They had recently adopted him from a pound. He was rescued from a bad situation in a trailer park where he had obviously been abused and neglected. They had grown really attached to Scooter but she explained how she was having a hard time adjusting to a fairly new dog and a newborn. She said she was considering giving Scooter away but she wanted to find a good home for him. I immediately volunteered!! I remember sitting in her kitchen on the phone with Ryan, practically begging him to allow me to bring Scooter home. He agreed and I left with a new dog and everything I needed to care for him. My friend Katie was so gracious in all of the things she gave us to go with Scooter but I was thrilled most to have an animal! Well, even though I practically BEGGED to bring Scooter home, it didn't take long for Scooter and Ryan to become attached at the hip or should I say heel. 6 1/2 year later and Scooter would still follow Ryan around - everywhere he went. Ryan was always having to watch where he walked in fear of kicking or running into Scooter. It was cute! And I felt his love too...when Ryan wasn't around, Scooter knew it and he would then become my little shadow! Sweet boy! They had a special bond and I think Ryan treated him more like a son, than a dog! I was always teasing him when he would leave the house...it was a goodbye 1 time to us girls, but to Scooter, Ryan would come back in and tell him bye and that he loved him, no less than 5 times! No joke. Everytime Ryan got ready to walk out the door I would hear..."Bye little man" "See you later, Bubba" "I'll be back later" "Have a good day" "I love you little man" etc. etc. Seriously!!! But it's okay. It made me happy that they loved each other so much! Anyway, we miss our Scooter Booter so much! We miss hearing his little feet as they would walk across the wood floor. We miss having to take him out for his "good morning" and "good night" potties. We miss hearing him bark when someone would ring the doorbell. We miss how he would carry his food from his food bowl in the laundry room, all the way to the rug by the back door to eat. We miss going to check the mail and Scooter running outside with us. We miss how happy he would get when he new we were going for a ride or better yet, going on a trip. We miss how well behaved he was with the girls - as many times as they would poke and pull his hair, he never snapped or growled at them! NEVER! We will miss traveling with him - flying in the plane or driving in the car. We miss taking him on walks and waiting for him to "mark his territory" on every bush or post we passed. We miss hearing him go crazy EVERY time the vacuum cleaner went on. We miss calling for him when we drop food on the floor. We miss "singing" with him and listening to him try to match our pitch!! ;-) But most of all, we miss looking over and seeing him sitting on his bed in front of the fireplace. He was always there perfectly willing to just lay around with us! Oh, what a great doggy our little Scoot was! We all miss you!

Avery taking Scooter for a walk

Walking in the snow in January '09

In Papa's plane with Avery

Faces

Sometimes it is so fun to capture "silly" faces of the kids. This night, Riley was sitting down eating dinner. She was being a hoot and just laughing so hard everytime she made me laugh. Here are a few silly faces that I got...

This is what she does when she is laughing really hard. She giggles, puts her hands under her chin and sometimes throws her head back too!

This is her new "sign" for more or when she wants you to give her something. She puts her hands out and licks her lips! So funny!

This one is not too silly...just a cute little Riley Kate smile! Got to love that!

Kelly's Korner Blog

Hey all, if you haven't read Kelly's Korner before you should check out her blog. Please read this post and know that is a summary of exactly how I feel. I have never been on a missions trip to another country, but it's always been in my heart to do so. I know we are so blessed here in America and I know that being able to minister and serve others in another part of the world would be a blessing to my soul. I am going to be praying that the Lord will open a door and His timing will be perfect, that I will know when and where He wants me to go. It may be next year, 2 years or 5 years but I want to be ready!

Trick-or-treat

I know it's a little late, but I never posted pictures of the girls in their costumes on Halloween. So, here you go...

We had a great day! We went and showed off their costumes at both the Zaxby's stores. The employees got a kick out of seeing them dressed up along with everyone else in the restaurant.

It's not very often that you see kids decked out in their dress up clothes, or costumes...I think we might go out in public like that more often! I took Avery to Sam's one day, a few months ago, in her cinderella dress. She was playing dress up and had a fit to take it off to go to Sam's. So, I actually let her leave the house in it...not something I thought I would EVER do before I was a mom! The fun part was that she got so much attention and she absolutely LOVED it! What did it hurt! It's only something you can do when you are a kid...so, some things I am learning to live with...and the occasional princess dress to the store is okay with me! Anyway, after our prancing around town, we came home and watched a little of the Georgia game! We were hoping they would pull out a win against Florida but it was another loss for our team this year 41-17! OUCH!! We are not used to being a losing team! Well, about 1/2 way through the game we did the family thing and went to a party at our friends house and then went trick or treating afterwards in our old neighborhood.

It was so much fun to see Avery with her friends and all of the kids dressed up. It was just as sweet watching our little Riley Kate walk around with her pumpkin bag and her paci!

She did such a good job staying up for the festivities. She rode around with her buddy Isaac in the wagon and was very content just riding along!

We had a great family night and we will cherish the memories made with friends for a long time!

Just had to add this picture of Avery. She was "ready" to go home after stomping around the neighborhood! She got enough candy and just wanted to rest her feet! haha Sounded like a great plan for the rest of us!