The Danny Boy I Want to Remember

I was in the upstairs hallway this afternoon and looked at the wall. I had this photo framed up on the wall in a doggie frame. This was taken of my Danny Boy sometime between 1997 and 2001, he was somewhere between 5 to 9 years old. (That's when I had this couch of my former roommate's) It reminds me totally of the spirit of Danny boy...he always wanted to play and had a toy nearby. His ear was so funny-for many years he had one ear up and one ear down. It was so cute and characteristic of him. His haircut is a mess and needs to be cut, but I see the life in this photo that I didn't see any more in the pics that we took yesterday. This is how I want to remember my dear sweet beloved Danny Boy. Happy. Playful. Man, I loved that dog...and still do.

Children's Museum with friends!

Thank you to those of you who left the comforting comments about my sweet Danny boy in the last day...I really appreciate you all.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a play date with Angie & her kids and 2 of her neighbors and their kids at the Children't Museum. It was a blast. Here's how the day went!

Isn't Miranda Joy so adorable? I love that smile!

Angie's girls: Chelsea (at the sink), Miranda Joy and Sarah baking something!
Getting the mail




LOVING the water play area...this time we wore a smock-apron thing to protect us from getting soaked!
Miranda joy loved the water, too...

...but she did NOT like the smock-apron thingy! She's even cute when she cries!
Sarah's turn on the horse!


Sarah decided to tackle the rock wall this time...I was really close by, waiting to have to catch her. But, she did wonderfully!

Success AT LAST! This was as far up as she got, by the way.
Miranda Joy taking her turn as being the cashier!


Wait, Mama...I can't go for a ride without putting some gas in the car!

...and I can't forget to put air in the tires!
Sarah's turn as cashier...I love the way she's scanning the can

They had a blast by the area with all the balls and the tubes they were flying around in...

They had a real life flight helicopter they got to climb all over and play on.
...at the driver seat!

I love Miranda Joy's uh-oh face! So cute!

All in all...a day full of fun!

Goodbye, My Beloved Danny Boy

This morning, I had to do one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do. Danny Boy, my yorkie, has been with me since October 2, 1992 when he was 8 1/2 weeks old. He had to be put to sleep and I had to say good bye to a very old friend. Since Danny Boy has been a part of my life many things have changed. I know that our decision was the right one, but it was so difficult to do. I love that little dog so very much, he has been my best friend and constant companion for 15 years, 5 months, and 24 days. He was with me just after I graduated from college, when I got my first real job, when I moved from Ohio to Utah, when I became a Christian, when I lived with roommates, when we lived alone, when I was single for all those years, and finally got married in 2001, bought our house, adopted a second dog and a cat, prayed for children, adopted Sarah in 2005 and when I became a Mom, and has seen Sarah grow from a baby to a toddler. My life has changed so much during his little lifetime. I thank God for that little dog and all the years of loving me, playing, tossing his ball incessantly for hours at a time, snuggling, and adoring me all the love and especially the constant companionship.

The thought of not seeing his fuzzy face every day and not having him to snuggle with on the couch is overwhelming and heart breaking for me. I am grateful that I was able to hold him as he drifted off to sleep forever and more than that grateful for all the years I was able to enjoy his friendship. It was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make and to endure.

Goodbye, old friend. You are so loved and cherished...you will live on in my memories.

We took a few photos just before returning to the vet's office to put him down.

Valentiney Girl

Here's my girl just after church on Sunday. I loved this dress so much and was happy to see it still fit with a turtleneck under it. Kinda Valentiney, ya know!

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert!

Yes, That's me and Troy with STEVEN CURTIS (FREAKIN') CHAPMAN!! What a blessing to meet him last night after the concert! We were able to thank him for the grant that we received during Sarah's adoption. We showed him an adorable photo of our Sarah and he signed a book that we'd purchased at the concert. He was so nice and friendly...really humble, too. We were so excited to meet him that I even forgot to tell him everything that I wanted to!

Since America World, (AWAA), our adoption agency, was sponsoring the concert, we were asked to coordinate volunteers to work at the Shaohannah's Hope booths and carry buckets to collect change and money to help orphans come home to their forever families. It was an honor to help and we assisted in raising $4000 that was given to a Utah family, as a grant to help them with their adoption. They were invited by Shaohannah's Hope to the concert as guests and were brought up on stage at the end. They had no idea that they were receiving a grant and especially how much! It was awesome to see how blessed they were by the grant!

Anyway, here are some photos that I took throughout the night.

Angie and Miranda were talking to Troy...

Miranda Joy playing and giving me her beautiful smile...Troy got a turn to hold our little buddy!


...and so did I...I was squeezing her with hugs and she would just giggle...SO cute!

Then she held my face in her hands, and laughed. I just love that little girl!


Here are almost all of our friends and volunteers that helped out that night. There are 4 missing, I think!
There is SCC on stage at the end, about to announce the grant!


Here is the family...about to be told they received a grant of $4000 from the collections that night!

It was so cool to see their reaction! They were in tears, just as I would have been! At the time of the announcement, we'd collected over $3200...as you can see on the screen. Well, so many people were moved that when we closed down the booths, we had the rest of the $800 in the buckets at the booths!

Here are Angie and Kyle with Miranda Joy meeting SCC and thanking him for their grant, too! Miranda Joy loved the bracelets he was wearing!
All Smiles!

Visiting our friends...

Last Thursday we went over to say Goodbye to Sarah's surrogate Grandparents... Angie's In-Laws babysat for me a couple of times when Angie was in China and they were leaving the next day. So, we wanted to say good bye and give them a disk of photos that we took while they were here. Since Chelsea called them Grandma and Grandpa, Sarah did too. It was cute. Here's Grandma Nancy, Sarah, Angie and Miranda Joy looking at the photos on the computer that I had brought over for them.