Summer 09 Update

I haven't been blogging lately. It's been a while. I know. Let's see...since the last post, we have sold a house, bought a new house, moved, unpacked (mostly), begun to update said new house, played T-ball (Meredith) and we have lost our family dog. Lots of exciting stuff, one really bummer thing.

This is one of the last pics I took of Max. Sweet Max. Such a blessing to us for nine years. He was the happiest, friendliest dog you would meet, until he got sick this summer. It's funny how much dogs become part of our families. I miss him terribly. He was my constant companion, enjoying walks, errands in the car, picking kids up from school, and the occasional "Puppy Cone" from Sheridans. John always laughed because Max would "guard" me. Wherever I was, he was there...including my morning shower. He would lay in front of the door while I was in there! In the past week, we have realized one other impressive thing about the guy - he kept our floors so clean! I had NO idea how much he ate the little crumbs off our floor...or how many crumbs fell on our floor in the first place! :) So...here's to you, Max. You were a fantastic dog. You were so loyal, so kind spirited. And the next dog will have big paws to fill that you leave behind.

Okay...movin on...Literally! We moved into our new house in the middle of May, and it's been never ending craziness since then. The boxes are gone, but we are FARRR from being 'settled'. We are planning a small 'remodel' this fall...there is a cool area in our home that (had) a wet bar...but the previous owners sheetrocked it in to make it a storage closet. We are reopening the bar, and are going to update it and the area around it...I promise I'll post pics. It's going to be a really fun area when we get it all done. Anyways, it's a fun house, an amazing blessing. We cannot believe the Lord has blessed us with it...it is incredibly more than we imagined we would find...which makes it all the more obvious that it was His hand on it. And we love it!

Our summer 'entertainment' has been Meredith and the Tball team. What a great group of families. We were so blessed! Our friend Doug Dendy, along with John, Craig Bragg, and a host of other guys helped coach our 13 kiddos this year. A few pics....

Mere's first hit of the year.Mere with her #1 fan, Cameron.
Closing ceremony. Everyone got a trophy, and we snapped pics like it was the College World Series. Good stuff. :)

In other news...I'm working very hard at my photography skills. I took both of the kids for 'photo shoots' this week. And both 'sessions' turned out GREAT! Will post pics after I finish editing a bit. I'm learning how to use Adobe Photoshop. It's a fun program, if I can ever figure out how to use all of the tools! :)

Well...signing off now. Oh...before I close - one more thing. Some of you are Facebook peeps and asked me why I am not Fb'ing for a while. It had become more part of my life than it needed to be, and the Lord showed me that. I have a beautiful daughter who starts Kindergarten in less than a month, a home that needs lots of TLC, and a Jesus who really enjoys spending time with me each afternoon during kids' naptimes. None of those things were getting the attention they deserve because my computer was always on, always checking the status of friends, always chatting. So I'm backing up a bit. We'll see how much and for how long. As He leads.

blessings,

kristi