Buddie has a Very Proud Grandma

Our Buddie completed his first obedience class and from what I hear from Christy, he is the Valedictorian. He learned to walk on a loose leash, do doggy push ups in the second class (that was a trick for the 7th class normally), play dead when you say bang, sit and stay, come when called and much, much more. He learned things so quickly that he constantly amazed his instructor. Now, the instructor is talking to Christy about training him to be a Therapy dog. Christy would love to do so if she has the time and can find the resources to do so in Enterprise, Alabama. He would have to pass the Canine Good Citizenship Test. Christy plans to enroll him in the intermediate class when her own college class schedule allows.

Buddie's best trick is convincing Baylee to go outside. Baylee walks to the door and stops. Buddie goes outside and then grabs Baylee by the ear and pulls her outside. SMART DOG that Bud Bud.

So Grandma says way to go Bud Bud! You are the tops and always will be. I am popping my buttons here in Washington.

Thank you to our Veterans

Thank you to our American Veterans for their service in our American military. The best news of my week has come from my friend Regina. Her husband is out of Iraq and will arrive home soon after Veterans' Day. She is so excited. Her husband has been deployed for 15 months. They had been married just a short time when he left.

So, thank you to the veterans we know personally or know their families: our daughter, Christy, our son-in-law, Randy, Teri Hice, John and Regina U., John K., Rob W., Bobby A., Mike VH, Jeff R., Elizabeth M., Nick, Chris C., Bill Hice, Jon P., Ross S., Keith, And please forgive me if I did not remember everyone.

Blessing to all our Veterans.

Whoopeeeeeeeeee! Great Aunt Connie is Happy

September 15 at 9:25 p.m. Carlee Archer, my great niece was born. This is the daughter of Darin and Susie, Darin's first child. Darin is my youngest nephew (age 41) and I never believed he would have children. Susie has an 18 year old son so this is baby is such a thrill for both them and me, Great Aunt Connie. I am so excited. Darin is the third son of my brother. Darin also has a younger sister. He was the last to have a child so we are celebrating!!! Oh, Carlee is a big baby at 8 lbs. 14.5 oz. and 21" long. I think she is inheriting her mother's height. Susie is 6'2" tall. Darin has contributed lots of dark hair to this baby. In fact my Archer family is all quite short. So, Hurray for this Wonderful Niece!!

Hurricane Ike

Prayers for Vern's niece, Shawna and her husband, Jeff and their kids, as they deal with their home in Kemah, Texas being flooded by Ike. It is a townhouse that sits at the edge of Galveston Bay and 21" up in the air. The garage was flooded and full of their belongings. When it is allowed, Shawna and Jeff will return to Kemah and begin the clean-up so they can look for a place to move to. I believe they were renting. The kids will remain with relatives until all is taken care of. The yellow lab Jack and the bunny Oreo are safe as well.

Missing One That I Can Count and That Counts---Need a Randy Picture with this Family

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Why I Have Not Posted on Here!

1. It is raining in Seattle. Wrong--We have bright blue skys.
2. We have not had any dogs to write about. Wrong--We have our own Faith and Toby. We had Buddie (Christy and Randy's dog) May 20-July 30. We had Baylee Bear for the time Randy and Christy were here. We also had and will have Walker around.
3. The yard is so small that there is nothing to write about it. Wrong. The yard is almost 1/2 acre including the house and Vern is always planning and creating in it.
4. I no longer work so nothing new there. Wrong. I work and there has been a ton of changes going on at preschool. We have two new teachers after two leaving having worked there for 15+ years.
5. The presidential campaigns are boring. Wrong. Not boring maybe but getting very tiring.
6. Brian and Megan are never doing a thing. Wrong They are so busy we have to be written in on their calendar to see them. They are doing super!
7. Christy and Randy lead dull, uneventful lives. Wrong. Christy calls 2-6 times a day with news of something. Their stories of the two dogs alone are enough to entertain us for hours. She is making plans to return to college in January and they have a new house in Alabama.
8. Nothing is happening at Christmas so nothing to tell anyone about. Wrong. We are going to Wisconsin for Christmas to be with the Goodmans, Megan's family. It is so exciting and I hope we have snow. I can hardly wait. We will also get to me Lucas, Megan's nephew for the first time.
9. Our unofficially adopted kids Rudy and Anne have nothing going on. Wrong. They have our new adoped grandaughter named Samantha and I have been babysitting this summer. She was born in May and it has been so much fun. I love her! They are planning on moving if they can sell their house and find one that suits them. We hope it is not too far away.
10. Our Dot #2, Lorae never see us. Wrong. Oh boy, we do have fun. We have to watch 6 episodes of Desperate Housewives to catch up. She took me to a play for my birthday and -------------------------nevermind on that one. We had a bit of a surprise in the content of that play. If anyone asks, there were no dogs in it.
11. No one had a birthday. Wrong I did and it was great. Vern and I rode the Duck in Seattle and I got to sit in the captain's chair and drive. We had lunch at Chandler's Crab House and dinner with Brian and Megan at Stanfords. We took a wonderful drive along Lake Washington. The day was beautiful. Actually, it was the hottest day of the summer in Seattle.
12. No anniversies Wrong Vern and I had our 37th wedding anniversary, September 4. Brian and Megan cooked us dinner to celebrate. Brian cooked the most wonderful turkey breast on the BBQ. Megan made yummy dishes to go along with it. She is such a good cook. We are so lucky. We had other plans but decided to stay home and not spend money on gasoline.
13. The Olympics were boring. Wrong I love, love, love the Olympics and watched them a bunch. I could have written volumes about just the swimming gymnastics and women's soccer.
14. I did not take one picture all the month of May through August. Wrong I have so many pictures of Buddie, Baylee, Toby, Faith and Walker, I would go broke if I printed them all. In fact, I do not know how to organize them all. I think I need to find something to do and take a class to figure out how to work that camera and find out what to do with all the pictures. You notice none are on here. I mess up the blog when I put them on. Then, I call Christy and she fixes it for me. Isn't that what daughters are for? Well, I think it is. She is always rescuing her mom with such good humor.
15. A large brown lab named Faith stays off our bed. Wrong, oh so Wrong We can be wide awake and she will get up on the bed so quietly, we do not even hear the jingle of her tags. Other times it is like a two ton truck coming through. We take her down, place her in her bed and say stay and she stays. That is just long enough for me or Vern to get back to bed and lie down. This all started when her friend and playmate Buddie moved to Alabama. So the way I see it is, Buddie needs to come live with us so Faith is not so lonely. OH, baby gates keep her out of the bedroom and make us feel terrible. She gives us the puppy dog, sad brown eyed look.
16. I have no friend anywhere else in the world that are up to anything. Way WrongI have many friends who are a part of Soldier's Angels who are up to good stuff taking care of our American soldiers who are overseas. They send me great news about their experiences and events almost on a daily basis. I have met special people through Soldiers' Angels and there are some very special, brave men and women in our Armed Forces.

So, no more excuses here. I just did not write anything about anything and I am not pretending that I am going to.

Our Cousin Walker the Schipperke Is Here!

Mom cannot get Walker to stop running with Faith long enough to get a picture but she promised she would try. Maybe, Walker can help us take care of Dad when they both are on the floor. Check back because I am determined mom will get that picture. Brian and Megan are snow camping so we get Walker, Hurray!! Love, Toby

We Are Caring For Our Dad!

I (Toby) feel so bad because dad hurt his back picking me up. So, I decided to sleep on him at night in case he needs me. You see he is on the floor and so easy to get to.
I do look mighty cute up here if I do say so myself. See Faith sleeping on her big bed and staying close by.
I (Faith) am dad's alarm clock. I woke him up with my special kisses and he loves it because he loves me!
You know I am the guard dog, so I am protecting my dad by sitting on him. Therefore, no one has a chance of getting close to him.

Who Would Think 14 Pounds Could Be Dangerous

On Sunday afternoon Vern picked up our little dog Toby and turned. The turning was the mistake. He has done something to his lower back at the waist level. Now, he is lying flat on the floor on top of a glacier. He is supposed to stand and walk on flat surfaces or lie down on the floor. It has been hard getting him comfortable---- with something under his knees---with enough blankets. He has pain medication, relaxant medication, has had a massage--that felt good when it was done and had 2 chiropractic treatments which hurt like crazy. I am his driver extraordinaire since it is not good to drive when on pain meds. I hope he feels better soon as this is not much fun for him at all.

The Day of Cupids

Happy Valentine's Day to all in our lives. We will spend our day at work with me watching the 3 year old children who will try to figure out what in the world Valentine's Day is all about. They love the cards they get.

We are so thankful for all that bless our lives, our children and their spouses, all those adopted sons and daughter, nieces and nephews, grandpuppies, and all the distant relatives through Megan's family in Wisconsin. Also, we have the Grube family in Tacoma. We are blessed with friends old and new. I am fortunate to work with 3 wonderful ladies and the rest of the staff at the Lutheran church.

Take care and Happy Valentine's Day! Extra hugs to Walker, Buddie, Fyodor, Toby, Delight, Peaches and Faith our dog family! You make life great for everyone.

The Tagging Game--Come Along and Play

Dedra S. tagged me..so here it goes..The rules:
-You must post the rules before you give your answers.
-You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name.
-Each fact must begin with that letter.
-If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.
-After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers.
-At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

My middle name is short.
Sue is it:

Sweet: That is until I get stubborn but I can tell you for sure no one I know nor anyone in my family thinks I am stubborn. Sweet all the way! Plus you see, my two bio children, Brian and Christy are not stubborn and my husband is not stubborn and our sweet daughter-in-law Megan is not stubborn and our Special son-in-law Randy is not stubborn. None of our adopted sons or daughters or any of our dogs or their dogs or cats are stubborn. We are the Sweet Family!

Under and Up: You usually find me under a table looking for a child or something lost in the preschool room or up above a child trying to figure out what is happening and or what we are doing next. The only problem here is that children are getting taller and I am not. Many children seeming to be stretching toward my height very quickly. So, I guess I will sit down and have fun with the kids and not worry about their height or mine.

Easy: It is so easy to tell me a joke and I just do not get it. It is so easy to tell me something and I will believe it and it is not true. It is so easy for me to go screaming around the house saying. "It is snowing." I so love snow! It is so easy for me to love my two kids and their spouses and the two dogs they have. It is so easy for me to love all the people that have come into our lives because of our own two children. We have so many adopted daughters and sons and soon to have an adopted grand child by Rudy and Anne. It is so easy to look into our world and find so many good things happening in our lives. It is so easy to love kids and dogs and by kids they can be of any age. It is so easy to love the families connected to us through others we know. Our family has grown so much in the last few years with Brian and Christy getting married. It is so easy to care for all the soliders and their families with Randy and Christy being in the Army. Dedra and Ross, you are one of those families. It is so easy to love the children and the families I have had over the past 20 plus years at Our Savior Lutheran Preschool. It is so easy to love those I work with and their families. It is easy to care and love.

Now, it is said I have to tag 3 people so here it goes. I usually do not play these games but it was fun. Thank You Dedra.
I tag Betsy or Jon (whichever one of you wishes to answer this and you are part of the Sweet Family), Jenny because you are part of our Sweet Family and Anne because you and Rudy bless our lives so much.

More Pictures of House Coming!!

Caution Ahead: You may not want to change the color of your house while one of you is at work!

When we bought our first tiny house in Tacoma Washington (bk-before kids), the paint started peeling on the outside. It was guaranteed not to do so back came the painters to re-do the job. Vern went of to work not knowing that painters were arriving that day. In fact, I did not know they were coming. We knew what color we wanted to paint the house but----------------the painters arrived and informed me they were painting that day and I had to choose the paint from 6 choice. Of course not one was what we wanted. Vern could not be reached by phone and of course there was no such thing as a cell phone. Really, we had only land line phones. If you left your home or office no one could call and bug--oh excuse me--no one could reach you by phone. I also do not remember if there were answering machines but I know we did not have one at home. I chose the color all by myself and the painters painted the entire house.

So hubby is at work and gets a ride home. He told the driver friend to stop at the bluuuuuuuuu------house and the house was olive green! His friend must have thought Vern was crazy!

What a shock! (It was almost like the shock when I painted the bathroom lime green when Vern left for work one day. My parents were coming for the weekend. It was bad so Vern had to wallpaper part of the bathroom to help offset the shocking green before they arrived.)

So, this time the shock is not bad but we still think we are at the wrong house when we arrive home. The bottom half of the house is not done but will be some type of brick or stone. I am so glad the brown is disappearing after over 20 plus years in this house. Oh, we did plan to change the siding on the house and we both knew when it was happening