Well, I have decided that I need to write these moments down, because lately we have been having too many of them and I know that I will forget.

So we are eating dinner tonight and we are having a meatloaf. Carina said her usual "I don't like this", which I know she does she has eaten it before. So I said, well then you won't get any treat after dinner, so she proceeded to ask how much of the slice of meatloaf she needed to eat. I said half, thinking that it would be a good teaching opportunity for the concept of "half". So she showed me "half" and I agreed. Then as she was choking down the piece of meatloaf (because it was so disgusting) she said "this is the part of my life I hate"! WHAT!!!! All I can do is shake my head sorry to be such a mean mom :)

Here is some video from Grand Marais on Lake Superior and skipping stones in the Boundary Waters. We didn't see any moose, bear or wolves but we saw plenty of mosquitoes, as evidenced by Sam's impersonation of Rocky Balboa.

click the link below and then you can toggle HD on...

upNorth Video

This morning we lost Leia, but before she left us, our hunter had one more trip to her favorite dog park up in Elm Creek. Amazingly about a mile from the park, this rainbow popped up...seeming to point right to the park. (Sorry for the photo quality - forgot a camera so I only had my cell phone).



With her three good legs, Leia bolted straight down to the pond and jumped in, then ran around the reeds, finally ending up in the prairie where she stopped to point. Birds beware!



Rest in peace baby girl...




(Christmas Day 2002)

Sitting Up? Audrey is very very close to sitting up. She does really good until she gets excited or tired. Then she will fall backward. Just starting doing this unassisted yesterday 7-19-09.


Here she is starting to lean she wants to laugh at Carina.

This is Sam "mowing" the grass - I guess we need to get him a mower! Pretty funny he went right inside and got his vacuum.

We got out the exersaucer!
Sam thought it was pretty cool
he wanted to show Audrey how to work it! - you can see Audrey's bald spot - poor girl - we try to do a comb over with the hair on the top...

Audrey with her funshine bear. When Aunt Peggy came to visit she brought each of the kids a care bear. When I showed Audrey her bear she started laughing - it was so cute she thought the bear was so funny!

The Girls

Like Son- Not quite sure if Sam has the look down yet?
Like Father

HERE'S TO YOU MR. BIGGS!!

It didn't seem right not to pay tribute and mention our Mr. Biggs on the blog. He is such a part of our family and is really really missed!! We adopted Biggs (Alex) from Iowa in 2004. At the beginning of May he was diagnosed with cancer and it quickly took his life. You will never really know what a great dog he was unless you have met him!

You can see from this picture he never really liked having his picture taken. We always joked that he thought it was going to steel his soul. I will really miss him dancing for us and stomping his feet in the kitchen and looking at me with those big brown eyes. He always had a big smile on his face and truly was a gentle giant. We love you Biggs and we miss you so much! There will never be another Alex and it is not the same around our house without you. Thank you for bringing our house so much happiness, some people like to tell us we were crazy for having three dogs but they weren't around for all the good times!



Here is Biggs sitting on his favorite chair! Really anything with a cushion and pillows - he loves to put his head on a good pillow. Jeff and I would laugh sometimes he would be in such a deep sleep that when he lifted his head his facial hair would be sticking up - kind of like a human when they have sleep marks on their face!

This photo was taken on his last day - being Mr. Biggs he always wanted attention and would come up and put his nose under your arm no matter what you were doing. And watch out if you were giving someone else love - he wanted you to know that he wanted it too.

5 months old - I can hardly believe it - Audrey is 5 months old. She is so happy and a couple of weeks ago started to really get excited when she saw me from a distance :) She is a big talker and has a lot to say. She loves watching Carina and Sam it seems like she is ready to get down and run around! Watch out world!

When I picked her up from school they had done her hair today - really cute. You can also tell she likes snuggly blankets just like Sam. We haven't started food yet but probably will in the next couple of weeks.

On Saturday we had a busy day, Carina started tennis and then we had a work party at my bosses house which is on square lake. Michele and I decided that it might be too much for Sam and Paige so we got them a babysitter. Carina and Gannon had a blast swimming in the lake and going for a boat ride! It was a very fun day!

This is Marissa, her mom works next door to our clinic

Audrey kept warm with her blankie

Marissa

This is Matthew, Marissa brother

Here is my friend Shelly, she maybe teaching the kids how to take a taste of cheese cake- I'm not sure

This is Shelly's son Andrew

Carina and Gannon - eating some junk food!



This morning was Carina's first day of tennis class! She said she had a great time and is excited for next Saturday.