Sibling Climb

 Krista, Nolan, Stacia and Millie took advantage of the nice day to climb to the top of the Butte. The view is great from up there. 

Stacia and Millie Meet Zak George

 You know how sometimes you find the perfect gift and you knock "it" out of the park? Jamin did that for Stacia's 15th birthday.  Stacia purchased Millie a couple of months prior to her birthday... She had been watching all kinds of videos on puppy training by Zak George.  

At the party Jamin asked her if she'd like to have a one on one session with ZAK GEORGE?

WHAT? 

Jamin is a real estate agent. Jamin meets people. One of his people was Zak George and he and his wife were willing to meet with Stacia and Millie. 

This was a great afternoon for Stacia. Zak said that she is doing a great job with Millie. It would seem that Labradoodles are "extra" and he is now the second trainer to say she is doing a good job. He had a few pointers to help with her stubborn streak and her tendency to eat the inedible.  

Thanks to Jamin for the pictures and for making the arrangements for this special afternoon. 

Stacia Turns 15!

 Stacia's magnificently loaded Birthday Sundae on birthday Sunday. 

 

We missed Cory (had to work), Larissa (at home in Juneau) and Izaak (had previous plans). Nolan arrived after work. All in all this is a pretty good crowd and the sundaes were a hit!  Both Bre and Arielle are starting to sport pretty cute baby bumps. 

Bre, Annie, Gideon, Stacia, Bella, Livie, Krista, Carrie
(Michael and Jamin in the back) Cy, Jared, Alex, Benny, & Arielle

Puppy Cuddles

Cousins! 

Stacia and Jamin bounce kids....

Interesting sermon notetaker....

Football of some sort

Annie is coming into her personality - and it's delightful!

Stacia received quite a few thoughtful gifts, cake decorating tools, a warm fuzzy blanket, a tablet, a phone, phone minutes, play toys for Millie and a training session for Millie with a trainer Jamin knew.

Best of all? Dad woke up! Yes, GG is awake and there is no more talk of implementing his medical directive.  

Puppy Play Date

 This is Millie at 3 1/2 months. She's the queen of the yard. Her official name is Millie Rose....but Michael and I call her Millie Mutt after his childhood dog. Her attitude is Mutt the second. 

She has been enjoying play dates with Kimber since she came home at 7 weeks. Kimber is CoRielle's puppy. She's about 9 months old and is a retriever/husky mix. .

Millie has been a rough and tumble wrestler from the start. The thought was that Kimber would put her in her place and she'd learn appropriate play. Kimber is a sweetie and is happy to let Millie play....from time to time she rolls on her back and let's Millie "win." 

This has not Millie appropriate play. She also "plays" with Reno, an English Mastiff. Reno, Luke's dog,  is the most laid back dog I've met. He lets Millie climb all over him and when he's done he just lifts his paw, places it on her and she's done. LOL 

On this day we were eating outside and misplaced a couple of dishcloths....Tug OF WAR. 

Millie  ATE the cloth. My word. We've had to pull more terrible things out of her throat....disgusting...she eats sponges, socks, ropes...and pukes them back up.  Here everyone tries to corner her....to steal her priceless dishcloth.

I can't remember who ended up pulling the cloth out of her mouth this day. This was BEFORE Stacia and Millie met with "the trainer" and she learned she had to control Millie's environment because Labradoodles are CRAZY.  These days Millie trails a leash so we can catch her quickly when she pulls these stunts. 

Preparing for Sundaes on Sunday

Day 4 of the "week" Dad has been given to "wake up."

This is the day before Stacia's birthday! Many in our family request various ice cream cakes for their birthdays. There have been a few cheesecakes requested...but for the most part it's ice cream cakes.  This year Stacia requested homemade ice cream and sundae toppings. If one wants homemade ice cream on Sunday - one makes ice cream on Saturday. This is a rhythm we have had in San Angelo, TX and when we lived in the RV....she misses it. 

I shopped for an amazing amount of toppings, cream, and honey and made the ice cream mixture. Michael and Benny manned the ice cream makers. 

LOVE the summer yard

The girls chopped candies, nuts and cookies. 

The magical moment when Benny SEES the milk and honey really DOES make ice cream! I love how God promised the Israelites a land flowing with ice cream milk and honey. It confirms to me we are meant to enjoy our food. 

Everyone's favorite part - quality control - tasting y'all. 

Such a helpful pup

Jamin came out and the guys enjoyed relaxing together. We love having Jared here...and we're proud of the work he is doing in Juneau as well. 

Tomorrow we celebrate Stacia turning 15 years old, we will miss GG. 

Stacia Cut Her Hair

 Stacia has been growing her hair for years. She has been talking for over a year about cutting. Her sisters and I have been curious what will happen to her hair when she cuts it - we suspect waves and curls.  

She has decided, with her 15th birthday on the horizon, to cut her hair.  

I had told Norma she had a LOT of hair....after about 30 seconds Norma came out and asked if they could donate her hair to Locks of Love. YES! 

Yep, she got the curls and waves, along with the height.  

Jared flew over or up from Juneau.  At this point in time (I'm writing in Oct), GG hadn't woken up from surgery. He flew up to be with us when he heard we had agreed to take GG off life support if he didn't wake up in a week.  GG had 4 more days to wake up.  These were tense days and it was nice to have Jared here.