This is IT!!!

We're on our way to the hospital to have a baby! Stay Tuned! I'll make sure Aaron gets some pictures on here ASAP!

A Boy and His Dog

Today, a chapter in my book of life came to an end. It's been a great chapter, and one that I hate to close. My dog, a German-Shepherd-mix I named "Dascha", was put to sleep this evening. I wasn't there to say goodbye to my faithful friend of 15+ years, and that causes my heart to ache. How does one sum up all of the memories we've shared? I can't list them all, but I need and want to say goodbye to my old friend. I owe her that much.

Dascha was a present to me from my Mom on my 20th birthday in 1993. My Mom found her at the Animal Shelter and rescued her. She was tiny - the runt of a litter of pups that had been dumped off at the Shelter. I think Dascha knew she had been spared, and gave us all unconditional love for the lifetime she spent with us. After I moved out of my folks place, I didn't get to see Dascha as often as I would've liked to, but she was always there to greet me whenever I came over with her one-of-a-kind bark/howl. Dascha was always up for a game of tug-o-war, fetch, and ALWAYS loved her walks with my Mom and Dad. Heck, anyone who'd take her for a walk was good in her book. She loved her dog biscuits, too. We taught her how to balance them on her snout and hold still until we told her to "Get it!"

Over the past year or so, age has been catching up to Dascha. I don't think it was the age quite as much as it was the mileage on her body. Dascha was always active and playful, and so, so smart. Recently, her hind legs weren't cooperating when she wanted to get outside, go on a walk, or to do her "business" in the backyard. Over the past few days, she was dragging her hind legs around, which rubbed away her nails and paw pads, causing open wounds. Her spirit was strong, but her body was weakening. Mom told me the other day what was transpiring with Dascha, and I knew that her remaining time was short. The inevitable could not be staved off much longer.

Tonight hasn't been easy for me. My emotions are running high, and the tears come easily. Part of me wanted to be there to hold Dascha and say goodbye, but part of me didn't. That's not how I wanted to remember Dascha. My Mom and sister, Wendy, drove Dascha down to the vet's office and made the decision that I knew had to be made. Thank you, Mom and Wendy, for being there for Dascha this evening. I know it wasn't an easy choice to drive away and know that our beloved girl wasn't coming home with you. I'm just glad to know that Dascha isn't suffering anymore, and that she'll be my dog on the other side when it's my turn to go.

So, Dascha - Thank you, girl. Thank you for 15+ years of unconditional love, and countless fond memories. I'll miss your unique bark, your "handshakes", and the warm comfort of your companionship. Goodbye, my old friend. I love you, girl. Always have - always will. I miss you.

What do you think??

Logan has expressed some interest recently in potty training. He'll be 2 at the end of this month. (August) I'm not so sure he's exactly ready. (Maybe I'm the one who's not ready yet.) We bought Logan some big boy underwear and broke out the potty chair. I think at this point just sitting on the potty chair and pretending to wipe is a novelty and well, as you can see from the picture below - this is what he thinks should be done with the underwear:

Family Update

We have had a pretty quiet last few weeks. Just trying to keep up on things around the house and patiently wait for baby to make her arrival. Kaya came about 5 days early and Logan was a few days late. I did MAJOR grocery shopping this week in order to be stocked up and avoid having to shop until after the baby is born. (I usually only grocery shop about once every other week except for fill-ins like milk & bread). So we're just waiting! To keep busy we've taken swimming lessons, made visits to the county swimming pool, played at the local sprinkler park, played at friend's houses, and have enjoyed working in the garden and eating the vegetables we've been able to harvest.

Kaya passed her swimming lessons course.

Logan enjoying the water at the Sprinkler Park/Splash Pad

Aaron & the kids at the City 4th of July Parade. (Held on the evening the of the 3rd)Kaya and her good friend Whitney. Whitney moved to another town about 2 1/2 months ago. We were finally able to go visit her at her new house. Kaya & Whitney have been playing together since they were about 18 months old.

Last weekend we took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium Preview Exhibit. It's actually temporarily located in a converted grocery store as they build the full scale aquarium in Salt Lake City. It wasn't very big and didn't take very long to tour but the kids had a good time seeing the exhibits. We all enjoyed just getting out the house.
Kaya smiling for the camera. Logan checking out the fish.

This Tuesday we took the kids to the Sandy Expo Center to see the "Days of '47" parade floats. Utah celebrates the arrival of the first pioneer settlers to the Salt Lake Valley every year on July 24th. It's a big State holiday here. Almost like the 4th of July. Each year they have a huge parade in downtown SLC with lots of floats. They put the floats on display at the Expo center for the public to come and view for free. This was the first time we've done this and it was fun to see the floats up close. We even got to vote for our favorite one. Kaya was looking forward to seeing the "pretty girls in dresses on the floats". (For our local 4th of July parade, several of the local cities had their royalty riding on the floats and Kaya enjoyed seeing all the "princesses" ) Kaya wasn't disappointed when we were able to see the Days of '47 royalty with their float. They weren't dressed up but they were wearing their crowns. It was all in all a fun (and free) time!

Days of '47 Royalty FloatPrimary Children's Hospital FloatThis was my favorite float. It was a flock of seagulls having a BBQ of insects, also known as Mormon Crickets.

Last night, Kaya had her first experience with the stomach flu, or at least getting sick to her stomach from something she ate. She woke up around 11:30 complaining that she was too hot. Shortly after helping her get all situated and back in bed, we heard her screaming at the top of her lungs. She'd gotten sick in her bed and it had freaked her out pretty good. Aaron and I tag teamed the clean up and got her back in bed. Logan slept right through all the drama, only to wake up 3 other times during the night for various reasons. Ugh. Needless to say, Aaron & I are quite tired this morning. I just remember laying in bed at some point early this morning praying that my water DOESN'T break and I DON'T go into labor. I'm TOO TIRED!!! Hopefully this was an isolated incident and we can keep the rest of our family from getting sick. Kaya's back to normal and quite hungry this morning so we're keeping our fingers crossed! Kaya posing in a dress she got from Grandma Luna for her birthday.

And last but not least.....Where was I when this picture was taken? Aaron shouldn't leave strange pictures on the camera unless he wants me to share them with everyone! According to Aaron, he had both kids in stitches with these "googly eyes"!

Lunch according to a 4 year old

Kaya: Mom, can we go to Mc Carl's Jr. for lunch?

Me: Do you mean Carl's Jr? Maybe, We need to go pick up Logan first.

Kaya: Can we go to the Carl's Jr. by Panda's?

Me: No, that's too far to drive today.

Kaya: Can we go to the Carl's Jr. by the haircut place?

Me: No. Not today.

Kaya: Well, then how about we just go to McDonald's.

Note: My kids aren't even interested in eating 90% of the time. All they really want to do is go and play in the play yards. When you have the extreme cold weather in the winter and the extra hot weather in the summer, you find cheap places to go just to get the kids out of the house. I don't even have to buy them anything! (But this conversation tells you a little too much about how often we frequent the play areas - especially when there are 3 different Carl's Jr.'s within about 5 miles of our house.) Having the backyard done has cut down on our visits to public play areas, but the kids still ask to go there now and again.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad Serr!!

Aaron's parents celebrate their 37th wedding anniversay today!! Happy anniversary to a great example of a happy marriage. May you be blessed with many more wonderful years of wedded bliss!!

Happy Birthday Moose!!!!

Today we celebrate Aaron's birthday! We are happy to celebrate another year of health and well being with Moose. Aaron is a great husband and dad to our children. Our family has been very blessed and we look forward to Aaron being another year older and wiser.

A flashback picture of Aaron on his 8th birthday