Girls Weekend in Savannahtown

Several weekends agao (I know, another delayed posting), Melinda and I went to Savannah for a little girls weekend. That Saturday morning there was a baby shower for Frances . . . who is due mid-July. Frances is literally the most beautiful pregnant person I have ever seen-she looks fabulous!

Melinda and I spent a few hours out at Tybee and continued our eating tour of Savannah . . . hitting all of our old favorite spots.

Nashville . . . Air America Reunion

Gary's Dad served in Air America . . . Civil Air Transport efforts during Vietnam. Each year the veterans have a reunion in a different city. Last year it was in DC, this year it was in Nashville.

The guys played in the golf tournament and Deirdre and I went on a tour of the Hermitage.

Gardens of Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew.
Dinner at Sole Mio Friday night . . .
The big finale - a banquet Saturday night with a guest speaker followed by dancing. It was a really nice weekend.

Cooper Phillips Hess

Some of you may know about the Hess twins, Carson and Cooper, that were born prematurely. They have both been fighting in the NICU for over a month . . . and their parents, Lauren and Andrew, have shown such strength, grace and devotion.

Cooper, who was the worse off (physically) of the two since birth, passed away last night. His intestines were basically a dead mass that would never grow and allow him to receive nourishment. They did not know this until they attempted surgery yesterday to remove what they thought was just a blockage. The doctors were amazed he hung on this long.

While we never were able to personally meet Cooper, he has left a profound impact on so many. He showed courage, will to survive, and unconditional love no matter how many times he was poked and prodded or how terrible he felt. A special prayer goes out to Andrew, Lauren and Carson as they try to figure out what the next steps are and how to best survive the road ahead.

Happy 7th Birthday, Savannah!

Today is the day she gets her two favorite treats . . . peanut butter and bacon

Ode to Higgins

Last weekend we said farewell for now to our beloved Higgins. Deirdre's second dog, pictured on the far left (old picture), laying down, fought a very brave fight with cancer. Deirdre brought him to Auburn and buried him on the ponderosa. Her thoughts and little things she did for him that day will never be forgotten and will always be touching. He was a true dog and his own brave soul, but adored by his mother. He was the King. We will miss you Bellagio.

Happy Birthday Nance

After City Fest, we all went to dinner for Nancy's birthday. They guys came too but didn't want to be photographed.

Peyton, Virginia, Emilie, Nancy, Summer and Tricia
Congrats to Emilie on her engagement!

Mutt Strutt and City Fest

The last weekend in April was the Mutt Strutt 5k at Keisel Park, followed by City Fest. We took Shelby and Bricks with us. It was a really nice day - good turn out for the run, proceeds went to support the shelter here. City Fest is a big carnival of sorts-lots of craft vendors, live music all day (there was a pretty good bluegrass band too), lots of arts/crafts/children's activities.

Shelby looks so pretty in this pic
And Bricks . . . he never has a bad day. All smiles all the time.

One, two, no, three years and counting . . .

Yep, that's right. Three years of marriage. Towards the end of April we went camping out at the Ponderosa for our anniversary. We took our three dogs and Chaucer. It was gorgeous weather and a great time. We had some folks stop by and join us for a drink and some S'mores.

Chaucer looking dashing
Shelby's fur around her neck (or beard as we call it) and Savannah's ears are quite amusing in the above picture
Savannah drug this LOG out of the pond. It was floating out there in the middle and she thought it would be fun to bring it back to the bank and chew on it.
Tricia and Brett have started building their home across the levee . . . it is going up quickly! They aim to be done by Thanksgiving of this year. It will be beautiful.

Briggs

Over a month ago I brought home another foster dog . . . a five year old named Briggs. Owner surrender, extremely heartworm positive, coat was a terrible mess. It didn't take much to get him looking handsome! He is a really nice dog and so happy and full of life. He has since been sent to rescue to begin his heartworm treatment-this was a little over a week or so ago. He is doing well and already has several applications on him for adoption.

Livin' on Perlin Time

More pics from the trip up north . . . rowdiness and mayhem indeed.

Recruiting Day-Cook School

About two weeks ago I went to visit Sue . . . I had the pleasure of going to school with her on Friday (She teaches Kindergarten). We took a field trip to the planetarium, had extra recess, and enjoyed a lovely story at the end of the day. The AU athletic department graciously donated 27 Auburn shakers that I brought with me and we read Pat Dye's children's book, "War Eagle." The pictures below tell a wonderful story of the promise and young talent just waiting to make its way to the Plains . . . heh heh. The best part was they all lined up in their bus lines to go home, chanting "War Eagle! War Eagle!" Priceless.

Off to Boston for Sambo . . . on the chair for Bricks

Samson left last Thursday . . . he has found a new home (via J&L Rescue where we adopted Bricks) in Boston, MA. BOSTON! How sad-he's so far away. He will be missed but we are so glad he has a forever home.

Even Bricks was glum . . . now answer me one question . . . why is it that an 85 pound dog finds it comfortable to curl up in a small wicker chair?

Samson

Last Wednesday I brought home with me another foster dog, Samson. He is a 6-7 year old Golden who is extremely overweight. It's very sad, he can barely fit through our doggie door. But he is the happiest and sweetest boy. He loves cheing on sticks and sunning in the yard. He is a delight!

Happy First Birthday, Cole!

Last weekend (March 4th), we all celebrated Cole's first birthday. He really liked his cake!

Back in Old San Juan for one more day

El Convento Hotel -historic and gorgeous hotel across from the Cathedral.

I took a picture of this sign because I wanted to remember the name of this place. We had the best meal of the trip here-excellent tapas and sangria. Highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Old SJ!
End of an old street . . . and the end of our trip. Back to the U.S. in time for work on Tuesday-we had a blast and feel rejuvenated.

St. Maarten

Sunday, Feb. 25th (Gary's Birthday!), we sailed down to St. Maarten. We went horse back riding and walked around Front St. and the surrounding areas.

This place we had lunch, Talouloa Mango's, we later found out was named after the family's Golden Retriever . . .

Last dinner on the ship. Gary won his hand at craps later on at the casino.

Turtle Beach, St. Kitts

We then got on a cruise ship and sailed down to the island of St. Kitts. We took a short cab ride around the southern part of the island over to Turtle Beach. It was a perfect day to lay in the sun, have a few rum punches, or Nectar of teh Gods as some people chose to call it, and relax.

The sister island of Nevis is featured in this picture.

Formal night on the cruise.