Our Abbie

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. " (Anatole France)
Last fall Abbie started having a few rough days here and there.  She was in the beginning stages of dog dimentia/Alzheimer's.  She became increasingly fearful of things that didn't seem to phase her before, and slowly, one by one, the things she loved and enjoyed most, started to become uninviting to her.  She still had enough good days mixed in for us to know that she remained happy, but in the last several weeks, things started changing.
It sounds a little silly, but this was the most gut-wrenching decision of my life.  It's not a decision I have ever been faced with before, but after discussions with those who knew Abbie best, I knew it was right.  It was time to give Abbie the peace she deserves.  In the few days leading up, every time I thought about it (which was a lot,) I felt like I was suffocating.  Needless to say, Abbie received a lot of extra attention.  So on August 16th, Abbie ate meals of hamburgers, pork, chicken, ice-cream, and some of her other favorite foods.  She left peacefully and so quickly with Dave and I embracing her.  As "emotional moments" in my life go, I would rank this right up there with getting married and the birth of my children.  Abbie was truly a part of our family. 
I'll be writing a tribute to Abbie very soon, but for now....my all time favorite picture of my girl.

South

My brother Nate and sister-in-law Tara have been living in Southern Utah since early spring.  They have been working sustainable living/farming and have so much knowledge on the subject.  We are excited to see what takes shape.  The area they live in complete with red rocks, the Virgin river, lush green trees, and desert sand.  It's a little of everything, and it's sandwiched between Bryce Canyon, Zion, and the Cedar Breaks.  We decided to spend some of our last free from work days hanging out with them and seeing a few of the gems that we know are scattered all over southern Utah.  We all camped one night, and stayed at their place the second night.  I will let the photos explain what we did.  On a side note, Sam's speech has been exploding.  While we were there, he was quickly calling Nate and "T" by their first names, calling their kitties, and repeating many words he heard.  It was adorable.  He loves his Nate and T.  Isaac also loved all the extra attention he got this weekend.  Nate and Tara helped us have a stress free camping experience because they did all the packing, cooking, setting up, taking down, cleaning, etc.  We just had to show up.  Thanks guys!!  With two small kids it makes me realize camping is possible if have four sets of hands to manage two little sets of hands and all their needs.  I will let the photos tell of our mini adventures packed into a long weekend.
Nate and Tara are going to be moving about 5 miles away to another farm next month in this great cabin they showed us, so I guess that means we will have to visit again next spring or summer :)

Nate spinning Sam on his pottery wheel.  This is how you make a baby.  :-)

Went on a hike through a wash and ended in this awesome narrow slot canyon.  Sam was sleeping in the carrier for most of it.

Isaac wanted to pose like tough guys....done and done.

More slot canyon hike...felt so nice and cool in there.

Hard to tell from this picture, but Isaac and Nate went up this wall to continue the slot canyon. 

what a good lookin' couple!  Nate and Tara at Cedar Breaks National Monument.

And...these pictures are out of order.  This was back to our slot canyon hike that was almost literally in their backyard.  You can't tell from this picture, but they had to walk up about 50 feet up this steep-ish red rock to sit down here.  I stayed at the bottom and zoomed way in :)

Wearing Nate's sun hat.

After being told by Uncle Nate and Aunt Tara NOT to touch the cactus, guess who couldn't resist?

This kid.  He wanted to take a nap in the trunk.  Hopefully I scared him out of ever wanting to enter another trunk again.  Ever.

There were multiple jam sessions, and Isaac's favorite part was always when mom finally said "Be Quiet!" in a very loud, but silly voice.  haha.

More Cedar Breaks photos...

Fishing at Navajo Lake

Isaac "helping" with the first catch of the day.

Tara, Isaac and Sam checkin out the lake's beach.

I mean really, who wouldn't want to pee right here.  Lush grass, puffy clouds, blue sky...why not?

And back to Cedar Breaks (we only went once, I just don't feel like trying to move these photos around.)

Nate teaching Isaac the art of reelin' it in.

Tryin' it out on his own.

Nate and Dave fishing.  Dave's first time trying fly fishing.

Dave and Sam at Navajo Lake.

A nice hike to the top of a ridge with sweeping, beautiful views!

More hiking...goofballs.

Too bad the lighting didn't work out on these photos...you could see sooooo far from the top of this ridge.  You could see Zion Canyon, which was pretty cool from this viewpoint.