The Beautiful Zoe

My friend had her baby shower for her beautiful baby girl. She got tons of great gifts. I am so happy for her.

She had discussed naming her daughter another name besides Zoe and so I used the name for my dog because I loved it. Well, she changed her mind and now the baby's name is Zoe as well. I hate now that my dog has the same name. I hope she doesn't really mind.

Here is a picture of the sweet girl.

I have also included a picture of Delaney with the Hostess' dtr. She was adopted from Vietnam.

Family

Paul's sister was in town so we went out to eat with her and his other sister that lives in town. It was great seeing them again. Paul actually saw his sister in St. Louis last week when he was there for a seminar.

Zoe Girl

Zoe is such a great little dog. She is so loving and loves to cuddle. Her little bark is so cute although she is starting to get demanding when she doesn't get her way.

She has an awesome personality. The whole family has fallen in love with her.

Tying Knots

The Cub Scouts learned to tie some knots. I think they learned a couple but they enjoyed just being together. Joshua was our photographer that night as well.

Bowling Pros!

The kids have been playing a lot with the Wii that they received for Christmas. What a great concept for a video game. It is different in that you have to be standing and moving to play the games. We have all worked up a sweat playing some of the games.

We love to play the Sports as a family. Joshua thinks he is a bowling pro since he can get a Turkey (3 strikes in a row). He decided that he wanted to go do some real bowling since he was so good. He learned that doing the real sport is not quite as easy. We had a blast. Paul was out of town so he missed out.

I have also included a typical Delaney video. She is such a camera hog-- NOT!

Party Fun!

The kids went back to school on Jan. 3rd. They weren't quite ready but what are you going to do??

Joshua had a party to go to on the 5th. His friend is now 9 and Joshua will be soon following him. It is so hard to believe that he is almost 9. Next year and he is in the double digits. Where did the time go?

Zoe Gottes

I know one shouldn't teach their children that the best way to deal with the death of a pet is to just go out and get another one, but that is what I did.

I remember as a child that if a pet died then you just got another one.

I told the kids that I am still missing Abby and they definitely saw and heard me grieving last night.

I started looking at puppies last Friday when I had given up hope on finding Abby. My plan was to wait at least a month to make sure that she was indeed lost and never coming home.

After last nights tragedy, I decided to go ahead and pursue one of the puppies that I had looked at on Friday.

We went to look at the puppies today and found our darling Zoe (I am sorry about the name Rhonda-- I really like it though).

She was born on October 12th so she is only 10 weeks old. She is so sweet. She has been laying on my chest all night long. She is really helping to soothe my hurting heart.

Christmas Pictures

We did have a great Christmas. The kids got everything that they wanted. They felt it was a great Christmas. Yes, they are a bit spoiled.

Paul and I didn't really get anything for each other. I had recently bought Abby so she was my Christmas present and Paul bought a Jeep so that was his Christmas present. It is so nice to feel content and have a want for nothing. We really are happy at this point in our lives.

We celebrated Christmas at my dad and mom's house with my brother and his family. We had a good time.

The day after, we celebrated at Paul's mom house with Paul's sister. The kids then stayed there for a couple of nights since Paul and I both had to work Thursday.

I definitely am needing to get back to the gym after all the wonderful food and treats.

Rest In Peace My Baby

It has been a terrible week for us in the dog dept. As you have read before, we recently adopted our dog Abby.

She was a puppy mill mommy and was not use to human touch. We adopted her from the Humane Society in hopes of not only allowing me to have another dog but to give her a better life as well.

We were making progress when the ice storm hit. She and Sam were placed in a vet clinic for several days in order to stay warm.

Once we got power we brought them back home. We again were starting to make progress.

Last Thursday, Abby escaped our back yard and was missing for two days. We looked all over and were unable to find her. I had pretty much given up hope but still hoped my Missing Pet posters would help.

I was very upset Friday night because I was missing her and because 16 years earlier, I was losing my beloved Bud (a Cat) due to his being poisoned.

At 7 am, on Saturday, my birthday, we heard the door bell ring and Abby was returned home. I was so excited. What a great birthday present!

On Sunday while we were out getting groceries, we received a call from our neighbors that they had Abby and that she had escaped again. We had really felt that we had patched all the damaged areas on the fence that would have allowed her to get out. Paul found an area that was messed up at the bottom and he saw that Abby's hair was on the fence at that point. He placed a rock in front of that area to prevent any further escapes.

I worked 7-7p on Monday night (New Year's Eve). When I came home, Paul said that Abby wouldn't come to him so she had not been fed. This was not unusual as she was still very timid around others.

I searched in her usual places and decided that maybe she had escaped once again. I finally saw something white over by the fence. Tragically, Abby had been trying to go under the fence and became strangulated when her collar caught on the fence.

New Year's Eve was not what I had wanted it to be. After intense grieving for an hour or so, I sucked it up and played games with the kids and celebrated the end of 2007.

I feel so bad, Abby deserved to have a happy life. I tried to teach her love and loved her for the short period that she was here with us. To her, it seems freedom was more inticing than anything else. I will miss her. She was a great dog, I just wish someone had given her love from early on.