just around the farm

This is the "picture" that we get every morning...in her pj's or not.. one little gal that can't wait to get outside. Certainly the weather is nice, and she loves to be "out"... but there is something that is just calling her name....












"WEEEEE" as she calls it. Miss Abbie has a new swing, and if she could.. she would be in it for hours!!!! Ed and I set out to find her a swingset.. I had no idea how expensive some of them are.. and began to get disappointed. Then we found this little swing that can be added to a swingset, and Ed said "why don't we get just the swing and hang it on the front porch". Great idea. So that is what we did. And I have to say, Abbie is just so happy with that swing.. she doesn't need a whole set (well.. not yet anyways) and is just as happy with the simple version... (sort of makes you think - what's wrong with the "simple" things in life!!!!) Any ways, most every morning, we first have to do some "weeee" time.. even before breakfast...

Dean and Ben arrived this week to get the horses feet done....everyone is in good shape and it's nice to see nice, neat feet once again...

I still can't get over the size of Duke's feet!!!!

and here's the other "old guy".. can't wait to see Abbie on this little pony.

Abbie absolutely loves to be at the barn...

chasing the "bucka, bucka's" around.....

"hey....does this belong here, do you need me to pick this up??"






Maybe... just maybe, spring has finally found us!!!

Easter blessings..

Easter was this past Sunday, late this year. We had a wonderful Easter Day and I am reminded yet again, at how blessed I am. This is the most important holiday... when Jesus Christ, after having died for our sins, rose again and because of that, we can be forgiven and make it right with our Lord. I hope that all have the forgiveness that God has offered us.














Because this is such an "important" holiday, we do not put much stock into the Easter Bunny. Never have with our family... but we do have spring baskets filled with surprises. Course, Abbie doesn't have a clue yet, as to what this is all about.. but she certainly couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the goodies waiting for her on the table.








And once in awhile.....














It's OK to begin your day with candy......










After church, we went down to my parent's house for a family get together. Abbie and Naomi shared a little egg hunt....

Abbie is used to looking for eggs... she does it almost every morning at the barn....

We had a wonderful meal all together....

and enjoyed a day that was almost like spring..

Easter Blessings to one and all....

remembering Logan

Well, this isn't exactly the weather we were planning on last Saturday morning!! I think we must live in a little snow belt or something, because everyone else got rain, and we ended up with two inches of new snow. Good thing, though, it didn't last but a few hours, and spring came back once again.

But in a way, the dreary weather felt "fitting".. because several friends got together to remember a wonderful service dog.. Logan. Suzan was Logan's partner and on March 28th, it was her decision to let her beautiful dog "go" after months of battling with cancer.

Suzan wanted to do "something" to honor her beautiful girl, and to say thank you to all her friends that have supported and encouraged her thru these past few weeks. A dog training center (where Suzan and Logan spent many hours together) donated the space...and we all came together. It was really a celebration with lots of talking about Logan, service dogs, and dogs in general.






Friends brought food (did you notice the cake at the beginning)... and shared stories and met up again. I met up with several "dog friends" that I haven't seen in a long while and it was fun to catch up with them. Plus I got to talk a lot about Chester and show off Ginger...

Suzan was very brave and held it together better than many of us....

We had a "doggie" honor guard....














And Chaplin Nina did a "Blessing of the animals" for all the doggies who attended...

Rick and Mindy

Camille, Ginger and I during the blessing (look at how serious they are... I think they knew)














Logan's working vest and ashes will always be carefully preserved... and Suzan's favorite motto will forever be in my heart...

"don't cry because it's over.. smile because it happened"..

see you one day again, Miss Logan and keep you angel guidance on all our canine friends....

52 and counting....

April 19th... a very special date with this family..... a celebration, that was "worthy" of a turkey and all the fixin's... and Abbie even sported her "turkey eating shirt".....

the occasion???









Our Mom and Dads' 52nd wedding anniversary!!! It was so much fun to have the whole family come to the farm and celebrate with them. Kas even made a cake just for them.....










And it's rare treat (in these days of busy-ness) that we can pull everyone together!!! But we did.....12 in all, and my dinning room table, even with an additional leaf, still squished us all together.









The day was full of good conversation, good food... and celebration.





visits out to the barn....













Cousins... having fun playing in a mud puddle!!!!

And the absolutely joy of having our parents with us. We are so blessed, because we know how "rare' wedding anniversaries such as theirs are now a days!!!!!






Our parent's have been a shining example of what a marriage is all about, how to raise a family and love the Lord, and embrace life thru the good and sometimes, not so good.......

Now... you know (if you have been around me long enough) everything ends up on the blog...

so, when Becky, Ed and Kelsey went to leave, Bec just pulled her little car around to go out the drive.....

and stuck it in the soft grass....





We are a family that believes in doing things well... and yes, she "stuck it well".... the guys tried the pushing thing, the pulling thing, and just about gave up and went for the tractor....

but our gator managed to give it the extra nudge she needed....

and they got her back on the drive and headed in the right direction.... Kelsey said she was happy not to be the one driving at the time!!!!

So, a wonderful, wonderful day, that ended with a bit of extra "excitement"... and a chance to say VERY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD --- and we are expecting many more!!!!!!

steps for Steph

Saturday morning, bright and early.. found us in the middle of a huge and wonderful crowd. It was the annual MS walk in Portsmouth. Kas knows a marine's wife who is dealing with this disease, and in honor of "Steph" several teams from different areas were (are) walking in her name. So, Kas put together a "steps for Steph" team and we walked in our area. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but certainly this "crowd" was impressive.. and I learned later that 485 people took this walk.











The route was five miles, all were welcomed.. kids, strollers, wagons... and dogs!!! so, nothing doing, I brought Camille and Ginger along, Kas and Nate had Charlie and Banjo, and Sadie came with Tatter... quite a dog crew to be sure. The kids loved seeing the dogs, and them likewise. I had Ginger wear her vest, because who knows.... one day she could be matched with some who has MS... you never know.










Here is the team!!! We were walking for Steph, but we were walking for anyone and everyone who battles with MS. The day had been predicated as "rainy and cold", but we lucked out (though the Washington DC walk did not fare so well.. and that team did walk in the rain!!!)
















And here we go!!! For the most part the team stuck together, even though there were fast walkers and slower walkers... the route that was planned was great. Walking thru Portsmouth gave us much to see, and for Ginger lots of exposure to all sorts of things. I worried a little about Camille doing the whole walk, but she hiked right along, as did Charlie and Tatter. The bigger dogs were fine.

Ginger found this stick and carried it for quite a ways......

But, at the end of the route, there was no doubt, she was tired - we all were tired!!! However, a beautiful spring day, a pretty city to walk.. and over 1700.00 earned just by our team... made it all worth while.

Cheers to Steph - though I have never met her - and best wishes and good thoughts to all for whom this day was done.

puppy training night

This blog is bittersweet, because although we had a wonderful night of "service puppy training" (our monthly get together), tonite we honored a very special dog. Logan - who was partnered with Suzan. If you recall, dear reader, Logan has been in a number of my blogs, she was a stellar service dog, and great around the puppies. Suzan has been a huge mentor to me with regards to "training" service puppies, and I always appreciate and look forward to her advise.








You might have already noticed that the wording here is in "past tense"... because on March 28.. Suzan had to say goodbye to Logan. We have actually known for sometime - Logan had been battling cancer. Suzan decided to try some treatments for her, and had said that she would know, based on Logan, when and what the next step would be. Logan did "quite" well with her battle, but time takes it toll.

















I have said "goodbye" to many a "pet dog".. some were harder than others. But I can't even begin to think of what it is to say goodbye to a dog - partner - who has been so much a part of your life. Not just your companion, your love, but a real being that you depend on for so many things. It's a different type of loss to be sure. Mike, who was partnered with Chester, told me that when he lost his dog, he said he would never have another, and it took him months to "recover".... happily, he did decide to get another dog... but I am sure that it will be a little while for Chester and Mike to fully come together.

















All in all, Suzan has done "well" with all of this. And because she and Logan have touched so many lives in all sorts of ways, she has been well embraced by many, many friends. On April 23rd, there will even be a memorial service for Logan.. which we will be attending.










We (the Maine Chapter) wanted to do something special for Suzan, so I had the idea of getting some pink balloons. We could use them as "distractors" for the puppies, and then - when the "class" was over, we would release them in honor of Logan.













I asked Sadie and Abbie to come along as well... some of the puppies don't have the opportunity to be around babies or strollers that often, so along with the balloons, we had Abbie as well. She was so surprised and happy to have all those balloons in the truck with her, and had a grand time, even before we got to the puppies...



Ginger, on the other hand, was a bit uncertain at first. However, as we drove along, she settled in and decided that other than she had little room to move around, the balloons weren't so bad to deal with.

As the group arrived, we placed the balloons here and there around the room. The puppies didn't even notice them, but Abbie sure did. And having her playing around with them, was certainly a great "distraction".....

Our "leader" Linda, has a new golden puppy (which is her's not a NEADS dog) and she brought Chloe to meet everyone. Nothing cuter than a puppy and everyone fell in love.....

Suzan took Ginger and did some work with her. Being able to have "our" puppies around things like scooters, wheelchairs and the like certainly gives them a big jump on their future training. Abbie was quite interested in Suzan, especially when she found the keys on the scooter!!!!Every time Suzan stopped, Abbie ran over to check out those keys.






Such a great group of folks. Our "service dog community night" is growing and we are adding more and more folks each month.

(notice Abbie!!!!)






We finished up just about sunset, and so we stepped outside. Made a little toast to Logan and released our pink balloons.....it was very emotional....

Abbie couldn't believe we let all those balloons go!!!!! She watched them for the longest time.. and was very happy to know that we did keep one just for her.










And after all that training.......