CAMPING

John's been dying to take us camping this summer.
I'm not a real big fan of camping...unless it includes a hotel and room service :)

but I know the kids and John love it so I asked John if we couldn't compromise a bit.

I'd go camping if we could stay in something a little more comfortable than a tent.

He found a GREAT deal on a camper to rent...the owner lives close to us even!

we headed up to the mountains this past Friday (9/16).

It was supposed to be 100 at home -but it was a gorgeous 75 up in the woods!

we found a great campsite at a campground really close to the lake

we decided to take a little drive Friday afternoon, and as we were heading out of the campground we saw 2 elk -the baby is above, the mama below.

these were smart elk -they were hanging around the campground during hunting season -there's no hunting within a few miles of the campground. :)

a few pics of the scenic view a few minutes from our campsite

this camper perfectly suited us -the kids had their own "bedroom" ~2 sets of bunks!

Saturday AM we were up bright and early and heading out for a fishin' expedition!

the lake was so beautiful!

picking out our fishing spot

Biruk was a natural at casting. He picked up on it immediately.

His trouble was sitting still and letting the line sit for a bit.
He wanted to caste, sit for a minute and then reel it in if he hadn't caught anything.

patience isn't his strong suit. :)

I think by the end of the 3 hours he was casting and sitting for about 5 minutes.

Becca trying her hand at fishing


for the record -we caught nothing.

there were fishermen all around us catching -but just not us. :)

I think it had something to do with the fact the other fishermen were able to caste their lines far into the lake,
and ours were,
well,

only about 3-4 feet away from us. :)

the kids still had a blast AND I had planned a back-up dinner just in case we got skunked in fishing!

after lunch John got the pellet gun out and everyone took their shots at the target

oh my heck! isn't this the funniest picture?!
we took another little drive Saturday afternoon to a trailhead for a hike.

I looked out my window and saw Becca's face in the double mirror and just HAD to grab the camera

headed out on our hike

in just minutes we were hiking down into this meadow of ferns -beautiful

the obligatory kid pics

what goofies!

I can't even begin to tell you how many times Andrew found a stick and made it into some type of weapon!

short legs get tired easily!

the girls and their daddy

30 seconds into the drive back to camp, Elizabeth was asleep!
hikes tucker little ones out!

playing "war" before daddy gets the campfire going

getting ready for s'mores!

s'mores!

I think we all had a good time!
It was so nice to just get away for a few days and be in the cooler weather and fresh air!

FIRST LOST TOOTH!

her tooth has been wiggly for quite some time ~we just hadn't checked it in awhile.
Last Thursday night (9/15) I checked it and was amazed it was still in her mouth!
Friday AM she said I could try to pull it for her....the only trouble I had was getting a grip on it cuz it was SO tiny!! The tiniest tooth ever!

She was pretty excited she's lost her first tooth.
Becca still hasn't lost any. :) We were afraid Becca would be upset ~but she has been surprisingly supportive of Elizabeth. :)

WE MISS YOU LUCY-DOG

On Saturday September 3rd we put our sweet Lucy dog down.

We adopted her from a lab rescue on August 1, 2005.

We had 6 amazing years with our sweet girl.

But her life was cut short due to cancer.

Exactly 7 weeks prior, we finally received a diagnosis to what was making her sick for the previous 6 or so months....aggressive cancer.

It had shut down 1 kidney and was covering a good portion of her bladder.

At the time of diagnosis, the vet said we had 4 weeks left with her...maybe we could eek out 8.

God graciously gave us 7.

Even up to her last day, she was still a people pleaser. She was so sick, but would force herself to get up and move to whatever room we were in. She just wanted to be near us.

Here are some pics of our precious girl from the last 6 years.

Andrew wasn't even 2 and Becca only 4.5 months old when we adopted Lucy.
She was SO good and gentle with them.

one of my all-time favorites.
Lucy had to always be near us, regardless of where we were.


She wasn't fond of water (crazy for a lab..but she was a mix so we joke it must have been whatever she was mixed with that ruined the lab-love-of-water trait. :) )...and she wasn't too fond of frozen water either!

being that she didn't love water, taking her boating was actually quite easy -we knew she wouldn't jump in and swim away!

if there was ANYTHING soft on the floor -she would find it and get comfy!

Over the last year we softened and allowed Lucy to sleep on our bed when we weren't in it....Becca often covered her up with blankies so she wouldn't be cold. :)

this is just SO Lucy.

it's Christmas morning 2010 -craziness abounds, but she's smack in the middle playing with her favorite toy ever....a doll head John popped off one of the girls' dolls long ago. :)

yes, seriously, her fav. toy was a doll head!

see -here she is with the doll head again!

Memorial Day Weekend 2010 -running around in the park with us

as she got more and more comfortable laying our bed, she invited herself to lay on our pillows too!

one of her favorite toys at my parents' house was a stuffed hedgehog. Their dog would just play with it -Lucy would rip it open and tear the stuffing out. :)

Right after her diagnosis of "end stage aggressive cancer", John bought her her own hedge hog.

24 hours later her hedgehog had been "gutted". :)

the last pic we have of our Lucy and the kids


You were the best dog ever Lucy.
We miss you terribly.
We walk into our room and still expect to see you on the bed...or hear your tail thumping just cuz you're happy someone is near you.
I chop up apples or bananas and keep making an extra slice to give to you ~but you're not at my feet.
We're having to sweep under the table now ~no Lucy dog to clean up after us.
We put ice in our cups and get an extra cube, ready to hand it to you ~but you're not there.

We have a Lucy-dog sized hole in our home right now.
We knew you needed to go ~we couldn't stand seeing you suffer....but we hate not having you here with us anymore.

We love you Lucy, Luce, pup-pup, puppy stink stink,
sweet Lucy-dog.