Welcome Chief

Not long after we had to put Chesney down, I got a call from Aunt Nancy. She asked if we would ever consider getting a Golden Retriever (which has been her breed of choice for decades). Though we've loved all of her goldens, we were pretty sure that our budget and hearts were leaning more towards rescuing another shelter dog. We also were a bit unsure of getting a young puppy since they require a lot more time and attention than we can usually give!

But, as only Aunt Nancy can do, within a month she had us sold on the idea of letting her find a good breeder, getting us the puppy, and spending the first several weeks training it. We were still a bit nervous about having a puppy, but decided it would be worth it. So, in the middle of March, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dave headed down to Bourbon Valley Farm and picked up our Chief. Chief spent many weeks learning so much from Aunt Nancy and his best buddies, Lucas and Bentley. Over the long Easter weekend, we ventured down to the lake to meet our new little love. And love him we did! He is the cutest and sweetest little guy. We are all smitten and he has been the perfect addition to our family. I don't think we all realized how much we've missed having a dog, and we are so lucky that our newest dog is just so perfect!

We also lucked out with absolutely gorgeous weather for our trip to the lake. We aren't used to being there in April, but it was wonderful to be able to be outside and near the water (even though it was FREEZING).

Chief did great on the long car ride home and pretty much slept the entire time. He has done a good job of getting used to his new surroundings, but definitely misses his family at the lake! 

Spring Break 2019

This year, we had one of the most memorable and enjoyable spring breaks yet! It started out with a nightmare of a drive and ended with seven days of gorgeous weather, lots of laughter, and plenty of relaxation.

We left for Florida at about 2am on Saturday morning. Within a half hour of starting our drive, we got our first-ever flat tire....what are the chances that it would happen then?!? It was nearly impossible to find any sort of help at that time of the day, so Tyler changed the tire and we rode on the spare for WAY longer than we should've and at a MUCH slower speed than we would've preferred. We did our best to problem solve what to do so that we could get a new tire and be on our way. The best solution was to find a small, local tire place in the middle of Effingham, IL that opened at 7am. The men there were saints and we were on our way by 8am. The only silver lining of the whole fiasco, was that cousin Meredith was joining us this year for the trip and had been under the impression that we were leaving on Sunday and not Saturday. Because we were delayed by quite a few hours, she ended up being able to meet us on Saturday morning around 9:30 instead of what she had thought would be Sunday morning at 6:00. We were so thankful that our disaster made it possible for her to still be able to come! Once we had our new tire and our additional passenger, we were on our way to the Sunshine State. Little did we know, however, that we would hit horrendous traffic throughout Alabama and our normal 14 hour trip took almost 20 when all was said and done. It was brutal and we definitely think God rewarded us for all of that mess by giving us the most wonderful week once we were finally there!

Our mornings were slow and easy. The kids loved getting to snuggle up with Meredith and watch TV. Once that was done and breakfast was eaten, they were often out in the courtyard having fun with all of the other kids staying at the complex. Endless games of baseball and kickball were played throughout the week and, as always, it's so fun to see so many different kids hanging out and having a blast. While the kids played, we could hang out sipping coffee and laughing until our bellies hurt as Meredith shared all sorts of fun stories about life as a kindergarten teacher or Tyler and Meredith reminisced about their childhood. 

As the sun rose and the temps warmed, we would make our way to the beach or pool where we spent hours upon hours relaxing (or, in some cases, sleeping)! The kids had quite a few familiar buddies there from previous years and it was so fun to watch them all play like they've been best friends for years.

Our evenings were spent around the dinner table sharing more stories and enjoying endless laughter. The group of beach buddies would bounce between some of the units and spent time having movie nights, playing games, enjoying night swims, and making lots of memories.

It might be hard to ever top this trip to Florida. Despite the horrible start, we had an absolutely amazing week together!  We can't wait to do it all again next year!