Poor Polo!

It's been a rough time for my pup, Polo. He spent the weekend in horrible pain and we tried to figure out what was wrong. He yelped and cried, and couldn't really walk. After an early morning visit to the vet, and several x-rays and tests, it looks like a herniated disk in his spine. The first mode of treatment is medication and rest. We are praying this works, because we are not ready to consider the alternatives!

 I spent hour after hour just laying with him, trying to comfort him and not let him do anything. This dog means the world to me.
We had a strict schedule of medications too.

 Zoe never wanted to leave his side either. She couldn't love our dogs more. She decided to bake them their own treats, and try to make Polo feel better and want to eat! So here are her peanut butter "pup"cakes. They LOVED them!

 When we were at work or school, he had to stay in his crate so as not to move around...

 He even received a get well card and gift in the mail. Thank you Mimi, Gramps, and Bobbie!

It's going to be a long month or so as he heals and recovers. It's amazing how much these sweet dogs are integrated into our lives and hearts.

FNL Spring 2015

Cooper decided to play Friday Night Lights flag football again after a year break. He's still finishing the regular basketball season, and getting ready for middle school tryouts, but he loves this league so it should be a fun few months.
He is on the Saints, and is so happy to be on a team with his neighborhood buddies!

 It's time to get back in gear with my camera...I was having trouble getting clear shots. Coop had a great game, playing several positions including QB and running back. He got several flags on defense too. We are looking forward to Friday nights back on the field and enjoying late pizza dinners with the families.

Sky...

We are so fortunate to have such great weather around here. With that, we get some beautiful sunrises, sunsets, and gorgeous clouds...

I love seeing God's work in this stunning sky!

Valentine's...

We had such a relaxing day! This long weekend is so nice...the weather is warm and we aren't crazy busy so we are truly enjoying it!
Kids got treats and we had a good breakfast, although Coop joined us later since he had been at a sleepover...

 Zoe and I made raspberry macarons...both round and heart shaped...

We cut a bunch of roses from my garden and Joe got me a couple more bushes...

These awesome neighborhood boys spent the day playing in the pool. They blasted their music, swam and played...

We had an early dinner since Cooper had a 6pm game. He played the whole game, but they came up short and lost their last regular season game. Playoffs start in 2 weeks. We were all excited to head home though, time for chocolate fondue!

 I'm so thankful for this time with my family. I do tell them I love them each and every day (actually many times each day!) but it's still fun to celebrate a holiday all about love and just take one more moment to enjoy together!

Ouch!

Zoe had a little accident with her blinds, and they came crashing down on her. The metal bracket ended up cutting the top of her arm. It wasn't a big cut, but it was pretty wide and I didn't want her to have a big thick scar, so we headed to urgent care.

 They glued and taped it closed.

As the night went on it bruised and swelled quite a bit, but hopefully after a week or so of keeping it dry, it should  heal closed. :)

Day 6...Coming home...

We were sad to be leaving paradise this morning. We checked out our view one more time...

 and waited for our shuttle in front of the hotel...

We made it through customs, boarded the plane for our flight home, and said goodbye to this wonderful place.

 We made a mad dash through the Atlanta airport to pick up lunch before boarding our next flight. We were so lucky that none of our flights were delayed. The rest of the country was being bombarded with blizzard conditions and thousands of flights were cancelled on both of our travel days.

We made it home safe and sound. The dogs were happy to have us home! Zippy wore himself out chasing us around the house. He was one content dog to jump in our bed...

We are so thankful to have had this time. It was a blessing that we weren't able to use our phones. The kids (and Joe and I!) not only survived, but thrived, not having that constant distraction. I loved having uninterrupted time to play, talk and eat together. It was fun to watch Zoe and Cooper laugh, enjoy each other, and just be kids!