Exteneded Family Blessings {Day 12-13: Oregon to Home}

Cousins Brendan, Peter, Lilly, Kati, MacKenzie, Jake; Joseph, Mike and Niko (all but Zac).

The route home, the final miles of our two week trek to and from Notre Dame, was dictated by the veterinary needs of our dog, Charlie, who had not one, but two tail surgeries due to injury and infection. Thanks to Charlie, our itinerary landed us in Tacoma on the evening of a family birthday celebration which enabled us to spend time with every single member of my whole immediate family (except Zac, of course).   Hot tubbing, bubble blowing, feasting and fellowship with a herd of cousins culminated with the anticipated candle-top cake and special song for Uncle Clark on his 45th birthday.  An impish teen 'five starred' his older brother in the midst of their father's birthday song, adding a 'touch' of violence to the festivities.  I guess there is something to be said for wearing a shirt at the table after all!  An indoor wrestling match after dessert helped work off a few calories and provided another opportunity for the cousins to bond.

Ouch!

As a special bonus, we were housed in University Place by our Godson, Sam, and his family, great (life-long) friends and exceptional hosts who spoiled us with fresh blackberry cobbler, eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast, plus REAL coffee made to order throughout our stay.  Sam stole the show, with his great joy and exuberance for life, while the older boys shared a wee bit of screen time between rounds of hide and seek and tag outdoors in the summer sun.  A short visit to Aileen's childhood home, now vacated but still furnished after the passing of her beloved parents, was a sentimental walk down memory lane, and great reminder of what an impact her family's faith life had (and still has) on me.  Visiting with Aileen's siblings, spouses, and their growing families also brought great joy (and a late night!) during our slightly spontaneous lay-over.

Rob and Aileen's boys: Ryan, Peter and Sam

Final stop: Silverdale, where our surgically altered black lab had been cared for in our absence by Tim's brother's veterinarilly skilled family.   Visitors for Sunday worship at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Bremerton, we delighted to hear the beauty of Gregorian Chant from the choir loft and the sound, thoughtful preaching by Father Lappe.  Uplifting, challenging, faithful teaching combined with a solemn, reverent Mass puts this fervent parish on our home-away-from home list and is a must-experience for anyone traveling on the Kitsap Peninsula; a true gem.  I eagerly await the upcoming Frassati Conference happening there in November.

Drugged and wearing the cone of shame, Charlie recovers from a second tail surgery.

Kettle Corn for Sunday breakfast's dessert and a pizza party for lunch, we thoroughly enjoyed our sleep-over with Craig and Bethany and family and the added company of Grandma Billie and Grandpa Cliff who journeyed across the Puget Sound after their booth closed at the Saturday Edmonds Market.  Hearing the details of Charlie's tail surgeries and the drama and trauma he provided in his drugged recuperation brought home the realities of 

• just how blessed we were to have been out of town during this stage of Charlie's care, and 
• just how blessed we were to have had Craig and Bethany's veterinary expertise in the family and their willingness to dog-sit such a tough customer for those intense weeks.

Feeding the donkeys and grilling marshmallows for s'mores highlighted the boys' visit with their younger cousins, but being allowed to drive the van (slowly) up and down the long rural driveway also got high marks.  Bountiful ripe blackberries on their property kept us busy picking and snacking as well.

Violet shows Joseph how to feed Buster and Boomer.

A several ferry wait in Kingston on Sunday afternoon inspired us to take the Narrows Bridge instead, adding miles but subtracting time on the final stretch home.  One stop along the way for a super-duper inflatable neck collar to help prevent Charlie's ceaseless licking of the surgical site, and we finally arrived at home safe and sound and mostly sane.

Sort of strange to pull up at the house and see Zac's car parked out front, as if he was home awaiting our return...

Dog Tales {Charle's Surgery}

We interrupt the previously scheduled packing and preparing for Zac's departure to the University of Notre Dame, and the concurrent family drive to (& from) Indiana...

Charlie can't stop wagging or licking his injured tail.

for emergency veterinary surgery to dock Charlie's severely infected tail.

Thank goodness for Uncle Craig and Aunt Bethany {Veterinarians}, who rearranged their office schedule to make way for Charlie's urgent surgery tomorrow morning.  They also agreed to keep Charlie under careful watch during our trip should his tail surgery require follow up treatments due to his fierce wagging habits and licking tendencies.  We are so fortunate to be able to travel knowing that Charlie is in such capable and loving hands.  The family taking care of our place and pets during our travels to Notre Dame will miss Charlie's antics (most of them anyway) but be relieved of the duty of following up with possible post-surgical complications. 

Rocky jumped into the traveling kennel in (false) anticipation of joining Charlie for the ride

.

The timing of Charlie's urgent heath complications leaves a bit to be desired, as our trusty van is in the shop getting a few needed pre-trip safety improvements (including front brakes) at the tune of about half a mortgage payment.  Without the van, Tim loaded Charlie, kennel and all, into his good old 4Runner for the 3+ hour trip to the vets'.  Lacking a functioning power window on the driver's side makes the transaction for ferry fare a bit awkward, but if it gets him from point A to the other point A, we're in business.

Zachary bids Charlie farewell a few days earlier than originally scheduled.

With Charlie in tow, Tim hits the road at dinner time and heads for his brother's house.

Parting is such sweet sorrow... and the sudden departure of Charlie brought home (again) the reality of a string of farewells taking place in our world about now. 

Change... 

It's in the air.

Tail Wagging Injury {Charlie the Labrador}

Joseph tends to Charlie's tail injury

Q: What to do when your lab wags his tail so hard that it bleeds?  And the furiously wagging, bleeding tip of the tail sprays everything and everyone with dog blood?

A:  Put him in the cone, wash the tail injury with soap and water and store him in his kennel for a few days while the injury heals.  Wipe blood off the walls, furniture, windows and family members.

Easier said than done, but done none the less..

Sharing Views {Independence Day 2012}

The stunning view at BSA Camp Parsons

The view at home

Charlie, Rocky and I are on retreat this week, while Zachary, Joseph, Peter and Tim enjoy BSA summer camp at Camp Parsons on the Olympic Peninsula.  Camp Parsons is known as a true gem in the Scout Camp world, and boasts of having the longest pier of any BSA camp.  My dad camped at Parsons in his Boy Scout years, and will be visiting the guys at camp this week.  Considering how much fun Scout camp with the guys can be, my role as dog sitter almost amounts to a sentence of house arrest.  But I am grateful for the chance to enjoy a bit of quiet time at home (between barks), and may even finish a whole book!

Headlines from summer camp:

• Troop perilously close to running out of candy (given away as fun awards).
• Joseph is suffering a very sore throat.
• Zachary got a good night's sleep.
• Peter is having the time of his life.
• Tim's tent is next to some nocturnally boisterous Scouts from Texas.
• The dining hall is packing campers in like sardines.

  
Headlines from home:

• Dogs ecstatic to see Bridget shift in chair, both jump up and start wagging tails hysterically.
• Charlie barks incessantly and furiously at every exploding firework on Independence Day.
• Pigeons get food and water daily.
• All household appliances (except coffee maker and refrigerator) take the week off.
• A new post up at Discerning Daily (which should probably be renamed Discerning Quarterly).

Looking forward to the boys' return from camp

Happy Independence Day!

Clean Dogs, Book Burning and Broken Skin {7 Quick Takes}

Ordinary dog washing doesn't have the thrills that dog-washing-while-dodging-water-balloons has.  Just ask Joseph, who somehow managed to wash both dogs and avoid being pelted by water balloons on a recent sunny afternoon. Neither Charlie nor Rocky found anything thrilling about being hosed down and shampooed when they had excitedly assumed someone was going to take them for a w-a-l-k when the sounds of the gathering of leashes and collars reached their ears. 

Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled that Joseph decided to bathe the beasts without even being asked.  However, the placement of the bathing operation (a few feet from the front door) did make me wonder if we are ready for dog washing 201.  Having deleted all the carpet on our main floor and stairs, the visible damage and dirt from dogs and boys has been severely reduced, mostly, sort of.

A 2+ hour webinar last week especially geared for home school students with entrepreneurial tendencies was a huge hit with Joseph and Peter.  But the real huge hit came at the closing infomercial where you can 'join' the program for only three easy installments.  The boys were ready to sign up, and granted, if the promises for potential income were to come true, the program would pay for itself several times over.  But let's just say we did not hit the 'buy it now' button.  The e-tips gleaned may bear fruit in some future money making scheme, or it may fade away like the great ideas of yesterday.

It's not every day you get to have a book burning at Church!  With the new translation of the Roman Missal, the proper way to dispose of the old books is burning, and I'll bet you can guess who jumped at the opportunity to head up this service project in the hours before our Easter Vigil began.  Before long, the fire ring was surrounded by males of all ages ready to pitch printed pages into the flames.

"Hi!" he said.
"Hi!" he repeated.
I think perhaps Luke heard a reply!

Another day at the office for Zachary at the Eagle Project carport site on Saturday, with a few adults and a brother to cut the 2x12's for the outriggers to hold up the fascia and install the 4x6 supports.  Once again the weather was amazing and although a hefty to-do list remains for the project to be complete, a little progress is better than no progress.

Zachary's shin took had a run-in with a slab of concrete at his Eagle Project during clean-up yesterday.  I'm pretty sure that lower puncture wound needed a stitch (or at least some glue), but my vote wasn't counted in the official balloting.  According to Zachary's version of the mishap, either he was leaping over a tall building in a single bound, or he was testing the strength of the concrete.
Tim's take sounded more like someone avoiding ten whole steps by taking a shortcut.  You decide!

Thanks, Jen, for hosting 7 Quick Takes!

Wondrous Love {Twins}

Leia 'helping' with the recycling.

 A three-days' visit by our former foster twins (known affectionately on our blog by the pseudonyms Luke and Leia) during this Octave of Easter brings great joy and multiple opportunities to be of service before the crack of dawn.  Lights of our lives, these two have become little chatterboxes, with many new words and silly antics.  In our wildest dreams we could never have guessed it possible that our relationship with these two would blossom and grow long after our role as their foster family officially ended.  God is so good!

A few noteworthy quotes from this visit:

• Him:
• "Eewwwwww!" during the changing of a poopy diaper
• "CAR! CAR! CAR!"  his same old passion, with better vocalization and an uncanny ability to find a CAR~whether a minuscule car in the background on a printed page or a full sized car speedy past our house
• "Sissy sissy" when talking about his sister
• "Daah daah" as he chases the dog to pet (grab) and love the beasts twice his size whose wagging tails pose a serious threat right at eye level
• "No no" as he pointed to my lap top left open (vulnerable) in the composition of this post!

• Her:
• "EAT! EAT! EAT!" replaces the old sign language (so continually signed by her in days gone by) and reaches feverish pitches before most others in the house are even out of bed; if "EAT EAT" doesn't do the trick, she'll bring me her high chair tray saying, "high chair, high chair!"
• "Rozwy" for her favorite items at our house: the colorful beaded rosaries she wears around her neck at all times (except when sleeping)
• "MWAH" with a big dramatic, cheesy kiss to smooth things over when she's been corrected
• "Side, side!" in begging feverishly to be let outside to play
• "Soseph" for Joseph

Luke and Leia's mom (a delightful friend and devoted parent) reports that their glee (his especially) begins right when they pull onto our street (a few blocks before arriving).  When their mom said goodbye to the twins Wednesday at departure (to visit far-away family) Luke laughed as she walked out the door, Leia cried. 

 

Luke's love affair with all things 'car' continues.

Pet Peeves {Lovable Labs}

Rocky and Charlie sunbathing on the back deck

You never know what might set these two off. Today a deer walking along the sidewalk across the street sent them into orbit. But it could have just as likely been a neighbor's cat or a squirrel in a nearby tree. When the tandem barking begins, so does our: "NO BARK!" while someone runs for the vinegar spray bottle, known as the "bad dog" remedy. Usually the barking stops long before we actually find the bottle, let alone use it.

Double barking is OBNOXIOUS, and having an extremely noise sensitive backyard neighbor with the local animal control authority on his quick dial means we stay on high alert for the least bit of barking. This particular neighbor is so sound sensitive, he once called to complain about our dogs barking when we were over 300 miles away, with the dogs!  (Needless to say, he was caught slightly off guard when we informed him that we were in another state; yet he insisted that perhaps someone had come onto our property with dogs that look and sound JUST LIKE ours.)

Loyal, playful, energetic, and slightly unpredictable, these pets make great companions and dependents for our boys.  Feeding, exercising, scooping and cleaning up after messes is part of the boys' daily routine.  Mostly Peter for Rocky and Joseph for Charlie, but with plenty of help from Ezra and Zachary, these dogs need constant attention and upkeep.  This time of year, the dog owning duties include daily grooming in a feeble attempt to keep the shedding volume down to a dull roar.  Near daily vacuuming to collect dog hair goes without saying.  

Having two veterinarians in the family helps with the upkeep and diagnosis of unpredictable ailments and life threatening situations:

• whole corn on the cob ingesting (suspected due to circumstantial evidence; discovered surgically & removed; can cause life threatening blockage if undetected)
• dental decay (and necessary removal of rotten teeth)
• irritable bowel syndrome (surgically diagnosed; requires prescription diet and special meds)
• happy tail (recurring blood blister on the tip of the tail, aggravated each time the wild tail wagging begins, and casting blood speckles everywhere)

All in all, these lovable labs are worth all the trouble, messes, and even the noise (and noise complaints). 
Really!