TWO BLACK LABS

As some of you already know we are keeping Elvis, (Sadie's pal that is another black lab). I want to get some cute pictures of Elvis and Sadie playing togehter but everytime I get the camera out they quit doing whatever they may have been doing that was so cute. Anyway, they seem to be getting along great and draining the energy out of each other. As I type this it is only 7:00 and they are laying on opposite sides of the living room sleeping.


Sadie normally "sleeps in". She does not always pop out of the bed when I get up in the mornings to start getting ready for work, but this week she and Elvis both get up and they are ready to play.


It is really funny, becuase if you are not looking at them really close or look at their collar you will so easily call them by the wrong name.

Pictures of the party "stuff"

Front of Sadie's Invitation

Inside of Invitations

Picture frame each pup got to take home

Homemade Dog treats each dog got to take home

Treat Bag the non-canine's took home

Slideshow from Sadie's Birthday Party

Slideshow of pictures - if they are not showing up click on the "x" in the top right hand corner

"Catch & Release"

As I was writing my last post about the book I just read " Same Kind of Different As Me"....I continued typing in that post but decided to make it a separate post......so I cut it out of the inital post and started this one.....this book was NOT on grieving the loss of a child but there was a pharse in the book that made me think about friendships in my own life and the way things change when life changes.....Maybe there is someone out there reading this that needs to know you are not walking the journey of grief alone.....sometimes there are people around you that you do not even know are wearing the same shoes and walking right beside you traveling the same road as you are.

One of the things Denver said in the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" really made me think.....he told Ron how he had heard some people "Catch & Release" when they fish......and he told him that if that was the kind of friendship he wanted that he did not want to be friends with him. That if he said he was his friend, he was his friend forever! How often do we "Catch & Release" our friends. I know that through all that we have been through in the past 2 1/2 (+) years so many of the dynamics of friendships have changed. There are several friendships that have not changed though..except for the fact our friendship has grown stronger....I realize those are not "Catch & Release" Friendships. We have also made new friends along this journey......people that would have probably never been placed in our lives had it not been for Kate's death..so I consider those friendships that God intended for us to have....and thank God for those friendships....the friends that have been where I am and understand this pain in my heart...and feel as though they will be life long friendships...and I pray those friendships continue to grow stronger and stronger as time goes by......God knows what we need...... Last night at the Early Angels Dessert I was just listening as some of the ladies shared the struggles they have faced through their loss/losses. One was talking about how the dynamics of friendships had changed....how they had gotten to the point of having to go out and make new friends.....I can so empathize with those ladies....knowing that at a time in life when you can barley even remember to get out of bed (and at times if someone did not make you, you would stay there forever) others are wondering why you are not doing what they want you to do.......why you are not giving 100% of yourself.....it is impossible when you are experiencing the grief that someone experiences after the loss of a child. I can tell you that the sadness one feels will never totally go away, and you may wonder how I can say that only being a little over 2 1/2 years down the road.....I am still sad Kate is not here and as I talk with others that are further down the road they will tell you that it never goes completely away.....those of us who have lost a child will forever be wearing the shoes of someone who has a baby or babies in heaven.
There are several scriptures that have become dear to me through my journey of grief.....scriptures that I still cling to and always will.....one of those scriptures would be

Jeremiah 29: 11-13.

(11)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (12)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (13)You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. (14)I will be found by you," declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity.

So often I think we read verse 11 & 12 For I know the plans I have for you......and then anytime we have trials in our lives we pray for God's help.....
but what about verse 13...."You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart"......WOW.......how often we seek God during the bad times but when times turn back around and are good are we still seeking him.....my prayer is to seek him everyday...and verse 14 says I will be found by you...When we seek God with ALL of our hearts HE is going to help us in whatever way HE has planned...one thing we always have to remember, which is not an easy thing is HE has the blueprint of our life in front of Him, we do not..we just have to have faith and trust in God that it is all part of His plan.......the lyrics to a song written by Zach Neese that we sing at church go like this.....

The more I seek You
The more I find You
The more I find You
The more I love You
I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lay back against You and breathe
Feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep
It’s more than I can stand
I melt in Your peace
It’s overwhelming

Lord, please let me seek you with all of my heart both in the good times and the bad time, when we are happy and when we are sad, when we are sick and when we are healthy, when we don't know what tomorrow holds and what we will do tomorrow and when we can't wait for tommorrow to arrive. Lord I pray that everyday I seek you with everything within me. In Jesus Name I Pray, Amen.

EA SOCIAL KICKOFF

As some of you reading this know I am very involved with the EA at our church. For those of you wondering right now, what is the EA it is a group of women who have lost children due to miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death. Through this ministry I have a made several lifelong friendships and hope to make more as I meet these ladies that join this ministry. I have said several times that this is one of the most special ministries to be a part of because God has chosen us to be a part of this group, it is not just a group you sign up for to help out, you are here because you have had a loss...there is a poem that compares this to a pair of shoes...and the poem talks about not liking the shoes I am wearing and I think I can say that the ladies in this group do not like the shoes we are wearing but that is what we have been given and that is the shoes we wear everyday...a lot of people do not want to talk about our shoes but this group of ladies will listen at any given moment.... I was matched with a wonderful person in October 2005 after we lost Kate. She opened the EA door to me...I often introduce my friend as my "angel friend" when I am introducing her because she was and still is an angel to me. Then, in December two other wonderful ladies did the "12Days of Christmas" for me. One of these ladies "J" and I had a telephone conversation and then met in January 2006 at church one morning....and hit it off immediatley...and I did not meet the other lady "D" until many months later and last year we had the opportunity to get to know each other much better...and I am so glad that God has placed her in my life as well. All three of these ladies were angels to me during our loss and still are..I treasure each of their friendships..and to think we would have never met had it not been for our losses...friendships God has chosen for each of us....even though they did not know me when we first lost Kate, because we all go to church together they knew about the loss....and they knew the pain and grief that we were experiencing. I could go on and on about what a great ministry I believe the EA is, but I will save that for another time... It is amazing sitting down with these women and knowing they are not thinking anything that you might say sounds "crazy".....so, back to the title...we decided to start having a social every other month for this group of women.....a girls night out....so last night we all met at a Paint Your Own Pottery Studio down on the square and had a wonderful time painting our pottery, just chatting and having a little celabration for all the babies that had a birthday in January, February or March. I am very curious to see what my coffee cup that I made turns out like....I love to scrapbook and stamp but have never said that I could paint....I MIGHT post a picture of the finished product when I get to pick it up next week...just according to how it looks! Here are a few pictures from our EA Girls Night Out last night.

"MY ANGEL FRIEND"


"WORKING ON OUR PROJECTS"


"FINISHING UP OUR PROJECTS"


"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL THE LITTLE ANGELS"

CHEESECAKE/VALENTINE SOCIAL

Well, our BFG (Bible Fellowship Group) that is what we call our Sunday School Class.....had a cheesecake competition this past weekend. Our teacher gave us his Cheesecake Recipe that we could use if we chose to and then alter it.....so I used his recipe along with a recipe I found on the internet and I made a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.....and GUESS WHO WON FIRST PLACE....yes, I did, can you believe it? I was just praying that it was cooked in the middle!!! So here is a picture of my cheesecake. (I can't take credit for the picture of my cheesecake....the picture was taken by Dave P.)

The D's Meet Sadie

This was a progressive challenge that I did for the online crop. The pictures were taken in the Fall of 2006 after we got little Sadie. This family was one of Sadie's first visitors.