Meet Haddie

Today our journey has begun as a Volunteer Puppy Raiser for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). In the next 18 or less months, our newest four-legged friend will be living with us.

Our responsibility is to socialize the puppy to the big, wide world while teaching her basic commands. Upon her completion of being in our custody, she will be returned to CCI for Advanced Training. 

The goal for her is to be placed as an Assistance dog for a person with a specific disability that the dog has been trained to help, which will open the world to independence for the dog's Handler.

Teamwork. Dedication. Giving of our time and talent. We are ready for the journey. Please follow us on our All-Things-Haddie blog at Paws for Independence. Let the hard work and fun begin ... Yaaaaaa!!!

Portraits

While on vacation, we took advantage of my husband's photography skills and did a mini photo session early one morning. I like the end result of his talents ~ most of which are not shown on this blog. They are being saved for a later date.

The kids are growing so fast; our girl will be entering her second year of Middle School as a seventh grader, while my son is rounding out his last year in Elementary School as a head of the class 5th grader.

Capturing Milestones.

Don't miss tomorrow's post ... we are receiving a shipment from San Francisco and you won't want to miss the cuteness!!!

First Family Golf Game

Our kiddos have been taking golf lessons this summer, so it was perfect timing to try the Municipal Golf Course while on vacation at the Lake. They didn't keep score, and they played best ball. My husband and kids would tee-off, and which ever ball got the farthest, they would hit again from there. It was the perfect way to keep play moving, and not frustrate the kids. 

 We were pleasantly surprised that some of their balls went a fairly long distance from the Tee. It proved to be a good confidence booster for them both. Not keeping score helped with teamwork, and allowing them to pick and choose which holes to finish kept their interest and energy level. They played 9-holes.

We played in the evening and it was a gorgeous sunset against the hills. There were only a few golfers at surrounding holes, so we never felt rushed. We let the kiddos drive the golf carts a few times when we were away from the clubhouse. They were respectful - no damage - and they enjoyed the power of driving just as much as hitting their golf balls a fair distance.

I was really proud of their first golf game together. They did fantastic and we had a lot of laughter. What a fun night which ended at a Vineyard that served a Barbecue Dinner - very unique and very good!!

All things water

We would hit the free breakfast from the hotel about 8:30am every morning, and then went to the pool by 9:30. Some days we spent all day rotating from the water to the lounge chairs on deck. Reapplying sunscreen, chatting, sleeping, and playing games on our water toys proved to be a huge family hit.

We brought snacks to last the day, and one day used the barbecue provided to the hotel guests on the lawn. My hubby cue'd up Oysters, Clams, and Shrimp, and created a fantastic barbecue sandwich out of lunch meat for our Chicka who is not into Seafood.

The heat. The heat was lovely. Oh, we were in need of consistent sun and warmth after our very cool temperature summer. Our skin is now bronzed, our bones are now warmed up, and now we are ready for the school year. We'll remember the view from our room to carry us through the grey days of winter!

The Lake is glacier fed, and while it is freezing to enter - it warms up fast and is refreshing! My husband was the first to enter and swim to the buoys. My daughter was next. Our son tried - I give him credit. I ... well ... I could barely walk on the rocky lake surface to get very far into the water. Call it an excuse, or call it sensitive feet, but I deemed myself photographer rather quickly and stayed knee deep when I gladly landed on a patch of sand.

All things water - when the weather and view is so gorgeous - is a perfect vacation!

Vineyards

We arrived home last night from our last vacation of the summer. We motored across the mountains in much need of consistent sunshine. We were promised to bake in 95+ temps, and we did. It was fabulous!

Part of this area in our state is becoming known as Wine Country. There are a lot of little vineyards popping up throughout the tourist destination, as this lake is known for warmth and fun. The beauty of the landscape are the rolling hills of brown, scattered with green vineyards and apple orchards. It is gorgeous no matter if there are high fluffy clouds or clear blue skies. The heat is the attraction for us.

We stopped through the vineyards that also catered to dinner. The food always proved to be delicious, and each setting could not be beat. It was during our first dinner that our son decided that he could walk the vineyard. There were no signs posted that he couldn't, and nobody stopped him, so he enjoyed just a few nibbles.

Our vacation was simple. There will only be a few posts to follow ~ as every single day our agenda consisted of lounging in the hotel pool, or visiting the lake. We golfed. We ate. We rested. The perfect end of the summer vacation!!

She's Home!!!

The text messages were flying starting on Friday; my sweet friend was traveling home from Ethiopia with her little Princess, but she had missed the connecting flight out of Dubai to Los Angeles. That caught all of our breathes - now what. She was flying solo, providing the essential one on one bonding time with her newest daughter, while her husband cared for their additional daughters at home.

My friend had her hands full ~ not because of her little travel buddy (who proved to be an amazing sport), but because she had suitcases, and legal paperwork, and tickets, and baggage claims, and boarding passes, and security check points all to handle on her own.

But she made it.

The texts between family and friends keeping everyone in the loop made for a very exciting Saturday as we passed the time tracking her way towards our state. The last minutes, after being delayed by six hours, sped quickly as her flight got a tail wind and was pushed rapidly towards our city in record time. Everyone was jumping in their cars last minute trying to beat the plane to its early arrival.

I have only heard of Airport Welcome Home parties from fellow friends and bloggers. Having experienced it first hand now, I can honestly say that it is the best feel-good-moment since my kiddos were born. To see a family join together for the first time takes not only your breath away, but your speech too. It was beautiful.

I am purposefully not posting pictures of my friend and sweetheart as she has yet to reveal photos on her social-media-circuit, and she needs to be the first to do so. And .... I noticed that the airport clock is completely behind schedule by an hour. Bad idea for an Airport Clock to be off, don't ya' think?!

Ironically today we celebrated the Momma at her pre-planned Adoption Shower. Our awesome and energy-strong friend did not want to let jet-lag, a 24+ hour flight, and new mommyhood status get in the way of having a great party. She did not want to postpone - she felt that it was perfect God-timing to celebrate and she went for it.

The baby stayed home with one of her big sisters and her daddy - so it provided some good bonding moments for the rest of the family too, while my friend was being loved by her other daughter, sister, niece and nephew, her Aunts, and close friends at her shower.

And the sunshine came out full force this weekend to celebrate! Mid-80's both days proved to be so unique this summer, and not too many have AC in this area, so it was hot! But hardly any complained as it actually felt like summer!

And - I can't let this post go with out mentioning a sweet, heartwarming gift that my dear husband gave to our friends. This morning he woke early (again) and asked me, "Babe, is the video that (our son) shot last night at the airport still in the camera, or did you move it to the computer?"  After I gave the answer, he left. And I fell back asleep.

I came down later to find him working on a beautiful video that he was gifting to our friends of their Airport Homecoming, complete with photos he had taken of the celebration, with snippets of video that my son had taken, and synchronized to the music Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was just perfect.

A beautiful gift he had done on his own for our friends. It was very touching and I shared it at the shower before gifting it to our friend. Kleenex was passed around. Thank you, Hubby, for touching the heart of my friend and for creating a fantastic keepsake for their Little Princess. I love you!


She's Home!!! What a blessing ...

*My party weekend it over. Now it is time for some Family R & R. Winding down our summer before we start the school routine - I will return to posting next weekend. Have a wonderful week!