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"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Gordon B. Hinckley
Monday, June 10, 2013
Boys' New Best Friend
I have become pretty attached even though she woke me at 4:30 this morning.
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Sunday, June 9, 2013
Sophie's Trial Period
We may have found a new dog. Her name is Sophie. She's mostly Lab but may have Boxer too. She's close to 70 pounds and only a year-old so she's very energetic. The kids adore her but I'm nervous about all the work a puppy brings. The owner had a stroke and can't take good care of her. But they want to make sure our family really likes the dog so they offered to give her to us for a few days to see if we are a good match. We definitely haven't been in this puppy stage in over 10 years. So it's a little crazy. She's no Buzz but there will never be one just like him.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, June 8, 2013
New Fish
We are trying to ease the pain of losing Buzz with a fish. Didn't work well for us last time when we were trying to get over Kramer. But it was the only pet Mario would agree to earlier today.
Mario called the landlord this evening and got permission for us to get another dog. I think my crying every time I think about Buzz probably got to him. I'm not the only one with tears. In fact, I think only Erin is able to hold them back. But she never cries. Mario wants a lab and I want a small white lap dog. I have a feeling Mario will win this one since small dogs are yappy.
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Mario called the landlord this evening and got permission for us to get another dog. I think my crying every time I think about Buzz probably got to him. I'm not the only one with tears. In fact, I think only Erin is able to hold them back. But she never cries. Mario wants a lab and I want a small white lap dog. I have a feeling Mario will win this one since small dogs are yappy.
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Friday, June 7, 2013
Remembering Buzz
The boys asked if we would have a funeral for Buzz. Mario told them that we could have a memorial service since we weren't getting the body back (no I'm not paying $140 for ashes). I don't know how the six of us will make it through, but we'll try. I've been reflecting on happy memories of our dog that we've had for almost 13 years. I figured if they can make a whole movie (Marley and Me) about their beloved dog, I can at least write a REALLY long blog entry about our Buzz.
When we moved to Guam in the year 2000, we had to give away our cat, Kramer, because we weren't willing to pay the $1400 quarantine fee. The kids were sad and so we got them fish as soon as we moved into our new home. But within a couple months, we knew that fish weren't really the same as a dog or cat. So, I persuaded Mario to go to the local animal shelter (on the way to the mall) just to look. We saw Buzz and immediately I fell in love with him. He was just a puppy and so darn cute. So we asked the workers if we could take him for a walk. I begged Mario to let us adopt him and he resisted. I told the workers we were on our way to the mall and we'd think about it. We put Buzz back in his cage and when we walked away, Buzz started barking for us to come back. It broke my heart. Somehow, while at the mall, I convinced Mario to go back and get Buzz. When we went back the worker told us another family had come to adopt him but the workers lied and told the family that he was already taken. So we were able to take him home. The worker also gave us the name of the family that just dropped him off that day or the day before. So Mario called them and they offered all his food and belongings which Mario gladly accepted.
Some favorite memories of Buzz (who is named after Buzz Lightyear by Eric):
Eric just turned 3 that month when we brought Buzz home. He and Buzz fought like they were brothers. It was the funniest thing. But Erin, who turned 1 that month, could do anything to Buzz and he would just lay there and take it. At first Erin was scared of him and she'd just climb up on the couch to avoid him. Mario was a little worried and thought that she would never learn to walk really well if she spent all her time on the couch. Erin didn't learn to talk until almost 2, but she did try to say "Buzz."
When we got Buzz, the animal shelter told us that he was 17 pounds and that he'd probably only grow to be about 24 pounds. We quickly found out that wasn't true when we took him to the vet. The vet said, have you looked at his paws. They were way to big for 24 pounds. I think he maintained about 48 pounds for most of his life. The cool thing was, both Erin and Buzz weighed exactly 17 pounds when we got him.
Erin got her first Barbie doll either right before or right after Buzz. She left it on the floor in the living room and Buzz chewed it up. She and Eric learned very quickly not to leave anything out. Speaking of chewing everything...When you move to Guam, the military provides you with furniture the first few months while you wait for your furniture to arrive. It's usually junky stuff, but this time, they brought us a brand new table with new chairs. Buzz chewed all over the base of the table. I thought for sure they were going to hand us a huge bill but they never said a word about it. By the time our furniture arrived, he was out of the chewing furniture and toy phase. But any dog toy we bought him was torn up within minutes. We stopped buying them.
I remember taking the kids out for Halloween just a couple months after getting Buzz. He loved all the kids and so he was so excited to be out on a walk with us while trick-or-treating. We had to quickly put him back in the house, he was way to excited.
I remember our neighbor kids in Guam who didn't have dogs. They were scared to death of Buzz. He was the sweetest dog but you'd never know it by the reaction of the neighbor kids. Mario knew then that it was good we had a dog so our kids would never act like that around dogs.
I remember going to Florida for a month about 6 months after getting Buzz. When I came back the neighbors told me how Buzz and Mario would sit out at the park behind our house for hours and how Mario looked so sad. I'm glad he at least had Buzz.
9/11 happened while living in Guam. Mario had to work around the clock and I remember being scared to go outside at night to take Buzz potty. We had heard so much about Bin Laden targeting Guam that I was convinced there were terrorists waiting outside my door. Not really, but maybe a little. That's the only time I was scared with Buzz. Most of the years, I found great comfort in having a watchdog. If I woke in the middle of the night and heard a noise, I would just go back to sleep because I knew the house was safe if Buzz wasn't barking. He has been a great comfort to me over the years.
Buzz was the only one in the family to go through typhoons in Guam. We left him for a month with friends while we vacationed in Florida. Then they shipped him to Hawaii where we met him. While in Guam, two typhoons hit that month.
I think it was in Hawaii, we sent Buzz to obedience school fulltime for a week while we went on vacation. Up until then we used the Gentle Leader collar to keep him from pulling our shoulders out while we walked him. We tried for a few days to keep up with the obedience training but eventually we just resorted to using the Gentle Leader for pretty much the rest of his life. It really has been only in the past year that Buzz hasn't pulled us while walking. Lately, it was more us pulling him along. That was really sad.
Buzz was my running partner. I learned to run in Guam and he ran many miles with me in Guam, Hawaii, and then Illiniois. I remember that Buzz was scared to death of anything like grates or manholes. He would avoid them at all costs while running, sometimes almost knocking me over in the process. I always ran the same route in Hawaii. The last part of it was a hill right before you turned into our townhome. One day I was feeling especially great and I decided to keep running and so I just ran past the driveway. Buzz wasn't happy and he tried really hard to turn. I still laugh when I think about that run. Buzz's running days ended in Illinois when he injured his leg. As long as he didn't run he was ok. But if he tried running, he'd limp for the next few days.
I remember when the twins started eating in chairs on the floor. That must have been the happiest times for Buzz. He was well fed.
I remember Buzz eating a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies, pound of thawing hamburger, loaf of homemade bread, bag of almonds, and anything else he could sneak off our counters. I remember going to church a few Sundays with a cake that I had forgotten to remove from the counter. I would sit through church and wonder if Buzz would get to the cake. He never did for some reason. We discovered that potatoes and almonds made Buzz throw up. So we had to be extra careful with eating those foods around him.
Whenever Zach was mad at us for something, he'd run and find comfort in Buzz. He'd lie down beside him and drape his arm over him. That's how I knew Zach was really upset. I think this will be the hardest on Zach. He hasn't known a life without Buzz and he's very attached to him.
I don't know if there will be another dog in our future. Mario says no and I am on the fence right now. Life would sure be a lot easier in some aspects without having to worry about a dog. We could pack up and leave for a weekend trip anytime we want. We could possibly (hopefully) move overseas next time and that always presents challenges with pets. Our landlord doesn't love dogs and we are the only exception he has made for a tenant to have a dog. So he would very much love for us to be pet-free. Mario has no regrets about adopting Buzz. He has loved him just as much as the rest of us. I think that's part of the reason he doesn't want another. He doesn't want to go through this pain of having to let another one go.
We have had so many children over our house. Almost all of them have fallen in love with Buzz. Many have asked us to let them adopt him over the years. We even had no dog lovers want to adopt him. But we were never willing to give him up. We love you Buzz. You will be missed by us all.
When we moved to Guam in the year 2000, we had to give away our cat, Kramer, because we weren't willing to pay the $1400 quarantine fee. The kids were sad and so we got them fish as soon as we moved into our new home. But within a couple months, we knew that fish weren't really the same as a dog or cat. So, I persuaded Mario to go to the local animal shelter (on the way to the mall) just to look. We saw Buzz and immediately I fell in love with him. He was just a puppy and so darn cute. So we asked the workers if we could take him for a walk. I begged Mario to let us adopt him and he resisted. I told the workers we were on our way to the mall and we'd think about it. We put Buzz back in his cage and when we walked away, Buzz started barking for us to come back. It broke my heart. Somehow, while at the mall, I convinced Mario to go back and get Buzz. When we went back the worker told us another family had come to adopt him but the workers lied and told the family that he was already taken. So we were able to take him home. The worker also gave us the name of the family that just dropped him off that day or the day before. So Mario called them and they offered all his food and belongings which Mario gladly accepted.
Some favorite memories of Buzz (who is named after Buzz Lightyear by Eric):
Eric just turned 3 that month when we brought Buzz home. He and Buzz fought like they were brothers. It was the funniest thing. But Erin, who turned 1 that month, could do anything to Buzz and he would just lay there and take it. At first Erin was scared of him and she'd just climb up on the couch to avoid him. Mario was a little worried and thought that she would never learn to walk really well if she spent all her time on the couch. Erin didn't learn to talk until almost 2, but she did try to say "Buzz."
When we got Buzz, the animal shelter told us that he was 17 pounds and that he'd probably only grow to be about 24 pounds. We quickly found out that wasn't true when we took him to the vet. The vet said, have you looked at his paws. They were way to big for 24 pounds. I think he maintained about 48 pounds for most of his life. The cool thing was, both Erin and Buzz weighed exactly 17 pounds when we got him.
Erin got her first Barbie doll either right before or right after Buzz. She left it on the floor in the living room and Buzz chewed it up. She and Eric learned very quickly not to leave anything out. Speaking of chewing everything...When you move to Guam, the military provides you with furniture the first few months while you wait for your furniture to arrive. It's usually junky stuff, but this time, they brought us a brand new table with new chairs. Buzz chewed all over the base of the table. I thought for sure they were going to hand us a huge bill but they never said a word about it. By the time our furniture arrived, he was out of the chewing furniture and toy phase. But any dog toy we bought him was torn up within minutes. We stopped buying them.
I remember taking the kids out for Halloween just a couple months after getting Buzz. He loved all the kids and so he was so excited to be out on a walk with us while trick-or-treating. We had to quickly put him back in the house, he was way to excited.
I remember our neighbor kids in Guam who didn't have dogs. They were scared to death of Buzz. He was the sweetest dog but you'd never know it by the reaction of the neighbor kids. Mario knew then that it was good we had a dog so our kids would never act like that around dogs.
I remember going to Florida for a month about 6 months after getting Buzz. When I came back the neighbors told me how Buzz and Mario would sit out at the park behind our house for hours and how Mario looked so sad. I'm glad he at least had Buzz.
9/11 happened while living in Guam. Mario had to work around the clock and I remember being scared to go outside at night to take Buzz potty. We had heard so much about Bin Laden targeting Guam that I was convinced there were terrorists waiting outside my door. Not really, but maybe a little. That's the only time I was scared with Buzz. Most of the years, I found great comfort in having a watchdog. If I woke in the middle of the night and heard a noise, I would just go back to sleep because I knew the house was safe if Buzz wasn't barking. He has been a great comfort to me over the years.
Buzz was the only one in the family to go through typhoons in Guam. We left him for a month with friends while we vacationed in Florida. Then they shipped him to Hawaii where we met him. While in Guam, two typhoons hit that month.
I think it was in Hawaii, we sent Buzz to obedience school fulltime for a week while we went on vacation. Up until then we used the Gentle Leader collar to keep him from pulling our shoulders out while we walked him. We tried for a few days to keep up with the obedience training but eventually we just resorted to using the Gentle Leader for pretty much the rest of his life. It really has been only in the past year that Buzz hasn't pulled us while walking. Lately, it was more us pulling him along. That was really sad.
Buzz was my running partner. I learned to run in Guam and he ran many miles with me in Guam, Hawaii, and then Illiniois. I remember that Buzz was scared to death of anything like grates or manholes. He would avoid them at all costs while running, sometimes almost knocking me over in the process. I always ran the same route in Hawaii. The last part of it was a hill right before you turned into our townhome. One day I was feeling especially great and I decided to keep running and so I just ran past the driveway. Buzz wasn't happy and he tried really hard to turn. I still laugh when I think about that run. Buzz's running days ended in Illinois when he injured his leg. As long as he didn't run he was ok. But if he tried running, he'd limp for the next few days.
I remember when the twins started eating in chairs on the floor. That must have been the happiest times for Buzz. He was well fed.
I remember Buzz eating a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies, pound of thawing hamburger, loaf of homemade bread, bag of almonds, and anything else he could sneak off our counters. I remember going to church a few Sundays with a cake that I had forgotten to remove from the counter. I would sit through church and wonder if Buzz would get to the cake. He never did for some reason. We discovered that potatoes and almonds made Buzz throw up. So we had to be extra careful with eating those foods around him.
Whenever Zach was mad at us for something, he'd run and find comfort in Buzz. He'd lie down beside him and drape his arm over him. That's how I knew Zach was really upset. I think this will be the hardest on Zach. He hasn't known a life without Buzz and he's very attached to him.
I don't know if there will be another dog in our future. Mario says no and I am on the fence right now. Life would sure be a lot easier in some aspects without having to worry about a dog. We could pack up and leave for a weekend trip anytime we want. We could possibly (hopefully) move overseas next time and that always presents challenges with pets. Our landlord doesn't love dogs and we are the only exception he has made for a tenant to have a dog. So he would very much love for us to be pet-free. Mario has no regrets about adopting Buzz. He has loved him just as much as the rest of us. I think that's part of the reason he doesn't want another. He doesn't want to go through this pain of having to let another one go.
We have had so many children over our house. Almost all of them have fallen in love with Buzz. Many have asked us to let them adopt him over the years. We even had no dog lovers want to adopt him. But we were never willing to give him up. We love you Buzz. You will be missed by us all.
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| My favorite picture of Erin and Buzz |
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| Just a couple nights ago |
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Sleepover
Since we don't allow twins to have sleepovers, Nathan decided to have a stuffed animal sleepover. He's trying the "It's Pooh's birthday tomorrow. Are you going to make him a cake?" That worked like 3 years ago. Not sure it works on me anymore.
Buzz
I made the appointment to have Buzz put to sleep. I cried uncontrollably after telling Nathan and Zach. Eric came running down the stairs to comfort me. Buzz is going deaf, blind, having trouble with controlling his bowels, and sometimes falls when doing stairs or walking on tile. We love Buzz and it breaks our heart to put him down but it's only fair to him. So I'll take him in Friday morning while Mario is out camping with the twins.
We are trying to make his last few days as great as we can with lots of walks and lots of treats. The twins are hoping dogs go to heaven but then they jokingly told me that he hasn't been sealed to our family or baptized. So they weren't convinced when I told them that I thought Buzz would go to heaven. He will be missed.
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We are trying to make his last few days as great as we can with lots of walks and lots of treats. The twins are hoping dogs go to heaven but then they jokingly told me that he hasn't been sealed to our family or baptized. So they weren't convinced when I told them that I thought Buzz would go to heaven. He will be missed.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Mount Rushmore
Nathan did an extra credit report on Mount Rushmore while he was in first grade. If I knew how to put links on my blog, I would so you could see his really cute report again. Anyway, ever since his report, we have been planning a family vacation to see it. We live about 550 miles from there, so not too bad. We shipped Eric off to EFY in Utah and we packed our bags for the long weekend. I had no idea what to do besides Mount Rushmore but fortunately others were able to give me some ideas. I was good and packed my camera and video camera. But I forgot their chargers and both of them were dead within 5 minutes of using them. So I'm stuck with iphone pictures from our trip.
Mario did most of the driving for the trip as usual. I hate to drive and now I have even less desire to drive. I had just started my shift which was only an hour or two away from our destination. Within a few minutes, I was pulled over for speeding by a state trooper. I was in the middle of nowhere going 80 in a 65 zone. I knew I was in trouble as soon as the trooper drove past me. Mario begged for mercy since he is military. The officer said he didn't know because I was going pretty fast. He took my license back to his car and we both thought for sure I would get a ticket. But he came back with just a warning. We thanked him and then I gave the wheel back to Mario.
We started with the Wind Cave which is a national park within an hour's drive of Mount Rushmore. It was a cool cave and the kids enjoyed it. The tour lasted an hour and a half so I felt bad for Mario. It was a long time to duck. I guess there are some advantages to being short.
After the cave, we checked out Crazy Horse just because it was free for military. It was pretty amazing but not finished yet. So we didn't stay long. Then we checked into the KOA camp and Erin immediately went horseback riding while the rest of us unpacked and checked out the "fun zone." We enjoyed some pizza for dinner and then headed out to see Mount Rushmore all lit up at night. It was amazing and Mario and I could have stared at the mountain for hours. The kids on the other hand took one look at it and would have been fine leaving. But we made them stay for the evening program which included all the veterans in the audience going up on stage and introducing themselves.
The next day was Sunday so that was a challenge to not buy anything while on vacation. We started our morning at church (funny story about using a plastic garbage bag for a slip since I have a horrible time remembering to pack slips for vacations, while in Saipan I used a pajama top around my waist) and then went back to camp and grilled some hotdogs. We did let the boys play in the fun zone but I drew the line at swimming. We then went back to Mount Rushmore to view it one more time. Didn't cost us a cent since our parking pass was still good. Then we went back to camp and grilled burgers for dinner. After dinner, we decided to go on a hike that was between our camp and Mount Rushmore. The hike was beautiful and even Erin, who really didn't want to go on our roadtrip, seemed to enjoy it.
To break up the LONG drive home, we stopped in Sioux Falls to visit their Falls Park. There were so many people there, we barely got a parking spot. The waterfalls were beautiful (except for the muddy water.) It reminded me of Hawaii. Oh how I miss the beauty of Hawaii (and the beaches).
It was a great weekend and Mario didn't even have to take any leave. It was nice to only divide my attention between 3 kids. But I missed Eric terribly. It makes me so sad to think he will be leaving home in 2 short years.
Mario did most of the driving for the trip as usual. I hate to drive and now I have even less desire to drive. I had just started my shift which was only an hour or two away from our destination. Within a few minutes, I was pulled over for speeding by a state trooper. I was in the middle of nowhere going 80 in a 65 zone. I knew I was in trouble as soon as the trooper drove past me. Mario begged for mercy since he is military. The officer said he didn't know because I was going pretty fast. He took my license back to his car and we both thought for sure I would get a ticket. But he came back with just a warning. We thanked him and then I gave the wheel back to Mario.
We started with the Wind Cave which is a national park within an hour's drive of Mount Rushmore. It was a cool cave and the kids enjoyed it. The tour lasted an hour and a half so I felt bad for Mario. It was a long time to duck. I guess there are some advantages to being short.
The next day was Sunday so that was a challenge to not buy anything while on vacation. We started our morning at church (funny story about using a plastic garbage bag for a slip since I have a horrible time remembering to pack slips for vacations, while in Saipan I used a pajama top around my waist) and then went back to camp and grilled some hotdogs. We did let the boys play in the fun zone but I drew the line at swimming. We then went back to Mount Rushmore to view it one more time. Didn't cost us a cent since our parking pass was still good. Then we went back to camp and grilled burgers for dinner. After dinner, we decided to go on a hike that was between our camp and Mount Rushmore. The hike was beautiful and even Erin, who really didn't want to go on our roadtrip, seemed to enjoy it.
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| Mario discovered that he really does like s'mores. If you run out of chocolate, you can use peanut butter and it tastes just like a nutter butter. Yum! |
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| Thief Lake Hike |
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The smaller scale models 
The next morning we woke up early and ate pancakes for breakfast and then checked out of camp. Friends recommended an attraction called Cosmos Mystery Area. Fortunately the twins were free because it was a tourist spot that only lasted 20 minutes. It had a cabin built on a slant and it created lots of optical illusions. Our friends loved and still talk about it years later. My kids thought it was ok but I doubt they will talk much about it in the future.
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To break up the LONG drive home, we stopped in Sioux Falls to visit their Falls Park. There were so many people there, we barely got a parking spot. The waterfalls were beautiful (except for the muddy water.) It reminded me of Hawaii. Oh how I miss the beauty of Hawaii (and the beaches).
It was a great weekend and Mario didn't even have to take any leave. It was nice to only divide my attention between 3 kids. But I missed Eric terribly. It makes me so sad to think he will be leaving home in 2 short years.
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