Homecoming Parade

Two weekends ago we enjoyed one of my favorite traditions at Baylor - Homecoming!

I know each college and university in the nation has their own event of this type but I contend that no one does it quite like the Bears. For example, did you know Baylor has the oldest and largest parade in the nation?

It's absolutely amazing and I can't even tell you how many hours of work go into the fantastic floats the sororities and fraternities put together for this most special occasion.

Of course, the show always begins with the Baylor University Golden Wave Band (BUGWB) and the color guard. For those who don't already know, I was a member of the BUGWB color guard and may or may not have broken my nose the first time tossing a rifle in practice for said organization...

My child was clearly impressed. Yes, that's her with her head down. But at least I got a picture of her wearing a headband made out of sequins, right?

There are alumni awards given each year  as well. That's my friend Betsy's husband, Clifton, in the back of the carriage.

There are floats...

...and what parade in Texas wouldn't be complete without horses?

And more floats....

...which are so cool that even Pouty McPout-Pout thought were interesting. See?

And more floats - clearly a rite of passage at ye olde university...

...and Homecoming Queen nominees. This lovely lady is one of our student workers. Yes, she's just as sweet as she is beautiful :-)

And what would a parade be without the Noze Brothers in attendance to keep everyone on their toes?

By now, you already know, which means I don't have to say it again...

We are also home to one of the largest U.S. Air Force ROTC detachments in the country. Spiffy, aren't they?

And, because it's Texas, there were even more horses...

...and floats...

But I think the thing I love most about the Homecoming parade is that alums and friends of the University come from far and wide to show their support. And, y'all, there was even a nip in the air which made me happier than a squirrel in an acorn barrel.

But this year's edition of Homecoming was more special than most. Care to venture a guess as to why? I'll give you a hint...

Number S-I-X!

And, of course, that deserves its own special post so for now I'll just wish you a very happy fall weekend. Please pray for me as I'll be attempting to paint my girl's room. The chosen color is, well, fluorescent and there is a possibility my retinas will never be the same.

She's totally worth it, though. :-)

Spitfire

This time last week I was on a mission. After watching Prissy mope around, Dave be absolutely distraught and Taylor cry herself to sleep after Bo's passing, I was on a mission to provide some joy in what was a very difficult week.

I told my man from the get-go that he needed another puppy but he declared that after watching Bo suffer, he'd rather die himself than go through that pain again. The outlook was looking bleak where adding another member of the Puppy Posse was concerned so I began to pray.

My prayer was that God would change his heart if it was something that actually would aid in the healing process. And that if I was jumping the gun, all doors would be closed. Some may think this was a trivial prayer but, honestly, I believe God is present in ALL situations and He most certainly showed up in this one, friends.

Wednesday evening when Dave got home from work, he walked straight to the computer and spent the next four hours looking at boxers. He looked all across the state for one at a rescue but, honestly, they made it so hard to save one that I realized quickly we would need to go the puppy route. Since I love babies of all breeds, this was totally cool with me. My man, however, still wasn't convinced.

Thursday was our friend Brandi's funeral. That's another post for another day because she was an amazing woman but it was a day that I had off so I scoured the online classifieds and found a very nice woman in Copperas Cove who had a litter ready for new homes. The best part? She was also off on Thursday.

After saying our final farewell to Brandi, we headed out and this is what we found...

He was a spitfire from the start and kept coming back to Dave so he could bite his finger. It was similar to how we got Bo as he chose us, not the other way around. Bo was a bit more obvious, though, as he jumped on Dave as soon as he rounded the corner. :-)

No, he does not replace Bo but he has brought much joy to what was a very sad home. In all honesty, the past two months have been a rollercoaster because we never knew when Bo would have a bad day or when "the time" would arrive. A weight has been lifted, I must admit, and we are at peace knowing he's happy and playing in heaven.

I must caution you from believing Rambo is as innocent as these pictures portray. He is not. He's stubborn as the day is long and Taylor has decided we should have named him Rambunctious. 

Some may believe we rushed into another puppy but, y'all, the fact of the matter is that we had a ton of love to give and this little guy needed a home.

His sisters' reactions are a mixed bag - Taylor adores him, Prissy likes him until she's ready for a nap and Perkie continues to be Perkie. She doesn't care for change but does appear to have an affinity for him as long as she doesn't think we're looking. :-)

One thing is for sure, he's keeping us busy.

And we feel incredibly blessed to be able to provide a loving home for another of God's creatures.

The most fun part of all? We didn't tell Taylor ANYTHING about Rambo until we got home with him and called her into the backyard. Her expression told us everything we needed to know.

Want to hear something else amazing? When we got his vet records, the clinic where he was being seen in Copperas Cove had exactly the same name as the one we had been using for Bo's surgery and subsequent care. Coincidence? 

I personally think not.

Priceless

One week ago today we said an earthly goodbye to one of the four-legged members of our family. He was - and will forever be - the original member and leader of the Puppy Posse. He was our boy and what I liked to refer to as our "million dollar baby."

What some people don't know is that Dave had dreamed of having another boxer (he's a boxer guy, clearly) so when we bought our first our house together we quickly added a 6-week-old puppy to the mix. We drove to Austin and came home with a very sick little boy. Only we didn't know that at the time.

He endured kidney stones, multiple kidney infections, surgeries, procedures and medications during his almost eight years on this earth. We spent a number of nights up at 2am with him because he was sick and feverish. During one surgery he had a stroke and that's why you would so often see his sweet tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

He was stubborn. So stubborn it would almost drive you crazy. But that stubbornness is what kept him here with us so long. And he was a lover of many things - BBQ, steak, Dave, his sisters (all three of them), his squeaky frog, rawhides and treats. Preferably bacon flavored.

After his last surgery in May where a cancerous tumor was removed, we breathed a sigh of relief as the vet told us it was a Grade 2 and was removed with clear margins. Unfortunately, two weeks later I found another tumor on his leg. At that point we decided he had endured enough and we simply couldn't put him through surgery after surgery. We vowed to love and spoil him as long as his quality of life was good. In other words, as long as he was our happy boy.

We took him on vacations, he opened doors at hotels and became the talk of the place, he played ball, walked on the beach and loved life. But shortly after we returned from Galveston he took a turn for the worse. He slowly began not eating as much, more tumors became visible and some days were better than others. But he always rebounded quickly.

In the last month or so, he lost a lot of weight, we started trying any and every food available and Dave even began hand feeding him, which he dearly loved. But the cancer kept him from gaining weight even though he was eating. We cried ourselves to sleep, loved on him as much as possible and reminisced about the many good times he gave us.

But he kept getting weaker.

When I left for Louisiana last Sunday, I put him in his kennel - the one he earned after escaping from the hotel room in New Braunfels - and told him that he'd better be there when I got back. And then on second thought, I told him that it was ok if he needed to go because I knew life was hard these days...

And in the end his sweet little heart just couldn't bear the stress - he was suffering from congestive heart failure.

So he spent his last full day loving on his dad and canine sisters, stealing Dave's pizza and chowing down on grilled chicken.

And in the end, he couldn't wait for me to get back.

It was just him and his dad....

...the way it was meant to be all along.

But we have many precious memories of a boy who loved and protected his family to the bitter end.

Who fought very hard to be here with us for as long as he could.

And who - I'm sure - will be waiting for us when we all get to heaven. He'll be healthy, happy and whole - something we never could fully achieve for him here on this earth though he did have a number of mostly normal years in the middle of his life.

What you gave us, BoBo, were absolutely priceless memories, many years of joy and that will never be forgotten.

So we aren't saying a final goodbye for we will see you later, big boy. Know that you'll be loved and missed every day until we meet again.

A Halloween Classic

As you may have guessed by now, my girl enjoys a good joke and loves to laugh. Each and every day. So I guess it should come as no surprise that she insists on having a fun and unusual costume each Halloween. As you may recall, last year she went as a Twister game, which was absolutely hilarious.

This year she decided to go with Alice in Wonderland, which was pretty traditional for her taste, but it turned out not to be as all of the Alice costumes in her size were a bit too risque for my taste (and hers as well, thank you Lord) so we spent a couple weeks scouring the web before landing on....

Smurfette!

This costume is probably my favorite EVER that she's had because The Smurfs are my all-time favorite cartoon. Now that may have something to do with the fact that we didn't get more than four channels at a time where I grew up in Louisiana. Needless to say, the options weren't exactly plentiful but still...

It's only fair that I let you in on the secret that it was not Tay's all time favorite because it was apparently "hot...very, very hot..." Clearly the girl and I need to have a conversation about being willing to suffer for fashion. She also wasn't a huge fan of the hat because it kept falling off but, again, fashion!

We headed to church for our annual Fall Festival where both she and Dave worked in the booths. You could call me a slacker for not working one myself but, honestly, my brain is still fried from last week. I did, however, serve as chauffeur for Smurfette as she landed what I like to refer to as the motherload of all Halloween candy.

This little guy made me smile because Tay remembered that we used to walk by him all the time when we first moved to this neighborhood. Zumba has taken me off the streets (wait - that didn't sound right) but I love that she remembers things like that...

This is a house about a block from our house. They clearly don't care for Halloween at all...so much so that they add things to the display on a daily - nope, not annual - basis. It's Tay's favorite so we always visit there last ;-)

Someone's mood clearly improved after scoring 3 months worth of candy. What can I say? She takes after her mother in the "lover of sweets" category.

Of course no Halloween night photo shoot would be complete without the newest addition to the Puppy Posse. Honestly, we are still sad about Bo and that means ALL OF US, which includes Prissy for sure. But Rambo has provided a much needed distraction and, quite frankly, running from his razor sharp baby teeth is proving to be a full-time job!

We tried to get Prissy to join in but she's was ready for a nap and I've recently learned that when Priss is ready for a nap she has zero tolerance for puppy antics. Who knew?

After all of the events of the past week, I'm feeling very thankful for my family. No, it's not all sunshine and lollipops but there aren't any others with whom I'd rather do life.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

Ephesians 1:18