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Monday, December 31, 2007

The Passing of a Legend


Nearly 19 years ago, our neighbors played a trick on my parents. They called and invited the whole family over one random night. What my parents didn't know was that they had rescued a precious little puppy and wanted our family to have him. They knew that if the girls saw him, we wouldn't go home empty handed. It was love at first sight! That little ball of white fuzz and giant ears was instantly ours forever!


Wally was such a talented, sweet, intuitive dog! I know I am biased, but he was the best dog ever! He could dance and sneeze on command, wash his face, give high fives and jump higher than any dog I have ever known. He could jump up and take a treat out of my out-stretched hand. I know I'm not THAT tall, but he was impressive.
If you pointed your finger at him like a gun and said "Bang" he would fall to his belly. Shoot him again and he rolled to his side. One more shot and he put his head down and rolled onto his back. Too funny! (I forgot to put this in originally)

He knew when someone needed some extra love and would come find you and sit with you when you were sad or sick. He also had this amazing ability to render you immobile when he slept on your bed. That tiny little dog would lay down just right so that you couldn't move your legs!
He was also a therapy dog who visited the nursing homes and Alzheimer's Center where my grandma lived. You couldn't help but stop to scratch his ears if you saw him coming down the hall. (Incidentally, he was much less traumatized by this than the parakeet that went there, too)

One of my favorite Wally memories was how he LOVED to open presents. He would attack the presents and shake them in his teeth until he had loosened the paper. He would throw the package and jump on it and start again. It was hilarious! He also knew it was better to give than receive, so we always got great gifts from him for our birthdays- he was a great shopper!

I am glad I have been blessed to share this sweet dog with my own kids and we are very grateful that we had some extra time with him over Thanksgiving! He had been getting more frail for some time and Friday it was time to let him go. It was a very sad day for all of us, but especially my parents who have taken such good care of him the last few years that the kids have all been gone.


When we got to my parents house today, Jenna and Aubrey went around looking for Wally first thing. I told them he wasn't here and that he was in heaven. A few minutes later Aubrey (who has a Snow White-like bond with all creatures) came to me with a very worried look.


"Mommy, I can't find Wally anywhere."


"Honey, Wally died."


"But Mom, I love Wally. I don't want him to die." She started to cry and then I lost it again.


We all love Wally and always will. This may seem over-dramatic to some people, but Wally was a special dog that touched many lives. I am grateful that we were so blessed to have him for nearly two decades.


Good night, Wally Wally!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

To our Connecticut-ians

Here we are at our family Christmas get-together and missing you. The kids send their holiday greetings. Hope you enjoy it!

Our other serenading today has come from Jenna singing "Glo-o-o-oria, Please let Chelsea stay, oh, glo-o-o-o-ria, please let Chelsea stay, oh." I hope it's a bit quieter where you are!

We love you!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Nine months makes all the difference

Today is Lydia's 9 month-iversary. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! She is still the sweetest little angel! (atleast for mommy- she's having stranger issues!)

We had her check up today and everything is perfect. She is 19 lbs and 27 inches long, and her head is in the 97th percentile- right on track for the family.


Here are some pictures of her playing a Grandma & Grandpa's house.


(Does anyone know how to rotate a picture once it is on here?)

Lydia is such a happy girl! She brings light to our family and makes everyone smile. She has the sweetest giggle and smile!

She is a busy girl as she rolls all over and tries to crawl. I am sure she will be all the way there by New Years- hopefully we will have the tree put away by then. She would love to get her hands on it.

Another fun thing is her new awareness of everything around her. She loves lights and sounds. When we go into a store or church or places like that, she can't get enough of the lights and everything going on. She smiles and laughs and tells us all about it!

I can't imagine our family without this precious girl!

We love you Lydie!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Family Christmas party

We had a great time at the Prestwich family Christmas party this year! There were four generations of family there. I didn't count how many people- at least 50 probably. Santa is always a big hit! My girls surprised me by running up to sit on his lap without hesitation! Even the baby! They had been watching as other cousins got little presents from him and wanted theirs! Jenna asked for Baby Alive; Aubrey asked for Doodle Pony; Lydia just smiled and tried to pull his hair.



She was so smiley! She wasn't scared at all!
What a laid-back baby!
Here's Grandpa Great with Santa!



The girls got little Dora play sets from Santa. They played so cute together that I had to get it on film for proof!

Christmas dresses

Mommy just couldn't wait any longer to give the girls their Christmas dresses! I bought them the day after Thanksgiving, so I feel like I showed great restraint in waiting a whole week. We gave them to the girls Friday afternoon. We had just come back from seeing the movie Enchanted, so the girls were on a princess high. They felt so pretty!

This is Sunday after church. We had a hard time getting all three to smile in the same picture, so I have lots. Here are a few of my favorites.





We got 10 inches of snow on Saturday, so we went outside for a white backdrop. It was so cold, but so beautiful!

Festival of Trees

Last Thursday we went to the Festival of Trees with Kat and her kids. It was awesome! I have loved it since a child when we used to perform there with Sunshine Generation and school choirs, but it is so fun to see it now as an adult and appreciated the work and craftsmanship that goes into these masterpieces! The girls also loved the craft area and the performing groups- especially the tap dancing grannies! We also ran into Rex and Susan Beaird, long-time family friends who are very speical to me for many reasons- another time and place... It was great!

We also have a nephew who was born with some serious heart problems who has spent quite a bit of time at PCMC. We really appreciate the dedication of the volunteers who work so hard to raise money to provide care for all children, no matter what. My girls have been to PCMC many times to visit their cousin, so they have some idea of why they have the Festival.

I loved this Nativity scene and wanted to keep the idea for future use!
This was done by some of the people in the ward I grew up in. It was a huge candy factory. Too cute! Aubrey is also sporting her Mickey Mouse ears that Santa made her from balloons. We also found a tree that Tim's work did in honor of the daughter of a co-worker who died in a car accident earlier this year, as well as a tree and ginger bread house that our neighbor and her family donated.

If you have never been to the Festival of Trees, please try to go next year. You won't be disappointed!

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