Overdue Update

I got the coolest email the other day. Here's what is said:

Dear Sandra,
Happy (very belated) Birthday to you. I am writing from very far away to let you know your message of kindness has reached further than the arms of Texas. I am sending you word of my RAK as requested in order to fulfill the recent request. My wife and I have been considering getting a dog for quite a while now, and after much consideration we decided to forgo the pet store or puppy mill route, and instead adopt from a local rescue shelter. We found our match a few months ago, and though our new furry child came with a temporary name, "Pogo", we decided we wanted a name that came from OUR hearts. After reading of the adventures of Poncho, your beloved pooch, we found that name to be quite fitting for our little black lab mix as well. Afterall, they look so much a alike, and we wanted to honor such a noble, deserving mutt. That is not our RAK, however. In visiting the rescue shelter during our adoption process, we saw the need for volunteers. We now go twice a week to take the rescue dogs on short hikes around the shelter grounds. We love it. Poncho loves it even more. We are thinking of adding a "Lefty" to the mix sometime soon (no offense to Bandit). Good luck with your ongoing drive for kindness!
Drake, Sanki, and Poncho
Willamsport, PA
I have done a very poor job of keeping track, but I will tell you that in counting up emails, comments, cards and letters, the RAK CONTINUES to grow, but at last count was somewhere around 38!!!!
What's that you say??? I owe you something?? We'll see about that. I'll try to recall what I promised...........
Thank you for the kind words, Drake and Sanki~
Viva La Poncho!

Amazing Indeed!

She loves to sing. She loves to sing...LOUDLY!
Darian likes to pretend he is the teacher and he directs her as she sings. On this day, he chose to lead with a leaf....as you will see.
She is amazing. (sigh)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

4th of July (posting before it becomes the 4th of August...eek!)

Each year the 4th of July approaches, I am reminded of one of my favorite "love to tell that" family stories......

A few years back, and I do mean a FEW years back, not a long, long time ago, a few of my siblings and I were sitting around discussing upcoming plans for the 4th of July. We were trying to bang our heads together and set some events in stone, and get them posted on an all official calender. As we continued our discussion, my somewhat exhausted and exasperated (come on, the gal has four kids) sister, Lilly, turned to rejoin the conversation after turning away to yell at one of her wild-haired boys.

"Okay, sorry....what were we saying? (opening her calendar) What day is the 4th on this year, anyhow? Isn't it like the 17th or something?", she said as she stared us with questioning eyes.

"Lilly.....it's the 4th.....of July. It is on the 4th," my brother replied.

"Oh, yeah. Right."

The sad part of that story is that for a split second, I know everyone at that table, present party included, stopped and thought about that question for a moment....."Hmm....what day is the.....WAIT A MINUTE!"

Starting the day with festive Fourth of July cinnamon buns....yummy!

A very sweaty post tennis Uncle Doug threatens the existence of the sweet rolls.

Man....we should be in a parade or something.....

Mommy and Kalean

Sweet Izi

The Freedom Twins

Izi, Kaelan, Bandit and Taylor

The girls at our Annual 4th in 'Hood Celebration

Fireworks!

Despite the sweltering, humid, melt your underwear kind of weather....we had a most lovely 4th of July! Looking forward to fireworks of the future.....now what day does it fall on next year???

Girls Night In.....

While the boys are away watching Transformers 2........

Pre-beauty school......

Post hair design time.

A little nail polish, popcorn and a movie.

No one is safe during beauty shop time.....not even Bandit.

WORDED WEDNESDAY.....let's change it up a bit.

There will be words in this week's addition of WW. Just wanted to warn you.

Had to share just a few of the highlights of the trip home a few weeks ago. We had a grand time, and got to see Seester and her family (from Vegas) for a short while. Kaelan desperately wants to move to Cloudcroft. She can't seem to get enough to the fresh air and spoiling from her grandma. Plus, the never ending supply of cousins never becomes a bore. We had some awesome hikes and exploration outings. We trekked deep into the woods to lay to rest our Dear Poncho in the same place we buried his mum, Beloved Brandi years ago. It is as it should be now.....

So, without further ado....here are some more photos. Some already appearing on Facebook....some not. We do loves us some mountains....and the folk residing in their peaks and valleys.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

Cloudcroft....the little town on the mountain.

Kaelan enjoys exploring the woods.

Mom and Kaelan looking out over White Sands.

Dad and Kaelan

Spiderman?

Taylor (The Nephew) comes running in from the playscape in the yard with eyes popping out of his head and air gasping out of him.

"Sandra, look! Look at this!" he screams to me.

"What? What? What happened?", I reply fearing he is going to show me some hairy member of the arachnid family or perhaps a new reptilian friend.

"Look.....watch this!" He lifts the edge of his short-sleeved shirt and begins making voluntary jerking motions. "Can you believe that?", he questions.

"What? What happened? What is wrong? Did you break something?"......my heart is still racing, and fearing the worst.

"NO!", he shouts, "Just look. Look at those biceps! I have been climbing those monkey bars the last few days. I do that a lot at home, but look! There is somethin' messing with my DNA here in Austin. Look at these guns!"

To my knowledge, no radioactive spiders have sunk (sank? sanken?) their teeth into......no spiders have bitten Taylor. Must be in the Austin/Barton Springs water.

Roadrunner

Pre-race stretch and hug.

Starting line with Kate.

Run Kaelan, run!

Post race and boo-boos.

I am so far behind in posting......so many pictures, so little time. Here are a few pictures from the Round Rock Roadrunner. In the past, mama and even papa have run the 10K before the Kid K. Not so much this year. Kaelan did a great job despite being trampled at the starting line. Poor kid....she just can't seem to enter a race without collecting a road rash prize, lately. She actually had a footprint on her back from the dude, a father at that, who tripped over her and then proceeded to step on her, just as the start gun sounded. The skin had just returned to her knees from her last spell. She did wipe the tears and finish the race....gotta love that drive! Mama ran with her, and all the while, Jeana, Kate, Kaelan and I used spanking the fanny of the Chick-Fil-A cow as incentive to keep going. Proud of that girl!