Rest Peacefully, Sweet Pup

Thanks to a missing computer cord, and a busy end of the school year, it's been a bit more than a while since the blog's seen an update. Much has happened in the last two months, the toughest of which was the passing of our sweet Abs. Abby began showing symptoms of not feeling well and within 3 weeks, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her nasal passage that quickly spread to her brain. We put her to rest in late June. We could not have asked for a better companion throughout the past 8 and a half years and we still miss her each day, Chris and I especially, since she was the first to make our family a 'family.' She was a blessing to us and we are grateful to have had her as a part of our life.

******

Back in May, we were rolling on through to the end of the school year and looking forward to summer (even our modified version this year). Allie and I kicked off the beginning of the end of school year festivities with our second prom together.

She accessorized herself, hence the Elsa earrings and necklace.

And there's no accessory needed for these moves.

Secondary-School Selfie

We took advantage of the Spring Farm Tour again this year with fellow-'farmer' Riley and her parents.

BFFs (Best Farming Friends)

This year we added strawberry picking to the agenda.

See this?

It's all going to end up in my belly or on my face.

One last spring squeeze for the spring breeze.

Even though Chris and I are both working this summer, I've found that if you just pretend you're on vacation on the weekends, it's not so bad. We started off the season with a playdate with the Buehlers on one of their last weekends as a family of four. (Welcome baby Aaron!)

Not even the summer heat can melt this cheese.

Juuuust slightly below a choke-hold, but done with love.

We had a quick visit from Auntie Erin on her birthday, which of course called for cake and cuddles.

Somehow Allie figured out how to get closest to the ice cream cake.

We were fortunate that our neighborhood celebrates the fourth of July with early fireworks and festivities so we didn't miss it when we left town over the holiday weekend.

This tatted twosome is too much.

Boom go the fireworks!

We left on the first of July to visit the Chamberlains in Phoenix and check out the wild west of Arizona. With four kids under the age of 5, we made a big impact wherever we went, and we had a blast doing it.

Allie's first taste of 4-wheeling, courtesy of William Bruce and his sweet ride.
(The moms have decided we will recreate this picture and embarrass the heck out of them when they are older.)

We spent 2 nights with Sedona as our scenic homebase. While we were there, the gang took a Pink Jeep Tour through the Red Rocks of Sedona.

Check out this view! (And the landscape's not too bad either ;o)

The wild west of Sedona (a.k.a. Sheriff Callie land for all of you Disney Junior fans out there).

Jules and Jerry found an awesome house that was available for our stay in Sedona. The kids especially enjoyed the back patio during Arizona's 'monsoon' season.

This is what sheer joy times three looks like.

And this is the oft-attempted, but rarely achieved three-sleeping children in one bed trick. They slept like this all night!

We checked off a trip from our bucket-list and made a stop at the Grand Canyon. It was unbelievable. No pictures do it justice, but we'll give it a shot (or two or three...).

Grand, indeed.

This kid's definitely not concerned with the lack of guard-rails.

The whole gang minus Cy on the 4th...no amount of guard rail would convince us that it was a good idea for 1 and a half-year-old to get out of the van.

The Eicholtz Family takes on the Grand Canyon.

Frame of friends.

When we returned from Phoenix, we settled in, and then welcomed Daisy, a 10-week-old white boxer puppy into the family. She's got some pretty big paws to fill (of course she'll never fill them really, but we will love her for own paws) and the house already feels more like a home again with a pup to snuggle.