Family Fun Day!

Daddy has been working. A LOT.  Overtime on top of overtime, which means we don't get to spend as much quality time with him as we would like to.  He even sent us to San Diego for our trip with the family a couple of weeks ago and stayed to work so we can always have what we need.  He is the BEST.  Well, last Friday Daddy surprised us and took the day off!!  We packed in as much fun family time as possible and enjoyed every minute!

Uncle Steve and family are in D.C. right now and are letting us use their pool.  Perfect on this hot day!

Even Champ got in on the fun.  This was his first time with a pool.  He wasn't big on swimming, but he enjoyed getting his paws wet and watching the boys play!

Summer ≠ Time Off

The boys and I look forward to summer more than anything.  No homework, no schedules, no bedtimes......you get the idea.  But for my boys, this doesn't mean they are taking time off.  Jake and Brady are two of the hardest working boys I know.  Their love is football.  They have fun and they like competing.  They know this means they need to work...hard.  So in between video games, swimming, staying up late, and hanging with friends, our summer looks a lot like this:

I love their motivation and work ethic.  They already know if you want something bad enough, you need to be willing to work for it.  Keep working hard, boys.  The sky is the limit!!

Fabulous Fourth

This year we spent our Fourth of July evening with our good friends, the Cappellinis.  They had us over for a delicious dinner and to watch the fireworks in their community.  Afterwards, the boys (big and small) had a little fun lighting some fireworks of our own in the driveway.  It was a wonderful night with wonderful friends!

Daddy

Yesterday was Father's Day.  I like having a day set aside to honor my husband and the wonderful daddy that he is to our boys, but I truly do appreciate him each and every day.  He is such a hard working, selfless, and loving dad to our sweet boys.  I am incredibly thankful for all he does for our family.  He is our protector, our provider, and our rock.  Happy Father's Day, Mauri.  We love you to the moon and back!

What a CHAMP!

Once again, life has taken over and we haven't had a blog post in almost a year!  But it's a very blessed life, and we are enjoying every minute of it.  There's no way to catch up all in one post, so I won't even try.  Instead, I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family.....Champ!

Last November we started looking into getting a dog for the boys, but we knew it wouldn't be easy to find just the right one.  He had to be compatible with Brady's allergies, and we knew we wanted to rescue one from a pound or shelter.  Just before Thanksgiving, Daddy called as he was leaving work and told me to meet him at Petsmart with J & B because there were some available puppies from the pound.  We had looked at quite a few dogs by this point, but a few minutes with this sweet little guy and the boys were hooked.

   

                           

We signed a few papers, grabbed a few puppy items and we were on our way!  The boys were in love from the start and named him "Champ" immediately.

                          

After the first few days with the little guy, we noticed he wasn't his typical puppy self and wasn't eating much.  We kept our eye on him and eventually took him to the vet who confirmed that the poor guy had the dreaded parvo.  We took him home, along with some meds and IVs, and spent the next week staying home from work, waking up every hour, washing towels and blankets, and tending to our very sick puppy.  It didn't look very good for a while there.

 

                      

But like a CHAMP.....he pulled through!  We've really enjoyed the last 7 months with him, despite all the chewing and digging!  He is a wonderful addition to our family!