He really is THAT "Koo"!

Well, two down, one to go.  Brady started school on Wednesday.  He's a big boy now, in the 8th grade, but he still wanted me to take him to school on the first day.  Of course there was no walking him to class, no good bye hug, no acknowledgement that I had sacrificed my morning run to make it possible, and barely any conversation on the drive to the school.  But he DID ask me to take him, and that, to me, is huge. A mom feels good when she is needed, especially by the beast that is called the all-knowing, all-independent teenager.  Brady really is a good boy though, and feels empathy toward his neglected mother, most of the time.  He is sweet and nice and thoughtful, but, of course, he doesn't want any of his friends to know any of this... so I must live with a "cold-shoulder".  I can do that.

So, since we are talking about Brady and the fact that he has cool hair and because he chose to wear this lovely shirt on the first day of school, I have a story to tell on him.

He came to me a couple of days ago and asked, "Mom, why do I have a dent on my forehead?"  Of course I had no idea. Then he said, "Well, I think I know."  He said he was in the bathroom shaking his head (read: flipping his hair) and he started walking out of the bathroom while he was still shaking it and he hit his head on the door frame. I'm glad he was at least smart enough to know where the dent might have come from.

Ok, I'm on a roll.  He also asked me the other day "You know how celebrities say they have a "good-side?"  (he was speaking of the side of their profile that they prefer to have photographed).  When I acknowledged that I did indeed know what he was talking about, he said, "Well, if I was a celebrity my right side would be my good side because my hair flips out on that side and looks "koo" ("Koo"is Brady's word for cool). I'm so proud that he thinks about important things like this. But as it is, I kinda like him anyway.

Who's that Girl?

It's AFTON! This is on the first day of school of her junior year.  Beauty, brains and charisma... that's her. Notice how bright it is in this picture.  It seems weird that she was on her way to seminary here.  There was the option of starting at 6:30 or 7:30 this year.  We took the latter. It's so nice.  What'll be even nicer is when Afton is able to drive herself.  We anticipate this big event will happen somewhere mid-September. 

Check the pink Vans that match the pink Hollister shirt. Life doesn't get any better than that!

The Dog Who Lived

Well, he lived 7 years anyway...
Chase was really only supposed to live for 7 months.  2 weeks before we were to get him, the breeder called and said they couldn't sell us Chase because he had a serious heart murmur.  To make a long story short, when we had contacted the breeder about getting a puppy, their next available litter was from parents with strong hunting lines.  We didn't want a hunter so we asked them to pick the one that had the most mellow temperament, which they did.  It turns out it was because he was sick.  In the end we decided to take Chase and live out his days in a good home.  But we should have known from the start we could never just do that.  We would grow attached, we would feel generous, we would be insane... but to make an even longer story short... after a few weeks we caved and Chase ended up having open heart surgery.  What?? I know... ridiculous! But that dog lived, he was healthy and he brought us much joy -- he also brought us much heartache.  Seriously, for the first 2 years of his life I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown, everyday!! Like I said the reason he was so mellow at first was because of his heart condition, but once that was fixed up he was the most intense dog on the block.  As endearing as this could be it eventually lead to his demise.  He wasn't getting any better, he was getting worse. He had broken out all of his canine teeth, his face and body were always covered in blood and scabs and scars.  The fur was permanently worn off of his nose.  His feet and nails were constantly caked in mud.  That dog hunted everything from flys, to lizards, to squirrels, and even toenails (yes, he was weird). Finally after several breakouts from the yard, putting himself and the other dogs in danger it was time to send him to a place where he could hunt and guard, and patrol all he wants to without getting hurt.

It happened while Afton and I were at Girls Camp and Kelsi and Brady were at Grandpa and Grandma Lindsey's house.  Brad made the decision -- which he hated and suffered tremendous guilt over.  But after realizing he had a long life (for a dog never expected to live past a few months) and a good life (probably better than 90% of the world's population -- we alway say, there are those in the world that would kill to live like a dog in the Meyer Family) Brad finally came to terms with his decision.  Now the hard part, getting his family to understand.  Kelsi and Brady went fairly well.  But true to Grandma Lindsey's prediction Afton and Stef were much harder.  I cried and cried and cried.  I kept thinking, "I am too old to cry this hard for this long." Everything hurt and I couldn't stop.  Finally the tears ran out even though the heartache was still there.  I'm still trying to deal with it somewhat.  Afton stalked off and wouldn't talk or listen to anyone for a couple of days.  I guess we all deal with grief in our own way.

We miss you Chase, more than we care to admit.  You are a huge part of our family.  We love you!  Go play with Mika and Trisket and save us a nice lot to build our mansion in heaven.

Here are some pictures and other random facts about Chase

Some of his Nick Names
Chubby
O.C.C. - this stands for Obsessive, Chubby, Chase
Wild Indian
Lover Boy
Chubbs
Tubby
Mr. Obsessive
Mighty Toe Nail Hunter
Fly Hunter
Chasey Boy
Buster
Pink Belly Friend
Loner
Old Man
Fat, Grumpy, Old Man
Grandpa
Nutter
Crazy Boy
Chasival
Chasey-wasey
Crazy Eyes
Goofer
Cute Head

Some Pictures

 Mika was not happy to share the last few months of her life with a puppy that was as big as she was

 Franken-dog after his heart surgery

 The dog in the blue shirt.  It was better than the cone of shame and it kept him from licking his staples

 Chase's 1st Christmas

 He even wormed his way into Grandma Meyer's heart.

 A man's best friend

 This was one of his favorite toys for a long time.

 We used to say if you were any closer, you be on the other side of me. In a minute is other paw would be up.  He just couldn't get close enough.

 Christmas Dog

 Christmas Dog with his new Christmas blanket

 He thought Heidi was a fun friend til she took a swipe at him.

 Bodie (Sowards) took a bite out of Chase on New Year's Eve day.  To avoid emergency vet bills we called our good friend and vet Jeff Moss the night before he moved to Southern California.  He was so nice to come over an stitch Chase up.  Too bad Chase chewed the stitches out the next day and we had to go pay the high vet bill anyway.

 The Cone of Shame AGAIN!

 Dance, Dance Revolution, who knew?

 Always one to comfort someone who was under the weather. (maybe it was just an excuse to get on the furniture)

 Doing what he did best - Looking for lizards

 This stupid toy was one of his favorites

 I put an enlargement of this photo on our mantle.  Troy growled and barked at it.

 Lover

 Macy came on the scene. Chase's life was never the same again.

 Dumb and Dumber

 This is one of my favorite pictures ever!!

 Teaching Macy the ropes of the lizard hunt.

 Snuggling after an exciting escapade where they got lost in a rain storm

 Awww, a smooch from Uncle Allen

 Ice was one of his favorite treats. Don't ask me why.

 Then Troy showed up. Chase's life would never be the same.

 Have you ever see so much focus?

 Chase would only get on the trampoline when the pad was around the edge. After they chewed it up, he spent most of his time on the ground.

 The 3 Stooges

 The 3 Musketeers

 Has he passed out?

 Duh?

 Chase was the king of destroying indestructible dog toys. It took him 15 minutes to finish this deed.

 One day he was guarding something in the grass. We never figured out what it was.

 We always joked that if we opened up our mouth he would climb in. That way he could be closer to us.

Comforting the sick (or squishing her)

This is probably the last picture we took of Chase.

Bye-Bye Good Boy, we'll miss you.