Molly

We had a bad scare while Molly was living here.  She was down in her crate while mom was running an errand with the kids, and when they got home Josiah ran down and lifted her out.  She yelped and was unable to walk when he put her down.  This was Saturday afternoon and Mom would have had to wait until Monday to bring her to the Boothbay vet, so she went to an animal ER an hour away Sunday morning where she was told Molly would never walk again.  We were all devastated and Josiah felt the crushing weight of responsibility.  He was so grieved.  Monday, Logan and I were at work so Mom had to bring the kids with her to the Boothbay vet where she wanted to get a second opinion.  Dr. Domeyer told mom to bring Josiah in so he could tell him that he didn't hurt Molly.  It was the result of years of jumping and it could have happened at anytime.  Dachshunds are notorious for back injuries.  He also said that with bed rest, she may recover.  She did in fact recover after two weeks and has been doing great (I'm catching up on the blog, writing this now in January 2016).  We are all careful to lift her rather than let her jump or go up and down stairs by herself.  It was very scary for mom, though, to think she might lose her little baby!  And we were so grateful that Dr. Domeyer relieved Josiah's conscience - he's the best vet!

During recovery, Molly wore diapers and got carted around in a dog stroller.  What a life!

August snapshots, nights out with friends, and the boys first football practice

Walter is a cutie!

Had a fun night out with Kimberly, Lisa and Jen.  Dinner at Boathouse Bistro and then over to Redcup Coffeehouse to hear Amber sing.

Art in process:

I tried to bring the kids over to Barrett's Park to swim at least a couple times a week during the hot months this summer.

Papa gave the boys a four-wheeler, which they have a lot of fun riding around with Ashton on his.

Enjoying the beach on Southport:

I went on my first Reggae Cruise with my buddy Eve!

Snapped this picture while cleaning in Bristol: 

 

The boys begged and begged to play football, and I really did not want them to for fear of concussions and jock culture.  But it was hard to say no and they wore me down!  When I said yes and they went to their first practice, neither one of them could sleep well for a few days.  Ben kept getting up and whispering questions about football to us in the middle of the night. Here they are in their gear for the first time:

Misc summer pics from Logan's phone

The kids spent a lot of time with Logan this summer as I was working on weekends while he was home.  During week days they were always either with Papa or Grandma and sometimes also with me on cleaning jobs.  I grabbed these pics from Logan's phone:

 

They had a Lego Building Competition:

Logan got these pics of Emily, me and Melissa after  concert at the Congo church:

They spent lots of afternoons swimming and boating at CIW:

Daddy made Ben happy with a mohawk:

We went bowling for Father's Day (and look who won!):

Logan and I spent a night in Portland for our 11th anniversary:

Nighttime snuggles:

Out to eat with Daddy:

At Georgia's 5th birthday party:

With the new sailfish:

Boating with Papa

And watching the Blue Angels from across the street from the Navy Base.

Shawn and Shelly's Wedding

Our neighbors got married and it was such a joy to celebrate with them!  Their wedding was at the Railway Village and everything was just beautiful.

Shelly and Shawn

I didn't realize Ashton was behind us! :)

With our other neighbors, Dan and Pat! :)