I guess it's official!!

I guess this makes it official! Missionary pictures!!!! As parents, we couldn't be any prouder of this beautiful daughter! What a blessing she is in our lives!!

She doesn't even know how stunningly beautiful she really is! (Inside and out!)

It doesn't even show that she was terrified of the humongous bee that was buzzing her the whole time these pictures were being taken! She's allergic/terrified of bees!!!

These two are "Bestest Friends Forever!!" Boy are they going to miss each other!!!!!

Aren't they beautiful?

(Have I said that enough in this post!? Well??? Aren't they??)

Our dear friend, Renee Packer took these pictures for us at a moments' notice. She does amazing work, as you can tell, and is very reasonably priced. Check out her other work on her website: Renee Packer Photography.

So proud of myself!

Sammi is VERY lucky and doesn't have to wear the traditional "missionary-type skirts" once she gets to Florida. Her mission president doesn't want them to stand out by wearing long, dark, solid-colored skirts so she gets to wear "Florida-style" skirts!! We've had fun shopping at DownEast, TJ Maxx, etc. Last night, we went to the NightOwl sale at Kohl's and found these darling "maxi skirts" with the shirred waist like we used to wear when I was her age! (Don't ya just love how the styles repeat??) They were on sale for $19.99 and then because it was almost 11:00pm, we got another 15% off! Sweet sale!!

Anyway, they were too long and she didn't like the shirred elastic waist. So, we bought them, I cut the elastic off, made them more narrow, put in a zipper and waistband. WHAALAA!!!!! Cute new Florida skirts!!!!!

(Oh ya...Sammi wanted me to be sure to post she has been doing homework all day and didn't get dressed. It's a ligitimate reason!)

Party Friday night

Friday night, we had a fun party at Dez's house (Maddi's boyfriend) with his family, a few of their friends, and our family. Dez told his family it was just a get together for Maddi's birthday and to give her birthday present. He told Maddi it was for her birthday and to open his mission call. He hadn't told his parents he had turned in his papers. Some of us knew it was it was for BOTH!! It was a lot of fun full of BIG surprises for everyone!!

MADDI'S SURPRISE!

Sammi was so excited, she was jumping up and down while she was filming this. :)

Oh ya...and we all suck at singing "Happy Birthday!" :(

DEZ'S SURPRISE!

We're so excited for Dez and know he'll be a GREAT missionary for the people of Indiana!

Maddi's surprise has been so much fun! Dez and Sammi wanted to get Maddi a puppy who would be there for her when they both leave on their missions. Little did they know when they planned this, they would be leaving two weeks apart! So...as an added remembrance of them, Sammi came up with the name "Demi" for the puppy...Dez and Sammi put together! She's adorable and Maddi is already having so much fun with her (so are the rest of us!!).

Being a puppy, she sleeps a LOT!! And...in the funniest positions! :)

She loves Charlie's "baby." Problem is...Charlie doesn't want to share!!

Once in a while, Charlie will forget he's jealous and actually begin to enjoy her!

Funny puppy! She found the big dogs can't get her if she's on the shelf of the coffee table! She naps there and takes toys there to keep them away from Libby and Charlie!

She's getting better at sleeping through the night but loves snuggling in the mornings. Maddi's been sick since we got her so they've spent a lot of time in bed together. Awwwww!!!!!!

Being a typical puppy, she finds the darnedest sleeping positions! What the picture didn't get is she was running in her sleep...on her back! It was hilarious and adorable!

Welcome to the family, Demi!

Sheepiepalooza

It's been a while since we got back from our great trip and Sheepiepalooza. It was so much fun (until Bob, Maddi, and Charlie got stranded with a broken down truck in the middle of Nebraska). It was a lot of fun watching 70-80 sheepdogs running around together, meeting other owners, and just having a good time as a family.

There were a lot of sheepies around the first night at "Sheepie-de-Mayo" held at a park not far from our hotel. We had Mexican food, an auction of "sheepie" stuff, and a lot of visiting. We kept Charlie on a leash...we just weren't sure how he'd react to a lot of dogs that looked like him!

On Saturday, we went to the Boathouse located on a lake inside the park built for the first World's Fair held in the late 1800s or early 1900s. I can't find the pictures of it but to say the least, Charlie wasn't a fan of boats or water! Our ride didn't last long.

After the boat rides, we gathered in a general area where everyone got their sheepie all decked out (in ridiculous costumes) for the "Sheepie Parade" through the park. Again, it was so much fun to see lots and lots of sheepies!

After the parade, we went to lunch in an area of St. Louis that is VERY pet/dog friendly! At the restraunt, we ate at tables on the front sidewalk and they brought each of the dogs a bucket of ice water. Charlie drank out of a Coors Light bucket for the first time...it was pretty funny!

Then, we went to a dog park. Those are so cool!!!!! I really wish they had one around here. It was edged by the freeway running to downtown St. Louis. People would stop at the light and holler at us asking what kind of dogs we had.

While we were here, we got brave and let Charlie off his leash. He was really timid at first; some of the sheepies were really grumpy and would snap at any dog that came into their space. It reminded me of taking the kids to a park when they were little and they really wanted to join in with the kids that were already playing there but didn't quite know how to go about it. He had this really timid look on his face and would keep looking at us as if asking, "Is it OK for me to go with them?" Then, he'd venture off by himself looking around the park and checking things out. Finally, he found a few new friends and had a blast! There's nothing funnier to watch than a bunch of sheepies running at full bore chasing each other with the wind blowing through their fur. So much fun!!!!!

On Sunday, we went over to Purina Farms and played around there. There were several areas: one area where we could "corral" the dogs and let them play, another area that was covered for the humans to relax and sheepies to rest, then another area for the agility competition. The whole thing was surrounded by the most beautiful green fields!

As soon as we got there, we put Charlie in the "corral" so he could relax and go potty, if necessary. We left him in there for a few minutes and wouldn't ya know it? He found a water trough! Naturally, he couldn't just get a drink from the outside of it...he had to "test" the water by getting into it! Oh Charlie!!!!!

After lunch and the competition, they let the "sub-novices" try out the agility course. The pros walked us through it step by step and talked to me about what each part was and how to encourage Charlie to do it. The first part was pretty easy for him; the "pyramid" (I don't know what it's technically called) is usually MUCH taller but they lowered it for the newbies.

Next was the "obstacle course" or whatever they call it. They're poles sticking up that the sheepies weave in between. For the newbies, they linked them together with wire which herded the dog through them. Charlie threw a FIT going into them. Judi had to push him and I had to go all the way into them to pull him through. We made him go through them twice just to get him used to it. He was really grateful when we were done. Afterward, Maddi realized why he wouldn't do it on his own: the wire reminded him of the fence we have around the flower beds at home! He didn't want to get zapped!!!!! Poor Charlie!!!!!

The next part was easy! Judi said he was surprisingly good at the balancing beam because he's so big! YAY!!!!

We were encouraged to attend Sheepiepalooza by a friend of mine that I met through the Old English Sheepdog forum, Stephanie Jones. She's the one who sent me the stuffed animal last summer for my classroom. We were so excited to finally meet and get our sheepies together. Here's Charlie and his new buddy, Winston.

Bob, Michelle, Maddi, Charlie, Sammi, Winston, Stephanie, and Stephen

We had a GREAT time! It was fun to be with others who love Sheepies and to see how Charlie's behavior is part of the breed...not just a ding-dong doggie. More than anything else, it was fun to spend time together and make memories!!