Charlie

At the beginning of the year we kind of talked about getting a dog for Darren, we knew he was scared of dogs but we felt like he was doing better and was ready to have a little furry friend. We talked to Teresa (my awesome sister in law) and she found us a cute little poodle at an animal shelter. They were awesome! This is the first picture we got of Charlie (his name at the shelter was Calvin)

His hair... Oh my gosh the hair... it was long and matted, he looked like a worn out mop! But he was sweet and cute and I loved him since I saw this picture. For the first week or so he stayed with Robbie and Teresa and on March 19 grandpa finally brought him home! Darren did great, he gave him water and tried to play with him, he's never been afraid of him and now he seems to love almost every dog (as long as they are not mean and bark to Charlie).
Charlie is the sweetest boy, he doesn't really like to cuddle but he kisses us a lot (especially Daniel in the mornings) he sleeps very well on his own bed in our bedroom. We got a doggie door so he goes in and out when he wants too. Charlie loves other dogs, his toys and to be chased, most of all he loves to go for walks and run freely at the park. He also loves riding in the car and sticking his head out the window.
After two long weeks we finally got his hair cut and a good bath. We didn't realize how SKINNY he was under all that hair!

Seriously it looked like they gave us the wrong dog at Petsmart! Darren wasn't very happy, he liked him fluffy but we explained him that Charlie needed a good hair cut so that we can take care of his new hair. He was just this giant head on a tiny little body :)

Here are a few more pictures of our new baby boy:

Yesterday we took Darren and Charlie to the park to get some pictures taken for our next Christmas card...YES, we are doing it in October because I knew the weather would be nice and warm. I didn't want to drag Darren in the middle of winter to be miserable and whine non stop, besides, do you know how complicated is to keep a white poodle clean?? His paws are constantly brown, black and green; we take him to the pet groomer about every 6 weeks. IT'S EXPENSIVE TOO! But it's OK, we love him and I much rather do that than have dog hair all over my house and my clothes all the time. We think Darren is allergic to dog hair but so far he does well with our cute poodle (yes, we know he is a "hypoallergenic breed").

Here are some pictures from our day at the park :)

I love my family :)

Welcome to 4th Grade!

Well, here we go again. It's the start of a new school year...They seem to go faster and faster as we approach Junior High. Does anyone know how to slow down time?
I love having Darren at home, he keeps me company and makes me smile (drives me crazy too sometimes) but I feel a lot of peace when he's around and I know he's safe.
We had a great Summer together (even though I was sick for a couple of weeks). We made it to the swimming pool, Lagoon, the Dinosaur Park, the Hogle Zoo, Boondocks, Toads, Park City, the Planetarium, the movies, walking Charlie, parades, LOTS of fun playdates with his good friend Ryker and LOTS of video games. Yes, we even had those days when he didn't change his pajamas until noon and we didn't care to make his bed :)

But now the time has come for a much needed routine and new adventures.

I'm really confident that this year will be a good one for him. We will miss Mrs. Chugg, she did a fantastic job with him but I trust that he was able to develop new skills that will make 4th grade a good one. He has a lot of familiar faces in his classroom and I'm thrilled about that.
My wish for Darren is that he remembers to believe in himself when things get tough. I want him to know that he doesn't need to be like the other kids... I don't want him to be like the others. He has a bright future ahead of him because he IS different and I will always love him because of that.

"A teacher

affects eternity;

He can never

tell where his

influence stops."

  -Henry Adams

Thank you Darren for being my GREATEST teacher. Have a great school year!
We love you :)