Dear Family and Friends,

We did it again. This weekend we got our 3rd lab, a 6 year old rescue dog named Rocky. We've talked about getting a dog when Robyn started school and then this last week one of my friend's daughters said that Utah lab rescue had the perfect dog for us named Petey. Jeremy with great grace, as he had no real desire for a dog gave into pleadings to consider it. Petey ended up having a deep hatred for cats which we knew would not work. We told the head lady of the society exactly what we wanted and she found us a great match with a dog named Rocky. His family had to move out of state and couldn't take him with them so he was given to the rescue society to find him a new home. We drove up to meet him Sat morning and explained to the kids how this might not be "the dog" but that we would check him out. Of course they all agreed and then a minute after meeting him Spencer and Allison are both saying "this is the one, this is him". His original family had moved Friday and had left him at a kennel where we met him so he was a little excited when first let out. He gave Robyn a big lick on her face and with her thinking all dogs were tiny chiwowa like our neighbor's she was very tense and scared about the situation. They offered to let us have him for the weekend to make sure he was a good fit before we officially adopted him. We continued on to pick up some tile for our basement shower and while waiting in the parking lot Robyn fell in love with him as he would crunch on any stick she gave him. Now she just mauls him and follows him around everywhere.

Rocky is 86 pounds, a black english style lab. He is in great health although a few pounds heavier than is good. He is extremely mellow and is greatly driven by food from what we have seen so far. He already knows to spread out next to Robyn or Taylor's chair. With Taylor every time Taylor's arm sweeps his tray looking for food he perks up ready to lap up any spills. He doesn't respond the greatest to commands like sit or stay but we plan to work on it. He did bark once during the middle of the night at some noise outside but besides that is quiet. He does sniff anyone new and licks their hand but doesn't jump or take off if the door opens. He leaves the plants and trees alone and doesn't seem to dig (although he did bury a bone under our porch today). All our kids are in love with him but Spencer is besotted. He got up this morning early ready for church and took Rocky for a walk, scooped his poop, put him in a crate with a toy and was just thrilled after church to run home and play with him. Rocky doesn't really want to play catch yet but Spencer is working on him. He is not a running dog but more wants to walk along and be with you for whatever you are doing. Robyn treats him like a small horse and thinks she should go for rides on him. I think he will be a great (and messy) addition to our family and will provide a lot of fun for our kids. Last night we had him sleep inside and he wasn't too content, and kept going to the garage door and slept in front of it. So we're going to see if he likes sleeping in the garage better for tonight.

That really is the biggest news of the week. A lot of other odds and ends made up the rest. I went in Tuesday to finish re filming a bunch of the Lincoln school video. Jeremy and I stayed up late re-doing the video and the end result was much better. Jeremy took time off Thursday to go show it for the assembly and I ran over to see it as well. I think the kids really liked it but the last 1/4 of the video couldn't be heard as kids were just non-stop cheering for each teacher that appeared. A bit disappointing in a way as we worked hard on all the audio but hopefully they will play it again so the teachers can hear all the comments.

Taylor got measured for new daffo braces this week. He has really grown - hence all the stretch marks on his legs. His new daffos are going to be bigger and more involved to help him not walk crouched over with his knees in front of his toes. I talked a lot with his current teacher this week about his school situation for next year. We decided that the regular junior high with the life skills classroom is the best bet for now although a lot of changes will have to be made for it to work - with a seemingly pretty inflexible teacher. But we'll figure it out. We can always fall back to the 100% disabled school by us but I really don't like it and once you're in, its hard to get out.

Spencer went and had a filling replaced this week. He is a pretty old hand at it now and just goes in, lays down, and takes his shot like a man. They shaved part of his chipped front tooth and will keep working on it to smooth it out for him. At school this week he and a large group of boys were all riding their skateboards, waves etc on the playground before school. Spencer "says" he thought the rule was only no boards in the school building not on the play ground as well. I take that with a grain of salt. Regardless they all had their boards confiscated and were told they couldn't bring them back to school for the rest of the year. So Spencer is back to walking. This week the weather couldn't tell if it was winter or spring as one minute it would be a blizzard and the next there would be sunshine. So I got a few desperate calls to pick him up when snow would fly and he would be in shorts. He has spent his afternoons looking up "how to do tricks" videos on skateboards and bikes and then going out to try the tricks.

With the warmer weather, as Jeremy puts it, I have entered into the spring fix-up stage. I have been tearing out weeds, moving bushes around, and attacking the dandelion rampage going on in our lawn. Robyn and her friends are having tea parties out there whenever the sun shines. I went and got the wood needed for our raspberry trellis and the sandbox. Now we just need to actually build them. I planted 5 sticks of raspberries that look a little pathetic at the moment. They are gold raspberries so I am hoping to find some red one to plant as well. I started digging the holes for the fence posts and after inches thought that was good enough but knew before Jeremy shook his head that a pick-ax would have to get involved. Jeremy got the screws needed to attach them to the boxes, we just need to finish the holes first.

Jeremy had a friend want him to do a side project. Jeremy isn't taking on new projects anymore so to sweeten the deal he gave us an imac. So now I have this big honking screen in our kitchen and we have a fear of Robyn waving keys in front of it! It is pretty nice although it feels extravagant. Jeremy likes that he can do all his stuff on it as well.

Allison continues to just enjoy life. As I drop her off for kindergarten she calls out to any classmate she meets up with and is busy chatting away with who ever it is as they walk into their classroom. She has play dates, birthday parties, new dresses to design for her dolls and stuffed animals - life is always busy and happy for her especially if a friend is involved.

Hope all is well with everyone and love to you all, Heather