Emily's First Campfire

Last Friday, July 17, 2009, we met friends Shannon and family at the campgrounds in Central City for some fun and a campfire. Lynn rode up with us and thankfully helped keep me awake on the ride home. Shannon's family was staying the night at the campgrounds, but we were just there to party.

Unfortunately, it was very cold out. Since it is July, we didn't think we would ever need a snowsuit for Emily. So we bundled her up.Lynn said "Hey, we match!" We didn't do that on purpose.

Lynn trying to get Emily to wave to the camera.

Shannon, her daughter, Katelyn and her stepson, Dalton.

Katelyn and Shannon's son, Shaun, with Emily.

Katelyn said she wanted a baby sister and Shaun didn't know what to say!

Emily and Her Best Friend

Emily has really taken notice to all of the dogs and she loves watching them. They are her puppies. She giggles at everything they do and they all LOVE helping clean her up after eating or spitting up. Emily's puppies are Daisy, miniature pinscher, 8 years old; Molly, lab mix, 5 years old, and Killannie, greyhound, 5 years old.

Killannie was adopted from Quad Cities Greyhound Adoption, which we are members of. I can't remember her racing name but through old records on the National Greyhound website, we found that Killannie was a distant relative of our precious Marsha who died a year ago of bone cancer. That was one of the many reasons we decided to adopt Killannie. I wasn't too thrilled with the spelling of her name, but I figured there must be a reason for it. In doing some research, I found that the spelling "Kalani" means Heaven in Hawaiian. I loved this as she is our little bit of Heaven. Kevin only liked it. He didn't want to change the spelling of her name and now calls her "Killer Killannie", though we pronounce it "Kalani".

Killannie is a little skittish around everyone. She's skittish around us and around new people; skittish around the cat and skittish around her shadow. If we raise our voice even a little she runs and hides. It is sometimes an inconvenience but we've tried to be patient with her because we love her.

In setting up this picture, I was trying not to be nervous as animals can tell when you're nervous. Here I was putting my four month old down next to a dog that might jump up and run away at any second. And I was going to get a picture of it.

Killannie was so relaxed with Emily leaning on her. It was a beautiful sight.
BFFA

Three Month Pictures

Emily had some really great pictures done when she was 3 months old by Erin Morrison of Nature's Grace Photography. Unfortunately when I try to post them here, they turn out to be really small and you can't see any details. If you would like to see the pictures, email me and I will send you a link to them. Sigh....you gotta love technology....

Emily is 4 Months Old!

It's hard to believe Emily is four months old already. It seems like she's been in our lives forever.

This cute little outfit is from Shannon and Katelyn. When Shannon told me I could have it for Emily to wear, I was so happy because it is adorable. Shannon has given us lots of very cute outfits as hand-me-downs from Katelyn and to, as Shannon puts it, "To get them out of my house!" So, when I saw this outfit, I was especially excited because it is so darned cute. Then Shannon said, "But I want it back for Katelyn's memory quilt." My first thought was damn it. I don't want to give it back. It's too cute. My next thought was what a great idea. After all, what do you do with all of those too cute to give away baby clothes when your baby is all done with them. A memory quilt, of course.

Emily is still not really thrilled about sitting up on the couch to have her picture taking, so here she is kind of slouching while I'm trying to get a good shot of the dress to compare with Katelyn in the dress.

So, I put her in the bouncy chair (which she loves) hoping to elicit a smile. No such luck.

More like, she's going to eat the dress. No worries, Shannon, I've got the dress in the laundry! :)

Emily was still not thrilled when Daddy picked her up but I liked that their outfits matched.

Fourth of July 2009

July 4, 2009 - Coralville, Iowa - Rainy and Cold!

Needless to say, we did not participate in the Coralville Fourth of July Parade with the greyhounds. Instead, Emily went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a little fun with a new friend:

Emily had such a good time watching and playing with toys. We were amazed at how well she held her head up at just four months of age.

When we got home, Emily had to pose in her Fourth of July bib from Aunt Jenn and her adorable dress. It looks like she's waving, but I don't think so.


Soon after we were done playing dress up, Emily fell fast asleep in her favorite spot - the Boppy.

And when the fireworks started, we didn't hear a thing. Emily's first Fourth of July was spent playing with toys and trying on new clothes. She missed out on the best parade and fireworks. Oh well, there's always next year!

Fun Foto Friday Baptism Pictures

If you think it's easy to get a 3 month old into a 104 year old gown that was made for a newborn, go ahead and try it.....

Trek Fest 2009 With The Greyhounds

As part of the Quad Cities Greyhound Adoption group, part of my job is to coordinate parades.

This year our first parade was Trek Fest in Riverside, Iowa on June 27, 2009.

Riverside is supposedly the future birthplace of Captain James Kirk.

People come to Trek Fest from all over the United States. They really LOVE their Star Trek and have many interesting facts that the non-Trekkie would know nothing about. We have learned a lot this year about Star Trek.

This is a picture of our float. The pictures are of dogs that are up for adoption. If you are interested in seeing any of the up close, check out the website http://www.gcgrehoundadoption.com/. Also, note the picture in the top middle. It's a ball created by Jay from Sportraits and gifted to Axel and his adoptive family. Axel is a wonderful, playful boy who is looking for a forever home. Also check out Jay's website for some exciting ways to show of your child's (two legged or four legged) accomplishments. Better than a trading card, I guarantee!

The back of the float, designed by Matt Hampson who designed Jay's website. Matt did an awesome job designing our float and we ended up winning 4th prize (and, yes, there were more than just 4 floats in the competition!)
Special thanks to:

Audrey (Grandma) and Jamie who sewed all of the greyhound costumes.

The people and they greyhounds/families who showed up to participate in the parade: Jamie and Dash Sharp; Anne and Beth Myles and their friend Margaret (who came up with all of the phrases on the greyhound costumes; Kathy, Abe, Lacy and Minute Droll with their foster sister, Cindy, who will soon be rehomed with Jamie and Dash; Matt, Shannon, Katelyn and Shaun Hampson for the great pictures (soon to come) and supporting us even though they don't have a dog; Shawn (for driving the float), Kendra, Taryn and Cael Walsh for supporting us even without a greyhound; Dwayne and Tammy Burdick for the use of the trailer as a float; and us, Kris and Kevin and Killannie.

Taryn and Kendra fixing Minute's costume.

Cindy, who is tiny...



Beth, who really is a clingon!



My buddy, Abe. Such a big boy!

Awesome girl Lacy

Killannie as Captain Kirk

Beautiful Dash

A Star Trek fan with Killannie

I hope to soon add more pictures that Shannon took of the actual parade.

All in all, it was a hot, muggy, miserable, too-hot-to-be-outside day but we had fun and hopefully someone will think about adopting a greyhound for their next companion.