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I have been looking through a bunch of pictures that my Aunt Eleanor has that belonged to Granny Cook, and finding this one sure brought back some great memories.  This is the very first pet I remember having and I was probably around 4-5 years old in this picture.  The big rough looking dog was Bozo and one of the most gentle pets anyone would ever want.  He was a Chow and I loved him very much…we were the best of friends.

I remember that Granny didn’t like dogs in the house, but sometimes the door would get opened (Hmmm wonder how?) and Bozo would come walking inside and lots of times the two of us would be found underneath the dining table with Bozo sleeping and me sleeping on his back. 

I think maybe Madison got her love of dogs from me, although my Mom didn’t encourage that love very much, because she was always afraid I would get bitten.  Bozo was the only dog I really could call a pet while I was growing up and he certainly was a great pet.  He has been gone a very long time and my Uncle Clayton and Aunt Mabel were the ones to bring him to Granny and Granddad’s and I believe he is walking around on those streets of gold with them and they are all having a great time.  See ya again Bozo my friend.

I’m gonna be naughty and not tell you who this curly headed young’un is…you will just have to guess.  I will say that she was certainly having a good time even though her mom kept telling her to “be careful and don’t fall in that creek”.  For those frequent readers it won’t be hard to guess who she might be.

Madison is always trying new things as all 2 year old toddlers do.  I was in the kitchen and I heard her calling “GranGran come see what I’m doing”, so off I went to check her out.  This is what I found…Madison grinning from ear to ear and sitting in her doll bed with some of her stuffed animals and she asked that I take her picture.  I do believe she just may have inherited some of GranGran and Papaw’s love of photography (I sure hope so).  Older sissy Olivia has out-grown some of that, but I’m hoping it will come back after she gets out of that “don’t embarrass me” stage (she will be 15 in March).

If you visit this site you know that I now work part-time at our local animal shelter taking pictures of the dogs and cats and put them on the www.petfinder.com website.  Since Rick is now working I am going to have to bum a ride home sometimes and today was one of those days.  Tami and Madison came to pick me up and just so happens that we had a young Pomaranian available for adoption and as you can see, he now is a member of Olivia and Madison’s home.  He and Madison fell in love with each other immediately and as soon as Olivia got home from school, he and Olivia fell in love.  They all, along with Mom (Tami) and Dad (Rob) came to GranGran and Papaw Rick’s for supper and Shadow, as we finally named him, had a great time and so far he seems to be a very well-behaved pet.  GranGran is not usually fond of smaller dogs, but I suppose I will just have to love him anyway, because he is a sweet little critter and Papaw Rick feels the same.  Now we just have to slowly introduce him to Houdini, Pooh and Tigger and see how that works.  We will let you know in a few days how things are going.

A few days ago Madison had some fun “just a swingin’” and the same day she enjoyed sliding and peeking thru the window of her playhouse, which makes her look like she is looking through bars of a jail.  She sure is a cutie and I am having just as much fun watching her enjoy life.  Luv ya Madison !!!

After having several weeks of extremely cold weather and lots of snow, we were thrilled to finally have some warmer days.  Madison was just as thrilled because it had been a very long time since she had been able to enjoy her swing set.  We took her for a walk with Houdini and then she wanted to swing.  She sure did have a great time and Papaw Rick and GranGran Cheria had a great time watching her and snapping pictures.

We have had a lot of snow lately and you have seen some of the pictures of the fun we had during the ‘big’ snow.  I thought it might be good to remember what it was like before the snow piled on.  This picture was taken as we were traveling through the country side on Thanksgiving 2009.  The storm clouds looked worse than what they really were as far as bad weather goes, but they made for a pretty picture (in my opinion).

We have been experiencing some really cold weather this winter and normally Rick is the one that doesn’t complain, but as you can see that is not the case this year.  When we are traveling in the car he turns the heat up so high that I have trouble breathing and he is freezing in the house.  A few days ago I walked into our den where he was watching TV and this is how he was dressed…his jacket zipped with the hood on and one of Madison’s blankets around his shoulders.  I have found him looking this way several times and I’m chilly also, but with the electric bills as high as they are we will not be turning the heat up.  He will just have to look like….hhmmmm…..well…. silly???

Our family gave our Aunt Eleanor a shiny new mailbox for Christmas because her old one was about 30 years old or more and was beginning to leak.  When she opened it Madison wanted to play with it, so we put her inside and snapped this picture.  As you can see she just wasn’t as pleased as we thought she would be, but it made for a cute picture.

This past weekend we got the biggest and best snowfall that we have had in ten years and it left this area looking like a winter wonderland.  The kids decided it was time for some sledding, and you can see the result. 

Olivia and Madison had a great time in our back yard, and as you can see, Rick managed to stay on his feet while I just had fun watching them.  I don’t want any broken bones and I’m certain if I had tried sledding I would have managed to break something.