Congratulations!

Congratulations to our friends Jacob & Alicia who welcomed their first baby boy, Isaiah into the world on Thursday. And double-congrats to Alicia who did it all-natural! crazy!

Oh yes ...

... we are those people who dress their dog up for halloween. While I was at the store searching for the things I needed for MY bumblebee costume, I found this doggie version for 6 bucks! Surprisingly, Aster didn't seem to mind too much. I think that's because he didn't know how funny he looked!

Top 10

Top 10 reasons to have a dog
10.) Unlike kids, they don't talk back
9.) When you come home after a long, maybe bad day, doggie is always excited to see you
8.) They make us get off our butts and take walks
7.) They cock their heads and look at you like, "what the F are you talking about crazy person?"
6.) Doggies don't care if you walk around the house naked (I honestly don't think they notice)
5.) They make that noise between a bark, a yawn, and a whine when they want your attention, it is so cute
4.) When you throw something, they bring it back. Husbands don't do that.
3.) They're smart and can truly understand what we are saying..."cookie", "do your business", etc
2.) Doggie kisses
1.) Doggies love their people no matter what - and that feels awesome

Fall Fun

We love to take walks in the park and we love that our dog does too.

And he loves to eat sticks....seriously eat them, not just chew. He's crazy.

Leaves. Lots, and lots of leaves. This is just the first dump. Yikes!

Birthday Party in Style

For Grandpa Ball's 80th birthday party - we partied in style. This past Saturday, Zac's family piled in a limo (sweet) and had a traveling dinner in Cleveland. Pier W on the west side and Johnny's downtown. YUM!

Grandpa refused a birthday cake at the restaurant because there were pies waiting back at the house. Instead, he got a lone candle. Clever server indeed.

Uncle John and Aunt Marty after a few glasses of wine!

Well, you know

The Birthday boy

Uncle Wendell, the master planner.

Make Me Super

Makemesuper.com - must go. It's too funny!
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=2_0daa3-130352-f-Carrie

the mom thing

Below is an excerpt from my cousin Chad's monthly prayer letter. This excerpt, written by Eva, is about her first experiences as a mom. I thought it was beautiful.

"Nine days after the official due date, we FINALLY went into labor - late Friday night. I was a little bit nervous, but mostly excited because I knew that the next time we’d be home there would be THREE of us! Around 8 Saturday morning my doctor came into our delivery room and said that we needed to do a C-section. Every time I had a contraction the baby's heart rate would drop real low (it is normally between 120 and 140 - it would drop all the way down to 60). I was disappointed that we weren’t able to have a “normal” birth and pretty scared about what was to come next – but I wanted to do whatever it took to deliver a healthy baby.

So, we ended up having an emergency C-section. Minus throwing up the chocolate ice cream I had earlier that night all over Chad, the surgery was a success and at 8:41am, Brooklynn Taylor Frank was born. She was perfectly healthy, weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces, and was 20 inches long. (Afterward the doctor said it was a good thing he did the C-section - her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck AND the cord was real thin. If she would have been born normally her cord might have torn on her way out...)

It’s crazy how quickly Brooklynn stole my heart. When I was in the operating room all strapped down to the table, I couldn't see what was going on during the surgery because there was this huge hospital sheet in the way. But since I was awake for the whole thing (they just numb you from the stomach down), I could still at least hear everything. I will never forget the instant that I heard her first cry – I started to cry myself because I was so immediately and overwhelmingly in love. It makes me tear up just thinking about it now. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much - all in that very first second (without even seeing her!). I was nervous about being a mom. I didn't know if I'd know what to do...or how to feel...but, it turns out that this is by far the greatest thing I have ever done! I love being a mom...and I'm absolutely crazy about Brooklynn....

I’ve always heard people say that being a parent allows you to relate to God on a whole new level. Now, just a couple weeks into it, I’m beginning to see what they mean. I would do ANYTHING for that little girl. But, what really blows my mind is that these feelings are still just a fraction of the way that God feels about us. He loves us more than I can ever really know. I’m so thankful that He’s given me the opportunity to have a baby and experience Him in a whole new way."

1 year

Yesterday was my 1-year anniversary of working at hfa. Time flies when you're constantly busy! Overall, I'm really liking my job. Some days, I feel like having a nervous breakdown, others it's all good. Let's hope today is one of the good ones.

Doggies

So the last few weeks have been pretty crazy. To add to the chaos, Zac and I have been thinking about getting another dog. There are so many dogs out there that need fostered and adopted, we definitely don't want to buy from a pet store this time.  I've been doing some searching on the internet, and found a dog that we really liked, but after further thinking about it, we decided we probably won't adopt that one. He was really skittish an I'm afraid we wouldn't have enough time to devote to training and being with him. But on the happy side, I went in to Petsmart on Saturday and ... what do you know...Paws and Prayers rescue had a bunch of dogs outside and there was one in particular who I fell in love with. The girl said she just found him on the side of the street a few days ago. They're still checking to make sure no one is looking for him and they'll take him to the vet, but I hope we hear from them soon. The dog they call Scruffy would make a great buddy for Aster. : ) 

I'm off work today, but not necessarily on vacation. I've got one appointment after another. Hey, at least it's going to be a beautiful day. 

The latest

Yes. I am a pathetic blogger. I blame it on my bad habit of never remembering to bring my camera. A blog posting without pictures just isn't the same. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So anyway over the past few weeks...

We visited cousin Chad, Eva and baby Brookelynn introducing them to the wonderfulness of Swenson's. The baby is the cutest little thing...too bad I had a head cold so I refused to hold her so I wouldn't infect with my germies.

Zac and I helped my dad put a new roof on the barn. Well, Zac helped, I watched and grilled hot dogs for lunch. I also helped my sister create some doohickys for her 6th-grade class. Too hard to explain...but the end product included hot glue, nails and big nuts from my dad's hardware collection. fun times.

Zac had two shows in the past few weeks. The first was for the Veteran's at the Cuyahoga Falls Riverfront. There was a good turnout, but when the wind really started to blow, I think it made people nervous. This was the same night as the big wind storms. Our trees and yard came out okay. Aster the disaster had a great time dragging the sticks all over the yard. Crazy dog.

Last night, Zac's band had their CD release party at Musica. They did awesome. But most notably, I had one of those aha moments where I am reminded why I am madly in love with my husband. The details are too mushy, but in short....he's awesome.