ONE YEAR OLDER AND WISER TOO

Brandon's birthday came during a very busy time for us this year! The Bohney's had just arrived and we were also preparing for the puppy!!! I also had the opportunity to speak in church that Sunday. So not only was I unable to make him breakfast that day (one of our traditions), or dinner that night, but he was also left to make his very own birthday cake!!!

He chose a strawberry lemonade cake.

 

This was a perfect cake for the summertime. Light, fluffy, with a bit of tang to it!!!

 

We invited our families over, but the Bohney's made up the biggest part of the group. It was really fun to visit, eat cake, and then see Brandon's reaction to his Boise State shirt...

Dawson though it was the best!

 Chase and Dawson trying out the new wear for Brandon!

Happy birthday babe! I love you so much and hope that you had the best day!!! Next year, I will make it up to you ... breakfast, dinner, and cake!

OUR PICK

We were so excited to go and see all 5 puppies. They are miniature labradoodles. We really had to work to contain our energy. The breeders had a large basket that they brought all 5 in. All too adorable. Here's what we noticed.

Pink girl: Immediately went to Faith and was snuggling.

Purple girl: She would yap and bark at each of the other puppies. It was as if she was pushing all of the buttons of the other puppies. She was the runt, so that might have been part of it as well.

Blue boy: Probably going to be the biggest of the group of puppies. He was the only one that would play fetch and was going up the stairs to one of the kids. Very interactive.

Green boy: A good mix of all of them, but not a snuggler. Fur was more of a poodle than lab.

Orange boy: He hid in the corner behind the green chair and got under the checker dresser. Twice! But he let me hold him like a baby and that was fun.

So, how do you decide? We decided to go through the process of elimination, since we felt like that would be the easiest. First one to go? Purple girl. She was a little trouble maker. The next one to go was Blue boy. I felt like he probably had one of the highest energy. We didn't want a dog that had more energy than we had. After talking for a little bit with the kids, we realized that Orange boy was the worst pick of the liter for us. He hid and avoided us ... which dogs that age should not be doing. So after that we were left with Pink girl and Green boy. We decided that each of our family would circle pink or green. Everyone voted for pink except for Dawson. But he was okay with our pick. So, we decided on this good looking puppy!

We can't wait until we get to take her home! It's like Christmas around here...

TFIOS

Faith and I planned a girls day with some other friends. When they were not able to come, we decided we would still head to this movie - The Fault in our Stars. It is Faith's all time favorite book. She read it 19 times in 3 weeks. It was a book that I recommended to her. I loved it.

Here is our selfie before the movie started! Faith LOVES selfies!!!

And, of course, we had to bring a lot of tissues.

Faith's review: It was incredibly true to the bok, which surprised me. John Green, the author was allowed to go behind the scenes with the actors and director, which is rare. Josh Boone (director) thank you very much for staying so true to the book that there are book quotes, the places look the same as they did in the book, and the outfits were the same and it was AMAZING. Shailene Woodley did such an amazing job of portraying Hazel and it felt as if she was the character instead of trying to be the character. Ansel Elgort was a great actor too and I loved that portrayed the pain and loss of not being able to do things by yourself. I loved that they didn't need to look cool all the time, and that's the truth. Like (SPOILER ALERT) when Augustus dies, pain is etched into Hazel's face and she sobs heartbroken sobs and grabs her mother for the support she needs. Also, before that, when she goes to pick Augustus up in the middle of the night because he wanted a pack of cigarettes, he has blood dripping from his mouth and his face is, also, etched with pain. Overall, its a very splendid, fantabulous, and AWESOME movie that everyone should watch. (READ THE BOOK FIRST!)(:

Did we cry? Yes!!! From now on, I think that I will choose to watch the sad movies at home so that I can pause ... blow my nose ... and continue to watching great stuff! Thank you, Faith, for coming to the movie with me! Okay? Okay.

FALLING IN LOVE

I really can't believe how much the puppies have changed in a couple of weeks. 5 1/2 weeks old right now! I think that they are even cuter than before. We are excited to pick out our puppy and make final preparations before the official adoption day!!!

We are also still debating on names, so if you have any to add to the mix, please comment and give us some  ideas. Christmas is getting so close!!! We know we are going to love our chog!

CHOOSING AND WAITING

Who knew that we would have such a hard time choosing? The puppies are growing fast! Here they are at 3 weeks old!

We continue to watch videos about dog training with the family. Faith and Brandon like them the most. Brandon also went to visit 3 local vets this week so that we have one ready to go when we come back with the newest member of the family.

Brandon admitted that he was having such a hard time. I laughed and said that it must be similar to what kids experience at Christmas time. All that waiting feels like an eternity!