Fireman's Jubilee 2008

In Carrolltown we have a parade for most every occasion, Halloween, the fourth, memorial and things like the fireman's jubilee. They hold a big event every summer to raise money for their volunteer fire company. So this year was Matthew's first time riding in the parade (s) and not only a regular parade on Sunday but a "Tractor Parade" on Saturday! He rode Gimme on Saturday and 'Tater the Blind Wonder Horse" on Sunday. It was so very exciting to see him dressed so nice and up there with Trish, Andy and the gang. After the parade on Saturday, we ended up at the stables where Matthew and Mom tried out every horse, including a "Paso Fino" horse which Mom THOROUGHLY enjoyed because of his smooth gait and which Matthew kept trying to coax into a full out gallop, not usual for this kind of horse. Trish and Andy have been so great to Matthew and I am thrilled to have him be a part of Monastery Stables! Thank you Trish!!

It was a memorable day. Alex again marched with the band (nice pic of Alex AND Fina) and Jasper and I helped with poop detail.

Mother's return

Mom finally came home today!! I couldn't wait to have here home again. Bawled like a baby when I hugged her and kept sputtering and telling her how much I missed her. She is really a wonderful mom to put up with all my crap and God knows that I am hard on her but I TOTALLY adore her! Her trip to DE didn't go too well so I am again glad she has returned....Only to find that we have yet another kitty!!!


This is Smokey Joanna, she is a barn cat we got from Monastery stables, and as you can see by the pics, she is in pretty rough shape at about 7 weeks. Took her to vet today, she has a upper resp. thing going on, round worms, an open sore, mites and fleas. She is the sweetest most lovey kitty, even more so than Stache!! Matthew talked us into it, and we just saw a bitty kitty that needed some attention. Well, Mom and all of us love her to pieces. She will be staying with Mom for a week or so until we can clear up the respiratory congestion- very contagious. After her first dose of worm meds she lost some of her "fat belly" and will continue to over the course of the next few weeks. We will just keep a good eye on her and try to build her up and give her lots of loving! Oh yea, I found a couple of female newfies in the area for sale too.....Uh oh! I may eliminate all my friends as our zoo continues to grow :-)

Happy Birthday Matthew and Alex

Can you believe that the boys are now 13 and 16? Per usual, too busy to do much of anything and friends all out of town so just us! We still owe Alex a cake but we will wait for Gram to come home cuz we know how much she likes DQ cake.

And here are the boys with their new toys!!!!!
Yes, Dad sprung for three new dirt bikes to bring the family together and REALLY give mom more gray hair! They have been enjoying them immensely- ALL the boys!