Hello again...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We're in Arkansas right now visiting family. Nathan's grandmother passed away a week ago Sunday so we came up here a week earlier than we'd planned. We're here for 3 weeks now. Aside from sad days we've had since his "Memaw's" passing we've had a good time seeing everyone here. We've not been up here since Christmas so it was nice to come back for a good long visit.

I don't have long to write so I've got to keep it short. I have to tell you this one funny story that happened to us since we've been here...

We got to my parents house this past Saturday afternoon and when we drove up there was this little dog that walked up to our car. (My parents have never actually OWNED a dog however there have been several that have taken up residence at their house since I was a kid. They seem to feel welcomed here however you would not call either of my parents "animal lovers"~that is unless it MOOs!) This little dog is a cross between a Jack Russell and either a Corgi or a Dachshund. It has a fairly stocky body and would be an average sized dog but it walks on 2 1/2 inch legs. When I got out of the car, I just looked at this "so ugly it's cute" little dog and said to Nathan "What is that?!" It actually belongs to a neighbor from down the road (my parents live out in the sticks so there are no close neighbors really, or streets for that matter...just dirt and half paved roads.) Anyway, this dog belonged to him, the neighbor, but he works out of town or something and isn't home much to take care of it. So it has been hanging out here at their house for the past couple months.

My girls are just absolutely CRAZY about this dog and to be honest, the rest of us are pretty partial to it as well. It has the sweetest disposition and personality. It loves my girls and plays with them but won't jump up on them and isn't hyper as a normal Jack Russell breed is. He minds very well and is just a great little dog. (NO, we're NOT bringing it home with us...trust me the topic has come up several times from my girls! I like this dog but not as my own.) My girls get up every morning and look outside to see if "Jack" (whose real name is Cooter but we prefer to call him Jack for obvious reasons) is still outside. He has been every day and ready to play with them. They go out first thing, still in their pajamas to pet Jack and throw a ball for him.

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon Taylor, Nathan and I had walked across the pasture to my Dad's pond to fish for a while. ~and of course, Jack came with us. Nathan and Taylor decided to get into a little aluminum, flat bottomed boat and fish in it for a while. Jack and I stayed on the bank and fished from there. After a while I guess Jack decided that he wanted in the boat. So this little dog, goes swimming out to the middle of the pond and Nathan has to pick him up out of the water and put him in the boat. ha! It was so funny.

Later on they paddled over and I got into the boat with them. So all four of us are in this little boat, Taylor and Jack watching Nathan and I fish. Jack came up and was sitting beside me and as I reeled my bait in he saw it and jumped half into my lap and acted like he was going to lunge out and grab my bait on the end of my pole. So when I felt him do that, I took my elbow and tried to elbow him back into the seat. Instead, I elbowed him right off the seat and into the pond! He went under and wasn't coming back up! Taylor was screaming "Daddy, get him!!" Nathan was yelling "Why did you do that?!!" I was yelling "I didn't mean to just get him!!" All the while we could see Jack under the surface of the water paddling his little 2 inch legs for all he was worth but not making it to the top of the water. Nathan reached and reached and finally was able to grab hold of his muzzle and pull him closer to the boat but then he lost his grip on him. All this time, Jack has never broken the surface of the water...Taylor and I are still screaming. Finally Nathan caught hold of one of his legs and pulled him out of the water and into the boat. He had been under water for at least ten to fifteen seconds. Poor Jack coughed and sneezed up water for the next several minutes and then seemed to be okay. Taylor grabbed hold of him and said "Oh Jack, I was so scared for you! I thought my Mama had killed you!" ha!

Needless to say, Jack wouldn't sit by me the rest of the time we were in the boat. He sat really close to Nathan and even jumped up into his lap and laid his head on Nathan's chest. ha. He's doing fine now and is still playing with the girls everyday...however he doesn't get very close to me without lowering his body to the ground sheepishly and cowering down. Poor thing.

Well, that's all for now. Don't know if I'll be able to post again before we get back home on the 15th, but I should have plenty to blog about by then. Talk to you again soon!