Thumper Ann

Thumper started showing signs of something wrong last Tuesday night. She was having difficulty jumping up and down from her spot on the couch. Shell went home to check on her Wednesday and decided it was time to take her to the Vet. They told her that Thumper had some sort of back injury and that they should take her to the CSU Vet hospital as soon as possible. Of course being the awesome parents they are, Shell and Rich rushed Thumps up to Ft. Collins and left her there in the care of some really great people. Everyone fell in love with Thumps. She was a precious pup, so it wasn't hard to understand why. They took her in to surgery early Thursday morning, and the update was that it was a textbook case of disc protrusion and that the surgery went very well. No one suspected any reason why Thumper should not recover just fine, after 4-6 months of intense (for Thumper AND her parents) rehab. Shell and Rich were now facing with Thumper more recovery time than MoJo had for his injury, which they were MORE than willing to go through...

However, as always, God's plans do not always mesh with human plans. Precious Tumpalump (as I called her) went to Doggy Heaven late Saturday night after coming home earlier that day. I honestly don't think I've ever known so many people to mourn for one puppy as much as everyone has for Thumper. She touched so many lives, including those of several people at the CSU Vet hospital. She will forever have a place in the hearts of those who knew her. Rest in peace, precious Thumper Ann. Play lots with JJ, and be happy and free of pain forever more. We'll miss you terribly...

Thumper Ann Black - November 2001 to December 2007

Ladies High Tea

Shell and Linda invited me to the Ladies High Tea at Christ Community Church this year. While I haven't attended CCC regularly for quite a while, I still consider it my Greeley Church home and was really excited to get to spend some time with the ladies of my Greeley family. I'd never been to a "High Tea" before, and was really impressed by all the formality that goes into one. Each table had a hostess who provided their own tea set to share. We had all of the wonderful finger sandwiches, scones, breads and desserts that accompany the tea. Rebekah and I had never tried our tea with milk before and found it was actually very good! Little Katie had more tea than any of the women at our table, highly evidenced by how many times she had to use the little girl's room! We also got to hear a speaker share wonderful memories of how her tea cup collection came to be, and we sang Christmas carols to open and close. As an added bonus, my former coworker Randy and his wife Bev were there in fabulous costumes! Though it was the afternoon after baking day, and we were all very tired, I personally had a really great time!

Baking Day 2007

While I'm still waiting for the big group picture from baking day (my camera died) I decided to go ahead and post a few of the other pics from our day o' fun. If you'd like a little background about baking day, please click here.

Kaitlyn and her sister Rylee
Little Helpers

Let's get this party started!! My sister brought Michelle up to help this year. Michey and I worked really hard to keep the mess under control! And no, we didn't let her have any Bailey's!!
Everyone hard at work
Michelle with the finished product ready to be distributed to several different platters and bags.

Happy Birthday, Shell!!!

Well...baking pictures will have to wait. I'm a little behind, so here's what else has been going on!

Shell's birthday was on the 27th. After working on some of the refrigerated dough, some of the fam came over for pie and ice cream.

My Parent's Christmas Tree

I helped my mom decorate their tree while I was visiting last weekend. It's always fun to see all the ornaments they've collected over the years!!

Electra Critters

We went to the Pueblo Zoo in the very cold weather to look at very cute lights! It was a great night. Here is Paul giving himself bunny ears next to the bunny... My Christmas light pictures didn't turn out too well!