Rado, one of my favorite dogs,  went to doggy heaven  today. He was such a loving dog, I know he is there.

Here is a picture of him while he was visiting with his family here in July. He was not well then, but he progressively got worse. He had an internal growth and his liver was failing, yet he was still a very sweet dog.

I feel sorry for the whole family, who will miss him greatly.
 

 Yesterday, August 26 was  our  anniversary. We have been married 53 years and have had several dogs, but our present dog baby is more loved than all the others combined. Before Ron was always away from home with work, etc. Now he is home most of the time. And there are no longer any kids around to keep my attention, so we spend lots of time with Maggie. I've not spoiled her. She is obedient, but she sure does crave our attention and we love her mutually and she knows it!

Yesterday was also National Dog Day and as usual Maggie has to take a back seat that day. She doesn't get the attention she deserves. This is for her.

This is a good picture of Rado. He looks like a healthy  pup again. It is hard to see him getting old, but here he looks young and healthy again, at least long enough for his picture to be taken with his gramma.

We FaceTimed  tonight. The boys, Caleb and Oliver are going to school tomorrow, at least they are meeting their teachers. They have picked up there  'computers' and are ready. I can't say that Oliver is excited about that.  

This layout, even  though it is about FaceTime, is not from tonight's talk;  but it's one from back in June...on the 28th of this year. that is how far behind  I am.  I'm really wanting to do a lot more scrapbooking, but it just isn't happening.

By the way, Caleb was not pictured in this layout from June.

 

 Ashley  is now at  college for freshman year. She is a triplet, all of  whom are going to different schools this year. She is at Virginia Tech.

The separation of them from each other and the family is pretty tough. 

Mason had moved into his dorm at TN Tech on the weekend.  Then the whole family went together to Virginia to move Ashley into  her  dorm. After spending the night in VA, they drove back, dropped Mason off at TN Tech,  then drove home and packed up  the car to move Aussie into a dorm at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

It was an exhaustive weekend for their mom, who had tripped and hurt her leg during this jam packed time. Tears will flow for a while.

God bless you all with this big change. Praying you will all adjust and do well this school year.

Seaman Reservoir Hike

Here they are at the reservoir. 

When  I researched the place I have not seen, I found  out quite a lot, but the thing that I remember most is the face that it is quite common to see rattle snakes there. I'm glad  I didn't know about that before they went or I would have been worried...even though I'm sure that would not be as scary for them as it  would be for me. 

On the last layout here, Julia was walking along with the stem of a flower that had gone to seed.  I couldn't help it, so I photoshopped into her hand a full seeded flower. They look to me like dandelions, but surely they are too large to be  those. 

 

 

This is our granddaughter Lauren and her kitty. 

She does love her cats, so seeing her  hug this sweet little one makes my heart happy.  This photo was taken on her birthday this year. That date  was way back in June on the 25th.    Yes, I may never catch up again, but  I never want to stop putting our memories in books. 

I really should have more birthday  pages today, since this day is the actual birthday of our grandson, Brandon and our great granddaughter, Ava.  I hope it isn't two months before I have layouts for them.

Back on the 16th of June Julia was  caught on camera as she  showed what a good actress she could be.

Her expressions are priceless. I love them all, but my favorite is in the middle.

 Ten days later, the family was hiking on the Gateway Natural Area path leading to  Seaman Reservoir.

I really like this picture of Caleb  with his mom, Oliver and Julia  way behind him on the trail.

 

They spent several weeks traveling this summer. I have lots of photos. However, I am way behind and trying to catch up on my books. These pictures were taken on June 25 in the Gateway Natural Area near Seaman Reservoir. I've made several layouts of this family outing. Hopefully I will add a couple more  here tomorrow.

What a sweet smile Ava. Way to go!

 

I had no idea that crawfish were not fish. I always learn things from my grandchildren, who are constantly learning from their mother, Beth. It is so good to see them out and about again. Of course they are still social distancing, etc, but they are outdoors and exploring nature. 

By the way, I also learned that crawfish, crayfish and crawdads are the same thing. Another bit of information I  found in my search is that some crawfish were introduced into Colorado by those who took them from Ohio. Another thing is that there  was a new species of crawfish discovered in Ohio, the blue crawfish.

 

When we talk about doctors practicing medicine, it doesn't mean the same as when my husband  practices.

The whole story is above on the layout. He performed and operation on me!

 

Caleb had a project. He needed to come up with a plan which would keep an egg from breaking while dropping from the rooftop. Oliver liked this idea and did it was all.

John climbed up on the roof to test each boy's creation. Both boys were able to come up with a protective device that worked well. Neither egg broke! It was a success for both boys. Good job Caleb and Oliver!

Here is an overview of the last school year in Colorado. Now this week we are hearing how things will be handled this coming year. They have finally announced the plan and now parents and teachers are working out how they will handle the new rules.  I would tell about those plans  here, but it is complicated. I was hoping for something more normal, but normal it will not be. God bless our parents, teachers and children  in the coming months.

After all these years of wearing jeans and matching shirts, Ron has changed his uniform. Here he is modeling his new uniform. 

For those of you who find the print on the page too small. I am copying the text for  you here:

We are living through a Pandemic. We love the fact that our friends are making masks for us to wear. We don't have as many chances now to have fun, but we still like to laugh, so when we first put on the cool masks that Chelle made for us, we loved them. They are the best ones we've worn so far and we've had some really nice ones. These fit well and are very comfortable. Now, it is time to laugh...the last picture shows my silliness well. OK,  come on! Laugh!

Masks are THE THING these days. I could offer a style show of masks. They are everywhere one goes. The stores are full of displays, and they are even providing paper ones free in many places, like restaurants.  I still prefer the ones you see here. However Ron does better with paper ones. He uses them more frequently, since he just can't stay home long without running out for some reason. I would be washing his 12 hours a day, so he uses paper ones most of the time.