January

Well, January has come and gone already!! Here are a few pictures from the start of the new year enjoy!

The boys on New Year's Eve

Happy New Year!

Grandpa and Grandma Phillips brought some "noise makers" for all the boys to enjoy

Dad and his boys...

A little bit of wrestling:)

Duncan enjoyed wrestling each week. He learned lots and still has plenty to learn, but he likes wrestling

For Richard's Dad's birthday, we all went to Trafalga in Lehi for a little bit of fun.
Richard and Duncan always enjoy climbing the wall.

My boys, all dressed up in their new Christmas church clothes

The fam...
Yes, this was taken in January and Yes, my artificial tree was still up the week after New Years:)

Duncan's wrestling tournament. 

He is such a strong little guy, he might be pretty good once he learns a few more moves!

This little man is growing too fast!

He loves to be outside and around the animals,  Caffey doesn't mind the attention at all:)

His little life consists of fun, fun and more fun for him. He loves to ride the backhoe with Grandpa. 

He's a good helper when it comes to feeding, even in his pajamas:)

We finally got snow!!
Duncan was so excited that he could try his new snowboard from Christmas

lil' man out in the snow, enjoying the wet!

Grandpa Pay helping out the sledders!

We had one more storm and the boys were all ready to go try out the fresh snow

Off he goes!

And here is our snowman... It will probably be the only one we get to build the way this winter is going, but it was fun for the boys for at least a couple of days. He only lasted that long!! Crazy warm weather anyway.

Our Brody Dog...

Every once in a while a person is lucky enough to have a best friend- with four legs.
Richard & I have always had dogs, 4 of them to be exact :) We had 2 border collies and 2 labs. The labs were my "graduation present" when I finished x-ray school, one black & one yellow. These 4 dogs have been like our kids for the last 11+ years, we've had them longer then we've had our real kids! Over the years, we have lost them one by one and have grieved over each one going to "dog heaven". The last one left was my yellow lab, Brody.
If you've ever been to our house and been around our dogs, then you knew Brody.
Everybody loved him, the little kids, the big kids and I especially loved him.  

He was my constant companion, where ever I was, he was at my side unless... the boys were outside and then he would make sure that they were just fine and then return right back to my side. The boys loved him and the family joke was always that Brody's tail would knock someone over if you weren't careful.

Richard always said the only person Brody would listen to was "his mom" (me) & there is a lot of truth to that statement.  Each summer my garden has suffered several casualties, thanks to my constant pal and his need to literally be right at my side wherever I am at, be it in the middle of the garden weeding or in the yard working, sitting on the couch relaxing, or fixing dinner in the kitchen, my old dog has always been at my feet and has been tripped over more than once, literally :)   

Over the years, we've had lots of laughs, fun memories and have shared lots of love for these 4 crazy dogs. For me, this one has always been especially spoiled & has honestly always been my favorite. He's been my "baby" since day one, our family's protector and our best friend as well. 

He was a gentle giant, and was a quiet presence that just loved to be loved.  It is probably fitting that he just slipped away, laying in his pen when we were all in the house so we couldn't make a fuss over him.
Little did he know the fuss he caused:) 

So our house is now a 3 dog house, which has not happened in about 11 years!
We miss our old pal and it will probably be a little while until we all get used to the idea of him being gone.
For me,  it will probably take a little longer for me not to get emotional when I think about him or walk past his empty pen, I know I will never forget my faithful pal or the simple magic of an animal's love for his family. 

A few days after Brody was gone my little brother's wife gave us a
 book called "Dog Heaven"- one of the last pages reads,
 "dogs in heaven have belonged to somebody on Earth and of course, the dogs remember this. Heaven is full of memories. So sometimes an angel will walk a dog back to earth for a little visit & quietly, the dog will sniff about his old backyard, will investigate the cats, will follow the child to school will sit on the front porch & wait for the mail. When he is satisfied that all is well, the dog will return to Heaven with the angel. It is where dogs belong, near God, who made them."

 People wonder why someone would want to have pets- Lets just say that there are lots of things people can learn from pets, one being unconditional love, loving someone simple for who they are inside & out no matter what. Pets don't judge, they love you and only want to be loved back.  People sometimes have a hard time with these simple principles. So why have pets? So that we can learn and love just a little bit.

I only hope that our Brody takes a walk with an angel once in a while...