Coy and Kylie

This past weekend, we loaded up the kids and headed to Fayetteville to celebrate Kylie and Coy's wedding.  After the car was parked and we were driven to the wedding site, the kids all ran into the field to take a look at the slip and slide.  I would have LOVED to hear the conversation between them...

And this was no ordinary slip and slide....it was enormous with six sprinklers along the sides....

It is a miracle, but Jolie was able to get a family photo of us!  Try not to pay attention to the tie Paul is wearing, he let Railey pick it out:) Also, this is my first (and possibly the only) pregnancy picture you will see of baby number three.  I am 18 weeks in this picture.

While I was away playing with Railey, Maysie was hamming it up for Aunt JoJo.

And after a couple of hours of wedding fun it was finally time for the slip and slide!  Railey was as happy as can be and Maysie decided to be a little more dainty about the situation....she would barely play on it.

Kylie must be the coolest bride in the world...

We love you Coy and Kylie!  Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

More This and That

Time for more random IPhone pictures.  I HAVE to come up with a better system for this...

Lake House View

Stone Mountain Train Ride

Backstage fun with Uncle Stewart using Maysie as a coffee table 

Celie birthday party 

Railey and Perelli

The 11 Alive news team did their weather broadcast from Sope Creek today and the entire 1st grade was invited to help out.  Railey tried to play it cool but I caught her in the mirror before school practicing what she would say if she was on TV.  It went something like "Hi, My name is Railey Chanon, and I'm on TV."  I explained that if she saw cameras she should act completely normal...just like the ZBB guys do when they are on stage.  Her reply, "But Mommy, Clay runs around like crazy when he is on the stage."  Hmmmmm...bad example I guess since the guys are actually performing when she sees them in front of cameras.  I quickly moved on.

Railey was front and center for a lot of the broadcast, standing to the right of Chesley McNeil.  At one point, he moved in front of her...

After the broadcast, Railey's class got to meet Pirelli, who was at the school since he is a a service dog.  From what I could gather from Railey, he was born without a paw and now has a prosthetic leg!     Apparently Railey and her friend Sophia got some extra time:)  

Another great day at school!

Bella

About eight years ago, Jenn and I went to the dog park with Bailey, Miles and Parker.  The sweetest golden retriever mix took refuge underneath me on the bench...after talking to her foster mom, we found out that she had been tied to a tree in the back of an abandoned house.  They had been nursing her to health, and she was up for adoption.

I immediately went home to Paul and we decided that Bailey and Rawwr needed a friend, and the rest is history.  She never quite outgrew that timidness, but the security of Bailey and Rawwrr seemed to make her the happiest puppy on the face of the Earth.

Bella was always a willing participant.  She just loved being loved.

I think that this has to be my favorite picture of all of our animals...Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus for our Christmas card.  Although Bella really seemed to steal the show with her performance of Mary.

About three months ago, Bella was diagnosed with Lymphoma.  Unfortunately, she had a really aggressive form of it.  At the time, Bailey's condition was far more serious so she gladly took the backseat to her brother.

The doctors say it was the cancer... I believe it was from a broken heart, but yesterday Bella went to heaven to be with Bailey.  From the day Bailey died ten days ago, Bella has slowly deteriorated and yesterday the doctors agreed that she was suffering and it was time.

It has been a tough year for us, losing three animals in 7 months.  But they are all together now and will never be forgotten.

Bailey

This past Monday, our sweet Bailey went to heaven.  He fought a long nine months but the cancer finally got the better of him and it was time.  For the past few months, Bailey has looked as good as ever but he was having problems standing up and had pretty much been confined to our bedroom and den.

In his final weeks, Bailey became especially attached to the girls, and in many cases they were the only reason that he would get up out of his comfy dog bed.  Railey and Maysie loved their "Boo Boo Doggie"...a name that Railey gave him when she was about two because he definitely seemed to get "boo boos" more than the average dog.  Before we took him to the vet, everyone got to say their goodbyes and the doctor even let me feed him some chocolate treats.