Our New Family Member

I suppose it's time for an update. I am sure it will be long, so be patient! I have been so busy doing nothing. At least it feels that way. We got a new puppy. I am crazy, I know! His name is Jasper and he is the same breed as Simon. His mother was a cockapoo and his dad was a poodle. He was the smallest of his litter, like Simon. They both look very different from a traditional cockapoo. He has been a good friend to Simon. They love to play and run around. It has really helped with Simon's level of excitement. Jasper, for the most part, has been pretty good about house training. It is work, but he is getting better. My brother, Robert, helped me to find Jasper. Cockapoo's are hard to find here. Especially because I wanted a small, under 10 lbs as an adult, dog. Megan and many extended family members have allergies to pets. Cockapoos are wonderful for that. They do not shed and are hypo-allergenic. They do not have fur, they have hair. We found him at a breeder about 4 hours away. She was kind and met us half way. Simon really responds to Megan the best. He sleeps with her every night and waits for her to come home from school. Around 3 o'clock everyday, he goes to the garage door and jumps. He knows it's time for me to leave for the school. Camille was felt very rejected. Zac has Max, our cat and now Simon only wanted Megan. Well, William came home one day after seeing a puppy and

told me how we should get one. I adamantly refused! But, I saw the look on Camille's face when she called for Simon and he ran past her to reach Megan. She now has the pleasure of taking care of Jasper. She has been very good, except the one night she slept through his whining and needed to go out. That was a fun one to clean. Ugh, she slept through that as well! She must have been very tired. Megan has started track again at school. Last year she ran the 3000 meter. She didn't know what it was when she signed her name for the event, but it sounded fun. When she realized it was 8 1/2 laps, she cried. I remember to well the first few meets when she would cry and beg me to let her quit. But, by the end of the year, she was able to finish the race in under 13 minutes. That was her personal best. I was very proud of her. She started the year at 17 minutes, (she walked a lot). Well, this year I asked her what even she signed for, and she said the 3000! She was excited. She explained that she was in the best shape for soccer last year and had better endurance. She knows that speed is not her best event, so she went for distance. She even had a couple of friends convinced to run with her! What a difference a year makes! Now, the hard part has been finding good running shoes for a girl with small feet. Kid's tennis shoes are not designed for long running and adult shoes are very hard to find in size 5 women's. But, with many hours on-line, I was able to find a good pair of running shoes in her size. I know this will help her knees feel better. (thanks shera). Camille just finished basketball. She was on nice team that struggled. They lost in the playoffs, 27-28. Camille had 16 of the points. She did well, but it's a little embarrassing. I wish they would make a play around someone else! Too much pressure for her. She feels it too deep. But now that basketball is over, soccer has begun! Both girls are excited to start the season. This will be Megan's last year in soccer. She has decided to not play in high school. Her course load is very heavy and she doesn't think she can do both. I am a little sad, but I know that in the long run, it's the best. She loves playing but is kind of over the competition. She has traveled with her team for 4 years and just wants to play for fun. Zac just finished up his basketball season as well. His team really struggled, but he had fun. It was fun to watch him play in a high school jersey. I hope he will play next year too! In a couple of weeks William and I are taking the kids to Utah for spring break! We hope to ski for 2 or 3 days, spend time with my family and just have fun. Near the end of that week, Dan and LeAnn will come from the D.R. and we will get to see them for a couple of days. The kids are so excited! We were planning to spend much time with them in July, but it's not looking so good. Both girls have Girl's Camp the second week of July. We were hoping Megan would get into EFY the last week of July. If so, we could head to Utah just after camp and spend time with them before she went to EFY, but she was accepted to a date in August, the 10-16th. We'll just have to see how it works out! Okay, that's enough rambling for a while. Time to take Jasper outside.