Abby and Toula 

Gabe with Toula, our new Boston Terrier 

Sammie...a great dog that we will miss. 

Here's to Sammie

On Wednesday morning, April 13, Sammie passed away. It came on suddenly as the result of a tumor that we did not know about. She collapsed at home, and died at the vet a short time later. She was to turn 7 this year. Sammie was a great dog, and lived a great life with us. She brought joy and fun to our kids, something I will be forever grateful to her for. As I was telling Abby, part of loving dogs is dealing with the pain and hurt we feel when they die. I guess this is the way it is with love, it hurts when you are separated. We all have had a rough couple of days with lots of crying. We have had fun telling stories about her, like how she was so good at lying about whether she had had dinner yet. With our busy schedules, sometimes Krista and I would barely see each other here at home and one of us would feed her and forget to tell the other. Sammie would put on her little act and sometimes fool the other into feeding her again. Sammie only totally relaxed if all four of us were home, otherwise she was a bit on edge until all were safe in her care. I miss her. I do thank Ken and Harriet Ahlstrom, our next door neighbors. They are pet photographers and for a gift gave us this wonderful framed portrait of Sammie some time ago. We are so glad we have it. I am sure that we will have more dogs, Krista and the kids will make sure of that. But for now we thank God for the time we had with Sammie.

Crash!!

On March 21 I was involved in an accident near home. This reminds me of the comedian Steven Wright who said " I heard that most traffic accidents happen within 5 miles of home. So I moved." I was travelling eastbound at about 35 mph going through the intersection on Cedar Lake Road just the other side of Hwy 169 from my house. A white minivan ran the red light and hit me in the rear passenger side rim. I was driving a Ford F-150 Supercrew pickup that belongs to Grace Church. The hit spun the truck 180 degrees and I landed about two truck lengths down the road. I landed on two wheels and I thought it was going to roll over, but it settled back onto four. No one was hurt at the scene which was amazing considering the force of the impact. It pretty much took the back axle off the truck and cracked the frame as well as other twists and destroying both back rims and tires. The airbags blew as well. A witness stayed and gave a statement that helped be prove I was on green and he was on red. His insurance company has taken 100% liability. It was scary, but only afterward. Please always wear your seatbelt, as mine saved me from any injury. Both vehicles were totaled in the accident.