Tribute to Broady

After 11 years with Justin and I, I am sad to announce that Broady passed on 1/2/09. He suffered from valley fever which got the best of him. He was such a good dog. He was so loyal and the neighborhood just loved him. I remember Justin telling me the story of when he first saw Broady. He was in a junk yard and the owners were trying to get rid of these mutts. Apparently their pure bred boxer got out and found a mutt to fool around with so they were giving them away. Justin was driving a tow truck at the time and put Broady in the cab and continued working. After dropping off a car, he came back to the cab to find Broady had messed on the bench seat and tracked all throughout the cab. When he brought Broady home I was furious, the puppy was a terror and just didn't listen. He chewed up my shoes, got into the garbage can, and even shredded my Bible for crying out loud. This was Satan's dog and I wasn't going to have anything to do with him.

Over the next few years Broady began to learn to listen and got to the point that he could sit in the driveway and wouldn't leave unless we said so. No leash necessary. Everyone was so surprised he was such a good dog. I grew to love him so much.

Of course there was the time that our garage was broken into...Justin's quad and power tools were taken one night, over $10,000 in equipment and Broady never barked. We later found out, he is chicken. I remember one evening, Justin was working and someone knocked at the door. I asked who it was and the two people told me to open the door. I told them no, but they persisted knocking and ringing the door bell. They just wouldn't go away. When I went to go find Broady he was no where to be found. Eventually the strangers left and I found Broady hiding under a bed.

Oh and the time I woke up one morning and let Broady out to do his business. I looked in the corner of our yard and found a man laying behind our orange tree. Broady saw the man and froze. He didn't move a muscle. I finally had to scream whisper (is there such a thing) for Broady to come back inside. I locked the door and called the police. OK, so our dog is a chicken, that is apparent, but he does have his good qualities. (By the way, the man turned out to be a drunk looking for a place to sleep, funny story you should ask me about it sometime).

Broady loved to play frisbee. Prior to him getting sick he was known to jump three feet in the air to catch a frisbee. It was amazing! He would sit, shake, lay, and bark on command. Oh yes, and we got him to pee and poop on command and wipe his feet prior to coming in the house. A very smart dog indeed.

Broady was so good with Hunter. Immediately when Hunter was born, he came over and sniffed Hunter and that was all it took. Broady was very protective of Hunter. Anytime Hunter would cry, Broady would look at me like..."Hey lady are you going to do something about this?" As Hunter grew older, he fell in love with Broady, pulling ears, petting him and "snuggling". Broady took it all no matter how hard Hunter "pet or snuggled" him.

We will miss our little Broady, but know he is now healthy and happy at his new home in Heaven. We will see you later Broady!

Hunter's First Christmas

OK, so I've been really bad about updating our blog. It is amazing how time flies by so quickly. Christmas started out not so hot. Hunter woke up at 6:00AM as usually, but was super grumpy. We video conference in Justin's parents, and it seemed he was not all that interested in anything. After breakfast, he had a nap and everything was back to normal. He played with his new toys all day. Hunter got to see his first rainbow. It was beautiful, bright and full. Legend has it that rainbows signify a great year and that if a rainbow is present Christ will not come that year. It was very cool!

Friday after Christmas Justin begged us to go to the Dunes with him. We agreed hesitantly, but it ended up being a great trip. Hunter had so many firsts at the Dunes. He saw his first campfire...Sorry Lindsy, I know you wanted it to be you to show him. :-) The first morning we were there Hunter got to see his first sunrise. It was beautiful. He got to sit in a sand car and Daddy's Rhino (no rides this trip unless you count his push quad). He did love sitting on his new quad he got for Christmas, he felt like such a big boy. He wore his first skull cap, and his first pair of sand goggles. He used his sippy cup for the first time and had his first french fry. On top of all that, he had a great car ride. Sat in his chair the majority of the time (except for diaper changes and burping) without fussing. He is such a good boy!

When we returned home from the Dunes, Monday night Hunter held his bottle for the first time. He kept taking it out and putting it back in like he had been doing it for years. It was very cute. That night, he slept from 8:00PM to 5:00AM, took a bottle and slept again until 7:45AM. Since then he has been sleeping through the night. I am so glad he did it on his own.

I enjoyed every bit of my time off with him and Justin and hope we have many more trips together in the future.