Memorial Day with Great Friends

We spent our Memorial Day weekend first in Lithia Springs for Danielle's graduation (congrats Danielle - sorry about the phone calls.... it was the BOYS, I promise!) then we met our friends we knew in Germany, the Kelly's at their church in the Huntsville area. John Kelly was in Iraq with Keith and they went to a Bible study on the roof a building together there. I met them when I came to Germany just after Heather was overcoming thyroid cancer. They have 5 awesome sons, awesome with a hint of wild, Ian (17), Sheamus (14), KJ (12), Decklan (7), and Aiden (6). We spent a lot of time with them in Germany, and are excited to be close enough to visit with them now. We went for a Geo Cache on Monday, romping through the woods on a quest for a buried treasure. We piled into the Kelly's suburban (only a little illegally) with the dog, and had a great time wearing ourselves out. We did find the treasure, and had a blast doing it. Here are a few of the pics from our days with them.

Jill the Pet Bull Frog

She's not really a bull frog.... just a pet bull + frog. If you could see her frolicking through the pond, you would understand completely!

Jill arrived at our house one Thursday evening just before I (B) got home from class or somewhere, and Keith had put her in the house and rushed out to Bible study. Needless to say, I was surprised at this thing in the house when I got home. She looked a lot more like a pot-belly pig when I first took her to the bathroom, she was very bloated and mangy. She seemed very timid and scared for the first few days. She was found in the Enterprise area by a neighbors' relative who knows Keith volunteers at the local shelter. It was too late to take her that night, so we had to wait it out until morning.

Keith swore she was a pit bull from the beginning, but the rest of us (the Somerset crowd) agreed she looked more choco labish. The next morning, as soon as they were open, I took her to the shelter, and low and behold, there was no room in the inn. We didn't know exactly what to do, so we planned to go to the vet to have the mange checked out and figure out the rest from there.

Keith was working of course, so these responsibilities fell to me! I was anxious to get her to the vet, fearful that we'd all caught scabies already, or fleas or whatever. We arrived at the closest farm vet, which was crowded, busy, smelly and full of annoyed clients. The little booger and I were equally nervous, she just did all the crying. She was so scared, and I felt bad for her, but I was still afraid to touch her too much. It was clear she needed to be cuddled though. As soon as the vet took a glance and gave me hope that it wasn't scabies, we stuck really close together, both trembling a bit, and stood in that little bitty cell of a room waiting for the rest of the story on this pup. We had a moment....


The rest could get long, but basically, the shelter doesn't take pit bulls (ridiculous American fear of one of the best dogs out there - ANY DOG can be trained to fight... pit bulls will fight well when trained to... but will more likely be very obedient when trained to be!) and we had to find a family for her ourselves. We named her once we were convinced of her being a pit, Jill (a descendant of Laura Ingalls' brindle bulldog Jack.) She took to the name quickly. A friend of mine in the Atlanta area found out about her, met her briefly and will be adopting her into their family this weekend. We've had Jill since early March, and it will be difficult to say goodbye to her, particularly for Santiago. The two have been the best play mates in the past few months, he has taken to her better than any other dog we've seen.

Jill has learned to sit, stay, lay, jump, "go get it", "walk with me" without the leash, "go to bed", and many other commands in this short time. She is very eager to please and has done well at pleasing us! We hope she will as much of a joy to her future family as she has us!

The Now

Keith - In Instrument training doing GREAT, playing electric at both services for Wings Chapel, reading up on getting a private pilot's license (thanks Ike) and buying an airplane, attending awesome men's Bible study on post, awaiting our cow for the freezer - it is hanging to age for two weeks, training Jill (the "Pet Bull" Frog - Frog being our endearing name for all dogs Santi-frogo, Bull Frog... ), fishing and visiting with Mr. Griffen, in Acts, enjoying fresh milk from friends, loving the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), wishing to be in Switzerland Becky - beginning 15 credit hour summer semester at Troy University-Dothan, reading Alton Brown's baking cookbook (like a book... not a cookbook), beating Santiago as necessary, Bible study with few girls in Enterprise, cooking for Keith and apparently Santiago(Mr. Griffen when possible), moving through Leviticus and John, brainstorming political critique novel, watching tomatoes, basil and peppers grow, watching our flowers die in the drought, wishing to be in Switzerland Sanitago - Eating everything when left alone for 3 seconds or more, getting to know a huge fire hazard in the living room called a training crate, being treated like a puppy for his incessant disobedience, wearing out his welcome with Becky, being babied by Keith, looking for a job to start contributing to the grocery bill, wishing to be in Switzerland Jill - learning to "walk-with-me" without the leash across the street, growing rapidly, giving Santiago a challenge in combat, going to bed when told, having a few potty training relapses, looking forward to her move next week to Crystal's, what is Switzerland? WE are praying for: rain, complete healing for Papaw, a family, excellence in schools, a spot to fit into ministry here.