Man's Best Friend

Today is the 4 year anniversary of us bringing Rocco home from the Humane Society.  How appropriate that when I came home from the grocery store today with Ely, he had figured out how to get out of his kennel (through a corner, the door was still latched!)  He had eaten a bag of chips, cleaned a bowl out I had on the table from lunch, eaten a whole jar of Ely's teething crackers, gotten a bag off of the table that had nacho cheese in it and drug it all over the house.  Happy Anniversary to me!

(Not today, a few years ago when he ate Christmas.)

    Sean is TDY right now and not on the island at the moment so I get to deal with the mess.  I told Sean tonight I was done with dogs.  I was lying, we all know I was lying.  I love animals, I love my Rocco. I want my children to be around animals and grow up with them in their life.  We knew what we were getting into four years ago when we adopted Rocco.  We are his 3rd family, he had been taken to the Humane Society twice before.  I think this is why I am so fervent to continue to keep him a part of our family. I remember when I got him that day, that I told myself " You are not getting this dog to make your life full, you are getting this dog to make his life full."  It's like the universe is testing me to see if I will stay true to my word and to myself.  Bringing him across the ocean was one of the most stressful things I have ever had to deal with.... but, I am glad I did it.

In all reality, our dog has brought us so much joy.  My daughter loves animals, something that makes me so pleased, and I attribute that to Rocco and our cat Converse.  Even though he is a handful, he also makes me feel so good about myself.  He was my best friend while Sean was deployed. He is SO excited every time we come home.

When either of us comes home from work he has to be the first one to greet us and his whole body wiggles with excitement.  I yell at him on days like today, and instead of holding a grudge he immediately wants to know that I still love him and forgive him.  What an amazing little friend to have.  I'm grateful for my husband who took me to the Humane Society that day, and brought Rocco to my attention.   It was a special day.  When Rocco became a part of our lives my goal was to make his life full, but he has also been a great asset to mine and has helped make my life full. I'm grateful we were able to make things work to get him here, and hope that we continue to be able to have him in our lives for a long time. 

The day we brought Ely home

The day we brought Rocco home.  

Halloween

For Halloween we were the Little Mermaid crew.  I figured, we should take advantage of the fact that the weather would be hot here and that when we are finished living on Okinawa we might go some place where we would have to go trick or treating in big, bulky coats.  I remember one year freezing as a child because I was not going to cover my Jasmine costume up with a coat.  What could be more warm weather friendly than the Little Mermaid? We went to a Halloween party off base and had a Okinawan local as to take a picture with us.  It was a fun year, I love having a little girl to dress up and can't wait to see what she wants to pick when she is old enough.  

And here is my silly daughter, who is always putting things in her mouth.

1 Tiny Year

About 2 weeks ago a young man that attends the Sunday School class Sean and I teach gave his farewell talk in church before his departure for his LDS mission.   About 30 seconds into his talk I started to cry.  Now, I don't really know this boy as we have only been Sunday school for a few weeks, and while the opening statements of his talk were good my weeping was related to something else.  I was crying for his mom.  Since I've graduated high school I've always associated missionaries as my peers, they have always been up until this point in my life fairly close to me in age.  That Sunday with this particular young man, I didn't see one of my peers, I saw a boy (yes, I am getting old), I saw someone who was leaving his family for the first time, I saw someone's baby (p.s his mom looked so proud.) The days leading up to my little lady's birthday have been quite like this one, random tears, thoughtful conversation with my husband  about her future, pangs of anxiety one minute because my baby is no longer a baby,  and yet an overwhelming feeling of joy that she is growing so beautifully.    To my future mommies out there, everyone will tell you it goes by so fast, they are right.    Being a mother has changed me in so many different ways.   I'm not one of those people that think being a wife and mother is the only thing women were put here to do, but hands down, being a mother has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I have had a number of joyous occasions in my life,  my daughter has brought me the most pure form of joy I have ever experienced.   I can't imagine my life without her.  Because I knew that having her turn one was going to be hard on me, I made a rather ambitious goal to take pictures of her everyday throughout Okinawa the week leading up to her birthday.  I only made it out on the island 2 days, but I managed to get some favorites of my "baby" before she became a toddler.  I can't believe she is a toddler now.  Ely walking and saying "da" for yeah is one of my most favorite milestones of hers ever.  She loves the kitty and her doggie, and is obsessed with purses and baby dollies. I love her so much and everyday I thank my Heavenly Father that he trusted me enough to give me this awesome little spirit to watch over. Happy birthday little girl, you are so loved!

We took several pictures, it was a big week.

The American Village in Okinawa, Japan

Cape Zanpa

Ely & her friend Mr. S

Birthday Morning with Balloons

For Lunch we went to the sea wall

 A kitty cat cake for the girl that loves kitties

We tried really hard to make sure her first cake was her first sweet..... the result was she didn't really know what to do with it, she only took a few bites. 

 

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