Spring (finally) in the Upstate

Spring is FINALLY here to stay in the Upstate area! Every chance we get, we go to the playground and enjoy it before school lets out for the summer in a few weeks.  At that time, the playgrounds are always flooded with children.  Eliza loves the swings.

This post is an odd assortment of photos, but the other day, Eliza and I were matching.  She's grown so much in the last month and she now walks like a big girl.  

Gwennie is almost 4 now.

A few days ago we made sandwiches and took them to the park with us to have a little picnic. 

This was last week, when the weather was so warm, I thought it must be almost summer!  It didn't last of course...and Easter Sunday, we had snow :-) 

I planted 2 flats of marigolds for the church flower boxes, 1 flat of petunias, and half a flat of Sweet williams I want to try this year.  I'm also trying herbs for the first year.  So I planted dill, basil, thyme, mint, and parsley.

I dug out the firepit, because it was quite full of ashes and remnants of some half-burnt trash Dan had tried to burn.

The girls and I gathered all the sticks in the yard

Last year I got the girls a sand box, but they didn't really play in it.  This year though, they are the perfect age to enjoy it.  They're loving it!  I have to really watch Eliza though...she likes to eat the sand (ick).

I'm excited for spring!  Besides the pollen, it's one of my favorite seasons.  Second only to summer.  It's still too early to plant the vegetables indoor unless you have a greenhouse.  So those will be planted right after our anniversary in a few weeks.  

Hope you all area also enjoying a lovely Spring!  

Family Visit

A few weeks, I was absolutely delighted, over-the-moon, (etc) that my sister, her children, sister-in-law and her daughter came to visit us!  Since we've lived in New York (almost 5 years now) and even in Baltimore (2 years before that), not many family members from my side have visited us.  

On Dan's side of the family, his mom has come to see us both in Baltimore AND here at least 4 times.  His dad came once in Baltimore and twice since we've been in NY.  His brother and sister-in-law have come once in MD and once here, his Sister and brother-in-law have come once in MD and once in NY...

But on my side of the family, my sister Sarah and her family came once in MD and NY, my parents came once to MD and NY, and Martha came once (though it was a very short trip, only one quick day) to MD and NY. 

I'm not complaining because I understand it isn't easy to make trips with little kids.  

That's why we feel so honored and privileged each time any family makes the long trek up here.  

6 1/2 hours is no ball game with 6 children in the car! 

  

We had pretty nice weather while Lydia and Elisabeth and the kids visited us, so we tried to get outdoors! 

Took them to the Fort William Henry Fort in Lake George.  I'd never been there, but it was the only fort in the area that was open (most of them are seasonal for tourism).  There were lots of aspects that were closed and unavailable (like the cannon and musket demonstrations and the living history portion of it), and it was raining the whole time we were there....PLUS the water pipes had burst, so there were no bathrooms, save the one jiffy John.  But besides all those strikes, it was still nice!  I will probably go back again in future.  

My nieces and Nephews love history, and I think that is so cool, because of course...I do too.  :-) 

There were some wax figures behind glass windows inside the fort, depicting soldier life, etc.  One place had a man having his fake leg being amputated.  My poor niece was quite frightened.  I didn't know it at the time, but Gwen thought it was scary too.  Later that night and for subsequent nights, she prayed that God would heal the man's leg.  :-) 

They stayed for 2 nights.  One day, we showed them the farm, and then came back to the house and made sandwiches and took our picnic down to the waterfall.  The water was super high and roaring. 

After our meal, Dan took my three oldest nephews and niece (and Gwen, who loves to tag along and won't take naps anymore) back to the farm to explore/work. 

Then they went to the tire place to get the truck inspected.  Annnnd from the looks of the photo, they got some orange cream bars :-)

Earlier that day, we went to Whitehall quickly to see the birthplace of the US Navy, the hull of the USS Ticonderoga, and the Skene Manor up on the hill. 

The next day, we drove them to see the house we finished and sold last year and then hiked up the slate mound in Pawlet. Each of the kids were gathering hunks of slate to take home for their treasures.  Gwen and Lucie tried to also collect some, but I made them throw it back because slate is everywhere here and we can get it anytime. 

We saw the cave on our little hike/walk.  The hill was too steep to climb down though, with little children. 

That afternoon, Lydia and Elisabeth treated us to lunch at Ambrosia Diner in Queensbury, and then they loaded up and headed home.  

It was a refreshing time for me.  I love to be with family, and I miss family, being so far away from them.  Anytime we get to spend with family is a treat.  This was one of the first times that family came and visited when the weather wasn't absolutely freezing/icy and snowy.  So being able to go places was also really fun.  

We were grateful that they made the long trip up here and already look forward to there hopefully being another one in future!

Chula

A few weeks ago, we made the choice to re-home our white german Shepherd, Chula.  We first got Chula back in 2016 right after getting married.  We lived in Baltimore Maryland, in a rough neighborhood, and surrounded by criminal activity.  My oldest brother and his wife had two purebred White, German Shepherds who had puppies.  They sold all but the runt of the litter, and offered her to us.  

We picked her up in August of 2016 when she was 3 months old.  I remember her being so skittish and scared that when my brother tried to get her out of the small pet carrier he'd brought her in, she refused to come out and dug her heels in.  He finally had to kind of dump her out, and she quickly ran away with her tail between her legs, hid underneath a vehicle in my Grandma's driveway, and it took about four people to get her out finally.  

We drove home that evening and began the process of warming her up to us.  

We named her Chula (spanish word for "pretty") because of her lovely white coat.  We often called her "chu-chu" though.  

We had this photo taken at a dog clinic in Baltimore when she was 8 months old. 

We went on outings, hikes, walks, bike rides...road trips!  You name it.  She learned how to stay home (in the basement) while we were at work.  From the very beginning, Dan wanted her indoors, but I refused.  All of the long white hairs on our furniture and clothes would have driven me crazy.  So Dan gave up trying to convince me, and Chula stayed in our basement.  She liked it down there.  We had a couch just for her, and a play section of the basement.  We would watch movies down there together as a family.  

At about 8 months old, Chula jumped out of the truck when it was moving and injured her leg pretty badly.  The vet told us that he could either perform a surgery and put screws in her leg and she'd be able to walk again, (several thousand dollars), or he could just wrap it tightly, pray that it healed correctly, and she'd never be able to jump or put much weight on it again (a few hundred).  

We opted for the cheaper option, she was in a purple cast for about a month.  

She healed perfectly and as you can see in the subsequent photos, she never struggled with jumping.  This photo of Dan and Chula by the bridge in Baltimore is right after she had her cast removed. 

This is Chula on her couch. 

Hiking at Patapsco State Park.

We moved to NY in summer of 2017 when Chula was 1 year old.  She became a "garage-kept" dog.  But she loved running around outside, playing fetch, and the more open area.  

Obviously, you know what happened next.  I got pregnant in that fall.  I took Chu on walks, but not nearly as many.  The winters in NY were nothing like in MD.  For 3 months in the winter, it's basically too cold to spend more than a few minutes outside...and definitely not with a baby.  So after having Gwen, my focus was taking care of her...then I got pregnant with Lucie right after...

When Gwen and Lucie were 2 and 1, I took Chula on lots of runs and walks, but now with Eliza too, it's become too much to push a stroller, have two children walking (or crying because of this or that), AND have Chula on the leash.  

-Gwen and Lucie were scared of Chula (not because she had ever bitten, or been aggressive) because she was big.  So everytime we let Chula run free, the screaming of the girls ensued....

-We take a few short (or even one long) trips per year.  The cost of boarding a dog at the vet is over $20/night.  The last vacation we took, we paid more to board Chula than we paid for our entire trip for our family (hotels/food/gas/activities combined).  And having a big dog, we haven't found a single person who feels comfortable feeding and taking care of her while we are away.  All of the people we know are only comfortable with little dogs.  

-Our neighbor got a new dog in the last year: an untrained pitbull.  They would let it run free and it was coming over...I would worry about Chula being attacked if left outside...

All of these are reasons why we started thinking more seriously about finding her a new home.  

But who wants a 6 year old, un-spayed, outdoor/garage kept dog that isn't housebroken?  

When we took our quick trip down to PA a few weeks ago, we brought Chu with us because we couldn't find anyone to watch her...and I couldn't justify paying to have her boarded at the vet for more than the cost of our entire trip.  

When we told my parents that we were looking for a home for Chula, my parents asked if we were serious.  If so, they said they would keep her.  I think she proved her worth to them when she was out with my dad and Dan in the fencerow and went right after a groundhog and killed it in the matter of seconds.  

That impressed my parents.  

:-) 

SO....we said our Goodbye's to Chu for the time being.  My parents are home all the time, she loves the freedom of running around the large property, and she gets to chase groundhogs!  

We are happy that we will still get to see her when we go to visit.  

Before we drove back to NY, Chula performed all of her tricks one last time (which I trained her to do).  

In many ways, I miss her.  Everything is very quiet around here.  But I know we made the right choice for Chula.  She needed more time and freedom than we were able to give her during this stage of life.  

We regarded the life of our beast (Proverbs 12:10), and though part of me wanted to keep her, Dan and I knew that for right now, our children were given to us by God to raise for Him.  Chula wasn't enjoying her life being cooped up in the garage or even being confined to the fenced-in area Dan built for her.  

  Perhaps one day, we will have another dog.  But for now, our children and the ministry we've been sent to do is most important.  

Chula is happy, free, and is enjoying more space and less confinement than she's experienced in years.  So I am happy for her too.  

Sad changes, but necessary ones are a part of growing, changing, and new stages of life.  

I'm so thankful that my parents were glad to have her and we will be excited to see how she does there on the farm.