Ginger

I finally talked Natalie into a dog and it didn't take long for her to win Natalie over. Friday night we adopted a 6 year-old Lab mix named Ginger. Her previous owner passed away suddenly and his family had been searching for about 6 weeks to find a home for her. We found her through a colleague at work who had sent an e-mail out asking for a family for Ginger. I called Natalie right away because she sounded perfect for our family.
Danny and Jeff think she might have a little bit of Pit in the face and ears?

Ginger has been amazing! She jumped right in my truck, sat in the front seat and off we went. She is calm, sweet and very loving. She doesn't have accidents and can even be left out when we leave the house. The first 2 nights she has slept in the chair in our room. I have the crate set up, but she has never used one and I'm not sure yet if I want to introduce it to her.

I took her on a play date to visit my buddy and his Lab named Cali. She is young and hyper, but Danny has her really well trained. Ginger and I practiced some basic commands and made a few new friends. She seems to already know "come" and "sit." I'm working on "stay" and trying to get Natalie and Ella to feel confident with her. She responds really well to me, although she doesn't seem to like it when I make her run. After about an hour of playing she literally turned and walked away from me saying, "enough, where is my chair."
She has already brought so much joy to our lives. I've always told Natalie, "a man needs a big dog to lay around with and take running." While I'm not big on a lot of "man things," I do love having this dog. I am grateful to the Wade family for letting us welcome her into our family.
Samantha has warmed up to Ginger. The first time Ginger came over to sniff her and give her a kiss Sam freaked out. Now Sam is waiting her for her to play the drums. "Come on Ginger, I'll rock the maraca you hit the drum...follow my lead."

2 kids
awesome wife
big dog
truck


How do you explain how blessed I am?

Natalie's Secret Garden

Since we moved in our backyard has been a MESS! The previous owners had 2 large dogs that dug holes everywhere. It was impossible to walk around with out twisting your ankle. And the more I dig to try and level it out the more strange things I would find.

A few weeks ago Natalie made the call that we should just turn the whole yard into a "Secret Garden" and use the large common area behind our house as the play area. It also helps that Grams and Pops have an awesome swing set and pirate sand box at their house...I am sure there are pictures on her blog.

My Dad and I got to work building boxes, cutting back trees, tilling up grass and laying down stones and sod. We have brought it countless bags of fresh soil and dug up rocks and roots from the neighbors tree, which is trying to invade our yard. We build a wall around the peach tree and we even dug up the rock path and built a "boardwalk" out the back gate. I love it!
Natalie wants everything we plant to be local and organic. Each Saturday morning we've made a trip to the Farmer's Market. This bed is called "Tomato Turn." It will have tomatoes and green peppers. I am pushing for jalapenos, but Ella says they are too spicy.Samantha and Minni weren't much help. Samantha was trapped on the blanket. Just got very frustrated at the crunchy feel of the grass.
Brutus has tried to get into and eat out of the "cabbage patch," which is off to the left. It has calliflower, broccoli, cabbage and 2 types of lettuce.
Most of the time Ella complained about her gloves, but put herself in charge of the "shaking." Natalie has done a great job mixing up some vegetables and some awesome tall grasses that will make a true "Secret Garden" in a few years. We'll add more pictures as it continues to grow.