In honor of my Great Grandma Arvilla!

by Cora - the lab

Every morning Mom goes out the back and says, "good morning Gorgeous!" I couldn't understand who she was talking to until she told me some stories of her.

Gorgeous is my great grandmother, who passed away last April. Mom told me stories of how she grew up with Gorgeous right across the driveway and how they were really close. When Mom was a little girl, they would look out Gorgeous windows and bird watch. They would look each bird up in her bird book, and Mom said that they would always see cardinals and Great Grandmother would tell her how beautiful they were. Mom came to realize that Gorgeous favorite bird was the cardinal, because she had figurines, plates, clocks, and clothing with cardinals on them.

During Gorgeous rough times in the hospital and nursing home, Mom would see this beautiful bright red cardinal out the back door, right in perfect view. And if you didn't see it right away, you definitely heard it. I think it gave my mom the peace of mind that Gorgeous was going to be okay and that she would always be here for her. Mom laughed on her 29th birthday when she went outside and all she could hear was Gorgeous singing as loud as could be. I even think you could hear it in the house that day.

She had also had a special moment with the cardinals after Mom and Dad had lost my little brother at 17 weeks of her pregnancy. Mom, Jack and I were the only ones home that day and it had been a week since Drew had passed. Mom went to the cemetery and talked to Jesus and Gorgeous. She came home and we all cried the rest of the day. The following day, mom went outside like normal with her morning cup of coffee and spotted 3 cardinals on a tree in plain view. They didn't sing that morning, they just all turned to mom and let her see that they were okay and then they flew off. I believe it was Great Grandma letting Mom know that she was taking very good care of him.

We all miss her and I know I'll run over to the house to see if she is home when we go to the north country to visit. She always gave us scraps from the table. Mom and Dad don't allow us to eat them, but she always seemed to sneak them to us. We love you Gorgeous and I'll make sure Mom says hi to you from me tomorrow!!!!

How Mom and Dad found us!!

by Cora - The lab

Not much happened today. Mom played computer games and Jack and I spent some time outside. It is beautiful out there. Today I'm going to tell you about how Mom found me, Dad and Jack.

I was born in Katy, TX and went to a couple of homes before Mom found me. The first home I went to wanted me to be a hunting dog, but I just can't stand the sound of those guns. Scary things. After they found out I was so afraid, they brought me back to the place I was born. I was about 7 months when 2 ladies came over the the house and they sat on the floor and called me over. My name was Sweet Pea then, and one of them I really liked and layed by her legs and put my head on her thigh. She was asking if I barked a lot, and a lot of other questions and I couldn't understand why. She took me home and I was as happy as I could be. They both took me to the Millie Bush Bark Park, and I loved that place. I went to Galveston and played in the Gulf of Mexico all of the time.

I was with my Mom for a while and I had 2 friend that were cats. We moved a couple times into apartments and houses, and then my Mom met this guy. He didn't know about me being in the house, but him and Mom hit it off. Mom would talk to me and tell me that she was in love, and I kind of understand, because I was in love too. With Mom's best friend's boxer, Cane.

Anyway, Mom and, well I called him Dad, because he was around a lot got married in June of 2006 and I got to be the ring bearer.

About a month before that though Mom had brought home Jack. He tested Mom and Dad by digging and getting out of the back yard, and he had a couple of accidents in the house. Dad said he had to go, and Mom convinced Dad to let him stay until the wedding, because Jack is the kind that is supposed to run after animals and make them go in different directions. What did Mom call that? Oh yeah, herding. Well Grandma and Grandpa have a big farm, and he could do all of that stuff, but Dad was convinced when Jack became very protective with Mom and me. Or he couldn't let him go after Jack gave him the puppy eyes.

Dad, you see was going to Africa for the Marines after they got married, and he was worried about us, probably cause I was scared of everything. So, Jack was the one that barked and growled if anything was out of sorts.

Now we are one big happy family: Mom, Dad, TJ, Manny, Jack and I. One on the way too. Mom is ready to tell us if we are getting a brother or sister and we will find out on Monday, so bear with us and you will hear all about it!!!!