The Story of Poky

Today was a sad day in the Purcell house. Our dog Poky died after living a long and happy life.

No one can remember exactly when we got him, but it was at least 13 or 14 years ago. One day my dad happened to stop by the pound in Pocatello and saw him in one of the cages. He noticed him right away because he looked like a dog he had growing up named Bruno. He was also one of the quieter dogs -- just sitting there looking at him, not jumping around and being noisy. Those two factors decided that the collie/St. Bernard mix would come home to us.

He was a great dog. He never got to live in the house, but he never ran away or chased cars. Even when we would go on walks or bike rides, he didn't need a leash. When my brothers would move pipe in the field around the house, Poky was always around to keep them company. One story I'll always remember is the time my dad was moving pipe and thought a skunk or something was following him through the tall grain. He kept hearing a rustling all around him, but couldn't see anything. After a few minutes of worrying about getting sprayed, Poky started jumping up and down so he could see where my dad was. He'd been trying to find him, but couldn't see over the grain and ended up giving my dad quite a scare.

A few years ago Poky developed a tumor on his side. We took him to the vet and had it removed. It wasn't cancerous, but it came back. It didn't seem to bother him -- he still ate, moved normally, and was his happy self. As time went on, the tumor got bigger and bigger. He still seemed fine and he was getting to be an old dog, so we just left it alone. We weren't sure he would survive this winter, but Poky surprised us by holding out until Randy had come home from his mission.

It will be weird the next time I go back to Idaho to not have him around my parents house. My dad and Jared buried him in the field he spent so much time moving pipe in, so in a way he still will be there.

Good bye Poky. Thanks for being such a good dog. We love you.

When the Circus Comes to Town

Ken got us great seats on the first row of the balcony. We could see everything without anything blocking our view.

This was the 4th year that we've gone to see the circus in Grand Rapids. Maybe it was because both Ken and I weren't feeling great, but this time it seemed less exciting than other years. There was a lot more filler -- silly clown skits that were way too long, and weird circus acts that weren't very entertaining. The parts that were good -- 7 motorcycles riding around a steel globe, and some funny frisbee chasing dogs -- were very good. We just wished there were more of those moments. The best part was the pre-show they always put on. The performers do short little demonstrations of what they do during the circus, and it's very up close and personal.

These little Chinese dudes were super strong and did a lot of cool lifts with each other.

The stilt-walker was at least 12 feet tall. Instead of trying to navigate around all the people, he would just walk right over everyone.

I love the grand finale when all the performers and animals are all in the ring at the same time.

1st Day of School

Ken got to take Syd today on her first day. She didn't really care what she wore today, except for the boots. If they had had them in my size, I would have gotten them too. I think she felt like a rockstar in her cute boots, skirt and rock 'n roll shirt.

She didn't get the teacher she wanted, but her best friend is in her class. Everything is better with a friend to be there with you.

Syd and Hollee -- BFF's

The End of Summer :'(

Labor Day weekend is always a sad time for me. It's the official end of summer. In Michigan it's doubly sad because school always starts the day after. We had some of the best weather we've had all summer long, so we packed a summer's worth of activities into our 3 day weekend.

We started off with a fire in the neighbor's fire-pit. We made s'mores, hung out, and the kids got to stay up reeeeeaaaallly late. (It was 3:30 am when Syd finally made it into bed!)

All the kids were jumping on the tramp with glow-stick necklaces. I told them to come to the edge for a picture, and this is what I ended up with. Just a little bit freaky.

The flash kept messing with Ken's eyes, so I had to start making faces so he wasn't the only one with a weird face in the picture.

The next day we had a pool party at some friends' house with the same neighbors from the night before.

Apparently there's a gun show in town.

Noodles make great oars for a pool raft.

We had to make one last trip out to see the deer. I'm glad we did. There were notices all over that everything would be auctioned off in a couple weeks. Who knows what will happen once that is all over? The deer were freaking me out, so we hung out with my favorite little cow, the big deer and the horses most of the time.

The big daddy of the big deer was very friendly this time.

I love these horses. They are very sweet and always happy to see us and our apples.

We stopped for one last cherry dipped cone on the way home from the deer.

Ken will probably keep golfing until the snow flies, but he was able to get in 36 holes this weekend.

This is what I do while he's golfing :) At least we're doing something together, right?

These two tiny turtles were right on the green of the 6th or 7th hole. We did our good deed for the day by putting them in a water hazard a little ways away.

Today Ken and Syd had a bike ride to the park one more time.

A modern version of the merry-go-round. Just watching them spin makes me feel like I'm going to hurl.

Syd's fave -- the monkey bars

Two little monkeys

After playing hard for a while, it's nice to hang out in the shade with friends.

Our little tree provided just enough shade for all the kids to love on Storm for a while.

The last activity of this labor day weekend was to see the G.I. Joe movie. It was pretty good -- non-stop action with good special effects.

Now we'll be full swing into school and swim. Halloween is just around the corner, soon to be followed by the holiday season. I'm already counting down the days til next summer :)