HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD

 Today, July 22, was my dad’s birthday (RIP 1914~2000). A career Army man, he fought in WWII: the Philippines, Guadalcanal, and New Caledonia. That was all before my  time, of course, but my life as an ”Army brat” was quite an interesting one. A privilege!

Dad is affectionally known as Papa Duke in The Dachshund Escapades, where he and Sarge become good buddies. In actuality, we adopted Duke in 2007, so they never knew each other—but I know it would have been  love at first sight. Dad loved dogs, and they loved him—that’s the beauty of writing  fiction based on reality: I can change things as I wish!

There was so much living in his 86 years. Our family called five states and two foreign countries home, and I attended 13 schools by the time I graduated at age 17. It was a wonderful life. My younger brother was born in France when I was seven.

Happy birthday in heaven, Dad. We all miss your zest for  life, your robust laugh, and funny stories. Your grandchildren never got to meet you down here, but they’re well acquainted with Papa Duke through my books. I like to think that makes you happy ♥️.

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY, GRANDDAUGHTER

Our middle grandchild Alexa is 14 years old today! It's really hard to believe, but then, I suppose all grandparents say that. On Saturday her parents had a huge bonfire birthday party for her at home with nearly 50 guests in attendance. They had a fire in the backyard fire pit, and guests roasted hot dogs on sticks (they tasted yummy, I might add). Guests picked up plates, sodas, buns, and condiments at a nearby table. After the hot dogs, they roasted marshmallows and made somemores!  Oh, how that reminds me of my Girl Scout days when we used to do that at camp.

The birthday cake, at Alexa's request, was a stacked tower of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The kids in attendance especially loved that! And Mama didn't mind at all, because birthday cake can get messy, and it's hard to choose a flavor that everyone likes. With a variety of doughnuts, guests chose what they liked!

Below are a few photos of the festivities:

The weather was perfect!

Hot dogs! Git yer hot dogs!

View from the back deck

Parents and kids alike enjoyed the fire pit

Getting ready to blow out her
birthday candles on her "cake"

Birthday girl opening her gifts

Family is everything, and we all had a blast! Happy birthday, sweet Alexa!

A BIRTHDAY

Today is our oldest daughter Holly's 40th birthday. She meets that "milestone" with a bit of trepidation, as I recall doing many years ago. If you're 40+, you understand. It seems that you're getting ready to "go over the hill," and you don't want to. Rest assured, from my vantage point, that 40 seems very young!

Holly is a wife (and a pastor's wife), mom of three children she homeschools, and there's really nothing she can't do if she puts her mind to it. She's beautiful, talented, creative, loving, compassionate, and zany! So, as her proud mom, indulge me as I wish her a happy and blessed birthday with some photos of her:

Happy birthday, Holly! And since this blog is mostly about dachshunds, I'd better add a photo of Holly with her doxie Sunny:

BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Yesterday, our family celebrated our son-in-law Kurt's birthday at our house. He and our daughter Bethany, our RV travelers, are here for an extended stay, and boy, are we glad! We had a cookout with plenty of food, and we had a wonderful time together. 

Here are a few photos:

Birthday boy

Kurt and Bethany

Kurt, Bethany, and the grandchildren

Philip, Holly, Kurt, Bethany ~ Holly made
Kurt's cake

Clark, Kurt, Bethany, moi

Everyone around the table (except Clark, who
took this picture)

Birthdays are special times, and they should be with family whenever possible! 

TWO BIRTHDAYS!

We all know that July 4 was our country's Independence Day, but it was also my hubby Clark's birthday!  We had a cookout with grilled chicken strips, hamburgers, and hot dogs, along with baked beans, fried okra (we ARE in the South, you know), crispy potato rounds, cole slaw, chili (for the burgers and dogs), plus the two desserts. Everything was so good!

Homemade banana pudding and a chocolate
cake with blackberry filling! Our daughter
Holly outdid herself on these

Granddawg Bruno wanted some!

Have a great weekend, doxie lovers!

GRANDDAWG SUNNY IS ONE YEAR OLD

It's so hard to believe! She is quite a sassy girl, but we all love that. She gives her boxer brother Bruno a run for his money, that's for sure. He's very gentle with her, however, as we know her entire head would easily fit into his mouth.

She's been a big help to our entire family since we lost our doxie granddawgs in 2017: Shadow in February and our Duke in July last year. Sunny isn't like either of them, being red instead of black and tan, and her personality is totally different from either of them. That's okay--we love her to pieces.

Shadow

Duke

Dachshunds . . . you gotta love 'em.

FAMILY FUN & HOLIDAYS

My birthday was the day after Thanksgiving this year, so we had a wonderful time together on Thanksgiving AND for my birthday. Here are some photos of our celebrations:

Hubby Clark carving the turkey as
granddaughter Alexa watches

Uncle Kurt preparing potatoes as granddaughter Annika watches

Thanksgiving table all ready for the meal!

Grands enjoying the beautiful colors outdoors

Enjoying my birthday meal

Our entire family enjoying The Cheesecake Factory
for my birthday

My birthday roses from Clark

WELCOME, NOVEMBER!

November, I am certainly glad to see you . . . Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and our family time is superb! In addition to this holiday, our family celebrates THREE birthdays this month: Philip's (our son-in-law), Alexa's (our granddaughter), and . . . mine.

Beautiful leaves, crisp air, holidays and birthdays--a wonderful month of the year. Here are some images to get us all in the November spirit:

And last, but certainly not least:

Dachshunds . . . you gotta love 'em!