Cowboy Day

It's been a long time since I've added pictures of the boys to the blog. So I went outside with them this afternoon and we had a great time taking pictures and practicing being cowboys. Dallon was "yee-haw"ing and praising himself on his awesome ropin' skills.

The boys were quite a team (as long as Jace wasn't mad!) and they played well with the same "steer" for quite a while. I got them each a hat and a rope, and they loved it!
Now this is what I call team roping--except I think the heeler usually puts his sippy cup down before the event.
Dallon did a great job winding up for his throw...he's seen it done plenty of times.
Jace tried and tried to throw the rope, but he just whipped the poor thing over and over. Still hanging on to that sippy.
Dallon decided to do some bull riding. He even took his hat off and said yee-haw.
I took a few pictures for our press release and advertising for our fund-raising.
Jace wouldn't leave the house without his blanket and sippy cup. He eventually dropped the blankie, but held onto that sippy the whole time.
Dallon loves the camera, and can be such a ham. He likes looking at his pictures on the camera screen, so he'll try to make it really interesting.
Jace looked so grown up in this picture. I can't believe he'll be 2 in March!

Fund-Raising Begins!

We have begun the exciting task of fund-raising for 4 Paws. The way it works is we work as volunteers to fund-raise the designated amount for 4 Paws that qualifies us for a dog to be placed with us. The total we raise for 4 Paws is $13,000. All donations made to 4 Paws are tax deductible charitable contributions, and you will receive a receipt from them in the mail for your records.

If you want to make a donation in Dallon's name to 4 Paws, click on the form in this post and print it (make sure to preview before you print so you can adjust it to fit on one page), write a check to 4 Paws with "In honor of Dallon Arvidson" in the memo line, and mail it to:
4 Paws for Ability
253 Dayton Ave
Xenia, OH 45385

If you have any suggestions of donation opportunities for us, please let us know! We are open for suggestions. Just please remember that the initial fund-raising effort is for 4 Paws and not for Dallon individually. After we have raised the amount for 4 Paws, we will be doing additional fund raisers for our traveling expenses (flights and a 2 week stay in Ohio) and if anyone wants to contribute more than that, they can donate gift cards to Petsmart (we have one nearby) for food and other supplies for the dog (like a crate, leashes, toys, bowls, brushes, etc). Anything in excess that we raise for our other fund-raising efforts we will donate to 4 Paws for another deserving family! We have a press release available we will be sending to local newspapers. We'll keep everyone informed about our fund-raising efforts as we go! THANKS

Application Accepted

4 Paws had been trying to contact me for a couple of days, and I'd call them back, then they'd call me back, and we just played tag for a while. Then this afternoon we finally connected, and they gave me the news that our application has been accepted. Then she did a quick interview with me about what we would like the dog to be able to do. Then after we determined the skill set we needed, she gave me the amount we need to fund raise. It was $13,000! I hope we can get it raised. In a week or so I will receive the final packet with signature forms to officially "activate" our application. Then we can officially begin fund-raising.

If anyone has any ideas for fund-raising (organizations, grants, etc) let us know so we can apply for as many as possible as quickly as possible. After we have raised the funds, they will select a dog for us. Depending on how far along in training our dog is, it could take as much as 9 months before we would actually go to Ohio for training. So time is of the essence for our fund-raising. I really want Dallon to have some long-term practice with his dog before he enters kindergarten in 2009.

Thanks for all of the support we receive from all of our loved ones. We'll post all of the information for making donations on our blog for anyone to see.

Snow Days

I cannot believe how much snow we've gotten this year. And it has been quite the adventure. On Jan 26 we had a bad ice storm, followed by over 6 inches of falling snow. It was really slick for several days--but it was soooo beautiful. We went out on Sunday evening and played in the newly fallen snow.

I did had one really bad morning when I couldn't get the truck out of where it was parked because of the ice. Then I came home in between my gym class and picking up Dallon from school, and as I was about to run into the house to change into some jeans, my truck was actually sliding down the driveway into the street (we have a steep driveway) with Jace in it! I freaked out and it stopped as soon as it hit the dry gravelled pavement. Then I re-parked in the snow bank in front of the house, when I came back out I slipped on some ice and landed almost flat on my back on the sidewalk next to my pickup. Then I was stuck in the snow bank for a bit before I finally got on my way to pick up Dallon. If you're wondering, the stores were sold completely out of ice melt by this time so we just had to buck up and deal with it. We still have some snow and ice, and it snowed some more yesterday, but its warmer and we don't have a thick sheet of ice anymore.
This is an art creation Dallon made at school. I thought it was beautiful--thought I would share it.

This is the new bedroom set Chris bought me for Christmas--I love it, its so rustic and beautiful. It is a 5 piece set with headboard, night stands, dresser, and linen chest.

We are generally doing really well right now. We've been busy and a little stressed with some issues, but everyone has been pretty healthy and we have much to be thankful for heading into 2008 strong.