Well the day we worked so hard for but hoped wouldn't really come, came. Friday we returned Dejay to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Today has been a quieter without or puppy. Sydney went with me to drop him off and on the way home we were feeling a little guilty that we weren't more upset and weepy. We decided that the predominant emotion was pride. Our family worked really hard to train Dejay and he was a great experience for all of us. We are proud of him and excited to see what he can do.

I will admit to being lonely today for my constant companion, and I haven't had the heart to put away all his things yet. So tonight when I got and email from the Puppy truck drivers, we were all excited to hear how Dejay's first day away went. Here is the message we got: (FYI the kids all tied a piece of ribbon on his collar as they said good-bye... The principal at the elementary school gave him a new bone as a going away gift, and he took it with him on the puppy truck)

Life has been really chaotic around here lately, and today is no exception. Our experience at Costco was great today.
Hazel and I went to Costco at noon today. It was so busy that even the tire technicians were running checkstands. Hazel had to go to the bathroom. After visiting the bathroom we were trying to cut across the surge of customers leaving the checkstands and stay out of the way of the food court line, suddenly Hazel stopped. I stop with DeJay in tow, and try to drag Hazel out of the traffic. Everyone is stopped around us and she declares loudly "something is wrong with my pants". I look down at her in disbelief as she pulls a pair of flowered panties out of her pant leg. "Oh, here's the problem!"

Here is me and the door.
Here is a shot of just the glowing doors.
The stand without the lights on...

Today was a busy day. Christian and Truman and I went out at dawn to put out flags (our boy scout fundraiser, for $35 a year the scouts in our ward will post a flag in your yard on all major holidays). The van started steaming profusely (unfortunately not the first time this week), I opened the hood and finally caught a glimpse of the offending hose. I dropped the boys off at home and drove over to Auto Zone and opened the hood. I showed the girl the hose spraying coolant all over and told her I would like a new one. We looked for a long time for the right part and finally discovered that I just needed a 6 inch piece of 3/4 inch hose. They didn't even charge me for it! I came home and spent 2 hours replacing the hose. Our neighbor came by and helped me tighten the last clamp and put the air filter back on. I washed up and the kids and I went up to watch the Veteran's Day Parade. Christian and the Marching band were in the parade. It is always fun to see my kids perform. We came home and had lunch. Then we headed to the pool for an hour. THen everyone got to work practicing and cleaning (my in-laws are coming tomorrow.)

Our HOA decided to remodel our pool this summer and it closed the week after school got out and just opened again last week. Today was warm weather (90s) and so Kenneth and the Kids went to play at the pool. The splash Pad toys are a new addition.

Here is a snapshot of the field show. Christian is in the "front ensemble" or "pit". They are the percussionists on the track.

Here is the Pit on the jumbotron, Christian is the third from the right.