My Dog-a great distraction

I need to keep my mind off adoption ruminations for a little while so I thought I would post some pictures of the best furry friend a girl could have. She follows me around the house and tries to chew on my butter spreaders, but I love her anyway. I picked her up in March of 2008 about a month after my grandmother, Dorothy, passed away. My brother went with me to pick her up. The breeder was calling her Jade, but after we got in the truck he informed me that the dog's name was Dot, and "her AKC name can be Dorothy Elizabeth" (Elizabeth is part of my maternal grandmother's name as well). And so it stuck. She is Dot and she has even grown a couple of spots of gray to go with her name. Anyway, here are a few pictures to entertain you and keep my mind off thinking about small children in Ethiopia.

Here she is the day I got her. She was small and scared and had REALLY long fur.














Here she is a few months older and has had a haircut.















She has gotten quite fast and loves racing around the yard now that I have a fence and grass.




So this is pretty much what she looks like right now. Running around the yard with her tongue hanging out, stopping periodically to nip at the grass.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this diversion as much as I have. Now I am going to bed so I can get up early and start reading. Got a lot to get done before my home study is done on 8/7.

PhotoWalk Submissions

Here are two pictures I took on the 18th as part of the Worldwide PhotoWalk. I can submit two for the competition and I think these are the two. You can see the rest of the pictures I took through the link in the previous post. Curious to see what anyone thinks. Thanks to my dad for helping me with editing.

2009 Worldwide PhotoWalk

2009_07_18 PhotoWalk

I participated in the Worldwide PhotoWalk today. I can submit two of the pictures that I took to the local competition and then the best one from the Billings group will be forwarded on to the international competition. The problem I have is that I am not sure which ones I should submit. I have linked to my Picasa Web album (just click on the picture of the geraniums) and I am hoping that my readers might help me decide which to submit. Just leave a comment regarding your two favorite pictures and I will see what the consensus is. FYI, I have not editted any of these pictures. This is how they came out of the camera. I am curious to see what you all think. Thanks in advance for your input.

Mountain Escape

After a couple of long weeks (did 4 deliveries and helped with a c-section all in the space of 10 days) I took a day off and ran away to the mountains. Visited some of my favorite places on earth. Here are a few photos.

Looking down the valley from Vista Point on the Beartooth Highway.

At Vista Point there was a big contingent of Germans on Harleys. Had to take this picture for my sister.
My dog, Dot, enjoying some time out of the truck. This is just before the Montana-Wyoming border where we went for a walk and got really wet in melted snow.


The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

A bald eagle, presumably feeding its young, near the road in Yellowstone.


I could upload all sorts of other pictures, but this is plenty for now. I don't have pictures of the fabulous dinner I had last night at Chico Hot Springs; nor can pictures convey the relaxation of just getting away, even if it is for only 36 hours.

Freedom

What does freedom mean to you? I tried to come up with an answer to this as I tried to explain the importance of July 4th to my friend's 7y/o foster-daughter. It is more than the freedom to set off fireworks (which is what she thought it was all about). It is even more than the freedom that we have in this country that has been hard won. As a Christian, I realize that, as Paul says, slavery to Christ is the greatest freedom I will ever have. My church (Harvest Church) shows this to the community by putting on a huge carnival and fireworks show every year. I think people outside the church need to see that Christians really do know how to have fun and be free. Too often we act as though the Christian life is all about what you can't do. Remember that Christ "came that (we) might have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10). That means fireworks too.

The moon just after the clouds cleared.Children living the abundant life with glow in the dark toys.