On The Water, Whiting Park, Thick n' Juicy, Up Town Friday Night, And Water Fun Again

                                                                 August 3, 2016

My family all arrived on August 3, dribbling in from about 3PM to 2AM. Mom was the first to arrive because we picked her up in Wisconsin from my sisters house.

Next, my daughters and Nana kids arrived. Jamie and Blake couldn't make it this year because of work restrictions. While down by the lake Madalena found nature can make great bracelets (birch bracelets). Next my niece and her girls arrived and last my sister Karen arrive at 2AM. Her train was late and she missed her connection in Chicago, making her arrival in Grand Rapids, MI late. From there she had to rent a car and drive 3 hours in the dark to our place. I would have rented a hotel at that point and drove the next day. Not my sister, Karen, nothing stops her!

                                                       August 4, 2016

 With the entire family of 12 together (including Joe and I) our  cottage cabin was full to the MAX! So the next day we headed down to the lake where there was more space.

Joe helping the kido's with the water toys.

The biggest hit was our new purchase, the Big Mable.

We had originally bought this for the young adults, but the kids were the ones that enjoyed it the most. Noah, my grandson, and Cairy's my niece's daughter getting ready to rock and roll!

Next our grandson's Noah and Lennox.

Cairys (10) and Madalena (5). Madalena went once but it scared her and she didn't want to go again. I wasn't in the boat and was so surprised Lennox and Maddy went at all.

Lennox age 7.

My daughter Tiffany hurt her knee this year at a new trampoline business called the "Factory" that just opened in the Gulf Shores, AL. area. She tore her ACL, MCL, and Meniscus. I didn't think she was going to be able to make it, since it happened 2 months prior to the scheduled family gathering. She had surgery a month after the incident and then went into physical therapy. Her story will be told on my daughter Alisha's blog at http://thefracturefactory.com/ soon. A month after they left our place, her husband Jamie hurt both his knees at the same place requiring surgery on both. Both are still recovering and far from 100% When Tiffany arrived, I took her to my chiropractor and he did laser treatment on her knee, 3 times that week to help with the recovery.

The next day, we went to Whiting Park/Campground which is just a mile up the road from our home. My mom June and my sister Karen.

Since there are no tether ball poles in  the south (all the kids live in Alabama and Florida) it was another big hit. Thank goodness for old fashion fun.

Maddie and Noah on the slide, and of course Noah always has to do it the wrong way. Every family has a dare devil.

Noah would be the one of the Nana kids.

Me and my oldest daughter Alisha.

It was a bit of a windy day, so the water felt a little colder. Hunting for rocks was a good alternative.

We were looking for Petoskey stones. This is the biggest one I have found of yet. Tiffany also found one. They are really pretty when polished. This one is a really good one for it's size.

We also had water guns for the kids to play with,

Lennox

My sister Karen and her daughter Traci, and her granddaughters Falon, 13 and Cairys, 10.

That evening Joe treated us out for dinner at the local Thick n' Juicy hamburger joint. We pretty much took over half the joint.

Falon, Mom, and Maddie.

I took some of my daughter the photographer, pictures to post on this blog. You can tell hers from mine as the quality of color and angles.

Noah and Maddie

After dinner we stroll downtown Boyne City for their "Up Town Friday Night" that is held every Friday night through the summer. There are local  musicians on almost every corner, free bottle of water, popcorn, horse and buggy rides, and balloon hats for the kids and more. Here the kids are getting a book signed by the author.

A picture of the kids in front of a store front. In all the pictures, Noah was always behind the flowers. I guess he didn't want a picture like he does most the time.

Of course the kids found stuff animals from a shop in town, from a recently seen theater movies, "Secret Life of Pets" Lennox got Max, and Noah got Buddy.

When we got home the kids just had to go for an evening swim.

We were really "Blessed" as the water temp hit 79 degree just before the family arrived for the gathering.

The next morning the girls and some of the other early birds hit the Saturday morning Farmers Market in town.

Farmer Market pictures courtesy from Alisha Ann Hilamen.

One of the two Food Trucks at the Wednesday and Saturday Boyne City Farmers Market.

When everyone got back from the Boyne City Farmers Market, Alisha said, "Your Farmer's Market put Gulf Shores Farmer's Market to shame". I said, "I know"! For a town of 3000 people, we have an incredible Farmer's Market.

                                                         To Be Continued:

A Memorial For Mallery - R.I.P. Girlfriend

                                                             August 31, 2016

This is a picture of my daughter Tiffany at age 9, holding Chelsea, my Aunt Patty and Uncle Keith's new Yorkshire Terrier. This puppy was the inspiration for me having a Yorkie someday.

Years latter I finally got my Yorkie: Tiffany( age 21) and Mallery. (7/1/01).

I bought Mallery from a breeder near Iowa City, IA. When I picked Mallery up, at 12 weeks old, the breeder said she was glad someone finally bought her, because her brother was terrorizing her. She was always afraid of other dogs her entire life. I am sure this is why. She did love people though.

Mallery had a lot of grey, and gold, when she was five months old (10/7/01).

Age: 1 year old (May 02)

Our only family picture of Joe, Mallery and I. (Spring 2002)

First hair cut at age 2 year and 1 month (6/11/03)

I have been missing Mallery a lot. I need to find her friend. She is probably in one of the many boxes still in the garage. Maybe the best replacement to sleep with, when I get sad.

Here is a picture of my Aunt Patty, Uncle Keith and Chelsea, as well as Mallery and I. Chelsea had to be at least 13 years old. (Summer 2002- Mallery 2 years old)

We lost both Mallery and my Uncle Keith this year. They both are really missed! I am sure Chelsea and Keith greeted Mallery when she arrived in heaven. (My sister Nancy to next to Keith).

Before we hit the road and became full time gypsies, this was Mallery's backyard.

She used to run out the sliding door to the deck and down the stairs, then wait for us on the red brick path (that Joe built) .

When we got to the bottom of the steps, she would run ahead to the back yard. (This picture was taken at age 4. Her hair looked darker because her hair cut was shorter. The shorter her hair cut on her body the darker she looked).

She found her ball and waited to play catch. Her favority thing to do. (Age 2).

As Mallery matured she became a beautiful blonde.

When her hair was longer on her body, it was more silver than black. Mallery at age 2.

When she got hot, she found the shade. (Age 4, 2005).

A picture my daughter Alisha took of Mallery. Age: 4 years, (Summer 2005) If you missed the previous blogs, it tells more of her life and death. (Go to the bottom of page and click on older blogs link to see those blogs). The next picture continues were I left off in the last blog. I know there have been many "Tributes To Mallery" blogs, but it has been a great therapy for me to adjust to her being gone.

The next day we got Mallery out of the refrigerator. I wanted to open the toy box one more time to say good bye. Joe said, "Are you sure"? I said, "You look first and let me know if she looks OK". After he OKed she looked fine, I told her good bye for the last time. I pet her and she was very cold. It was even harder to bury her than to have her put to sleep or put her in the refrigarator the night before. We said a pray for her after her burial. Then I went to the garage and sorted through all my special rocks that I had collected from across the United States, never knowing what I was going to do with them at the time. Most of the rocks have a marked on the other side saying what state they are from.

My sweet neighbor Mindy, brought over these mums for Mallery because they were her color.

and this beautiful card.

I never knew they made cards like this.

Then I got this card in the mail from Lake Street Veterinary who put her to sleep.

I planted the mum and went out and bought another one to frame her grave.

A card from my sister Nancy,

And my sister Karen.

Of course with each card, the tears of emotion erupted.

Words of comfort from a sister who loves animal as much as I do.

For the last month of Mallery's life, taking her into Wal-Mart or any store became a challenge. She would only stay hidden in her bag for a very short time, and then started to whine and bark, forcing me to leave the store. Before this, she always knew the meno: just go to sleep and peak out once in a while.

I know Mallery has been waiting for me for at least a year to be ready to let her go. She stopped sleeping and sitting with us for that long. She was hanging in there for me, because she knew I needed this time to accept this lose. I know dogs in the wild, leave the pack and wonder off to die by themselves. I remember last summer when we walked the alley, and she would stop at a yard a ways from ours, and try to make a nest there. I didn't understand why she was doing this. I now think that's what she was doing.

 Now that I am more rested, since she has been gone, I see things that I was missing. When the doctor told us to quit giving her high fats, because of her gall bladder problems, the supplements in the form of pills had to be stopped. There was no way to get them down her, and I wasn't going to shove them down her throat. We tried to get a few pills down by mixing them in water or orange juice in a syringe, but she hated it so. I didn't want to make her last days horrible, so we gave it up. If you don't know yorkies, they are stubborn dogs, and will fight you until they win, if they don't want something. One of those pills was a seizure supplement that literally stopped the seizures last summer. She was still getting a supplement in a spray form 2 times a day, so I was hoping that one would keep the seizures at bay. I see now that her walking in circles in the video's were early signs of seizure activity in her brain. When dogs have early symptoms of seizures it makes them feel funny and also needing to be close to you. I think she was probably having early symptom the last week during the night and that is why she was so wakeful. Why I didn't realize this when it was happening is beyond me, except that I was so tired. I knew this from her having seizure a year prior, but it just didn't register in my brain at the time. I guess I was overwhelmed with the increasing daily care of all the new medications the doctors had  her on, her not eating much but crackers and cheerios, her restlessness, and the up coming events.

 Mallery didn't enjoy the yard this summer, like she did last year. She never just laid down and relaxed. She would pace for a while, maybe lay down for a minute, then get back up and pace again or bark to let us know she wanted us to come get her. Another indication she was not as happy and content as before. So in my heart I know I made the right decision, but I still have all these thoughts that rerun over and over in my brain. I guess I am just one of those people who just tries to fix problems and has a hard time stopping. I had been saying daily healing prayers for her, and saw many miracle turn arounds in her health. These unusual improvements surprised her doctors, and encouraged me. We had stopped the seizures and her kidney levels were almost within normal limits. God answered pray after pray. I prayed just let her live for a summer at the lake. She got two summers. I prayed he would let her live long enough to get her back home so I could let her rest in peace in her yard. I prayed to let her live long enough until family left so I didn't have to pretend happiness when company was here. Answered prays go on and on, and I give God the Glory for these answered prayers.
 I truly believe in the power of prayer, so in the end I felt like I gave up on her and my faith. I know the world says we all have to die, which we do, but not with sickness and disease. When Jesus walked the earth, he went about healing the sick, and told us when he left, we could do the same, as stated in John 14:12,
¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it".

  I was praying that when she died, she would be healed and go in her sleep peacefully. I wouldn't have to decide the day she died. 

 I got distracted from my faith from the circumstances and worries of this world.  In Matthew 13, Jesus tells us the Parable of the seed. This is a verse from that parable ; ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful".  I let all the circumstance, fears, and deceitfulness of the world make my final decision, and that I regret. I had been so busy with my trip to Alabama to care for my daughter, to getting ready for guests, and then guest coming, not to mention all the care of Mallery. The worries of the over $1000 I spent in a month with vet bills, not to mention the cost I was already incurring, giving her the daily fluids and supplements. Then to not see any improvements, didn't help either. I didn't make room to spend time in the word. When you spend time in the word of God, it strengthens you. I got worn down. I took my eye off Jesus. I had forgot to put on my belt of  Truth, shield of Faith and my sword of the Spirit as stated in Ephesians 6:10-18.

That said, Mallery is in a better place and I know I will see her again someday. (Romans 8:38). She can see again, breath better, and run and play ball once more.
 I know I am confusing you now, with saying at one moment I regret my decision, but yet I know I made the right decision! As a Christian, as long as we believe that Jesus is our Savior, we will go to heaven when we die. But if we followed the word and don't get distracted in this world, we could see the fruits of our labor. Kind of like you take tests, and get  C's, making it possible to graduate. Verses getting straight A's and get scholarships to go to college.

A lot of people who are not pet owners just don't understand the bond that we have. For me our pets are gifts from God and closest you will get to the love of God. There is not a friend, relative, sister, daughter, mother, father, or husband that hasn't cause disappointment in my life. Don't get me wrong, I am sure I have been a disappointment as a relative, wife, daughter, mother, sister, grandmother, or friend as well, as said in Roman 3: 23, "For all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God". No person is meant to take the place of our Lord and Savior, who is the head of the body of Christ.

Mallery was my best friend. When the world didn't understand me, hear me, forgive me, or love me, I always had her unconditional "Love". She was kind of like a little Jesus in my pocket or by my side. There has been a emptiness in my life since she has been gone. I understand why! She has been by my side for 15 years and 3 months (and constantly for the last 8 years), never once got mad at me; always made me smile and laugh; and always happy to see me when I came home. Who is always like that except Mallery and Jesus.

I am Ok with the emptiness, it means something special is missing from my life. She was the very best girlfriend a girl could ever ask for

                ^{Only the special Love of Jesus can fill that hole. 13} Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13