They all grow up...

I'm FINALLY finished with school for the summer (we missed so much school with snow and then tornadoes this year it was a VERY long school year) and I am going to try AGAIN to blog, as well as catch up on reading some of my favorite blogs! So usually my bi-annual posts are about my children.. around their birthdays. And tomorrow just happens to be Jeremy's 23rd (with Jordan's 20th coming quickly) but today I'm going to talk about Nzuri.

My husband likes telling everyone that Nzuri is my "empty nest" dog - but I jumped the gun because the kids are still at home : ).

Nzuri is now a little over a year old and I can't imagine life without her. She's sweet, playful and has very soulful eyes - that seem to understand, or at least have compassion when I'm tired or down. She's been staying with me at Mom's lately while they are at Sager Brown and loves playing in the sprinklers. And she's terribly offended when you ask her to sleep on the floor (at 75 pounds she's just getting hard to share a bed with)! The first dog-love of my life was named Tessa (officially, Dutchess Katessa after her Dam). Tessa was a long-haired, solid black German Shepard bred by a gentleman in Pine Bluff who's name I've forgotten but had beautiful, fabulously smart dogs. She died at 12-years-old and has been gone almost 15 years now, and I miss her still. She was with me through some wonderful and some AWFUL times in my life.

As I think about how fast the year has gone since we brought Nzuri home from Missouri (thanks so much to Doran, aka Connell Lion Hounds), it's not surprising compared to how fast my sweet children have become adults.. it's sad and wonderful at the same time - this growing up!