Our dog Minuet turned twelve years old today.
Minuet began her life at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Campus in San Rafael CA. At 9 weeks of age she came to live with Emily and the Bairn's in Snowflake AZ where she was raised as a Guide Dog Puppy in Training. At 14 months she returned to CA for formal Guide Dog training. After six months of intense training she was dropped from the program because she got spooked.
Emily, now living in Phoenix with her aunt, took her back. After a few months they moved back up to Snowflake for a year and a half. Emily then left Minuet with her family for eighteen months while she served a mission for her church. Upon Emily's return Minuet and Emily both moved to Phoenix once again, first living with aunts and grandparents, then into a rental house with her sister Katie and brother Benjamin.
During this time Minuet thrived being able to accompany Emily to school as she studied to become a veterinary technician. After Emily's graduation, the two returned to Snowflake for another three years.
They then moved to Virginia and stayed with the Moss family in Lexington while looking for a more permanent place to live. After six months they moved six miles down the road in Buena Vista. A little over a year later Minuet acquired Nathan as a new member of her family and moved to northern VA, to the city of Alexandria. One year later she again moved, this time to Springfield VA, and shortly thereafter got the newest addition to her pack, Adam.
In her twelve years of life she has moved eleven times, lived with seven different dogs (not including the dogs at Guide Dogs for the Blind), and twenty one different people (again not including her time at Guide Dogs for the Blind).
Through it all she has been a trooper, always ready to make the best of whatever life dishes her. Happy Birthday Minuet! We love you! It has been a pleasure having you as part of our lives and family.
Awe, all clean again.
Today is Meshanna's birthday.
Tonight we celebrated Grandpa Carl Summers's birthday. Yesterday he turned 55. We joined Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Caitlin at Houlihan's restaurant for dinner, where Adam helped Grandpa open his gifts and eat his cards. We also watched the new Star Trek movie together. Adam slept through most of it, even though the theater was rumbling (that boy can sleep through the loudest noises). We love birthday celebrations. Happy Birthday!
Just after midnight we wished Steve a happy birthday. Adam must have recognized that the game was over and woke to help sing to Steve. The first book that Steve read as a twenty-nine year old was Who Loves Baby, a personal favorite of Adam's. The book has no more text than the title on the cover, but that didn't stop Steve, who extemporaneously composed a lively exegesis that resembled the style of epic Greek poetry. With a beginning like this the upcoming year is bound to be great. Happy Birthday Steve!
