Happy Birthday, Eric!

What a weekend! It's so hard to believe that Eric is turning 2 this week (April 5). Because of Dougie's wedding this weekend, we celebrated Eric's birthday this past weekend and had an absolute blast! The theme was sesame street, focused on Elmo. We had all of Eric's playgroup friends over, our neighbors and our friends and family. All of the kids did great and we had a wonderful time!

The week started by celebrating Aunt Heattie's graduation from Broadcasting School. Congratulations!

Eric got his hair cut for the big event

Around dinnertime on Friday, all of the family started to arriveAudrey celebrates with Eric by wearing a hat!
Eric the musician!
At the party table with all the kids Look! I got cake!!
MMMMMMMMMMM
Elyn saying "CHEESE!"
Eric shows off his dancing moves while the crowd is leaving
Bailey returned from the spa and here's what she thought of it
We all went to dinner at Oscar's where Eric was the head of the table The next day, he got to try out his new helmet and bicycle
All the Schoening boys playing with the trains - Chris was especially excited Eric and Uncle Chris

Remembering Rusty

So, way back in 1995, after I graduated from high school, I went to work at Bluestone, a Presbyterian camp in WV. Mind you, I was only there for a week. They were looking for camp counselor volunteers and I thought it would be fun before I ventured off to Miami. Little did I know that I was there for a reason I had yet to find out.

While there, I discovered that there were several dogs that had been left off by people who lived in the area. They were all wonderful dogs and loved the kids, but there was one in particular who everyone loved. They called him Spa. Spa followed one counselor around and they called him her 'shadow' - when we played hide and seek, we always knew where she was hiding because Spa was there with her. He would also go running every morning with one of the counselors who was training for a marathon. He would sometimes stay with him the whole way.

I was working the last week that camp was in session. When I asked what would happen to Spa and the other dogs if no one took them, they said they would call animal control. You can guess how the rest of the story goes.

I took Spa home and changed his name to Rusty. For the next few weeks we tried to train him, got his medical records updated and guessed that he was 1-2 years old. A true "West Virginia Brown Dog", we never knew exactly what mix he was. Known in the family as the best dog in the world, Rusty very rarely wore a leash. He didn't know one growing up and looked at us questioningly when we tried to put one on. He loved to hike and be outside. He would run ahead of us, but always stopped to come back and make sure we were ok and following.

He quickly became my mom's shadow. Rusty followed her everywhere. He became not only a good friend but someone to both take care of and lean on when times were rough. Many said that there was never a more gentle or dear dog. My grandma (Gege) always said that he was a gift from God, and I truly believe he was. I was sent to Bluestone to find him.

Rusty passed away last week after 15+ wonderful years. I hope he knew how much joy he brought to our entire family. There will never ever be a dog quite like him.

Girls Weekend 09 and St Patty's Day

This year we spent our Girls Weekend in Chicago! Paula and John were great hosts as we ate, laughed, drank and ate some more. Paula's girls are absolutely beautiful and SO well-behaved! It was definitely a weekend to remember!

The Hunsche Family - John, Paula, Gianna and Kylar

We started the day off on Saturday at a bar. Some things never change. :) Shopping on Michigan Ave!
Baby Kylar with squash on the face
John & Gia both on their laptops
Who could resist that face?

Beautiful Gia
All the girls - until we meet again!

The next weekend Nana and Aunt Heather came to visit while Tim was at Doug's bachelor party (more on Doug and Ayrica's wedding in a few weeks!). The most exciting event of the weekend was the St. Patrick's Day parade - where better to see one than in Dublin?! Eric LOVED the parade and we have to be sure to go every year. He can tell you all about the dogs, Elmo (yes Elmo was in the parade), the funny clowns, the sirens, the dogs, the horses, etc etc....

It was a little chilly but Eric still looked the part

Waiting for the parade to begin - all dressed in green!

It took us forever to get this picture because he wouldn't take his eyes off of the parade!
Eric watches the bagpipers
After the parade was over, he kept saying "more funny clowns" and "more parade"!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!