Modern, Original, Christian Artwork

Between work, Tyson going missing 2 weeks ago, getting ready for Christmas, working on the paintings for Asher's room and life, I haven't had time for the blog... So, I thought I would try to do this 'quickly' this morning (ha! It's already been an hour of resizing pics), so here it goes ...

We hired Bonnie Hale and her tracking dog, Murphy, last weekend to look for Tyson. He had been gone for 8 days and it had rained twice, but we were desperate and we found nothing but glowing reviews, success stories and testimonies about Bonnie and Murphy. Dustin walked around our neighborhood and the field behind our house with her for 3.5 hours. They found remains in the field and we compared them to some fur of Tyson's and thought it was him, so we spent 3 days doing nothing as far as looking for him ... but our vet confirmed the remains to be rabbit early this weeks, so the search was back on. Bonnie gave us all kinds of ideas and advice on what to do to search for him, but we didn't employ any of it immediately - we've been regretting that all week ... but, gotta start somewhere. A girl in Prosper, Tarah, emailed me Tuesday at midnight saying she had seen a cat that looked just like Tyson on Monday morning about 3 miles south of our house. Turned out Tarah used to work for Irving Animal Control and knows a lot about tracking stray cats, so she actually came out with us from midnight to 2:00am when Dustin got home from work on Tuesday night and we called him and looked for other stray cats. It was really cold and we only saw 1 cat the whole time, BUT she said leaving our scent would encourage Tyson to stay in the area. Now we have a bunch of signs we are putting up today - Bonnie's designs and a BIG 16" x 20" poster (6 of them actually) with his picture in full color on it ... So, we are praying (literally - and we ask anyone else to also pray) that someone will see Tyson again and let us know where he is so we can do more than just put up signs and wait. For now, though, that is all we can do...

The morning of the search with Bonnie and Murphy ...

Tyson lays on this teddy bear and we put him in a big trash bag so Murphy could get Tyson's scent, but he ended up using a piece of a rug instead ...(I've had this bear since I was 10 years old - or somewhere around there - notice the missing nose - thank you, DOGS!)

The rabbit remains are in the bag and Tyson's little tuft of fur is on my thumb ...

After our vet confirmed it was rabbit, I made up signs and walked around the neighborhood that Tarah thought she saw him in. There is an Agricultural Building behind her neighborhood and she said stray animals tend to go over there b/c it's warm and there is shelter. A nice guy named Damon let me text him a picture of Tyson and our contact info in case he saw them. . . and he took us in to show us the pigs ... they're like big, dirty, stinking dogs!

I started and finished the big painting for Asher's room at some point in the last 2 weeks, but all the days are bleeding together at this point ... I think I finished it this past weekend - maybe Sunday or Monday...

Jasper has taught Gremlin how to get up on the retaining wall and walk from 'their' side of the yard over to the side they know they are not supposed to be on and jump down. She was especially pleased with herself and immediately went over to the gate to brag about it to all the other dogs ... they have such distinct personalities ...and then she was wanting me to tell her how clever she is ... we really need to learn how to train some sense and manners into our dogs ...

Speaking of the need to train our dogs ... I was having a mini-melt-down about Tyson (I do at least once a day) and I heard unfamiliar noises coming from the dogs' room ... and this is what I walked into. Normally, I would have been passing out spankings and time outs, but I just started to laugh (hysteria setting in? Possibly.) ... This was ALL Stewie. I think Gremlin might join in AFTER Stewie has done the initial wrong, but he is the catalyst. Why do puppies eat furniture???

... but how can I stay mad at a face like this?

We (ahem, I) got all our Christmas presents wrapped an taken over to my parents' house to celebrate on Saturday night. I think this year it's an unspoken contest between my parents and Dustin and I to see who got Caleb, my brother's 3 year old son, the best gift ... (not that I would ever admit it to them, but I think maybe my parents won) ... I'll let you know after Christmas Eve ...

Dustin taking a nap yesterday - my friend, Michele, said it looks like he's waiting for Santa ... it does - lol.

My dad in his Cowboys Santa Hat!

I got my mom to give me what I, as a kid, thought was a genie bottle. I've wanted it forever ... I've found that this time of year is a good time to petition people, especially parents, for things you would normally not ... and it worked! It is not proudly displayed in our office!

Dustin didn't (couldn't) wait to open Asher's first Christmas present from my Aunt Jean ... it's a book called 'God Gave Us Christmas' ... he then proceeded to read it to me as if I was a child - it was cute - he's going to be a really good daddy!

We had our 3D/4D sonogram yesterday morning in Denton @ Visions of Love. Asher is breach & he had his hands on either side of his face, his head snuggly smooshed between where my ribs meet (explains the pain @ night) and his legs straight up with his feet literally resting on his face, making it impossible to get a good 3D/4D picture... So, we will be going back some time in the next 2 weeks... And she said I need to start to drink a LOT more water!

Zwei had a vet appointment for a hot spot on her back - allergies. She was not happy with me. She saw the leash and gentle leader and assumed we were headed to the dog park ... I felt bad, but I bought her a pig ear when I paid and she immediately forgave me. Wish people were so easily appeased.

We decided to keep it healthy last night and went to IHOP for dinner. A couple that was sitting across from us anonymously paid our bill (oh, wait, it's not anonymous if the server told us who it was, huh? Well, they had left and our waitress told us who had paid our bill)... We asked why and she said they said it's a tradition, they do it every year at Christmas time ... sounded like a plan to us and there was this little boy sitting with his parents in the booth behind Dustin - probably 4-5 years old - that kept standing up and peeking over the booth at us... so, we decided to pay it forward and paid their bill ... It was pretty cool. Stuff like that makes you wonder why you don't do it more often.

Random pic of our niece, Peyton, at Caleb's 3rd birthday party a couple weeks ago ...

We have a lot to do today, not the least of which is mounting the posters and stapling wooden stakes to all the signs we have and getting them put up ...

My work had a company lunch on Wednesday... wish I had thought to take some photos. I love my job. I love the company I work for, the people I work with love God and they're not afraid of being un-PC and saying so and it's just a good place to be. I've been there for over a year and I've had to stop recently and really thank God for it. It was an answer to prayer when I got it and it continues to be a blessing.

I realized this morning that I have not listened to any Christmas music other than the music that is playing in stores when I'm in them ... the whole Tyson thing has really taken over. I feel guilty when we are doing anything that isn't related to looking for him, but life continues whether we continue with it or not and the things that need doing are not going to do themselves ... we just need to get the signs up and pray someone sees him or takes him in and contacts us.

Anyway, I have a short list of Christmas songs that I really like and Little Drummer Boy is at the top. Enjoy!

Isaiah 9:6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.