Life at the Ackerman's

A tribute to our Dog friends

2008-03-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

2008 has been a hard year for Dogs, I have had several friends and family members lose their pets or receive not such good news. Most recently our dear friends Rush and Lynn emailed us to let us know about their Irish Wolf Hound "Wilson". Wilson is near and dear to our hearts as he was Gracie's ( our Great Dane's) first buddy! Wilson was diagnosed with bone cancer in his leg, Rush and Lynn are keeping him comfortable as long as they can with pain medication. So here is a picture of our friend Wilson and a poem for all of our dog friends who we have lost or are sick:

For: Abby, Benny, Kyla, Skippy & Wilson. We love you!

THE DOGS WHO HAVE SHARED OUR LIVES

The dogs who've shared our lives. In subtle ways they let us know their spirit still survives. Old habits still make us think we hear a barking at the door.Or step back when we drop a tasty morsel on the floor.Our feet still go around the place the food dish used to be,And, sometime, coming home at night,we miss them terribly.And although time may bring new friends and a new food dish to fill,That one place in our hearts belongs to them...and always will.

---Linda Barnes ---

Update to Cute things Kid's (Colin) say!

2008-03-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

Colin had pajama day this week at school. I gave him the choice of wearing his firefighter jams or his dinosaur jams. He told me "Mom I'm worried my dinosaur jams will frighten my friends" How cute is he! Gosh I love this kid!

Cute things kids say

2008-03-03T07:55:00.000-08:00

So I have decided to keep a list of cute things that kids say, so here are some of them:

Colin took communion at church and accidentally drank the wine instead of the grape juice, after we got back to our seats he looked at me and said "Did I drink beer" oh and yes he said loud enough for all to hear!

Last night while taking a bath Colin wanted to know when God and Jesus are coming. He then asked where do they live? Mom do they live in Colorado?

More to come.......

Family History Fun

2008-02-24T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well we had a great time at Papa and GaGa's last night!!! (My Dad for those of you who don't know PaPa).

Anywho we had a great time! My grandfather was there Bompie as he is staying with my Dad while my grandmother, Nonnie is in the hospital. Bompie was in rare form last night, WOW what a memory he has for being 92 years old!

We got to hear stories of my great grandfather, Clarence Mayberry. My Dad actually has a copy of the Auction Sale flyer that Clarence made when he had to sell his ranch, The Mayberry Ranch. It reads" Because of Ill health I am compelled to give up farming, so will sell the following goods and chattels at public auction to the highest bidder on Mayberry Ranch". Then they have listed cattle, horses, hogs, farm machinery etc....

We enjoyed listening about his life from a child living in Maybell, Colorado in a two room shack to his first job and first mortgage. When he was a small boy they moved here from Marvel, KS. The stories of living off the land were fascinating, I couldn't even imagine! His first job was in Denver, making 35 cents an hour and his first mortgage payment was $40 a month and that was a lot!

The best part of last night was listening to his stories of playing the guitar and listening to him singing old songs. It was great and what a great voice, who knew! I so appreciate these stories and history of my family, I wish I would have appreciated them more when I was younger. Bompie also told about the time he meet his "MaMa" my grandma Nonnie. I love the fact that after being together 74 years he still has so much love for her. He talked about her like a boy in love, it was beautiful!

Times like this remind me that I need to gather information, write down memories etc.... for my children to look back on. I want them to know their family history and where they came from.

Anyway, I could go on and on and trust me I will but later gotta run!

Love you,
Dana

Really Cool!

2008-02-22T16:10:00.001-08:00

So some of you may or may not know that my Nonnie ( my Dad's Mom) fell a couple of weeks ago and broke her pelvis and arm - poor thing!!!! She is doing better but it has been a long road for everyone inolved. I got to thinking how lucky they have been, as they are both in pretty good health for being in their 90's!

So in honor of my grandparents I thought I would share some pictures from ThanksGiving!

It is really neat that Colin and Taylor have Great Grandparents!

Love,

Dana

President's Day Fun

2008-02-18T18:33:00.001-08:00

Colin had fun with Joel and Violet today at the Recreation Center. Here are some photo's of all of them playing! Oh to be a kid again!

Where does the time go?

2008-02-17T16:22:00.000-08:00

McKenzie is 13 years old! Wow where does the time go, boy do I feel old!
Here is a picture of Kenz with Baby Taylor in Arizona! This picture melts my heart!

Happy Birthday Sweet Heart, I hope you had a great day!

Love you,

Aunt Dana

My Beautiful Great Dane aka Old Paint

2008-02-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Ok - So I have to write about Gracie. Here she is looking ever so cute on her new bed. She is officially not allowed on the couch anymore. This brings meaning to the phrase " you can't teach an old dog new tricks".

Gracie drives Colin crazy, however he loves her when he is pretending she is "old paint" his horse. Oh yes and he loves to feed old paint "floppy" cheese ( american cheese slices). Colin can open them so old paint is fed "floppy" cheese often. Oh yes and a couple of weeks ago old paint got treated to an extra special treat, orange peels!

Old paint has it good!

Cowboy Colin

2008-02-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry to keep going on about the kido's but it is so much fun sharing all of these great moments with everyone! Here are some pictures of Colin sporting his cowboy get up, he had rodeo day at school. So of course we had to go get some cowboy boots, every little boy needs a pair of cowboy boots, ok and a hat and wrangler jeans! Ben brought him home all dressed up, Ben thought I would laugh and I cried! Those big brown eyes and that cowboy hat, he looked adorable. There are brown eyes under that hat.

Taylor eating cereal

2008-02-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

She is not really sure if she likes it or not? I think she thinks we are all crazy! Which well she is probably right.

Funny how friends "happen".

2008-02-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

A little story about how a friendship happened!

Colin has made a very good friend from preschool and so have we.

So when Colin started preschool at AH he came home the first week talking about a little boy named Joel. He told us how he invited Joel to "have a play date" at our house, yes Colin used the words "play date".

About a week later a coworker of mine was telling me about her sister, Tammi. My coworker talked about how close her sister and I live and how much we have in common. We laughed as my coworker told me she doesn't like to play "match maker" but she thought we would make great friends and well she was right!

Turns out my coworkers sister is Joel's mom!!!! I had to share because I'm so happy for Colin to have made such a good buddy and I feel so blessed to have found one also!

We had our new friends over for dinner last night and had a blast! Colin has also made a good friend with little Violet ( Joel's little sister). The three of them had fun last night pretending they were all brother and sister. In the spring the three of them will be playing soccer together, I can't wait!

So I end this blog thanking all of you, our friends/family for your friendship. We are so lucky to have all of you.

Love you all,
Dana

P.S. Is it a small world or a part of God's plan. I'll have to tell you sometime my story of living next door to Connie - now that was a part of God's plan or Dave's plan?

My First Blog

2008-02-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hello All!!!!

So this is my first EVER blog, am I moving up in the world or what! The inspiration for my blog are Connie (my next door neighbor (wonderful) neighbor that is and Kate my old next door neighbor who I miss terribly!

They both have blogs that I can go to and keep up with how everyone is doing! Life is so busy anymore it is hard to stay in touch, yes even with your next door neighbor! As some of you may know I have family in Arizona so it will be fun for them to be able to keep up with the Ackerman's!

I promise I will try and blog as often as I can and will post pictures of the kido's! Speaking of which my little Colin isn't so little anymore, he is almost 4 years old!!! Where does the time go? Speaking of kids, little Taylor is getting ready to go in to melt down mode, so I already have to wrap my first blog up!

I look forward to staying in touch with you all and please post comments!!!

I love you all,
Dana