Isabelle

 Such a good sport! Isabelle was found behind the animal shelter the day of an adoption drive. I went behind the shelter and called here kitty, kitty and here she came. I came around the shelter with Josh and the kids still sitting in the truck and showed them, Josh immediately locked the doors. Ha! He already knew! Needless to say she did not get adopted and never had to enter the shelter, we brought her home and fostered her.

 Isabelle is a swirl tabby. A good friend told me that most swirl tabbys' will have a cross on their back.

 

 Fishing is hard work for a kitten!

 She sometimes found the oddest of places to sleep.

And then at times she slept like a normal girl with her best friend. Tayler and I had a deal that if she proved herself with her animal responsibilities she could keep Isabelle. Sadly Tayler did not follow through on her end. It was a sad lesson learned! Though I think I wanted to keep this girl more than anyone. Funny how you think you aren't attached and they worm their way into your heart! She would hide in the bedroom each night until I shut the door wait until I laid down with the lights off then start to play, grab my toes under the edge of the bed, jump on the dryer as I tried to do laundry, and hop on the shelf when I went into the pantry to decide what to cook for meals. I miss her to this day and am very grate full to my awesome friend M for keeping her until she finds her furever home. I know without a doubt that if we brought her back Tayler and I would not be able to part with her again!

Spinglike Winter with Friends and Our Newest Family Member

 Trying to encourage Fryer Rock to run is great exercise!

 

You can't beat 76 degrees in January! It has been such a long time since we had gotten a chance to get the kids together and visit. A trip to the park was in order! I was also itching to get Fryer in a fenced area to watch him run.  So here you have it.

 Not sure what R was yelling here, the kids joke and say he was saying watch out for the Doooog.

 Everyone left poor L behind :(

French Fry, Fry Daddy, Fried Rock are just a few of this guys nick names.

Meet Greys Friar Rock 

Our new addition to the Jones family. A friend of mine(we will call her M) mentioned Greyhounds that may be needing  foster homes several months ago back when we began our animal rescue journey. It can't be explained but I was intrigued at the start. Almost like a spark igniting. I had little to no knowledge of them, that very night was spent searching the Internet for pictures and information. We love huge dogs, especially those that aren't as common, or are intimidating. M had told me that there would possibly be two needing homes and that she more than likely would keep one. It was then that I started setting Josh up to at least foster one, knowing in my heart I wanted to keep one for good before we even met them! M ended up getting one of them from a vet school the older of the two Stump.They weren't and still aren't quite ready to release Alex the one my heart was already set on.  It was love at first sight upon our first meeting Stump! 

 Stump
Fast forward a few months and we get a text message from M with a picture of Fryer. My first thought was he is gorgeous! I immediately showed Josh, he saw the look in my eyes before a word was said. His reaction NO!  M said she was going to pick him up from Memphis, he was listed on Craig's List a friend contacted her knowing how much she herself loves the breed. I told Josh not to worry I had a feeling M would keep him. ;) And I was right. A few weeks later we had the opportunity to keep Stump for the weekend, as if I wasn't already dead set that sealed the deal. I had to have my own Greyhound. They are magnificent creatures! So graceful but powerful at the same time. Stump was the most spoiled any dog has ever been at our house, even to the point of getting to lay on our couch! We were all sad to see him go! I am now aunt Kristy and love him as one of my own!

The kids and I went to visit M one night and take pictures of current fosters. M was also keeping Isabelle a kitty we rescued that we had all fallen in love with. I did not want to bring her home, knowing that if I did we would not be able to re home her, we would want to keep her. Of course Tayler was heartbroken as was I. M right when I am on the verge of tears chooses that moment to tell me that she is thinking of re homing Fryer. Hmm.  :) M thinks she already has a home lined up for him, a vet from another state. At the same time it would be good to see how Fryer reacts being in a home without another Greyhound as he and Stump were always together. It is then decided we will foster Fryer, all the while I am thinking I really can't wait for Alex to be released. Fryer had other plans it took less than a week for him to melt my heart! Still I hold out thinking he is to good to be true, and that what we animal rescuers call the honeymoon phase will soon be over and undesirable traits will soon surface. I ask M to keep him while we are out of town, though we will have a pet sitter Fry is not not an animal you turn out into an unfenced year. Unless in a fence he must be leashed at all times. We all miss Fryer and can not wait to get home and have him back with us. I start thinking how well he truly does fit in. Many grey hounds have a high prey drive, some may not do well with children. Yet Fryer is around our kids, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and even the rabbit and behaves beautifully! He fits right in and has earned his title as Prince of our Home! Though the vet seemed so excited and interested at first M is unable to get in contact with her again. It is then I think to myself what if we re home Fryer only to find out that Alex doesn't adjust so easily to us and our family? And there you have it these is no reason not to make Fryer a part of our family!

Greys Friar Rock is his racing name. Greyhounds placed for adoption are most likely retired athletes trained for racing, as the case with Fryer. You can view his pedigree and even see pictures of him racing on the link below.

 http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=1319717

You can click this link to view his racing stats. --->

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?whobeat=1319717

If only you knew how proud I am of this smile L is giving here. I usually get a Kristy I do not want my picture taken look from him.

So far this is my favorite picture of Prince Fryer and Princess Tayler. I love how his ears are perked here!

Sitting on the 4 way see saw.

Wait what is this another smile, two in one day on film!

Tayler pretends she is riding a horse!

She gets prettier everyday!

Notice how foggy it was? The forest rangers decided this day would be a great day to burn the grass off the levee and smoked us out! It did make for some really neat pictures though. :)

Attack on Brenden! Joshua stands to the side debating his move.

 

 Fryer (below) lays between Tayler and Joshua on the way home, he takes up 1 1/2 seats himself but all are comfortable especially when he lays his head in their lap.

Duck Hunting

 This year each time Josh went hunting he had company. He and Brenden hunted at our long time friends(far left) in Cruger, MS. It was all Brenden could talk about most of the week leading up to the weekend. Not only did he get to go hunting, this was the first year he was able to shoot taking at least 5 of his owns ducks. Joshua even went youth weekend and got to hide in a bush as he tells it, ride in the boat picking up decoys, and ride the four wheeler back to the house.

Brenden was most proud of his first mallard! Josh is going to have it mounted for him.

Brendens 11th Birthday

 

Brenden waiting to go inside Incredible Pizza. This place is like Chucky Cheese for big kids.The prizes games and rides are bigger and better! We arrived around lunch expecting to be there a few hours next thing we knew it was dark. Awesome family time!

 Eating from the pizza buffet. Their pizza reminds me of CiCis Pizza. Of course dessert pizza is always the best and the kids each made their selves a root bear float.

One of the best ways to get tickets, and you can see Bren was pretty dern excited.

Not sure who had more fun Brenden playing or me watching him. You can go from side to side and up and down with this simulator.

Waiting in line at Brens favorite go carts!

He was serious at racing!

Tayler wasn't so sure Mommy could handle it, I think she was expecting more like bumper cars.

Joshua and daddy in the "GPS" car, Joshua has called UPS, GPS for years. He is fascinated with mail and carriers.

Not hard to tell these guys are having a blast!

Tayler was the only one that rode bumper cars, she loved them!

We each gave Brenden all of our tickets since it was his birthday. He was sweet enough to pick something out for Pie and Dude to! 

We had hoped to make it to GiGis cupcakes for Brenden to pick up one of his favorites a chocolate cupcake. Unfortunately we didn't make it in time and all that was left was wedding cake :(. Poor Bren was so disappointed that is until we found as awesome grocery store Fresh Market. It was incredible!! We had the best time checking everything out, each kiddo picked a special treat and special drink. Brenden bought a piece of cake that blew GiGis out of water! 

I am so grateful for Brenden, he is an amazing son! Compassionate, sensitive, charming, intelligent, caring, faithful, forgiving, are just a few words to describe him at 11 years old.

Fuzzy A.K.A. Rebel The Golden Retreiver Pup

 How can you not fall in love with this fur baby? It wasn't easy to talk Josh into this foster, it even took tears. I knew this guy needed to get out of the shelter and needed us! Fuzzy ended up being sick, if we could just get him well he had a family waiting for him.

 Side shot.

 Happy hanging with the kiddos.

There is nothing like a puppy!

 I will just rest here for a bit.

Not feeling so hot. :(

Poor little guy had Parvo, and was only with us a couple of days. Through prayers he made it through and is now in an amazing FUREVER home complete with 3 children just like here.His new name is Rebel.