More Puppy Pics

I hope you are not tired of puppy pictures. They are 6 weeks old and as of today we have had to let 2 go to new homes. That is the hardest thing to do. They are like your children and then you have to give them away. It makes me not want to have puppies again because it is too hard to part with them. Here goes.....

This is my beautiful mom.

Bradfield with two puppies...notice one is about to chew his ear:)

Bradfield was proud of this picture. He said, "it is flying puppy"

Look at those eyes.

We call this one Frog. She is the most independent and she is a Pris.

Please excuse the awfulness that i look like. We had just got done working cows and i just changed paints and am showing my white legs. I had to put this in here though of Moose. He is so sweet to the puppies but does not know what to think.

This is the runt. He is hilarious. He is stuck in the pallet.

The pallet is like their playhouse and their safe haven away from the big dogs.

Happy New Year!

This past year has been very eventful. My life has changed in a big way, and I am so blessed. It is hard to imagine anything different and it just goes to show that you never know what is going to happen and when. God is amazing. I am so thankful for this past year, the year wasn't perfect and definately wasn't always easy, but was good. I am thankful for the relationships that grew stronger and the reconnections that were made. I am grateful for the lessons that I learned and the character that I built. May 2009 be as great as 2008 for all of you! Happy New Year!!

A PHOTO CHALLENGE

I was tagged by bearbear.blogspot.com for a Photo Challenge. The Challenge is to go to the fourth folder in your pictures folder and to post the fourth photo with a description. Now I pass on this challenge to four fellow bloggers who are to pass theirs on to four more bloggers.

This was the picture i came to. It is a picture of Kelly Casey and me. We were both bridesmaids in our cousin Stinson and Alison's wedding.

Now I pass this challenge to

Laurel laureldavis.blogspot.com/

Searcy searcyyoder.blogspot.com/

Mary Tyler marytylerspivey.blogspot.com/

Pallie palliedavis.blogspot.com/

Puppies

I have been wanting to share the puppies and am now finally getting some pictures. My dog, Smooches, had puppies, so these are my grandchildren. They were actually born on Bradfield's birthday, Nov. 16. There are 5. They are 4 weeks old and are now coming to life and getting cuter every day. The pictures don't do them justice. They are adorable!

These are pictures from when they are about 2 weeks old.

Look at that belly!!

The basket we kept them in continually had to get bigger.

These are pictures from just a few days ago. (4 weeks old)
This is the runt. He is precious. Very sweet and passive.

This is the big daddy. He is very curious.

This one loves the monkey!

They are now starting to drink on their own. They are trying to figure this out.

I could hold them all day....or just sit and stare at them.

The puppy breath is perfect.

This one is stretching. It is amazing how they will just let you hold them however you want and they have complete trust.

Very fat. This one actually wobbles, instead of walks.

It was just last week that they could barely get their stomachs off the floor to walk, now they are trying to get into everythig. I will try to update with more photos as they grow.

Our decorated home.

This is our decorated tree.

.....with the lights on:)

I am so proud of my dishes.

I put my fiesta dishes together to look like Christmas dishes:)

I just had to have a nativity scene so my mom let me borrow one of hers.

This is Bradfield's stocking from growing up and his mom got one made for me to match his.

Let me Explain

Just in case you are wondering why my blog is titled Mercy, i want to explain. I don't know why it popped into my head, but I was trying to think of something clever, something that represented me and I was having a difficult time. (I have told you that clever writing is not my thing) Mercy just popped into my head. Mercy is a word that my mother loves. So much that she wanted to name me Mercy. My dad talked her into her senses, thus Kathleen. But we always laugh about the fact that my name was almost Mercy and my mom still talks about how much she loves that word while quoting scripture that talks about God's mercy. In fact, my mom used to say my name was Kathleen "Mercy" Madaris. So the word mercy, means a lot to me for many reasons. ...because God has mercy on us, because it symbolizes my mom and her love for the Lord and for me....and I think it is the perfect word to represent LIFE.

CHRISTmas

There are many aspects about our world that are going bonkers....truly bonkers. Christmas is one...it has turned into a means for us to have everything we want, when we already have WAY more than we need. Keep in mind, even though i feel this way, I myself am very, very guilty of "wanting".

But my point is that Christmas seems to be no longer focused on Christ. I already knew this, but the reality hit me hard when I for the first time, (pathetic, I know, I used to completely rely on my mom), anyway, I am doing all of my Christmas shopping myself. So I went to get the necessities. Some decorations and wrapping paper, etc. When i searched for wrapping paper, looking for the perfect kind, i was saddened by the gross amount of santa claus i saw. If it wasn't santa claus, it was snowmen. Where is Jesus? He IS after all, the whole reason for this holiday. I decided to refuse to buy wrapping paper with santa claus. The reality also hit me that I had turned into my mother!!! (which is ok with me)

I remember shopping with her years, ancient years ago:). She could not find wrapping paper she liked and I could not figure out why she was being so difficult, while I could find several that I thought were cute. I did not think it was that big of a deal then. Looking back, I get the point, and I feel the same way.

So anyways, I am determined to find shopping paper without santa claus. I would love to find some with I don't know, the Northern Star, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the the manger. I don't feel like I'm being that picky..... just something that represents Christmas and what it really is. So I have to settle with some plain red paper. Guess I'll put a green bow on it.

I'm satisfied with my paper, it'll be cute. But I'm left saddened by the fact that our world overlooks the special and humbling birth of our Jesus Christ. I think Santa Claus is fun, but I think we need the focus back. Santa Claus should be for the kids and be a fun, giving spirit we have on the side of the Birthday of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

So it's Christmas time and time to start decorating and putting up the tree. I asked Bradfield what kind of tree he wanted to get (real or fake) and I think he was insulted that I even asked! He is a huge believer in getting a real tree, but of course we are not going to buy one, we are going to find one somewhere and poach it. :) We decided we wanted to cut it down together, but we were going to have to find a time we were both home in the daylight....never! By this time I am getting more and more excited about putting up our tree and we get anxious one night and we decide to just go spotlighting, how crazy does this sound, I know. But it turned out to be so special. We drive down our gravel road(which goes on forever) and we are spotlighting trying to find a cedar tree. Bradfield promises there will be some down this road sooner or later. Well....after we drive at least 10 miles or so looking at nothing but pine trees, i become a little dazed and began to feel doubtful. But we keep driving. Finally we both spot a cedar tree, it took a second for us to wake up and realize it, but we had passed a cedar tree and we immediately realize that it is perfect and slam on brakes. It is a great size, good shape.....and well...it's the only one we found so we can't be picky, but it's perfect! We get real excited, jump out......and I swear it's like a light from above is shining down on this tree. Magical. I decide now that for such a special moment, we have to have a picture, but of course, no camera. We decide it is important enough to drive all the way back home, get the camera, drive the jillion miles back to the tree, take pictures, then cut it down, and then head back home very satisfied with having successfully fulfilled our journey. So.....voila! Our magical moment.



So of course I could not wait to decorate, but because of technical problems we had to wait till the next night. (the base of our tree was too skinny for our stand) This turned out to be quite an experience itself. First with only the lights on our tree, the tree took a tumble. We sat it back up, and this took a little of the air under my wings, but we got it back up and re-hung the lights and began with the ornaments. With this the excitement was back. We began to carefully place mine and Bradfield's special ornaments on our first tree. About half way through, the tree falls completely down, ornaments and all. I will half to say, my spirits were crushed. We stood the tree back up, picked up the ornaments and began fixing everything, but this was not without some pouting from me. I'm not gonna lie, I wanted to cry. But we got it done and called it a night.

After everything is said and done, I am so proud of our tree. It is everything a Christmas tree should be. It is an experience. And it represents Bradfield and I perfectly with old and new ornaments we have collected through the years. Laurel would be proud, it fits her description perfectly. It has ornaments I have collected as gifts through the years, but have saved for this tree. It has ornaments from Bradfield's childhood that are special, and some even homemade. It has both of our baby's first Christmas ornaments and more. It is not perfect, but it is ours. Oh Christmas Tree!

More pictures to come!

Inspiration

Ok..... so for some reason I feel the inspiration to start blogging. So not my style. But I have been inspired...inspired by blogger friends of whose blogs I soak up every word and story and inspired by the odd feeling that I want to write. Now THAT is crazy. It's crazy because you know what, I HATE writing. I've never been very good at it. I hate trying to be grammatically correct and make sentences make sense and paragraphs flow. I like to babble.....so there you go, my blog is going to be a written form of babble. There's your warning. Don't expect elaborate vocabulary and clever or witty writing. Expect complete nonsense and well....babble.