Happy Halloween!

After looking and reading all the blogs with everyone's children dressed up for Halloween, I couldn't resist..........(as I've stated before, if you don't like to read about Eli, our English Bulldog, you are on the wrong page!) I have posted some of Eli's past Halloween pictures and some of his Myspace friends dressed up for Halloween too!




















Above is Eli in his costume, then we tried it on Beau, (Krisha's baby & Eli's brother) below:

Beau looks very, very serious in his pose. He has ALWAYS taken a good picture, he will pose for the camera, however Eli runs under the bed when he sees one!

Eli LOVES when the children ring the doorbell and shout Trick or Treat. He tries walking out the door and going with them too! Last year, after all the children had stopped coming by, Eli kept going to the door and just sitting there....waiting. So, Jim and I being the wonderful parents that we are, took turns.......one of us would go outside and ring the doorbell and shout Trick or Treat, while the other one gave out candy! Eli finally caught on and decided it wasn't fun anymore.

Vinnie

Petunia <

Bullie >

Brody <

Daisy>

Fannie

Guinness<

We hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!!!

Lubba, Eli and Family

Books we recommend................

Jim and I both loved to read. Some of our favorite authors are John Grisham, David Baldacci, Robin Cook, Sandra Brown, and James Lee Burke. Of course, added to my favorite list would be Jimmy Buffett's books too.


I must confess, recently I spent several days consumed in the powerful pages of the "Twilight Saga" books by Stephenie Meyer. There are four books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. A description of the books? Boy meets girl, they fall in love and try to live happily ever after. (did I mention that he is a vampire? or that her best friend turns into a werewolf?) WARNING: Have time to read once you begin, because you will not be able to stop until you have finished the last page of the fourth book!


HOWEVER, the books that I really want to give top billing to are below:

Multiple Bles8ings
I started and finished this book today. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the TV show "Jon & Kate plus 8", chronicling the daily lives of a family with twins and sextuplets. However, the book is more their story of faith and their trust in God to provide the strength and resilience to get through each day. Each chapter begins with a Bible verse relating to the story. It is their story of putting situation after situation into God's hands and his wonderful blessings upon their beautiful family.


The Shack

Jim and I both deeply enjoyed reading this book. It takes you away from religion and gives you an intimate visit with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The God in this book, is the type of God I truly believe is real. The way he loves us, forgives us and never forsakes us.

Synopsis:
Mackenzie Allen Philips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.


Rescuing Sprite
This book brings tears of joy and tears of sorrow. It is about a dog adopted from a local shelter, named Sprite. The family's lives would never be the same after Sprite arrives, nor will yours after reading the book! This is a must read for anyone that has ever loved and lost a family pet.

I Love you, Ronnie

This is a collection of love letters written by Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan. Reading the emotion he put into these letters is breath-taking. You get lost in the depth of their love and the total committment of this couple. Regardless of your political views about Ronald Reagan as our President, this book will warm your heart and soul.
I remember asking Jim to read the book before we were married, asking him if he could love me just half as much as Ronnie loved Nancy, and if so, our lives would be filled with love forever.
I even chose our wedding date, March 04, because it is Ronnie and Nancy's wedding date too!

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So, if you are looking for a good book to read, that will tug at your heart strings a little bit, cause you to hug your loved ones a little harder (even your pets!) and give you an intimate visit with God, then I recommend one of these books!

A win, is a win...........................

Enough said about this week's game against Ole Miss. Here are some pictures of us watching the game.




Jim gets very upset during the second half, usually he sits on the

edge of the
table, then has to walk around outside!

Eli and I, on the other hand,

stay with them to the very end!

ROLL TIDE ROLL

Eli isn't feeling well, please keep him in your prayers!

MONDAY UPDATE ON ELI

Eli has been able to keep some food and water down this morning. I processed his dry food in the food processor (into a powder) and he was able to eat it slowly. His doctor has suggested that I keep him off all of his medications for another 24 hours. However, if he continues to vomit everything he consumes, the next step will be to do an ultrasound of his stomach.

Thanks everyone for keeping him in your prayers!!!

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)

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A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal..............Proverbs 12:10

I took Eli to the specialist on Wednesday concerning his liver condition. Naturally, he had to be put through all of the blood work again so that Dr. Hunter could have a baseline to start treatment. Eli will be monitored for a month while continuing the Denosyl (liver medication) and he will also begin taking Chlorpheniramine (same as humans take OTC, called Chlor-Trimeton) for his allergies.

Also, to help determine if his allergies are food related, he is no longer allowed ANY table foods, (not even cheese to help with taking his medications!) and will be consuming only Purina DRM and IVD Whitefish and Potatoes, which is a prescribed diet. This food is designed for the management of dogs with allergic dermatitis. It contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and unique protein sources, such as salmon meal, trout and canola meal that most dogs have not been exposed to in the past. Therefore, they will be less likely to produce an allergic reaction.

And yes, this diet will help Eli in eliminating some of that excess weight he is carrying. He has lost six pounds, but Dr. Hunter wants him to lose ten more!









However, one problem that Eli has always had when it comes to eating his food, he WOOFS it down. No vacuum cleaner could have better suction than he does when it comes to eating. But, as soon as it is woofed down, it starts to projectile back out! So, having him on a dry diet is difficult, because he doesn't chew the food and it bloats his stomach. We have tried putting water on the food, giving him four small meals per day, but nothing successful as of yet has worked.

Wednesday morning before going to the doctor he was vomiting. Thursday he kept all of his meals down, BUT.....on Friday everything that went down - came up. I sat in the recliner and held him all day (He did allow me to get up for bathroom breaks a few times). Saturday morning he ate and kept it down, but he was still feeling bad, so I held him all day again. Saturday night he began throwing up sips of water. Sunday morning I got up and started out letting him take a few sips of water, but it came right back up. So, I called the doctor's office and was told to wait several hours and not let him have anything by mouth, except ice chips. Well, guess what.........the ice chips came back up too!

We will be going to the office in the morning! We want to make sure that he isn't dehydrated, plus determine if these medications and foods need to be changed. Please keep Eli in your prayers!!!!

Belated Birthday wishes and a visit to a specialist for Eli

Although most all of the damages we suffered from Hurricane Ike have all been repaired, he still seems to be finding ways to annoy us. Our telephone service has been out since September 25, which also meant that we didn’t have DSL for the internet. AT&T workers came this week to dig up our telephone lines (seems Ike’s heavy rains caused the underground lines to become so wet that they shorted out) and repair the damaged lines. I could do without the house phone, we do have cells phones..........however, I was going into withdrawals without the internet.

One very, very important date that we missed getting to post about was Krisha’s 27th birthday on October 5th.

A birthday comes just once a year, so we hope it was a very special time for her. We truly missed being there with her to celebrate. (Although we gave our presents to her in September when we were home, I failed to send a birthday card! I know.....bad, bad mother!)

Krisha's birthday is as much a celebration for me as it is for her, maybe more, because she is my greatest accomplishment in life. She is truly a gift from God. Anyone who spends time with her knows what an extraordinary person she is.

Eli goes to a new doctor this afternoon. After Dr. Kimbrell (I hope everyone in the Fayette area realizes how lucky they are to have this wonderful doctor available!!! Jim and I both have so much praise for what she has done for Eli.) told us that his liver disease would be something we would have to control the rest of his life, we have decided to have him examined and cared for by a veterinarian that specializes in internal medicine. Please keep him in your prayers!!!

Our lives have returned back to normal, although there are still so many neighborhoods that haven't....and never will because of Ike. Please, please continue to pray for the people in this area.

On a brighter note, we certainly are enjoying this season's ALABAMA football!!! Jim says the games are getting too intense for him at times to watch, I just tell him , "That's Bama football!"