Beast 10/2016 - 9/2020

 Beast passed away sometime last night. We found him outside this morning. Jake came home from work and my mom and madi came right over to help. Charlotte watched the kids while we took him to the animal foundation. My mom organized and handled everything for me and I’m so appreciative. I don’t think I could have done it myself. The ladies that took him back were so kind and made a paw print form for us.

Super heartbreaking, he was almost 4. He didn’t show any signs of being hurt or sick, so it was a very hard find this morning. Before we took him in we all said goodbye. My heart was already broken and then my momma heart broke even more watching my kids say bye. Our house was almost broken into at the beginning of the year and Beast scared him off before he got inside. The guy didn’t know that he would have just been slobbered all over. He protected our home just by being him. 

 I always said he was the perfect dog for our family at home. He got way excited when others came over, but he was perfect for us. He was obsessed with feet and when you have a 150 lbs dog going at your feet it’s a lot! The weather was cooling off and the kids were loving taking him on walks. He thought he was one of the kids and loved being out with them. Beast always liked to sleep by everyone. He moved from each of our rooms every night and would sleep by all of us. He loved so much and couldn’t be happier as long as he was by us. I will for sure miss my foot warmer. I didn’t think any of us would say this, but we will even miss the drool. We had him since Navy was a couple months old. Noah and Beast were buddies and Noah hated when he wouldn’t sleep by him the entire night. Benjamin took great care of him and always helped out. Emma has had two cats and Beast was the best with them both. Chip and Beast were the best of friends and we loved watching Beauty and Beast get closer to that every day.  

They call St. Bernards gentle giants and that is exactly what he was. The kids could crawl all over him and he just laid there. It’s definitely going to change our house with him gone. We will miss you always Beast. 😔

31 years

 This year my birthday has lasted a week. It started off with my girls taking me out to dinner and dessert. I don’t know what I would do without them! My sisters all came over and brought me lunch. Its rare we can all get together with a picture after chasing kids around and the craziness of life. I am so blessed to have such amazing ladies in my life. For dinner Emylee called last minute and after me having a tiring day and when she realized we were just home she came right over with my favorite ice cream and we ordered pizza for dinner. I got to play games with my kids and then Penny and Em joined us. I love games so love when we can get a good one going. My mom made my requested biscuits and gravy for my dinner and cheesecake. So yummy! Jake got me a weighted blanket, I got gift cards, a shopping trip with my mom and sister, another fun game, new Birks and Yeti’s. 

Navy is Four

 Our baby is growing up so fast. We always tell her she will still be our baby forever and she argues that she is a big girl now. She has a whole bunch of sass to go with her sweet little face. This year we got to celebrate with her adoration for llamas and unicorns. Where she got llamas we have no clue and they are hard to find. She was convinced my dad was getting her a real baby llama from the real llama store. My mom got her the cutest shaking booty llama and Navy dances right along with it. One of my amazing, talented friends painted her a picture of a llama for her room. Navy says good night and good morning to it every day and think it is the most special thing in the world. It is a beautiful picture. She is so fun to shop for and just loved everything she got. She has been acting like such a big girl as she takes care of her new baby doll that laughs, sleeps, eats and more. She got a camera from deedee and loves that she can take real pictures too. She wants to be too big too fast. 

She is still as spunky as ever and everyone still loves her and she knows it. Her facial expressions get even more animated with age. I was asking some of her favorite things and she just loves everything so the list was getting pretty long. One of her newer things is being a copy cat. It makes for sone fun phone conversations. She loves to do her nails, make up and changes her earrings daily, but not her hair. It’s probably why she keeps cutting it off so I can’t do it! She is a little light switch and changes directions, conversations, attitudes or whatever in a second. She also might break a record for how much she talks. Navy loves her family and friends so much! Her little heart has so much love to give it is the sweetest thing. 

Summer BBQ’s

 We have been taking advantage of Jeff and Vicki’s pool since it’s so dang hot here. Jeff does a delicious BBQ too. The kids love going out there and playing with cousins. We have made some great memories this summer with them. Us ladies get to lay out while the kids splash away. The guys show off their skills with the kids and it’s awesome to watch. This last time we finally got Jeff in the pool. It was a big group effort lol but we got him in, not by choice hahaha. I also added in Emma and Penny in some twinning outfits from our fun times.

Annual Bulloch Family Reunion

 It was that time of year again. We had the absolute best time at the ranch this year. The kids had so much fun playing with all their cousins. The weather was great the whole weekend too. Jake’s uncle brought golf balls up and we hit them all weekend. I think Jake was practicing for the next time at Top Golf. Of course the kids rode on four wheelers and dirt bikes the whole time. Uncle Brent even taught Benjamin how to take care of the next bike up 100 by showing him to check the oil and tires first. Noah rode the 50 like a pro too. The big girls and the little girls each stayed together and had a blast making memories. The big girls were off the whole time and the little girls were either being taken on rides or playing on the swing. One time the big girls came back and Emma was telling us they found rattlesnakes at the other cabin. So Jake went over to check it out. He found one of them and killed it. He said it was pretty dang intense. He chopped the head off and brought the rest back to show everyone. It was crazy the body kept moving even without the head! Noah said it felt gross, Navy wouldn’t keep her eyes off of it, but didn’t want to get close after it moved when she touched it. I was so proud of our four girls for coming and getting us and being so brave after!

A big group of us went and shot skeet. I usually don’t go as I watch the kids, but this time I went and shot my first shot gun! Benjamin got to shoot too and hit his first skeet as his first time with a shotgun too! Uncle Jeff was prepared and brought a little handgun to teach the kids how to shoot and be safe too. Navy hit pretty dang close to the bullseye and was pretty excited. He was awesome and helped me too!

Each night the kids all put on a parade for us. The second night they even threw candy! They sang and danced and put on quite the show for us. They had a little pool up and when the boys needed a rinse I took them outside and they hopped right in. They thought it was hilarious and loved their shower ranch style. We did a fruit by the foot challenge too. Jake, Jason and Chad all competed against one another. Chad obliterated them!!!! He had the whole thing gone before Jason and Jake were even half way. 

The best part of the trip was spending time with everyone. We loved chatting away like always. This time we got to spend time listening to Jake’s grandpa tell us stories a few times. It was beautiful as we listened of his love for the ranch, the temple, his wife, kids, family and the gospel. Thanks for giving us a place that we can make such great memories Grandpa, we love it!

11 Years

 Jake and I are 11 years down! This year we went to the Venetian and had a stay-cation. It was so nice having a little getaway to relax and just hang out. Crazy we had to wear masks whenever we went out. Not very much was open, but we really had fun at TopGolf. I won’t say who won both games because we had so much fun anyways! (it was me)! It was definitely a different experience on the strip compared to what we are used too. 

I’m grateful for what we have built together. Our family means everything to me and I am so grateful for the people that have stood by us, loving and supporting us. We couldn’t have done it without all the amazing people in our life. I’m grateful for our Heavenly Father and Savior. We wouldn’t have made it without having a Christ centered home and being so blessed with the gospel in our lives.

For a long time our family was growing as we added our amazing kids and now it is growing as these kids are growing into incredible people. I love you Jake, thanks for being on my side through life. 

Beauty

 After losing Chip we had an empty spot so we have filled it with this little girl. We named her Beauty and so now have Beauty and Beast (st Bernard). She is a crack up, so much energy. She loves to play and play. She will play with anything she finds. Underneath the kitchen table is a jungle gym to her. Beauty and Navy play every night. Beauty hunts Navy and it is the funniest game to watch. We all just sit around watching her because she is so entertaining. When she isn’t playing she wants to sleep by you. She loves sleeping by everyone. We all want to cuddle with her because she purrs so loud and is such a comfort to us. She has fit in just perfect with our family!