Monday, December 8, 2008

holidaze

as i watch the commercials, hear the reports everywhere about how we are entering a terrible financial crisis, i am reminded that this holiday isn't about presents. it isn't about money, it isn't about spending. it is about Jesus. it is about sharing the gift of eternal life with those that don't know about it. this year we, as many out there, are strapped for cash. nothing extra for anything other than bills. there is nothing we can do except for just keep going to work, and praying for mercy. we know that the Lord is good, and he is taking care of us. i truly belive that this season of rejoicing isn't one to be in mourning due to money or the economy. maybe this is us being brought back to a more simple time. remembering what is important and meaningful...family, love, life and Jesus... thank you God for your Son, thank you for giving Him to us. one day i might have to give you one of my children in service to you, then i will understand what your sacrifice meant. thank you... happy birthday....

Sunday, November 16, 2008

scheherazade

this weekend taylor starred in the high school fall production of "scheherazade". she played the little sister "dinny". i must brag and say that she was fantastic. her first ever attempt at acting, and she is a natural. the first showing was saturday, and keith's sister and bro-in-law came down to see her. they spent the evening with us and it was nice to see them. they loved watching their oldest niece perform. then today my sister and bro-in-law with their 2 boys came to watch taylor perform as well. they spent the early afternoon with us. we all hung out and watched the play, then they needed to get back home so they could keep the boys on a regular schedule.i am attaching a few pics to show her off, just a little...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

my sister

as of late i have been talking to my sister who lives in houston almost daily. this might sound strange, but we are both very busy, she has 2 boys and i the 5. i must say that emailing makes me miss her like crazy. i didn't know she even existed until 6 years ago...long story. anyways having siblings is different for me, being raised an only child. she is an awesome person and i am very proud to have her as my sister. ami is having a difficult time with one of her boys so please keep her in mind when you get ready to pray. i think the more prayers that go up on her behalf, the better. if we can interceed for her, things are sure to get better. lots of love my sis ami :)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

family grievance

tonight i am trying to understand the why's and how's of things happening. long story short in the past week, we as a family, have encountered hate, anger, abuse, lies and hurt, all these just from family. so as i am writing this post i must ask (out loud) why do we as family on the outside to the world pretend to look pretty put together? yet on the inside, behind the prying eyes of the public, ya know our church family, friends, we are just ugly and almost well, not almost, we ARE in denial about it all. like if anyone out in the world knew that i had ugly, they would act as if they didn't know me. why is that such a big influence on us? my husband is dealing with abuse in his past that was more or less ignored by all those who should have jumped up and cried STOP or at least NO. so this being said, our lives have been filled with other forms of him self medicating, or picking up some form of personal addiction to mask the pain from feeling abandoned. this isn't a great environment to live in.he is tortured. now on to the other point, i cannot explain to my children anymore why other people don't take the time to get to know them or just flat out favoritism to others. it is unexplainable as if i feel the need to make excuses for those who have wronged them, just so i can protect my children. when what i should be doing is helping them understand that i don't understand. i just don't get it, i don't know why someone would treat people with a double standard, especially family and really treat kids that way. i am trying to look with eyes of the Lord, but when i am in such a confused state of mind as to why your own family behave a certain way, i'm lost for vision. why do we love people outside our own family more than our own family? we look the other way i guess because of conviction, because of pride. i mean are we really ready to go through those growing Jesus pangs to see more clearly? do we admit our wrongs to those we have hurt so that we can help the hurting heal? do we accept responsibility for our actions, even though they were dumb, or involved favor to another? why is confrontation just that, a confrontation? shouldn't we want to not be a terrible person? shouldn't we want to be fair? i'm not saying our family is hellbound, what i am saying is that there has got to be a time when enough is enough. when you stand up and don't let that grievance come to a boiling point. you stand up and give control over to Jesus, and be willing to be sat down by Him. you go to that person and take responsibility for actions, be it malicious or accidental at the time. you be willing to accept what is being said to you, leave pride at the door and really listen, with your heart. don't judge them because you don't want to get dirty. go to them gently and restore them. love them, and yes by all means when you haven't seen them, do more than just think about them... CALL them, VISIT them. that is what makes the difference... being a doer of the Word, not just a hearer.

Friday, October 24, 2008

painting

it seems the sound of spray guns and rolling cages is humming along around here. the outside of the house is barn red, where as the trim is a cream color, very bright i might say. the inside of the house in the living room and dining room is a green, grape leaves to be exact. i am pondering what color to paint the kitchen. right now it is an off yellow, very mild looking. mostly a sun burst color. the hallway is too, but i am considering adding some of the living room green to the top and let the yellow show through. joshua doesn't like it and katie loves it, go figure. keith gave me a frown when he saw it, but like i said, go figure. here are some pictures of the house as it is going through some very bright changes...

Monday, October 13, 2008

hum drum

there isn't much new going on in our house. waiting for the holidays? nah... taylor is hard at work on a play she will be performing in next month. ashley and julia are still playing soccer. joshua and katie are plugging through school. homework, practice, dinner and bedtime. things are slow work wise, busy family wise though. we always seem to be on the go, so when my head hits the pillow at night i usually don't have much difficulty going to sleep, it's the waking up that i'm not getting much pleasure in. we are enjoying the cooler nights and mornings. our year old 70 pound puppy absolutely loves it. we can't get her to come in.the bassett hound has started sleeping with us agin, that is a true sign of the colder weather. when she gets on the bed and burrows under the blankets and sheets. she thinks its her right to sleep this way, i haven't told her shes a dog, maybe someday i will. for now though it's just too cute.... :)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

1972 mustang grande

about 3 weeks ago, while driving down the highway, i saw the most beautiful thing. it was a 1972 mustang grande. having mentioned this to keith, he saw it and wasn't in awe as much as i was. not long after that the car had gone somewhere else, it was sold. keith had done some checking and found it. long story short...it is now in our driveway. :) this car is awesome. it does need some work, brakes, steering and some cosmetic things. this will be a slow restoration, and that's alright. i have nothing but time until the Lord takes me home. keith started it up today to drive it home and let me tell you, it sounded so cool ! so now he is in awe of it as much as i am. i just wanted to show you some pictures and get your thoughts.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

heartbreak

my heart breaks, yet those are tears of joy for the possibilities that are ahead. today my children started school, taylor is a freshmen and katie is a 2nd grader. we have a very big span of ages. joshua started junior high this morning and this is ashley's last year of junior high. julia is breezing right along in the 6th grade. i am amazed at how fast they grow up. scared for them, excited for the upcoming events. when i dropped taylor off, she was very scared and nervous, tears in her eyes. the only thing i knew to do was to call keith and ask him to pray for her as i had done. katie was very excited and giggly to be in elementary school. after all this is the first time she has been in a school by herself, without siblings. so while they are at school, i have to sit back and let the silence from the house soak in. for a minute it's nice, then reality reminds me... laundry, dishes, sweeping ... the list is just getting started. enjoy school babies,it goes so fast.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

2 more mouths to feed

in april we added leelu to our family. about 3 weeks ago we added korben. today we thought that we should find us a plava laguna. so we did and we brought her home. her colors are totally breathtaking. bright green, yellow and lavenderish blue on her cheeks. for those of you who don't know where in the world these names are coming from, it is from the movie the fifth element. we enjoy this movie quite a bit. so enjoy these pictures and know that our house is filled with lots of tweets and chirps.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

last tuesday

while in the midst of our packing, we discovered that the Lord was blessing Keith's business. we would ask Him "Lord are we supposed to move? you keep giving us more jobs". we would ask this as we added... " we are still packing". then another job would come his way and then we found ourselves asking " Lord we are packing, are we supposed to move?" then another job would come and of course it was followed with the same very rhetorical question... DUH!!! could we have been thumped any harder on our heads? then in our ignorance we decided to come to the Lord together, and pray for a very divine intervention. ( like we hadn't been getting them the whole time). we asked for a very clear answer from the Lord to send us someone out of the blue to tell us that we weren't supposed to move. now that's a big request, but we have an awesome God and might i add that i, tend to expect big tremendous things. so without a doubt He sent someone over to our house just hours later, telling us that the Lord sent them over to tell us we are not supposed to move. this was an awesome miraculous things that happened. my dear friend that came over, couldn't wait to tell us. even as i write this, i get goose pimples. she had tears in her eyes as i was telling her that we had prayed this most carefully to Him. we hadn't told anyone about our prayer, but we knew before we made a big mistake, out of His will, that we needed a clear-as-a-bell answer. THERE IT WAS !!! it was just so darn cool, i couldn't help myself from grinning, still am actually. so now we are unpacking, with all knowledge, that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, that is pretty cool... ;-)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

it's hot, hot, hot!!!

i'm not sure what to when it gets so hot outside. play in some water? nah... sunburn. turn down the a/c? nah... electric bill goes up. bask in the sun and bathe, just let it soak in, in a most cleansing way? that sounds relaxing. but the question is, when? before laundry, after dishes? early in the day, or late in the evening? fighting for the safety of my legs against mosquitos sounds too dramatic. doesn't really matter when i guess, except for the fact that i must make some time for myself, without letting that"mom voice" in my head reminding me of all the things i could be doing instead. i have gotten better at telling that crazy little "work, work, work," attitude to just chill. and i must admit that it is very cool to just stop. after all His word says to "be still and know that I am God". WHAT?? that goes against everything i know. how in the world am i supposed to be still when there is so much to be done?? when i do stop, that's when i realize that He is telling me something that i really need to know. something about how much He has prepared something wonderful for me. :) that is just cool. Wow !!! He wants to talk to me. yes i am smiling from ear to ear... and yes i am listening.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

times are a changing

well it seems that the Lord in all His glory has been moving forward on our behalf in a most splendid way. at the end of next month we will have a new zip code, farther away from the one we have now. we will be doing exactly what the bible says. living in community, helping one another and growing so that when we are on the mission field, we will know what is expected. for a long time we have felt the tugging of our hearts pulling us to co-habitate with another family to share. just plain ole' share raising kids, bills, tears, love, food and yes even some laundry. we are most excited about this, yet kinda got the jeepers because this is by far very uncharted territory for us. i love the family we are embarking on this adventure with. the Lord joined us in the beginning to just fellowship and teach them His word because they are babies in His word. and now almost 2 years later i couldn't imagine my life without them and i wait to see how we all grow and serve together. right now my heart is very sad just because of the faces that we won't see everyday anymore, but i know that my heart is expanding for those i am about to meet. so when we move we will downsize, yeah!!! i cannot wait to just purge all those things i don't need. bless someone else with them. we are talking just plain ole' downsizing here. Amen!!! starting our new adventure with a good inventory of less stuff!! so please be praying for us on our new adventure as those prayers are getting to us. :)

Friday, July 11, 2008

beautiful

these little guys are just beautiful, even in their quick pace. these past few days we have been running around here just as fast... but we don't look near this pretty. ; )

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

His children...

our friends are staying with us until their house is ready for them to move in. they have a 1 year old along with a 2 year old. i must say that since katie is 8, this is quite an adjustment. i am very thankful that our children aren't toddlers anymore. i had forgotten how hard those years were. with the strength that only the Lord gave me, i made it through.2 toddlers and a newborn at one time wasn't an easy feat. our oldest is a full blown teenager, and boy is that something i am leaning on the Lord for. huge amounts of tolerance and understanding. my point is that when our children are small, we have to do so much for them, everything. not much changes when they are older, just different needs. we cannot forget how much we are doing to prepare these people for the mission fields, school, and life. giving them the confidence to chase their God given dreams. could you imagine how your life would be different if someone didn't tell you about Jesus? or for that matter how different your life would be if you had your "fire" put out? we have got to realize that these are the Lords children that He has entrusted to us to raise and "train up" to be "ambassadors for Christ". i might have thought that the younger my children were, the harder it was, but i am learning that this is the hard part, allowing my children to choose. and then sitting and watching while they learn, and to be there when it's time for me to step in and just hug 'em. or to thump 'em on the noggin if need be. : )

Friday, June 20, 2008

summertime

tonight at 6:59 is the official beginning of summer. and the longest day of daylight i might add. enjoy being outside and don't forget the off bug spray. oh and the sunscreen, oh and plenty of fluids. have a great day enjoy vacation and mission trips and church camp !!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

father's...

today is father's day and it is a beautiful day. i was outside this morning and couldn't help but notice the glorious sun rays. the wonderful smell of grass with the signs of dew on its top. the way our dog proudly pranced around the yard. the way my husband woke up smiling. the happy look on the kids face when they saw donuts in the kitchen. as all these things played together so blissful, i thanked the Lord for this day. for father's, for dads, grandpas and Him. so as today is the day we appreciate our father's, i would like to say thank you to the Father who makes all of this possible. not only is this a day of earthly father's, this is a day in which i would like to stop, look and love You without ever stopping, knowing that you have never left my side. seeing you in the details...

Sunday, June 8, 2008

it's summertime

whether i was ready or not school is out and the kids are home.
all of them worked very hard to enjoy this time off. our summer is filled with mission trips to michigan, falls creek and latham springs. lets not forget the fair in just a very few short days. so the bags are ready to be packed, the alarm clock has been turned off ( well except for the fact that the dog still thinks she gets fed at 5:30. a task i happily turned over to her human "mom" taylor). and time to sleep in and stay up late has arrived. right now the kids and keith are at the sand lot playing a little game of catch. so taylor and i are enjoying the house being a little less active. well the washer and dryer are going full speed ahead as well as the a/c and the television. well, so not totally a less active house, just the normal rumblings going on. so as i'm off to complete some regular duties i wish you a very happy summmer and pray that you have the energy to complete all the goings on in your day... :)

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

wondering ...

i am sitting here tonight, wondering ... well i am wondering quite a lot. why i haven't allowed myself to cry. why i haven't totally submitted myself to Christ. why i have hit a wall with acceptance. why i have become tolerant of disrespect. why i only allow faith to show up when i am too ignorant to understand how i got there in the first place. and most off all i am wondering what does Jesus see in me that i am missing ? Lord if you could give me a glimpse of what you see in me , wow !! wouldn't that solve a lot. i feel the Maker beconing the made. i crave to find rest in You. so i can pray, i can read, yet i realize, in my small brain, that all knowledge is pointless if i am not hearing the voice of my Savior. so as i listen to the screaming of the alarm clock at 5:30, the radio on in the car, the television throughout the day, have i drowned out the voice that i long to hear the most? that hurts.no really let that soak in my head for a minute... i have to make the time to seek His will. i have to seek His face and maybe, just maybe i will recognize His voice. this is something that , if you would please pray for me. i really think that i have just gotten confused with all that is running past me. as i am writing this, He spoke to me, through my husband. keith was on his way to behave as only can be described as fleshly. he walked back in the door after being gone a little while and told me that "my prayer was heard, whatever that means." this was a time when i had really prayed with my heart as only i know that He could know. keith didn't know why he needed to tell me that, but he did. didn't make sense to him, but it meant everything to me. that He is listening to me... now i need to listen to Him.

joshua is 10...

on saturday, may 31, we took joshua and a friend of his to a texas rangers baseball game.
he had a wonderful time and said "it was the best birthday ever." after the game, there was a fireworks show that was beautiful. so the rangers won, and my little man was happy. :)
i love you joshua...

Monday, May 19, 2008

i'm not sure if it the weather changing from rain to sun that has me a bit lazy. or if it is the thought that i cannot for the life of me find my "purpose". or maybe it could be that i am feeling unloved or neglected. one thing that i do know for sure is that i am in a transition period in my life as i write. which most of you know, being a christian means we are always being challenged to better ourselves and to change something that needs work. not accepting the way of the world means that i have to stand for something meaningful and grounded in the Lord. which that i might add is not an easy thing to do. easy, in that in my heart it all makes sense, then i step out of my prayer closet with great understanding of what the Lord wants me to do :), then i run into a worldly problem or i verbalize my plan with someone and BAM !!! everything seems to get all chaotic. i know that my Jesus is wonderful, loving, understanding yet in those same actions of greatness he is just, truth and jealous. that at times scares the dickens out me, yet i rest in his arms when i'm scared. i have been reading a wonderful book given to me by my sis-n-law, melissa. this book is written by an awesome thinker named shane claiborne. this book challenges me by revealing some obvious things. we are the church, yes !! we are redeemed, yes!! we have forgotten the basic reason that Jesus exists. he came that we would have life more abundant. in our society that means bigger cars, bigger houses, and terribly so bigger churches. i am seeking God's face in a different way. i am looking for him in the most obvious places that i have overlooked for so long. a wonderful friend that moved a few months ago has been on my heart the past few days. she sent me a text message the other day letting me know she had been feeling the same. i was overjoyed that the Lord was in that detail. when she was texting me i felt his presence around me. she let me know on sunday that she was in prayer for me and my family and was interceding for me with the Lord. Amen!! we should all be intercessors constantly. i should. could you imagine the difference we could make if we all prayed for one another instead of ourselves? wow, can you even wrap your mind around it, or your heart for that matter? philippians 2:4 tells us to not only look to our own interests but to look to the interests of others.the verse before it tells us to consider others better than we consider ourselves. yes i am feeling my toes being not only stepped on but flattened. i am trying to have the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ. dear Lord help me to realize that you are opening my eyes, and help me see to it that i don't close them or look the other way. all to often i have prayed that he open my eyes. little did i know that i was closing them or looking around it. knowing that i am a work in progress gives me hope, i do not want to ever be too proud to be taught by Him.help me learn and remember those lessons...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

mommy, mom, mother

to all of my beautiful friends and family out there... happy mother's day.
whether you are a mom to one or a mom to a bunch, you have been bestowed
the highest honor. enjoy this ride of raising our children and savor the laughter
and understand the tears. they grow up all too fast. whatever your children call you,
mommy, mom, mother or friend, it still means that we have been given the greatest job
EVER!!!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

she's off to the dance...

taylor has left for the 8th grade dance and she looks beautiful. here are some photos of her before she left. i am so proud to have her as my daughter. she was excited to go. while we were doing her make-up she asked me if i "was worried about her while she was going to be gone?" i told her "no because i trust her totally." she then said "well that's good because i'm growing up and there isn't anything we can do about it". talk about maturity. i'm not sure at the age of 13 i had my head on even as close to straight as she does. thank you Jesus for helping us raise our young lady. she is awesome.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

okay, she IS growing up....

on saturday our oldest child, taylor, will be going to the 8th grade dance with a friend of hers. she has picked out her dress, the nail polish, the hairstyle she wants and shoes. she is excited and ready to go, the only thing not ready ... me. i'm not quite sure i understand when we went from starting elementary school to getting ready for a semi-formal dance.? i'm sure she will have a g-g-great time, dance with her friends and look absolutely beautiful. she is a beautiful girl, (hang on, let me be correct here, she's a young lady now) and we are very proud of her. good thing is though, our son has a baseball game on the same day so luckily i will be distracted watching him play and not worried about taylor. amen!! i will post some pictures of her in her dress after the big day, so bye for now and wish us luck!!!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

time flies

today i was cleaning my house ( for the first time in a long time without someone being here).
anyways, i realized how fast things are moving. my kids growing up, school almost over, how quickly time goes. our friends are moving at the end of june (which will be here before we know it), but not before we get to go on vacation together. the month of april is coming to an end, quickly. baseball season starts in may, practices are already underway. then school is out for the summer, children go to church camp, world changer mission trips and your oldest child turns 14...Ugh!!!
i wish i could have one more day in my childhood, playing outside in the dirt, making mud pies of course. not wanting to be inside, but outside where we were only limited by our own imagination. we played until dark, ate dinner, went to bed and we couldn't wait to start all over again the next day. oh how i long for a great game of hide-n-seek, without my back hurting, my knees giving out and wondering why in the world i cannot catch my breath. i certainly appreciate those days a lot more now! and that brings me to the present time in my life when i am interested to see how my children grow and change. so for that.... i can't wait. so i am an adult living a grown up life with the child in my heart still wanting to just sit and color in my coloring book ; )

Sunday, April 20, 2008

all grown up

my friend tonya blogged just the other day about how children grow up and move out. something her son bradley just did.
well i must say that i do agree, and before you know it your little babies are driving. there isn't much we can do about it except love them and pray for them. my friend melissa sent me
a picture yesterday of her cute son nicholas (you've seen his picture here before). the picture reminded me all too well of just how quickly they grow up. to me, being a mom, this is how i will always remember my children...babies.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

birthday pictures

here are some birthday pictures from the big turning "8" party. we went over to tonya and meredith's house last night for food, fellowship and a very energetic house. it was filled with our 5 children, john and chasity had their 6, tonya and meredith had their 4, and alex and melissa had their 2. wow 17 kids is a party waiting to happen, and let me tell you it did. we had some playing in the fort that the lindsey boys had built, some on the trampoline, some playing soccer, and some were running around with play guns. the smaller ones were in the house crawling about seeing who could maneuver around the floor faster. it was noisy, they all talked at the same time (so trying to understand one question before hearing another one being asked was fun), some bumps and bruises followed by with tears, cake and ice cream to boot and it was WONDERFUL !!!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

now that's a guard dog

this morning i was awakened to the pouncing of a 7 month old great pyrenees puppy. she is under the impression that promptly at 5:30, when the alarm goes off, she should be fed breakfast. she wants to eat outside on the front porch, so when she is done she may "patrol" the yard for any unwelcome intruders. you see she doesn't understand that we are not on a plantation and we only reside on about an acre. so she is all about walking around the area, barking and letting you know her dislikes. we love her dearly and couldn't imagine our home without her. she is supposed to be a working dog, you know sitting and guarding goats. we were at a goat auction with my sis-in-law, melissa :), in late october and our oldest taylor just had to have this cuddly little ball of fur. how could i resist, she was very cute. after we got her home and took her for a check-up at the vets, we learned she is blind in one eye. i personally felt very relieved that we "saved" this blind dog from a job that she was certainly not equipped for. that is what i choose to tell myself, knowing full well that she could probably do a pretty good job. after all, she is a working dog. my husband calls her a hurricane and she is every bit the chaos that comes with one. very sweet, cuddly, and if there was ever a dog that could possibly have "ants in her pants" she does. she is never still. even when she sleeps she moves quite a bit whimpering and barking in her dreams. chasing those animals trespassing across her yard and doing her job... so she may not be on a farm guarding real goats, but God gave her to us so that she could fit in with a different sort "kid". sleep tight olivia and get those "intruders" in your dreams...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE

on tuesday our youngest child, katherine sterling, will turn the big "8".
she was given to us by God, who in his infinite wisdom, knew how much of a
blessing she would be.we have enjoyed having her in our lives and cannot wait to see what type of a young lady and woman of God she will be. so Katie, enjoy your day, enjoy the princess cake, smile, laugh and most of all just giggle. : )

Friday, April 11, 2008

yup that's it

this morning i woke up and i had a ton of pressure in my noggin because i went and cleaned 2 houses yesterday. i feel so exhausted, yet i want to admire the beauty of a sunny day with all the sounds and smells of spring. so i was trying to find the perfect picture to show exactly how i feel and i think i got it accurate. so please, if you agree, just do the same as this little guy, not missing a beat : )

Thursday, April 10, 2008

cu-u-u-ute

nicholas has quite a sense of style doesn't he? his mommy sent this to me and i thought that it just needed to be shared with all.

tweet, tweet, tweet

meet the newest member of our family... her name is leelu. we got her when she was 9 weeks old. she is a budgie parakeet. she is very loud with her chirps, of course you'd have to be around here to get a word in. we have had her for almost a month and enjoy her. i love hearing a song in the house, so wonderful and happy...

somewhere in the peace...

sometime last september we had a day trip to the botanical gardens in fort worth. we went with alex and melissa and we were able to enjoy the day without our children, just a little break. i thought that this pic looked just ever so relaxing. when we are in the rush of laundry, kids, sports, school, breakfast, lunch and dinner, it is just nice to sit back and watch God.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

keith's girlfriend...

there are many things in my life that give me joy... one of them is the fact that we have the cutest, funniest, most talkative bassett hound at our house. her name is chloe and she just doesn't know that she is a dog. she sleeps under the covers in our bed, my fault. she looks at you most shocked when you move her off of the furniture, also my fault. she is also under the impression that she comes first with keith, also my fault. she jumps in his lap, lays across his chest and just very innocently, and adamantly wags her tail like she has done no wrong... which that is another story within itself... enjoy our dog