Sunny: World's perfect dog

Well, one of the first posts on my blog was about my dog Sunny, so it's fitting that I put a remembrance post up about her also since she's passed away.



Today when my little brother went to feed the dogs, he found Sunny in the back yard in kind of a low spot in the grass. He could see that she couldn't get up and was in obvious pain. When he tried to lift her out of the dip, she started trying to move but just seemed to thrash around. I was at work in Orem, so I went over to my dad's house to see what was up. When I saw her, I could see that there was something wrong. I first thought that her hip was broken because it has been giving her lots of problems lately anyway and she's had a hard time walking. When I tried to lift her, I could see that it didn't seem like her hip, but I didn't know what it was. We took her to the vet and he determined that she'd had a stroke. After he said that, everything clicked because her face looked droopy on one side and she couldn't move one side of her body. Strokes are hard to recover from for a human, and we just couldn't imagine Sunny living as a vegetable in my dad's back yard, so the decision was made to put her down. My dad came to the vet and me, Russ, Michelle, and my dad were there when they put her down. It was sad and those of you that have had a 14 year old pet die that you are very close to will understand. We all cried and we're still mourning the loss, she will be missed.

Here she is guarding the tent on a campout:


Here she is guarding the camp spot:


She definitely won't be a dog that can be replaced easily, she was perfect in every way and never caused any problems. She was friendly to all and just her being there has given the rest of us comfort many times over. She's a sweetheart. She was in so much pain near the end and her sight and hearing were going also, so it was for the better. We were lucky in a way that something major happened, like this stroke, because that made the decision to put her down easier. Sunny, we love you, you were such a big part of our lives growing up!

Lake Powell 2007

This past weekend we were lucky enough to join some friends down at Lake Powell for more water fun. The weather was gorgeous, hot and dry just like it should be, and the water was cool and refreshing. Lake Powell is so beautiful and we had a total blast with our friends. A big thanks to Jeff and Stacey for making it all happen. We owe you guys big time. We all played really hard out on the water, ate lots of yummy food, and stayed up late playing Signs, Mafia, and just talking and laughing. My body still aches from all the fun we had. Good times!

Gettin' some sun on the back of the boat...

Crazy JD cliff jumpingSix girls on the tube! So freakin' fun...Ka-Boom!!! Wipe out

There....he's a natural pro

Mmmmm...Grilled pineapple and bacon wrapped banana kabobs G - L - A - M - O - R - O - U - S

Richman's on a Boat: The Virgin Islands

Ahoy! Brad and I returned on Sunday from a 10 day sailing trip with my family to The Virgin Islands. We chartered our own 40 foot Catamaran named "Clarity." My older brother Tom captained our vessel and the rest of us, okay mostly the guys, worked hard as the sailing crew. The boys really loved sailing and caught on quickly to the process. We had great food, okay amazing food, that we prepared right on the boat. We spent our days sailing, swimming, snorkeling, eating...you get the idea. Needless to say, we had so much fun! It has been slow getting back into work and day to day life and my mind keeps drifting back to the awesome memories we have made. Take us back to paradise...

More Weekend Pics

Today was Kenadie's baby blessing. Rachel and Greg had family and friends over to their house afterwards for brunch. Here are a few pics we snapped of the after party.

Visit from Grandma

This past week Brad's Grandma "Noni" and Aunt Amy (his mom's mother and sister) have been in town visiting from Arizona. It's so fun when she comes up! We were sad to see her go. Hopefully we can make it down to visit her soon.