Our kids

We had talked about having kids one day, but agreed it would be after I got out of the Air Force.  God had different plans.  Sandi had been home from Korea for less than a month when we were approached by a man carrying the cutest puppy we'd ever seen.  We couldn't resist.  We transitioned that evening from couple to family of four.  We picked the black one and a yellow one.  Actcually the black one picked Sandi, and told him her name was Spooky, like the callsign I fly with. (hover the mouse over the picture for a caption.)

The yellow one we called Triscuit after going through a number of other names. It was great getting to know our neighbors on our daily walks with the girls, or our "fluffballs" as a friend called them.

We took the girls rock climbing (okay, I climbed - they didn't).  They loved the steep trails and rocks we traversed to get to the wall. Triscuit was the braver of the two - or maybe just the more blonde; Spook  had the brains.  Until it came to staying inside a moving car.  Unfortunately she squished her way out of a window as we drove in Colorado.  Less than 3 minutes later, a man called the phone number on her tag (mine) to say she'd been hit by a car...

It was a long sad trip back to New Mexico with only 3/4 of our family.  We allowed Triscuit to join us on the front seats of the car.  She prefered to lay on my shoulders like a mink, or curl up on the floor under the AC vent...or to drive ?! We stopped at every pound to find Triscuit a new playmate, but didn't find one until we had searched all the way down to El Paso. And so Chilli joined us.  She's the color of pepper, so why not Chilli - it's a good New Mexican name.  Of course she's got a multitude of nicknames: Fatty, Chunky Monkey, Birth Defect (for her huge overbite), Little One...  But she's an energetic sweatheart and a good match for Triscuit.

The greatest lesson we've learned in all of this, is that if you let the kids get a hold of wheel, it's gonna be quite a ride!

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