I am going to start with Friday, April 23 since that is a day I meant to record in the blog. Jared and I drained and scrubbed out our pool completely. We now have a clean pool for anyone that comes to visit. After a week, we went and got our chemicals tested. I was excited to find out that I had, on my own, managed to get all of the chemicals at target levels. Jared and I rented a submersible pump from Home Depot. We saved over $60 by doing it ourselves. It did keep us up late though on Friday night. We were blessed by the unseasonably cool temperatures so we could safely drain our pool completely.

On Saturday, Xander and Maxwell had a competitive soccer skills challenge event from 8:30 am - the afternoon at the Pecos soccer fields. Elijah had basketball that morning at the Pecos Community Center. We decided to take Daisy along since Jared or I were going to outside for a good portion of the day. Jared took Daisy and Elijah to Pecos Dog Park while the soccer events were getting kicked off.

For awhile everything was going fine. Daisy was enjoying her freedom, running around, chasing other dogs. Then something set her off and she got into a dog fight with a dog 1/2 pound smaller than her. Jared tried to get over there quickly, but it wasn't fast enough. The girl owner of the other dog brilliantly stuck her hand into the fray and got bit. She really should have kicked Daisy if she was worried about her own dog's well being. Her husband and another man unrelated to the issue both started verbally attacking Jared, physically getting into Jared's face, and cursing up a storm. Elijah was worried (Jared too) that it might turn into a physical altercation. The other man was some nasty, old, drunk guy that threatened Jared with things like "calling the police." Jared was okay with that and told him so. The drunk man wisely decided not to call the police. The husband was just scared and understandably so.

A 14 pound dog isn't likely to kill you but they do have seriously strong jaws and sharp teeth. As an aside, Daisy can lift up the bottom of the vacuum with her jaws when she is attacking it.

The girl appeared to only have gotten a warning bite though. They were terribly worried about their dog and decided to take the dog to the vet to get antibiotics, painkillers, and a thorough exam. I asked Jared if the dog was pouring blood, and he didn't see any but he didn't really know. As the dog didn't get any stitches or x-rays, I am pretty sure there was no severely broken skin. We paid $100 cash for that dog's doctor visit. Jared drove Daisy home and returned in time to take Elijah to his game and to help manage the other two and their events. These are the sorts of things that make me wish we still didn't have a dog and would never get a dog. Jared's threat is worse than Daisy though if I were to choose to get rid of her. He says we would get a puppy. As far as I am concerned, the only thing worse than getting a dog is getting a puppy. I still worry about a law suit, but Jared thinks that is needless worrying.

Maxwell got 3 medals in his loosely judged soccer competitions. He was only competing against 6 others at most. Xander got 1 gold medal and should have gotten 2. He was competing in a large group and actually won his events. When he won his second though, he got told that until everyone had medals he couldn't get a second one even though he actually got 1st place. He didn't think that was fair, and there were tears and several days worth of parental discussion. Also, they didn't have it completely organized so some of the other kids in his age group got multiple medals.

After the events we did Xander's End of the Season party. He got his trophy for playing and we all got to eat good food.

Afterwards, we returned the pump to Home Depot. The boys and I went to see the high school's musical The Music Man that afternoon. They loved it. I was surprised at how well done it was and not pitchy. That was my biggest fear about attending a high school musical. I look forward to taking the boys to next year's productions. Jared is ecstatic about the boys going to their first play.

On Tuesday I found a flea on Daisy. YUCK! Finding the ticks when we first had her inspired me to purchase a flea and tick collar. It appeared to be working, but after I found that flea I felt we needed to risk the more dangerous pesticides that you apply to the skin. The next day Daisy was sick and I was really worried that my dislike of fleas and creepy crawlies had caused her illness. On Wednesday it was just extreme lethargy. By Thursday she was doing something that I thought might be trying to barf. By Saturday she was doing better but on Sunday she took a turn for the worse effecting my sleep. All the vets are closed on Sundays so I took her Monday afternoon as soon as I could.

Sunday was Stake Conference. It was really enjoyable. While there my phone screen croaked. Because of money my plan involved me just not having a cell phone for awhile. We were going to cancel AT&T anyway since Jared's IPhone croaked months ago. Jared wasn't having any of that.

My priorities on Monday were to first take Elijah to the doctor since his asthma was flaring up. His puffer, controller medication, and allergy medication weren't proving to be enough. We showed up at the doctor's office right when they opened. If they couldn't get him in we would have gone to Urgent Care. I thought it best though to see his doctor that knows his history. Elijah got an oral steroid to take for 5 days and albuterol for our nebulizer. We had run out and it is something we need to have on hand or always have a current prescription for. He missed school on Monday and Tuesday but even though he is still coughing and his breathing isn't perfect he is much better now.

After that I was going on Xander's bowling field trip. Since they had the bumpers up for the kids I was able to score over 100. I even got a strike off of the bumpers once. I really enjoyed the 4 kids (my son included), that I got to play with: Aspen, Conner, and Sam. Conner lives down the street from us. There are actually a few kids from the school that live near us. Friday I get to go bowling with Elijah's class.

After the bowling field trip, I took Daisy to the doctor. She was diagnosed with Kennel Cough which can take 3 weeks to cure. She got a prescription for antibiotics. Her cough seems to be improving. She coughs mostly when she is over excited. So for 2 weeks I have to give her antibiotics.

After that, Jared who had stayed home to take care of Elijah, went to T-mobile to set up our new cell plan. When he got home he started shopping Craig's List and Ebay to find a cheap smart phone for me. He found me a Cliq which I love. He drove at night to meet the seller in a Circle K parking lot to buy the phone. It was really nice of him to do all that just to help my cheap self feel better. I am having fun learning about my phone and its capabilities.

Monday night, we recorded our videos for Todd's 40th birthday. Tuesday we went over to the Baileys to celebrate and enjoyed a meal of 7 layer dip, elk enchiladas, and gelato. We picked up the 4 and 0 candles from the store on our way there. I have really enjoyed having Todd as a part of our family. He is a most excellent brother in law. Not many brothers-in-law would bend over backwards to make sure their wife's sister's family would fill comfortable staying in their home for 2 1/2 weeks. Living close to the Baileys is one of the sweet things in life. Next weekend Todd is going to run his first marathon and we are going to enjoy having half of his sweet kids in our home for the weekend. I am so proud of him for setting and accomplishing such a lofty goal.

On Facebook I am discussing SB 1070. Well, not really discussing, more like quoting and explaining. It has really bothered me how a malicious disinformation campaign has been so effective at creating fear about this law. I read the bill for myself. I don't agree with the wording 100% but it is nothing like the media and special interest groups are claiming it to be. Please inform yourself about this and whether you disagree or agree with it make sure you understand the facts and choose to explain the facts to anyone that is trying to tell you that it is about hate, racism, (which is silly since most Hispanic people are white), or any thing other than the truth. Jared likes our blog to be a happy place so please don't comment on this bill here. It is only 15 1/2 pages and is one of the most clearly written pieces of legislation that I have ever tried to read.