Brundibar's Saga

Here is the condensed version of the Brudibar drama:

We dropped off the pup to be lovingly doggysat at the Risinger Casa late Monday night before leaving for Oregon the next morning. The Risingers are totally dog people, so we knew he'd be in good hands. Well, Brun decided to make a run for it Tuesday morning, and he disappeared beyond view from our friends. He wasn't sighted until late Wednesday night, which is when we found out that Brun had gone AWOL. Brunie is still learning who is friend and foe, and although our friends and family went ABOVE AND BEYOND to capture the little rascal, he would not allow anyone to catch him. The decision was made by Steve and I that Steve would fly home for a day to try and nab the booger. This was an expensive decision, but we couldn't justify letting our friends go through the torture of trying to find the lost dog while we were relaxing on vacation. As Steve was walking onto his plane, he got a phone call from Kathy announcing that Heather had cornered Brun in a garage and that he was safe! Hooray! While this was nothing short of a miracle, perhaps the bigger miracle occurred when Alaska Airlines actually refunded us every last penny! Holy moly! Brundibar spent the rest of his days in a kennel...not as plush as the Risinger Casa, but that was Brundibar's consequence.

So, all of this to say, THANK YOU to all of you who prayed, walked the neighborhood, made signs, etc. to bring our gentle giant home. God bless you, Jon, Kathy, Heather, & Elizabeth. Brundibar owes you a fancy steak dinner.

6 Years

Then ( 2002)

Now ( 2008)

Happy 6 year anniversary to my favorite human being in the entire universe (which includes Middle Earth and Narnia), Stevie Dream Boat. Everyone wants to marry their best friend; I was lucky enough to do so. Thanks for making my life so...flavorful! I love you!

The grass really is greener...

Steve and I are heading out tomorrow morning for our annual Summer Oregon Friend/Family Tour. We may or may not be blogging while we're up north, but apparently they do have the internet up there as well. If we drop off the grid for awhile, that's why.

Family Dinner

I know we haven't checked in lately, but there hasn't been a lot of exciting stuff going on around here. We did, however, have a kickin' BBQ on Wednesday and we look forward to many more "family dinner" events. The need for deeper fellowship and community has been pressing on our hearts as of late, and we're hoping to have family dinner events at least once a month. And no, you don't actually have to be family to attend. If you were at our party and you don't see your smiling face here, please forgive me. I guess you'll just have to come to the next family dinner in hopes of making it onto the blog. Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure:

Man Time

Girl Time + Scott

Caleb, Brundibar, Steve & one Coronita = How to start a party right

Sisterly Love

Kinsley & Gwyn

Mama Casey, the new baby, and Agatha

This is Josh and Nicolle. The angelic pose is the posture that Josh normally assumes. Josh and Nicolle are incredibly generous and loving friends, and all they really ask for in return is for some blog love. So here it is: we love you, Josh and Nicolle. Our lives would be bleak and meaningless without you guys.

What We've Been Doin'

Here's a brief snapshot of what us Dunlaps have been doing as of late:

Sir Brundibar the Pooper

I don't know when it happened, but sometime within the past decade I became a bit anal and obsessive about things being "just so." I realized it the other day when I began straighting business cards at Enterprise Car Rental. Anywho, it seems as though Brundibar suffers from the same ailment. As I was scooping up his dogie deposits left in the yard, I realized that he had pooped 4 different times in a perfectly straight line. I thought about getting out the laser level to check the preciseness of his handy work, but the sane part of my brain won that battle. I also thought about taking a picture of it to post on our blog, but I was afraid that the image might jeopardize our PG blog rating. 

The Green Giant

Many plants and various flora and fauna have lost their lives throughout the process of building this darn fence. So much so that we had collected a giant green pile of whatnot on our driveway. Yeah, our neighbors love us. This Saturday was free dump day, so we enlisted the help of our superwomen friends, Micah and Elizabeth, to help us load the dump truck. They were amazing! Steve and Mikey took the trash to the dump early Saturday morning and they didn't even stop for ice cream afterwards! Jeez! This may sound bizarre, but going to the dump was a BIG deal as a kid growing up in the Lee household. We had a special dump song that we would sing and we always stopped for ice cream afterwards. Always. Oh, those crazy Oregonians!

The Weekend Warrior

This picture is a fairly accurate depiction of my husband, complete with his weekend warrior hat (more commonly referred to as a gardening sombrero). The only thing missing from this picture is the fact that Steve is not wearing his God-forsaken Cush shirt (because it was hanging up to dry). God bless my husband and God bless his handiness. Why would we buy gates to our fence when we could make them? Why? 

The Fence, Part Duex

It's almost done! Almost!

New Nephew

Jake & Beka Dorr

I (Karen) have been very fortunate to have 2 best friends that have known me from the beginning of time: Alison & Beka Kiker. Our parents met in Lamaze class when both of our mommas were preggers with twins. Virtually every childhood memory I have somehow involves the three of us. We were so inseparable that my dad referred to us collectively as KarAlaBek.

Now we're all grown up (sort of), and Beka and Jake (her hubby) are adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia! They've even created an entire blog so that we can be a part of their journey. I'm beyond excited for them; I know that they're going to be WONDERFUL parents. Please check out their blog and give them money and prayers if they ask for them. :)

http://www.babydorr.com

Zeke Man

Amidst the hubbub of the fencing project and our vet tech vaccinating Brundibar, our favorite kiddo Ezekiel Thomas Bono Lance (ETBL) came over to visit. Although our time together was short, it was very special as the Lances now live in Redding (the only NorCal town not on fire). Here are some of my favorite memories of the afternoon:

Although his Nana had packed him multiple snacks, there's nothing like raiding the snack cupboard at your friends' house. We made peanut butter and cracker sandwiches, and then Zeke posed with Brundibar. Zeke was sure that Brun would go for his crackers, but I don't think that my dog possess the motivation needed to move quickly enough.

Here Zeke is picking a tomato with a look of satisfaction. So, what does a 5 year old do with a tomato?

Wash it off real good in the sprinkler! I don't know why we did this, because he clearly had no intention of eating the tomato, but it was important to Zeke that the tomato was clean.

My favorite memory of the afternoon has no picture to accompany it. Zeke LOVES our kitties, particularly Imogene. This is so endearing to me because the cats have made every attempt to NOT reciprocate Zeke's affections. However, Zeke either doesn't notice and/or doesn't care, and always dives under the beds in search of the cats. I was able to pull Imogene out and plop her on the bed long enough for Zeke to get some cuddle time in. Zeke loves to pretend that he's Imogene, and I thought he'd drop the bit now that he lives 10 hours north, but no sir-ee! 

A big thank-you to Dan & Alyssa for letting Zeke be a part of our lives. We miss you all more than we can express, and can't wait for the arrival of Moses (good luck, Sof!)!