On June 13th, my dear sweet granddad Alford passed. He was 87 years old. Unexpectedly, Wendi, Madeline, Josh, and Steven hopped into the car and drove to Birmingham for the funeral. I was thankful to see some of my relatives I haven't seen in years. I was also thankful to introduce Miss Madeline to them especially my grandmother. Madeline was the dose of medicine that everyone needed at the time.
Some of my favorite smiles of the trip:
*Listening to Steven, my nephew, sing and play the guitar at the memorial service. He has been in choir for about 5 years now and would never sing for me. Let me tell you, this guy is fantastic! I couldn't stop smiling!
*Steven packed himself for the trip (he and Josh continued from Birmingham to Texas where they'll stay with my parents for the summer). Steven not only packed one pair of underwear, but packed two different shoes for the funeral. One had laces whereas the other did not. At least he got a left and a right!
*On the way back from Birmingham, I changed Madeline on my lap and yup, I got peed on. I had pee on my pants, shirt, and hoodie. It was an experience, let me tell ya.
There were other fun stories that happened, but they are more of a location joke where ya just had to be there.
Will had his first father's day yesterday and because we made the trip back from Birmingham on Saturday (12 hours) we were exhausted. But, Will was able to spend the day with his daughter. We really did small outings, errands, etc. On Wednesday, I will be taking Will to a nearby winery to celebrate.
On Wednesday, our dear friend Jessie is coming from the Chicago area to visit us! Yay! I haven't seen her in over a month and it will be so nice to see a familiar face!
Many of you have been asking about Oscar's update which I am thankful for because Oscar was my baby!
So here is the update:
We sent the demand letter certified mail. The Browns (mean people) never accepted the letter and it was sent back to us. So I had the demand letter served. The Browns had 30 days to respond to it. As of June 11th (30 days) they did not. We expected this to say the least so we will have to move forward with a civil complaint. Because Will is focused on two cases back in Fairbanks that will be happening in August, he won't be able to work on the complaint until this fall. He said that we'll have the complaint filed by Christmas.
In the meantime, it took three days of calling Animal Control to finally get a phone call back. I met with the supervisor and asked for them to reconsider consequences for the dogs. Captain Beeman said he would take it to the commonwealth attorney to see if he would reopen the case. After a week passed and Captain Beeman did not respond back to me, I started the daily phone calls. Again it took three days, but he finally called back and said the attorney will not reopen the case. Will called the attorney, Ross Spicer, and asked if we could get a meeting with him. Ross called back the next day (much more efficient then Captain Beeman) and would gladly meet with us. So today at 2:00 p.m. we will meet with the attorney and plead our case. All I would like minimally is to have the dogs listed on the dangerous dog list. Fingers crossed for today. If nothing happens to the dogs based on today's meeting, I am prepared to take this to the media. Am I going extreme? I don't think so. The dogs have a history dated back to 2006 on attacks and animal killings. I will continue to be the squeaky wheel until someone listens and reacts accordingly.
It is very difficult to be outside at least 3 times a week and see the Browns come outside with their dogs. I cannot stop staring and just think how unfair it is that they can brush their dogs, pet them, watch them run outside and they took that away from me. I want to confront them which those of you who know me know I can't do that. It's not the right thing to do. But if the criminal (animal control and commonwealth attorney) pursuits do not happen, at least we'll have the civil (suing them for the vet bill and punitive damages).
Will will be leaving Sunday, June 26th to head down to Savannah. He starts work the 27th. We will be promptly following mid-July so we can move in. Then the first week of August, Madeline and I will be heading to Virginia Beach for a mini-family reunion. It will be the first time many people will get to meet her. :)
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| Madeline with her great-grandmommy |
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| Poppie helping calm Madeline down with nature. |
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| My cousin, Tim, stole my camera. :) |
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| Aunt Wendi |
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| We were able to do a little bit of shopping and Steven humored me by posing! |
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| The infamous shoes. |
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| Still some remnants of the tornado damage. |
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| Look at the light post! |
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| Josh with his third cousin, Canon. |
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| Madeline's first taste of lemon. |
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| It wasn't very exciting. |
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| Steven prepared to eat some ribs. |
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| The Alford/Shaw clan! |
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| Mads loves her some toes! |
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| Madeline's blessing on me! |
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| Will's first Father's Day! |
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| Super sweet! |
