Vivy video for Tim & Hannah

Latest Vivy Pictures

Vivy helping Michael and Amy decide who to vote for...















Helping out with the leaves...















Thanksgiving in Atlanta with Michael and Daniel...















Molly and Vivy sharing a bowl of peas in December.

Here are a few pics from Vivy's VIP birthday party (meaning Vivy, Mom, Dad and Mimi). If you want to see some other good ones from her baptism and birthday lunch, check out The Charlotte Metzls and The Eden 4 . We managed not to take a single picture, so we are relying on our dear friends and family to record the important moments in Vivy's life.

Lovin' the icing

Vivy and Curious George

And a few days later getting a pumpkin for Halloween...

Of course, Vivy spots a dog and could care less about the pumpkins...

Prescious Pooky

Here are a few teasers from Tiona until the full set of pictures come out from the birthday session last weekend.

If you are still reading our blog...

My challenge with blogging is that it seems to take so long to post! So instead of taking time to make excuses for why we've abandoned our blog for the past few months, I'm just going to jump in with family news and a few pics.

Tomorrow is Vivy's first birthday, and I can't believe it. She's very helpful-- here she brushing Randy's teeth. She likes to brush mine too, and it works out great because she'll let me brush hers at the same time!


Eric and Sarah and our long lost friends the Landons came over for dinner last Thursday. Vivy and Owen continue to be big buds, and the exersaucer is much more exciting when Owen is in it!


We went to Durham this weekend for Randy's annual Duke reunion and tailgated with "the Dookies" as I like to call them. Vivy went to her first football game and had a blast. She loved cheering, climbing the bleechers and dancing with the band. She also discovered Evy's Duke chair and took a minute to chill. The Metzls call this lounging.

Practicing to be a Cameron Crazy!

Vivy and Maddie at the game

By the way, Vivy is walking! I'll post more pics from her birthday and baptism this weekend.

Off To the Races II

Vivy loves the new toy Emily bought at the consignment sale yesterday - it won't be long until she's walking on her own, I bet. She's stylin' in the new outfit from the Bondurants.

Vivy Sightings

Here is the Pooky napping.
















Bathing is finally fun.
















Mommy and Pooky hangin' outside.

They're both wrong

I didn't know whether to shrug or laugh when I heard about the latest Edmunds fuel efficiency report on a Crown podcast. The bottom line is that properly inflating one's car tires doesn't make too much of a difference with fuel efficiency (do it anyway because it's important for safety and maintenance reasons). So McCain and Obama were vigorously agreeing on a moot point.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html#test5

I Love American Express

American Express is a great company. Not only have I been able to decorate my entire dining room using AMEX points, but I have had two recent experiences with AMEX that makes me love them even more.

A few weeks ago, Steph's car broke down at our house. I called the AMEX roadside assistance service, and they dispatched someone to come tow the car. I was still waiting after an hour and a half, so I called AMEX again to follow up. The woman I spoke with was so great-- she said that it was unacceptable that I had waited over an hour for the tow truck and that she would send another tow truck to our house as well as follow up with the first guy. I truly felt like a valued customer and loved it!

If that weren't enough, I got a call on Friday from AMEX about a suspicious charge on my card. They had been monitoring my account and noticed that someone bought $488 worth of vitamins from an online vitamin distributor out of New Jersy. They had already suspended payment, and they closed my account in about 30 seconds over the phone. To top it off, I had a new card delivered to my door on Monday. Amazing!

I know, I sound like a cheesy add, but AMEX, you really are the best. I love you!

Black Snake

I was reminded yesterday that I haven't posted about my recent encounter with our resident black snake who was the subject of one of our first blog posts in 2006. About a month ago, I walked out the side door of the house to go somewhere and boom, ran smack dab into Mr. Snake, eye to eye. Shocking is an understatement.

I tried to help him down, but I guess I startled him and he wriggled, hissed, and fell down. It sounded painful, but he kept moving vigorously so I figured he was fine. The first time in my life parseltongue would have come in handy.

Point being, I caught him again and tried to remove him to the natural area where he's done such a good job clearing the moles and voles. Unfortunately, I dropped him again on the way and he actually crawled through a vent hole into our crawl space. I guess that's good, but it's taken a couple of weeks to get over being creeped out by the thought of his proximity.

Inspiring

I hadn't heard of Randy Pausch until today when I read he passed away. If you can get passed the tragedy part, it's really cool that he had a few months to get things in order, cherish his family, and deliver this lecture.

http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/729049.html

I would prefer immortality, but this is a nice 2nd best.

A Good Prayer

Last week I picked up my Phyllis Tickle summer prayer book and have been using it for a short, quiet moment in the evenings. The prayer of the week this week is really sweet (and so right on!), so I thought I'd share it:

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know my necessities before I ask and my ignorance in asking: Have compassion on my weakness, and mercifully give me those things which for my unworthiness I dare not ask, and for my blindess I cannnot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Off to the Races

Vivy started crawling last weekend - what a hard worker!

Don't worry, we haven't left the blogosphere!

It's not really out of slackness that we haven't blogged. Well, maybe initially. Then I sat down to blog almost two weeks ago after returning from a great trip to Hilton Head with Steph, Marty, Chris, Josh and Molly, and our hard drive crashed. Then we had to order another one, and then Randy had to spend a few days installing it (or whatever you call it). But now we are up and running!

I'm not going to post anything newsy, but our beach trip slide show is here on the right for you Vivy addicts. We'll be back with more news soon.

Celebrating Millie

One of my co-workers during the summer of 1996 had some friends who found a dog wandering in their Knightdale neighborhood and weren't able to find the owners. They loved the dog, who they nicknamed Heidi, but had recently become empty nesters and didn't want to cramp their new freedom. I had just moved into a house with a back yard for my senior year in college and thought a dog would be perfect. I picked her up after work one day, quickly renamed her Millie (after President G. H. W. Bush's dog).

Millie was a ton of fun from the beginning. The second or third day at the house she discovered a Busch Beer clock on the wall. The clock had a barely perceptible second hand that made a quiet "tick" every time it moved. When she first saw it, she launched up a chair and pointed at the clock for a good two hours. Over the course of that year, she spent hours and hours each week pointing at the second hand hoping I would kill it.

She made a lot of friends that summer (and helped me make some too - dogs are great that way!). Good ole Kyle Catherwood was her favorite, but John Roberts and Jeff Laoang were high on her list too. There were a couple of cruel roommates that were not high on her list though, especially after the laundry basket incident. Millie was clear that all is forgiven, but that explains the lack of pictures with some people.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether she ever had puppies before we met her and I just don't know. Whatever her familial status prior to her entrance into my life, it became unpleasantly clear after just a couple of months that all of her pipes were still in working order. This picture is of her wearing some of Kyle's underwear until I could get to the store and buy some "bitches britches."

Of course Millie loved to go for walks, and she particularly loved hiking trips. We went to Mt. Mitchell quite a bit for the first few years after college, and also a few other spots. She even had fun on the blizzard hike in Pisgah - the snow was over her head most of the trip.

I don't have a photo for obvious reasons, but a story that illustrates Millie's irrational love for me involves her slingshotting out of my car window. It was 1999 (I think), and I was living at 3400 Selwyn. I was heading towards town on Selwyn for some reason, and Millie was riding shotgun with her head sticking out the window. We rounded that curve just past Selwyn Pub at about 40 miles an hour. I didn't pay enough attention to how far the window was rolled down and how strong the centrifugal forces were as we hit the sharpest part of the turn, and whoosh like a rocket Millie went flying. She landed nose first in someones yard. I quickly pulled over and ran to her - though dazed, she didn't seem hurt and just looked at me with that "what the hell just happened" look that struck me with a wash of both guilt and affection. Not surprisingly, she never ever stuck her head out of the window of a moving car again.

There is a big hole in the picture history with Millie from 1999 to 2002 when I was working in politics. In retrospect, this was a terrible time for Millie I'm sure, though I wasn't paying attention at the time. I was rarely home, and at one point was more or less working in another city and would be home briefly each day to let Millie out to go to the bathroom. In 2001 and 2002, she went to live with the Bondurants while I worked in Salisbury. One of the stories of highest praise I have about Millie is one of the most damning of myself. In 2001 I was working on a campaign that had me doing some intensive work for about 48 hours at one point. I didn't come home from the office to let Millie out to walk, or change her water, or change out her food, or say "hello" that entire 48 hours. When I did get home, she was so excited to see me, didn't hold a grudge, and hadn't peed on the carpet. Oh that I could be half as good at being a man that she was at being a dog.

The good news is that we had a lot of fun a lot of the time. The most fun we had together was often hiking in the North Carolina Mountains. Millie would run ahead on a trail until she was almost out of site, then run back to make sure I was following her, then run out of sight again. For every mile I hiked, she hiked two. I learned early in our hiking career to have her wear a small cowbell. Though I'm sure she always intended to come back to me, there were many times on the trail when she was gone for 30-90 minutes at a time. Most likely always relatively close by, but not always within sight. The bell helped me keep track of her and stay confident that she wasn't lost somewhere in the wilderness. She was usually a hit with the friends I hiked with, though some of the fondest memories are from camping at Mount Rogers in Virginia with John and Sellie where Millie wasn't afraid to eat some pony poo.

Meeting Emily was a tough experience for Millie. Millie made it clear at first that she was the woman of the house and didn't appreciate any additional company. The two girls were fast friends by the end of 2003, however, and by the time Emily and I were married were at least as close as Millie and I had ever been. One of our most fond memories was hiking with Millie in Linville Gorge where she wouldn't leave Emily's side the entire trip.

The thought of the possible tension between Vivy and Millie was a point of concern before Vivian was born, though it turns out to have been completely unnecessary. From the day we brought Vivy home from the hospital, Millie was the perfect loving-guard dog and didn't like to leave Vivy's side. One of the sweetest parts of Millie's decline was that Vivian woke up to the world and even started showing affection for Millie in the last month or so. I think the fact that Vivy got to meet Millie, and appreciate her in a small way, added some salve to the imminence of the loss.

The last six weeks were rough for Millie. She had some nerve problems that affected her back legs since 2004, but more recently also developed kidney failure and some kind of malignant cancer (the vet said the kidney problem was plenty of problem enough and not to worry about the cancer). Things hit a low point about three weeks ago, and we actually took Millie to the vet at that time to be euthanized. While in the office, literally moments from the injection, I learned that one of the doctors was available that day to do the procedure as a house call, so I took Millie home for a last meal and what I hoped would be a more comfortable goodbye. In preparation at home, I loaded her up with drugs (thank the Lord for Deramaxx and Tramadol) and to my delight she perked up! In fact, she was mobile and relatively happy for another two weeks. She couldn't really take a walk for fun, but she wagged her tail, could give and receive affection, and enjoyed eating. It was a real gift to have that extra time to give her extra kisses and hugs. It was particularly sweet to have the space to remember and cherish hanging out, knowing it wouldn't last forever.

Last Wednesday was the last time Millie wagged her tail, and Thursday was the last time she ate any of her food. Though it was clear at that time that we were running out of tomorrows, it wasn't clear, whether because of true ignorance or irrational hope, that the end was just days away. While we were in Chapel Hill, we had confirmation from the Metzls and from Elizabeth that Millie was in a bad way, and coming home with fresh eyes helped us see that she was living an irrevocably miserable life. I set the appointment with Dr. Doyle and we spent the last twenty-four hours celebrating with Millie. She was able to eat a few pieces of the popcorn, chicken, cheese, and peanut butter dinner we made for her which probably made us happier than it made her. The best part was that as we loved on her this morning, she relaxed in a way that was so clearly indicating that she loved us and trusted us while at the same time asking us to help her die. It was as sweet as such a powerfully sorrowful moment could be.

I snapped this picture before Vivy went down for her nap and we said our last goodbyes to Millie. I had to prop her up to get the picture, but it captures the infinite patience, and loyalty, and love that made her what she was to me.

The procedure at Animal Medical Hospital was really sweet. The admin staff was very accommodating, and helped me arrange for all the logistics and payments in advance and in a private room where I could boo-hoo to my hearts content. Dr. Doyle was so kind, and he truly seemed heart broken about her. The sadness and tears of other people, starting with Dr. Doyle and continuing with everyone we have seen, talked with, and emailed have been a real comfort today.

We have loved you Millie, and we are so glad to have had the time we had with you. An extravagantly loving God blessed us with you, and we can cherish the hope that he will lavish us with your company again.

Dogs Do Go To Heaven

We just came home from Chapel Hill where we had a great time visiting with some old friends and introducing Vivy to both Duke and UNC. Wow, I love the Triangle! I'm sure we'll have some fun stories and good pictures to post soon.

Occupying our minds more urgently is sweet Millie who is about to get an outrageously good chicken, popcorn, cheese, and peanut butter dinner (good in dog cuisine, anyway). Poor Millie has been struggling with some nerve problems and kidney failure, and sadly things have worked their way to their end this weekend. I'm taking her in to see Dr. Doyle tomorrow morning. We should get her ashes in a few weeks and I think I want to take them to Mt. Mitchell - that's where she went hiking with me the most often and she always had a blast.

We're so sad that it's hard to write, but my spirit just absolutely soared when I read this quote from a Randy Alcorn article on Christianity Today. Praise God for his awesomeness in everything, especially the little extravagances that show his outlandishly lavishing love.

Joni Eareckson Tada says, "If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like him. It would be totally in keeping with his generous character … Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous. … Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness of joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on his children."

Growing Things

A few weeks after Vivy was born, I ventured out and bough these pumpkins and plants so I could take this "First Halloween" picture. (I actually took the picture a week or so after Halloween, but she doesn't know that). She was so tiny...


Last week I attempted to prune that same plant in hopes of getting it to last a little longer before I needed to change it out. Vivy helped.


How things grow! One getting better with age, and the other not looking so hot...

Wow!!!

I have something of a pet peeve about the overuse of exclamation points. The pictures Tiona Fuller took of Vivian at our Independence Park photoshoot, however, deserve special positive reaction with extra volume, like Wow!!! or Beautiful!!! or I can't believe she's kin to Randy!!!










































More pictures of Vivy are on Tiona's blog.

An Accidentally Wonderful Purchase

For several months now I have been looking for a rug to go in our dining room. Easy enough, right? Expect 1) I was working with a painting we are housing for our friend Hannah and Tim and 2) I am really, really picky. So after visiting every mainstream store in town (Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, etc.) and not finding anything that matched perfectly, my mom suggested that I go to Home Depot and look at having some carpet bound into a rug. So I did, and I found a great deep brown carpet that works with the painting and the wall color. Done. So now we have a brown rug.

Here's the surprise. Sweet Millie, in her very old age, has been having some kidney trouble and "going" wherever she is when the time hits. And she "went" on our new dining room rug just the other day. The good news: the carpet obviously has some sort of stain treatment because the pee just sort of settled on the top. I'm not saying it didn't go through at all; I'm just saying it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Who would have thought that getting a piece of carpet cut into a rug would be so perfect for a dining room? I can just imagine spilt wine, milk, etc. floating on top of the rug fibers thanks to the Stainmaster treatment. So if you are in the market for a dining room rug, definitely go for a piece of Stainmaster carpet. I couldn't be happier.

And just for fun, here is our latest family portrait. Please ignore the fact that I look like I just rolled out of bed, and Randy appears to be laughing. I just wanted everyone to see the family (especially Millie)!

"You're gonna be po-pu-u-lar!"

We haven't posted for too long now, so here are some Fink happenings from the past two weeks. First, two weekends ago I made Randy stand in line at the Wicked ticket lottery to see if we could get tickets to the show. They sell 20 tickets by lottery for $25 each before each show, and I figured we had nothing to loose standing in line. After not winning for the Saturday matinee, we recruited my mom, Chris and Marty to put their names in the drawing along with us, and WE WON! TWICE!! Chris was the first name drawn, and Randy was fourth or fifth. I could not believe it. I have wanted to see this show for FOREVER, and it was absolutely wonderful. Not to mention that our seats were 4th row-- partly obstructed but still great. So thanks Metzls and Mom for standing in line with us (and to Mom for babysitting).

This past weekend we went to our All-Church Retreat and really had a great time. I did not appreciate how popular having a baby makes you, and we were followed by a horde of 8 year old girls every time Vivy was out an about. As Glenda would say, "You're gonna be popular!"


The last bit of news is only exciting for me: I'm going to resume my classes at Gordon-Conwell this summer. After doing this motherhood thing for a few months (six to be exact), I think I'm ready to tackle school again. I'm also fully aware that I may be eating these words in about six more months. Only time will tell...

That's the news from Lake Wobegon. Hope everyone is having a good week.

A Helpful Pookie

Millie hasn't been feeling well this week, so Vivy has been nursing her back to health. Perhaps she has a future in medicine?

Spring and Mimi

Mimi got to spend some quality time with Vivy on this lovely spring day. Vivy must have inherited her smile from Elizabeth.

Dinner with Michael

Vivian had a surprise dinner with Michael tonight. The fact that Michael was joining us by phone was a net positive since we haven't quite nailed down Vivy's table manners yet.














There must have been some serious fiber in that rice cereal, because we had a massive poo-splosion afterwards. Once again, I was amazing in both my calm control and swift response. Vivy, too, was terrific throughout the emergency. Here she is counting her toes to make sure they survived the poo-splosion.

Big Belly for Heidi

Heidi had the good fortune to hang out with Vivian for a while today. As you can see from the very full belly, Vivy had just finished lunch.