A few August photos

We had a fish fest yesterday since Devlan brought some fish from Belize with him (still frozen when he arrived!). I'm posting a few photos from the day of the dogs and one of Nestle who decided to take a nap between my feet.

Happy 4th Birthday, Hattie!

Hattie turned four today. It's hard to believe it's been almost four years since Hurricane Katrina changed so many lives, including ours. We will never know what the very beginning of Hattie's life was like but we know she's a happy dog, er, queen of the Linn-Gust House (don't tell Nestle!). I wanted a Golden Retriever, Joe brought me a Cur we named Hattie. She was meant to be part of our family and we're grateful for all the dogs who also got adopted because of Hattie. Joe's friend Craig returned to Mississippi and took 15 dogs to Maine where they found new homes (except the one who died). Happy birthday, Hattie!

More photos

Devlan arrives from Caye Caulker, Belize

Our friend Devlan has arrived from Caye Caulker, Belize, on Sunday. The dogs are happy campers, as seen in the photos, now that their buddy is here. They can be seen going in and out of Devlan's room in the morning, wanting to sleep with him (except Chaco who only sleeps at the foot of the stairs below me- he is my security). Yesterday Devlan's door was shut and Hattie was laying outside his door in the hallway waiting for him to get up. It took a day but Hattie finally swam to Devlan and climbed on his back so he could walk her around the pool (see photo).

National Suicide Prevention Week

National Suicide Prevention week is September 6 - 12, 2009. The American Association of Suicidology has some information that can help you plan activities in your community. View the link here.

The Dougy Center Fire

The Dougy Center is an incredible place for grieving children and families. Many centers in the US are based on it. In June, the building was in burned down by an arsonist. If you can help with any donation, please do. The service they offer to children and families is so important to help repair lives and help people find hope again after loss. The web site is here.

Purple and turquoise pins for suicide prevention

World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10. We’ve been using the colors purple and turquoise for people to show their support for people who have lost loved ones to suicide for several years. The color scheme was started by Sandy Martin and me when we were discussing how the suicide cause had no color but because many causes already use one color, we decided to go with two. We chose purple and turquoise because they are healing colors and our hope is that we can help people show their support for lives that have been altered in some way by suicide and show hope for the future with suicide prevention. Please order your pins soon here!