I first met Sandy when she invited our local home school group consisting of 1100 members over to her house to swim in her magazine ready pool. She eagerly welcomed me – a complete stranger, into her home along with my fifteen kids, who delighted in being able to go in the deep end without treading water for two minutes. Over the course of the summer she shared her story with me, and I came to learn that her carpe diem approach to life comes from experiencing tremendous loss and choosing to love anyway. We bonded over our coping strategies.
And she’s moving to North Carolina. :/
We also learned that she is a passionate dog breeder (is there any other kind?) and my daughter fell in love with her puppies.
Those puppies grew up and went to their forever homes, but recently Lilly had nine more. We had the joy and privilege of heading back out to her house for some puppy photos and a little swimming.
Sandy said the puppies were her therapy and loved on those fur babies with abandon.
She breeds golden doodles which have the temperament of golden retrievers and the hypoallergenic fur of standard poodles.
The puppies had been bathing in puppy chow when we arrived so they were cleaned off and brushed. My daughter felt very responsible.
The puppies are an integral part of the Peters’ home schooling experience which includes, among other things, biology and responsibility.
Lilly would nurse the puppies until she was bored and then stand up with a few still attached. It seemed that she knew Sandy would take care of any mothering responsibilities she wasn’t in the mood for.
Some of our posing efforts felt a lot like newborn posing.
And in case you’re wondering, no we did not bring a puppy home. Whenever the kids ask I tell them we have kids, not pets. Plus Sandy has quite the waiting list!
This was the puppies’ first time outside, ever. They were super drowsy and would start crawling and then just fall asleep where they were in whatever position they happened to be in.
I had no idea how much work puppies were. When they’re first born, Sandy’s up every two hours to help feed them and keep them clean.
Thank you so much Sandy, for welcoming us into your home and a corner of your remarkable life. We’re looking forward to seeing the puppies again, when they’re even cuter!
