New Tahoe

Eight weeks from now, we should be receiving our specially built Chevy Tahoe.  Jim ordered it yesterday with all the features we want.  It will be black on black and we will be getting it lifted once we receive it.  It will be filled with bells and whistles!

Senior Citizen

Daisy Mae is getting up there in age - she is 11 and a half.  She is finding it harder and harder to jump up in the bay window which is where she likes to spend a lot of her time.  So Jim made her a step to make it easier for her.  Now she just has to climb up instead of jumping up.  Plus now she puts her two front feet on the step and just stands there and looks out the window.  Also - notice the memory sleeper pillow in the window -- Jim got her that to make her old bones feel better!

Other Mother Visit

One of Drew's other mothers visited him today in AZ.  Missy and family were there for Mom's Weekend for Kayla's sorority and promised me she would see him and give him some mama hugs.  She came thru with her promise and even sent me this pic!  THANK YOU Missy!  (and...as always, you two make the cutest couple!)

All Day Play Date

BFFs

I worked from home on Thursday and while I was home Hops (5 months old) and Molly (4 months old) had an all day play date.

They were so much fun to watch.  There was endless wrestling interspersed with games of chase....including one that included a lap thru the house.  They also played games of keep away with leaves and one coveted kong dog toy.

Of particular interest was a leaf in the bottom of the water bowl!  You can see the aftermath of that game in the pic to the left (notice the wet patio).

Exhaustion!

Kisses!

Molly needed a little snuggle time

Cabin kitchen - update

Here is a progress pic that shows the rock installed.  Can't wait to get up and see it in person.

Poor baby...

My sweet baby has two really infected ears! 

They were on the verge of being infected about 5 or 6 weeks ago but the vet said it was not enough for antibiotics and to just clean them every week.  I have been doing that but yesterday she started scratching at one of her ears. 

When I took her in to the vet today he said they were both really badly infected and gave her a shot of antibiotics and a shot of an anti-inflammatory PLUS ear drops!  I have been watching her so closely and the signs she has shown were so subtle that a non- Labrador expert wouldn't have even noticed. 

I feel so bad that it is so bad.  I learned a lesson that even if it is super subtle symptoms I need to take her in.

Poor baby...

Cabin Kitchen - Update

Hot off the press....pics of the granite counter top at the cabin.  It looks like its 3 different colors of granite in the pics but it is all the same.  Makes me anxious to get there and see it.  Plus it will look different against the pebble back splash.

A day at the beach

Took the pups to the beach today and took these great shots in a field of flowers.  Ahi was not involved in the photo shoot because she wouldn't have been able to see over the flowers!

Sydney

The is Sydney, my dog cousin.  Unfortunately for her she lives in Kentucky where it has been super cold -- down to negative 5 degrees at nite with freezing rain during the day.  This is a pic of her warming her face in front of the fire.  She needs to move to California and hang out with Hops, Daisy and Ahi, who are going to the beach today!

Wanna sandwich?

I have a little second cousin in the first grade on the East Coast. 

He recently got in trouble at school for this:

He asked his friend if he wanted a knuckle sandwich.

And when his friend said yes, he punched him in the face.

I know that violence is not ok but it is such a typical "boy" thing to do that it made me laugh.

Happy 78th birthday

Yesterday was Grandma Anna's 78th birthday!  We had Anna, Roy, and my folks over for a yummy dinner to celebrate.  How blessed we are to have all our parents together to celebrate such a special day.  We had flank steak, sauteed shrimp, salad, asparagus and twice bake potatoes with sweet potatoes mixed in!

College Game Day

Drew went to College Game Day at U of A yesterday.  He got up at 3:30 am and was in line by 4 am.  The last time Game Day was at U of A was 1997.  He was said it was really fun and it was fun for us to watch it from home.

Swimming Pool

Hops loves her swimming pool empty or full!

Magic Fishing Hole

My favorite place in the world!

Tickville II

We went hiking yesterday after stopping at the Ranger Station for a 2015 fire permit.  We got about a half mile down the trail before we realized that dogs were covered in ticks!  We stopped and pulled about 15 off of each dog (excluding Ahi - read on for her story).  We leashed up the dogs and headed back to the truck.  We stopped before loading up to pick off more ticks.  Then we headed home, picking off more ticks in the truck as we saw them.  And when we got home, we sat out on the deck and picked off about 15 more!  And as long as we were on the deck we had a picnic with cheese and crackers!

Ahi had two ticks - one we picked right off but one that had already bitten her belly.  Of course, we wanted to get the one in her belly off right away so we worked at picking it off.  It pretty much took three of us and about 10 minutes to get it off.  Imagine flipping Cujo over and trying to pick off a tiny tick!  There was lots of snarling, biting and flapping lips!  Seriously you would think we were trying to kill her.  And we were laughing the whole time.

When we came back, Daisy went to lay on the deck and rest.  A few minutes later Hops trotted from across the deck to snuggle up with her!

More Camping Pics

On the way back to the boat ramp after camping.

Looking down towards the Magic Fishing hole

It was starting to get cold so the weener snuggled up.

There was a lot of sleeping in between playing and hiking

So tired Hops fell asleep with her nose in a boot!

This was the only time she got up on the seat.  She is still so short she can't see over the doors.  She got up, looked out and then fell asleep.

Jim woke up in the middle of the nite and this was how Hops was sleeping

Really...there are no words to describe the beauty.

My pup and my boat!

All spread out and camping on the boat.

Pedro's Cove - the camping spot is to the right up by the trees.

Camping at Cherry - February 15 and 16, 2015

The weather was so awesome over President's Weekend that we decided to do a camping trip to Cherry Lake.  We had amazing daytime weather with 83 degrees in the sun, around 70 degrees in the shade.  However the night time was in the 30's!  At one point we each had a dog in our bed with us because they were cold.  

Unfortunately, the lake is really low and you have to put your tent 100 yards above the high water line!  So we had to hike a long way with our gear. 

Valentine's Day Hike

Stopped at Anna and Roy's on the way home. 

Jim, me, Marty, Tina and the pack of dogs went for a Valentine's Day hike up to the lookout tower behind the ranger station.  It was a beautiful day with a temp in the mid 70's.  We packed a lunch and had a little picnic on top of the hill.  Great way to spend the day.

On the way to the cabin

We left early in the morning to head to the cabin and Hops slept a good part of the way but then she woke up and Grace started messing with her, including putting her Arizona hat on her.