Xmas Day 2019

Mushu

We had xmas day 2019 at the cabin.   Jim's folks came over in the morning and my folks arrived mid-day from B & D's house.  We also had another special guest arrive at 10 am - Mushu, a service dog that we babysat for the day.  My friend, Ann, was watching Mushu while her family was on vacation and Ann was going to Yosemite for the day.   So Mushu showed up, became fast friends with Hops and Oak and enjoyed the day!   Ann and family had dinner with us when they came back to get Mushu and then headed back to SJ (along with Drew).

We had a great day of gifts, food and games!   Brunch was delicious breakfast burritos, sticky buns and gluten free blueberry muffins.   Dinner was the most gigantic pork ribs I have ever seen - it reminded me the Flinstones!

What a wonderful day with family and friends!

Xmas Eve 2019 - Yosemite

We went into Yosemite for xmas eve day.  We had sun, hail, snow and sprinkles!   We went for a 2 mile snow shoe hike with all the dogs.

We stopped and had a couple beers, a few tangerines and some almonds on a log and watched the fog and clouds roll in and out.

Love this goofy guy and all our adventures together.

When we stopped for a break, someone had to keep the weener warm.  She thinks she is a Labrador but she is far from it and gets very, very cold, very quickly!

In our element in the forest

Hillbilly picnic after the hike

The other dogs slept during the picnic - Hops begged for food!

Ahi is such a trooper - she did the whole hike with her short little legs!  She started with a jacket on but when then got wet and heavy, it came off. So then she was a naked weener running thru the snow.  When we got back to the car, she curled up in a blanket and slept the rest of the day.

Oak

A pic of Oak in a spot she loves....overlooking Cherry Lake!

White Elephant 2019

It was another classic TNDC white elephant party with an ugly sweater twist!  A good time was had by all including new comer, Jake - Drew's roommate.

Drew got this full sized Mrs Claus and Tina got the matching Santa Claus!  We decided they would make a great addition to someone's porch....and that someone was our friend Andee.  The kids implemented Operation Mr and Mrs Claus and dropped them off on Andee's porch under the cover of darkness!   Consider it a random act of kindness.

Gift highlights included:

• A clown painting painted by Jim's uncle
• A lion piñata that we expect to see in the future
• A bidet - woot!
• A car that drives up walls
• Boobie stress balls....that are going in some stockings at Big Dan's house
• A book about bringing out your inner unicorn!

Puppies - 11 days old

It's sure fun to have a litter born around the holidays - 12/12!   It makes for great photo shoots.

This little one in the antlers is "Purple".  She was the 3rd baby born and has a white spot on her chest.   We just put in a request to raise her.  Fingers crossed that they can accommodate the request.

Thanksgiving 2019

Cute pics from Thanksgiving

Happiness

These two look so happy when they are skiing!   

The Pinnacle of Motherhood

I don't ever want to forget this experience.

Last week within one hour's period of time, I got:

Texts from Grace showing me the dead salmon they found while fish counting in the Guadalupe River and;

A FaceTime from Drew from the base of El Capitan showing me the beauty.

I love my kids - I love that they love nature and they want to share it with me because they know how much I love it.  All those years of tough motherhood was worth it!

Whitney's Adorable "A's"

On 12/12/19, Whitney, a service dog breeder, had 9 puppies!  Grace was there to help with the birth.  There are 5 females and 4 males.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will get one of these puppies to raise as a service dog puppy.  We will raise her for 2 years and then turn her back in for professional training.

On their second day, we went over and helped out by weighing them, and cuddling them too!  I love how mama is paying close attention while the weighing occurs.

Stay tuned as we post pics as they grow!   And hopefully we can announce that we will for sure be raising one of these little nuggets of goodness!

Escape Room

We have an escape room at work that employees participate in and learn about IT security in the process.   A group of us went last week and since Hops was with me that day, she joined us.  We completed all the puzzles and "escaped" in 22 minutes which was pretty good because the record was 19 minutes and 41 seconds.   Hops liked the lady who organized the event because she kept bringing her dog biscuits!   Our team name was "We got Hops!" and she was the only dog that had ever participated.

Merry Tremas

G got Uncle B (and herself) and beardie xmas ornament.  When he sent me a pic, I cracked up because its hanging right next to a pickle!

Butterhorns

This is my favorite Christmas cookie.  I call them "don't share cookies" meaning I don't give any away because I want them for myself.  I love them for breakfast and for afternoon tea time.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cold salted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped

  INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut butter into flour until evenly distributed. Small chunks of butter are ok.  I soften the butter a little to make it easier.
  2. Mix egg yolk and sour cream together, then add to flour mixture, stirring just until dough comes together.
  3. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
  4. Combine sugar, cinnamon and walnuts; set aside.
  5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Roll one portion of dough into 12-inch circle. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mix. Cut circle into 16 even wedges and roll up firmly starting with the wide end.
  7. Place on cookie sheet and space 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until delicately browned. Repeat with remaining 2 portions of dough.

CCI Veteran's Training Building

I was fortunate enough to be at the ribbon cutting ceremony of CCI's new Veteran's Training Building.  I was representing the Yahoo Employe Foundation who funded $375k for the building!

The building is beautiful and designed to be calming for the veterans.  They have enough room to train 5 or 6 veterans at a time which is a good size for their needs.

We got to hear about how a 2 week team training session works and "test drive" some dogs!

This is "Fluffy" a carpet roll the they use to get people used to giving commands to dogs.  Some of the folks got to try out commands on "Fluffy" and then move to real dogs.

A couple of trainers spoke about how they train dogs for Veteran's needs and then the VA spoke about the study they have done with CCI to determine if dogs are helpful to Veterans with PTSD - the answer is yes!  And lastly two veterans spoke about how their dogs help them everyday.   Their stories were so impactful and it made me so proud to support this wonderful organization.