Raising Addie

Sharing the Love

2012-02-12T13:32:00.001-06:00

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous.

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly.

It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Corinthians 13:4-8

Happy 3rd Birthday Hailey

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

My little Hailey is growing up so fast. I remember when I first met my little Hailey. She was barely 4 pounds yet she insisted on being with the big girls all the time. Showing her independence, Hailey climbed right up the steps that were twice her size after only being with us for a few days. Never wanting to miss a second of fun, she is constantly in between her 70 pound sisters. One little yelp puts the big girls in their place.

She truly has the heart of a big dog.

Happy Birthday My Little Hailey!

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

3 months

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Outtakes

Blu on Wheels

2012-01-21T18:47:00.001-06:00

This is our dear friend Blu.

Blu has had some health issues recently that have left him unable to walk with his hind legs. Blu's mom has started a blog to record his journey as he heals and does his best to walk again. Please visit Blu's blog at bluonwheels.blogspot.com and welcome him to the blogging community!

Happy 2012

2011-12-31T17:14:00.001-06:00

----Outtakes----

Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day!

2011-12-24T16:13:00.001-06:00

----Outtakes----

Gobble Gobble

2011-11-23T21:04:00.001-06:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Lucie!

2011-11-18T06:47:00.000-06:00

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

6 months old

2 months old

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In honor of Lucie's 3rd birthday she received 21 of her favorite squeaky balls as well as her favorite home made all natural squirrel shaped peanut butter cookies.

Canine Film Festival - Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T08:07:00.002-05:00

Happy Haunting!

A Wish for a Cure

2011-10-23T07:39:00.000-05:00

Many of our friends and family have felt the effects of cancer. For those who are fighting the long and tireless battle, don't give up! We love, support and pray for you.

The Dogs with Blogs community lost a dear friend to this horrible monster.
Claudette, your lovely memory will live on within each of us and our beloved fur babies.

Our Fence Post

2011-09-22T19:24:00.001-05:00

The way it was...

and then it was gone.

Three dogs with no fence is NO FUN!!!

TAA-DAAA

Fast Photo Shoot

A little play time.

Here are some videos that show off the back yard. The girls love the additional space!

Special thanks to the DFW Wood Doctor for the awesome job on our fence install. They built our cedar fence one piece at a time (374 foot total) in about 7 days during 100 degree heat. I really don't know how they did it. To make things worse, most of our property is on rock so installing the posts was painful to deal with. I found them on Angie's List. It was my first time to use that service and I am very thankful that I did. If you are in the DFW area and need a new fence you must call the DFW Wood Doctor!

Coooool off with our 500th Post!

2011-08-04T06:21:00.002-05:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Nope, it's not a dream. This pic was from our snowstorm in February. I feel cooler just looking at it!

Hailey's paw print is inside of that bowl. This is one of my favorite pix.

Dealing with 100 degree temps for 33 days now, I have run out of different ways to keep the pups cool which means walks happen very early in the morning and rest of the time we are in the house enjoying the AC.

In celebration of our 500th post, share with us how you are keeping COOL this summer and you could win a Kool Dogz ice treat maker!

Simply post a comment on this blog post on how you are keeping cool for an entry into the Kool Dogz drawing.

Would you like extra entries to with this awesome gift? Create a blog post on how you are trying to keep COOL with pix and/or video, reference our blog in your post, share your post link in the comments of this post so we can check it out and you will receive an addition 10 entries into the drawing.

Now for more snow fun!

Is there something on my face?

How about mine?

Yummmmmy!

Woooooooooooooohoooooooooooo!

Square Foot Garden: Fifteen Weeks

2011-07-24T10:56:00.000-05:00

Wha happen to garden?

Texas is what happened. Every day for weeks of temps over 100 degrees. The garden was watered every day but that sun just beat down on the plants and burned them out.

Cute little ear of corn.

This Grass Hopper really likes our garden. He felt comfortable enough to molt here. We saw him here a few days ago eating the green bean plants, we figured since we didn't get anything out of them at least something would so we let him be.

Lot of lessons learned this first try. I plan on trying it again next year but definitely planting a lot earlier in the spring, we got started a little late this year....at least for Texas.

Maybe some more shade too. I'm still going to try planting some potatoes for a fall or late fall harvest.

Square Foot Garden: Fourteen Weeks

2011-07-17T20:28:00.001-05:00

Hot enough for everyone? We have lost track on how many days it has been over 100 degrees here. Most days when you go outside it feels like you are in a convection oven.

All of this heat has taken a toll on the garden. The only items that are producing at this point are the corn, zinna flower and the mint which is spreading out all over.

Hailey continues to be happy even though her green bean plants have stopped producing snacks for her.

Hailey's long coat is really coming in nicely now. She is showing off her beautiful fur after her bath on Saturday.

Lucie had a sniff of the zinna flower.

I brought the flower down to Hailey's level for a sniff as well. I really thought she was going to eat it :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T18:08:00.000-05:00

Square Foot Garden: Thirteen Weeks

2011-07-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

Tomatoes were harvested during this week. They turned red and started to split for some reason.

We now have three ears of corn. Depending on how this corn turns out we may just go with potatoes and corn next time. Everything else wasn't so successful.

I see you in there green bean. Grow faster please!

Wondering what Hailey is smiling at?

This super happy Zinna flower! It's just as happy to see her.

Lucie even went in for a sniff of the Zinna flower.

Doggone Dog Swap

2011-07-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

We participated in Sprinkles dog swap and received a wonderful gift from Dolce!

Thank you very much Dolce!

We can't wait to play with our new toys!

Square Foot Garden: Twelve Weeks

2011-07-04T16:11:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

Our corn came alive this week!

Our second ear of corn has made an appearance.

First ear of corn is growing strong.

It's still in the 100's here so we water often, every other day. Not sure how "green" that is.

I like a taste too.

Can we go in now? It's too hot!

Full Potato Harvest

Faster!

hehe... jokes on him, I eat these too.

YAY

I got to try a baby potato and it was yummy! I didn't share it with anyone.

Our potatoes. Not bad for our first ever potato harvest. Ron made potato salad with them and it was delicious! We didn't use them all tho, want to try replanting for another harvest.

Our New Kitchen

2011-07-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

It all started with our new slate floor installed by Thurman Flooring. During the install of the floor we met Matthew. Matthew asked if we were going to update the rest of the kitchen and the rest is history.

This was our first major remodeling that we had done to our house. It took 4 weeks to complete. We chose to do business with small local businesses that were either referred to us by Matthew or by a friend. We were very lucky during this process to only have two instances where workers did not show up when they were scheduled to.

DEMO - No blankets were harmed during this process.

Husband note: Ahh yeah, you can blame me (Ron) for that, things were getting crazy quickly at that moment and I needed something to protect our new stove so I grabbed the first thing I saw available. Sorry.

When I arrived home from work the first day this is what I found. Our microwave was wrapped in one of my favorite blankets (once again, my fault -Ron) and placed in the dinning room and another favorite blanket was protecting our new oven.

New Lighting

"Custom" Cabinets and the 4 Inch Gap

We were not shy about the fact that we knew nothing about purchasing custom cabinets. The good thing was that we knew that we wanted the exact same layout (down to how the doors opened) as the old kitchen which is what we told the cabinet maker when he visited our home. We had to go to the cabinet makers office to choose our type of wood and view his "plans". He did suggest drawers next to the stove instead of cabinets for pot and pan storage which we agreed to. During the office visit the cabinet maker showed us his computer software with the layout of our kitchen cabinets. Since neither of us know anything about his software of his "industry standards" we didn't know what to look for. Well, we do now.

If you take a look at the cabinets to the left and right of the window you'll notice that they are smaller than our old cabinets. When we inquired about this during the install the cabinet maker (this is where he got "douchey" -Ron) informed us that a 4 inch gap is "industry standard" and that we approved his computer version of our kitchen. Maybe he could have informed us of this prior to looking at his computer software that we are not familiar with.

There's more to it than this, Ron had a 10 minute conversation over this that was not pleasant that we won't go fully into here. Long story short, he demanded and received a discount. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

Staining of Cabinets

This phase nearly killed all of us. The workers that did the staining and lacquer did an outstanding job in 100 degree heat. IF we ever have custom cabinets made again, we will find someone that completes the process at their location instead of inside of our house. The text that I received from Ron at about 2:30 p.m. (work started at 9 a.m.) said something like, wow the fumes are getting strong in here. He had no windows open. The workers had masks on, he did not. When I got home from work I couldn't even believe the fumes. The pups were in our bedroom away from the majority of the fumes. This was hands down the worst part of the process.

I found Ron naked in the driveway trying to feed bird food to a plastic garden gnome ranting about how the government put tracking devices in his tooth fillings. He got better.

TA-DAAA

This remodeling has been especially difficult on Lucie. She is our sensitive pup and does not like change. Even though Ron, Addie and Hailey were home with her during the remodeling process, she was stressed. She has been scratching, not wanting to eat at times and not sleeping well. Our vet believes that it is due to the stress of having a bunch of strangers in our house. It has been a long 4 weeks for us all.

Treats from our new kitchen please!

Special Corn Update

2011-06-27T22:07:00.000-05:00

When I took the pups outside early this morning I found this new addition to our garden!

CORN!

It sure grew fast overnight.

Look how much it grew since this morning! I took this after work.

I absolutely LOVE this garden!

Square Foot Garden: Eleven Weeks

2011-06-26T23:07:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for some square foot gardening!!

I am! Our garden is awesome...awesome to the max! (Hailey is from the 80s)

The Good:
Potato
Tomato
Mint
Corn
Purple Beans
Zinna (flower)

So-So:
Strawberry
Green Beans (good growth but no green beans)
Cucumber (growth but no cukes)

Not So Good:
Carrots (almost all gone)
Peppers (not growing)
Leaf Lettuce (gone)
Watermelon (gone)
Onion (not that much growth)

Corn really shot up this week

This was kind of a test harvest since we never grew potatoes before, decided to try waiting a bit more to see if we could get them to grow a little bigger

We continue to experience lots of hot weather. One potato is trying to escape a little too early.

Ron covered up the potato with our compost mixture.

Hailey really wanted a taste.

The beautiful zinna!

One tired wiener!

Square Foot Garden: Ten Weeks - HOT, HOT, HOT

2011-06-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

With 100 degree temps for several days now, watering has become essential to our garden. We'll probably need to water every 2 days now.

Hailey doesn't care for the heat.

Ahhhhhh... that's the stuff!

Yummmmm

Refreshing!

Keep up the good work Ron. I'm going in the house.

Our flower has shown the most growth this week.

Along with our cucumbers and corn, the tomatoes are still staying strong and our potatoes are almost ready to be harvested. I'm thinking this week on the potatoes, we pushed aside a little bit of soil and found some down there so we're pretty excited. We just want to make sure we don't jump the gun and harvest too early. I'll probably take one or two and set them aside for replanting later... sustainability! lol.

Square Foot Garden: Nine Weeks

2011-06-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

The flower has grown a bunch this week. We harvested 3 purple green beans which the pups got to try.

Thanks to this female wolf spider, we have about 100 baby spiders in our garden and backyard now.

As big as she is, I didn't even notice her at first

What caught my attention was Hailey sitting on the porch with a ton of tiny baby spiders running around her. Not knowing exactly what they were as I approached her, I picked her up (finally noticing the giant female spider), ran her in the house and gave her a good looking over to make sure she was not bitten. Once I saw that she was ok, I went back outside to investigate. It was like a sea of baby spiders running toward our garden, house and backyard.

Square Foot Garden: Eight Weeks

2011-06-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

The flower in the lower left is growing nicely, looking forward to some blooming. If all else fails I'll eat the flower.

Mint is spreading out, will be cutting and pruning soon

Cucumber has a lot of flowers on them but no baby cukes yet.

Pole beans are growing well but no pods yet

I think our leaf lettuce is a failed bit. It grew to a total of like 1-2 inches and hasn't done anything since then. I see a scorched earth and restart for that square in the near future

Finally, our tomatoes are appearing! I was worried we wouldn't get anymore at the pace we were going, I don't know what happened but we have 4 baby tomatoes now.

Our first green bean...

harvested.

As you can see it's getting pretty hot here in Texas.

As Ron gives the garden a good soak, Lucie is headed for some shade.

Can you find Lucie?

Nap time!

Square Foot Garden: Seven Weeks

2011-05-29T16:22:00.000-05:00

We have had a crazy weather week here. Rain, hail the size of golf balls and tornado warnings. For the most part the garden did well. The hail did some damage on the tomato plant and must have hit our only tomato dead on. It is now handing on by a thread for dear life. Yeah, we're gonna lose our only tomato.

Someone last week pointed out about there being a lot of green growth but no real fruit/veg. I agree. It has been very frustrating to see the flowers go un-pollinated then they die off. I haven't seen any bees around at all lately which concerns me.

Both purple and regular green beans are doing well. The reg ones are really taking to the netting.

The potatoes are doing...ok. all the harsh weather has damaged them some and I had to tie them up or lose them so they're growing oddly

No issues with the corn, weather=struggle in keeping them upright

Pepper plant is trying to make it...we'll see

WTF is up with this leaf lettuce...it wont grow taller than 2 inches but won't die!

The green part of the carrots seems too delicate, maybe it's still early in their growth

Weird looking hail. Foot added for scale.

The garden right after the second round of hail. I was crushed when I saw our tomato just hanging there, knowing we would lose it.

The sky was ominous prior to the storm.

Took this right before the first tornado siren went off. The pups did fine during the storm although when the second round of hail came through it sounded like someone was beating our roof with a baseball bat which scared the life out of me. Our FJ Cruiser has some dents on the hood to remind us of the storm. They're not huge tho, have to look hard to see them. More trouble than it's worth dealing with insurance to get them fixed.

Our first purple green bean.

Our tomato......our storm damaged tomato.

Our cucumber plants have a bunch of flowers that Hailey would love to eat.

During week four of our garden we had bad weather come through. I wanted to share a video of the light show that Brian Luenser had caught. Our house was right near where these transformers were exploding! We were without power until about 3:30 a.m.

Square Foot Garden: Six Weeks

2011-05-22T15:49:00.000-05:00

Hailey is so excited to show you our garden this week!

We continue to have lots of growth. The peppers are not doing so hot. Everything else is growing like crazy! I think we had a few aphids in our mint. They were the fuzzy ones, about 5-10. We killed them and doused the area in cinnamon, chili pepper and garlic. Organic is great and all but sometimes I wouldn't mind a thick dusting of poison :) Thinking about buying a bunch of ladybugs (1500 for about 10 bucks)

Ron built an awesome addition to allow our green beans sufficient space to climb. They were all winding around each other which works now but in the long run was a set up for disaster. Once the net was up they were unwound and re-wound through the netting.

Still just the single tomato :( but it's still doing well. Ate our first strawberry this week, little tart but we didn't want to leave it there too long and risk losing it.

The potato plants continue to surprise with their growth, the leaf lettuce won't grow and won't die...it's in lettuce limbo.

The cucumber beetles haven't returned so that's good and the garden reflects multiple stages, one where the beetles were attacking and post attack with post attack showing much healthier growth.

Our first purple green bean flower :)

This fence can't keep me out for much longer!

Someone is always looking over my shoulder.

Square Foot Garden: Five Weeks

2011-05-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

Lots of growth this week! Potato plants are out of control, crazy growth.

Our tomato plant is HUGE. So far, only one tomato. Really thriving but I wish there were more tomatoes to go along with the growth.

I remember when this corn was shorter.

We lost our watermelon plant. Bugs ate right through it. On a side note, the bugs seem to be under control, in this particular case, instead of the leaves they are into the stalk which killed it. Overall the bug count is way down tho, thats either due to the colder weather, environment conditions (prey or natural forces, maybe we were in a swarm period...like May flies etc) Or maybe they just got tired of messing with the chili/garlic spray.

Here we have our cucumber plant.

Carrots.

Green beans. They've grown all the way to the top of the fencing and are looking for some additional support so maybe we'll set up some netting or something next week.

HOW much longer do we have to wait for something to eat from this garden? AND we don't appreciate the fence at all.

Cover me Addie! I just need a taste of this mint. So far it's the only thing we've eaten ( in Mojito form)

Square Foot Garden: Four Weeks

2011-05-08T16:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Dog Mom's Day to All of Our Pup Friends!

Through bad weather, a cold spell and bugs, our garden is looking pretty good. We bought some red pepper, garlic juice to spray on the garden to keep it organic, we're trying to stay away from pesticides. I think it's working, we've seen a drastic decrease in the amount of cucumber beetles. They don't like it and the word needs to get around. Last weekend we smashed ~30 of those beetles in a single visit, now after a few days of applying the solution it's not uncommon to go out and see 0-1 of them around.

We had our first harvest last night, several sprigs of mint for mojitos, it wasn't much but it was something and tasted great!

If we don't get anything else out of the garden, those may be the most expensive mojitos ever made :)

Everything is still growing pretty well, I still don't have a clue how or when to harvest the stuff that grows below ground (onion, carrots and esp the potatoes) but I figure I'll research that soon.

How much longer am I going to have to wait to eat something else from the garden?

Introducing... our first tomato!

In order to ward off any new bugs we introduced a scare-Domo to the garden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domo_(NHK))

Sniper Lucie in position, standing by.

Square Foot Garden: Three Weeks

2011-05-01T14:09:00.001-05:00

Lots of growth this week. Out of all the seeds that Ron planted, we only have one seed that has not broken the soil.

We are also experiencing our first bug issue.

We are talking about this little guy and his friends. The cucumber beetle. It seems that he enjoys eating nearly everything that Ron planted. He has applied an environmentally friendly spray of hot peppers. Fingers crossed that this works. If anyone has tips on how to control these in Texas we would welcome the help.

Garden Visitor Identified!

2011-04-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

Ron found the toad Tuesday. After dark the toad came out a bit to snack on some bugs. Wednesday morning all that remained was a pile of toad poo in the hole that he had dug. We hope to see Mr. Toad again soon!

UPDATED: A Visitor to our Garden

2011-04-26T19:33:00.003-05:00

Can you find our new visitor? He is hiding. Norwood will like this little guy.

Here is a closer look at our new friend.

Square Foot Garden: Two Weeks

2011-04-24T16:11:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter!

Our garden has had a great week!

All seedlings have made at least one appearance. We added additional fencing to the bean squares for support and vertical growth, hopefully it doesn't get too thick to block the sun for tomato plant #2. If that happens I'll sacrifice the beans for the tomatoes but I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. Those tomato plants are ~3X the size in 2 weeks, crazy growth and they have several flowers/buds for potential fruit.

Right here we have watermelon, one onion and one wiener.

Showing off my awesome bean stalk climbing skills. You may have noticed the brown powder here and there. We observed a couple of ants in the garden, and since some people say its no biggie and some say to be concerned we decided to err on the side of caution and do something to make it inhospitable to them. Since we'd like to stay away from pesticides we went with cinnamon. I was surprised too but it seems that certain insects dislike strong smells associated with certain spices (mint, hot peppers etc). We'll see how it goes but even if it doesn't work, it makes the garden smell great.

Princess Lucie monitoring the work from her throne above the garden.
"Carry on peasants, your work pleases me."

Check out these potato plants! (strawberrys with a dusting of cinnamon)

The pups got to try the first strawberry.

Hailey tested the mint.

Gardening is hard work.

I have the best life!

2011-04-21T15:50:00.001-05:00

Corn as High as a Weiner's Eye

2011-04-19T10:39:00.001-05:00

Square Foot Garden: One Week

2011-04-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

As you have seen, we have experienced a lot of growth this week.

Just this afternoon we found the sprout above and it's corn.

Another discovery this afternoon was leaf lettuce.

These sprouts are so very small that you really have to look to find them.

And then there is Hailey...

Another Plant has Broken the Soil

2011-04-17T14:33:00.001-05:00

Come on...

2011-04-16T14:50:00.001-05:00

They think this fence will keep me out. Clearly, they underestimate my sneakiness.

Our Second Budding Plant

2011-04-16T08:54:00.001-05:00

This may be harder to guess but give it a shot.

First Buds

2011-04-15T07:47:00.001-05:00

Guess what seeds were the first to poke through the dirt.

The Planting Grid

2011-04-12T19:22:00.000-05:00

Our Square Foot Garden

2011-04-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have always loved gardening but since we have been in Texas I have not had the best of luck so I basically let go of that dream. Until now. My husband decided to try out a square foot garden. Due to an injury that happened to me on Friday morning, I had to sit on the sidelines as Ron built his garden. All of the pups were on hand to lend their support.

So, what is square foot gardening anyway?

Square foot gardening is when you plant each of your crops within one square foot.

Step One: Purchase Supplies and Build

Borrrrring... what's next!

Step Two: Place the Box and Till the Soil

We had our two best diggers hard at work! Unfortunately I fear they won't know when to stop.

Step Three: Mix the Compost/Soil and Fill the Box

Love this sense of humor! Yay, turkey poop!

Hailey monitoring Ron's progress.

Step Four: Sow the Seeds

WHAT??!!

Addie helped by testing out some of the corn seeds.

Lucie practicing her camouflage, since she's color blind she doesn't know she's black and white and everything else is green.

Step Five: Grow the Seeds

GROW GROW GROW

I'll be back to dig inside of you, giant dirt box!

Stay tuned for updates on our square garden experience.

Special thanks to my wonderful husband for all of his hard work.

I can't wait to eat fresh veggies from our very own garden!

Guilty

2011-04-06T19:28:00.001-05:00

Guess Who's in Trouble...

2011-04-05T20:56:00.000-05:00

For the Love of Dogs

2011-03-19T07:55:00.000-05:00

Each day that passes I learn more about how the residents of Japan have been affected by the horrible earthquake and tsunami.

Every day the images coming out of Japan are heart breaking but heart warming as well.

This precious little miracle is the luckiest little girl! How this little one survived, I will never know but I just want to hug and squeeze her.

For me, these pictures hit closest to home.

"A woman comforts her dog during an aftershock at an evacuation center for pets and their owners near an area devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in Kesennuma, north of Japan March 17, 2011. Reuters"

"A woman sleeps with her dog at an evacuation center for pets and their owners near a devastated area hit by an earthquake and tsunami in Kesennuma, north of Japan March 17, 2011. Reuters"

There is NO doubt in my mind that I would do the same thing if I were in her situation.

What can WE do to help?

I have done my research and two groups are at the top of my list. Animal Refuge Kansai and World Vets. At this point the majority of you know about World Vets and the amazing work that they do. Let me share with you a little bit about ARK.

"ARK is a non-profit, non-governmental private organization with the aim of forming a network of people who love animals, believe in sharing their lives with them, and who work actively to rescue them from suffering. ARK was established in 1990 and became officially recognized as an NPO (Non-Profit Organization) in September 1999. In 2008, ARK was accepted as an International Associate Member of the RSPCA."

A recent article posted on their website explains that the situation is getting critical. A lack of fuel is preventing them from reaching locations to provide assistance. Foreigners evacuating the country leaving their pets behind at a pet hotel and have asked ARK to pick up their animals and provide care. (I am conflicted about this right now. I have read an article from the State of Hawaii website which instructs pet owners in Japan on traveling with their pets. Although they may be quarantined if necessary it looks like pets can leave Japan. It's not cool to leave your pet behind. NOT cool at all!)

The devastation is simply heart breaking. I am in awe of the community atmosphere that the people of Japan have displayed throughout this ordeal. The challenges that Japanese individuals are facing now, I can hardly comprehend. They all have my support and prayers.

Lastly, this video has proved to the world how compassionate dogs are. I am very thankful that they have both been saved.

(VIDEO) You don’t have to speak Japanese to understand the sympathetic tones of the two reporters observing these dogs – and the loyal dog who led them to an injured friend, then refused to leave his friend’s side. There is so much we don’t understand about the emotional lives of animals. But we know they can suffer tremendously, and we know they care for each other.

We wish all the people and animals of Japan heartfelt concern during this incomprehensibly difficult time. We know that the people of Japan will respond like these two friends, sticking together in this time of need. Ganbatte kudasai! (“Don’t give up!”) – Global Animal

[ UPDATE: According to a facebook entry, a resident of Japan, Kenn Sakurai, is reporting that both dogs were found alive in Mito, Ibaraki. And thanks to the efforts of Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, the two dogs are currently in the care of a local shelter.]

[ UPDATE: 1:50 pm PST, March 16, 2011 –CNN and The Telegraph UK are reporting that both dogs received medical attention. The injured dog is currently at a veteranarian in Mito and the loyal white and brown spaniel friend is at a shelter with vet services in the same town. In summary of the mens' conversation in Japanese: at first the two thought the injured dog was dead. They immediately called a vet for assistance for both dogs. The men say they wish they had brought food to give the dogs. We will continue to follow any updates on this story and the status of the injured dog who is reportedly still weak. - Global Animal]" Article from Global Anim al

A Giveaway

2011-02-25T19:18:00.000-06:00

As I continue with my pre-spring cleaning, I have two gift packages that all of you can win. These will work great for someone that is getting a new puppy or has mini or small pup. Simply leave a comment letting me know if you would like the boy or girl gift package. All items are brand new. If I receive more than two comments for these I'll draw a winner on Sunday afternoon, February 27.

Special Thank You and Who Needs a scrapbook?

2011-02-21T10:17:00.000-06:00

First, thank you very much for all of the wonderful Birthday wishes!

Addie has had a great Birthday weekend filled with playing, walks and a Birthday pancakes.

We will be making a large pet food donation in honor of Addie's Birthday and have randomly selected the following winners for a special prize:

Noodles

Texas

The Painter Pack

Sagira

Kari

Rudy

Please email us your current address and we will send your prize out this week.

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I have been doing some pre-spring cleaning and came across some adorable dog scrapbooks.

Seems that I never have the time to put these to use so I'm going to give them away. I have two of them and they are brand new. They come complete with stickers, paper, etc. inside. If you would like one please leave a comment letting me know. If more than two are interested we will randomly select two winners.

Happy 3rd Birthday Addie!

2011-02-18T06:22:00.000-06:00

My little Addie.

And look at little Lucie with Addie at one year old. Addie is so sweet and patient with puppies. I can still hardly believe how little Lucie was when she came to us.

Even now, Lucie still pulls fur off of Addie's tail on an almost daily basis while they are playing and Addie never flinches. She just sprints a little faster.

My full grown 3 year Addie. Just as sweet and happy as she could be!

Enjoying the warm weather that we have been blessed with this week.

Relaxing with Lucie and Hailey.

Addie even received some surprise gifts from her dear blogging friends overseas!

This wonderful package is from her best buddies Huskee and Hershey!

Thank you very much Huskee and Hershey

for thinking of Addie on her Birthday!!!

Addie shared her toys and treats with Lucie and Hailey.

We wish we could give you all a big hug in person.

Their sweet mom even included a wonderful gift for me which I will always treasure.

Addie's second surprise gift came from our dear friends Holly and Zac.

Thank you very much Holly and Zac

for thinking of Addie on her Birthday!!!

Addie has been patiently waiting to open these gifts which she will get to open tonight.

I was not as patient and dug right in. Thank you Samantha for the lovely gifts!

I have put the scarf to good use and was wearing it every day when it was cold.

As Addie settles in for a nap, we would like to thank all of our friends for following our adventures during the last three years. We have enjoyed sharing our lives with you and are very grateful for the friendships that have flourished from our little blog. To express our gratitude, we will donate three pounds of dog food for every comment that we receive to a local shelter or pet food bank. Each comment will also be entered into a drawing to win some fun prizes.

Happy Birthday my Gorgeous Girl!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hailey!

2011-02-01T11:23:00.000-06:00

It's a winter wonderland for Hailey's Birthday!

Yummy Ice!

Snuggle time!

Thank You Secret Santa!

2011-01-10T20:18:00.001-06:00

We hope that all of our friends had a wonderful holiday! After our impromptu blogging break, we have some Christmas joy to share! We participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange hosted by Sally. It was a lot of fun to put our gift together to send to some very special pups. We received a wonderful package from Minnie and Lincoln!

Check out all of the great toys and treats!

Each of the girls had their heart set on a specific color!

But they shared them as well.

Thank you so very much Minnie and Lincoln!

Thank you very much Sally for hosting this wonderful gift exchange!

This is a cool picture that Sally designed of all the participants.

The Holidays with Sandy Claws

2010-12-05T07:45:00.002-06:00

The majority of our holiday cards and packages have been mailed, if you have not received yours yet it is on it's way, so we wanted to share the story behind our holiday card theme. My favorite reality show is Deadliest Catch. My favorite boats are the Northwestern and the Cornelia Marie. Last year for Halloween I built a crab boat fishing set complete with an actual crab pot for our annual Halloween picture in honor of my favorite show. I called our boat the Southeastern. I got one photo shoot completed, during which I usually complete my test run and adjust the set as needed, but then Lucie got sick right before Halloween and I lost all focus on finishing the photo. During the worst part of Lucie's illness, Captain Phil Harris from the Cornelia Marie had a stroke and we were heart broken when he lost his good fight in February.

Last month when I started thinking about my holiday picture for this year, my husband recommended that I dust off my crab boat pictures and use one of them. He said it was a shame to let all that hard work go to waste. He is my biggest supporter! Thank you Ron! I love you! Being the perfectionist that I am, it was hard to use a picture that is not 100% spot on, but I pushed those thoughts aside, worked a little magic in photo shop and picnik and our holiday picture was created.

A Wonderful Holiday Event!

If you have not visited our friend Kylie's 25 Days of Christmas please stop over and say Hi!

Giving

2010-11-25T08:29:00.000-06:00

Gobble... Gobble.... Gobble...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lucie and Hailey enjoying a morning snuggle, recovering from their vet visits and baths yesterday. Both well (minus the benign lump on the inside of Hailey's ear and Lucie's allergic reaction to Frontline). Lucie has not had this type of allergic reaction to it previously but due to her condition we will no longer use it. It's not worth the risk. We are thankful to Dr. Johnson for taking great care of all our pups!

Lucie's BIG birthday gift finally arrived!

Now this piggy Lucie can use all year round AND it looks just like her plush pig that we use for her growing up pictures! This awesome blanket is from happy blankie. I stumbled across this website and simply fell in love with their blanket and mission. With each purchase of a blanket you get one to give as well. You have some of their selected organizations to choose from. We picked Let's Make a Difference located in Medina, Ohio. Lucie was born in Ohio so we were happy to pick an organization that would make a difference in a child's life there.

I can see this blanket getting a lot of use!

A Wonderful Birthday!

2010-11-18T20:25:00.000-06:00

Lucie's swag!

Peanut butter cookie with peanut butter on top :)

nom, nom, nom

This hat disgraces us both.

All MINE!

A squirrel of her own.

Thank you very much for all of the Birthday wishes!

Lucie had a fabulous day.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lucie!!

2010-11-18T06:15:00.000-06:00

2 years old

1 year old

6 months old

2 months old

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Outtakes

I CAN HAS PEANUT BUTTR COOKY

2010-11-14T19:22:00.000-06:00

Lucie will be 2 years old on November 18th!

In preparation for her special day, we spent the morning baking.

We combined Lucie's two favorite things.

Seriously though, we made squirrel shaped peanut butter cookies.

Lucie monitored the baking process.

Hailey was under foot in case anything fell on the floor.

TAADAAAA

Nom, nom, nom

Who doesn't like to lick the spoon (or cup).

The girls spent the afternoon watching and chasing squirrels in our yard.

I can has peanut buttr cooky?

Yes, Lucie. You sure can!

Zombie Apocalypse Averted - Hailey Survived

2010-11-07T16:38:00.001-06:00

Thank you for your comments on our Halloween post!

Hailey is just fine.

She has been enjoying the cooler weather with her sisters.

For those of you that are not on Facebook, here is my Halloween card that I posted and handed out to friends. Special thanks to my hubby for his valuable zombie knowledge. It came in real handy.

As an added bonus to those of you that posted a comment on our 28 Squeak Toys Later post, one commenter was randomly selected to receive a Zombie Survival Kit of their very own.

And the winner is...

CLOVER

Clover will receive the featured Zombie Survival kit!
Instructions are included with each item to enhance your zombie survival experience.
You never know when you might run into a zombie!

We will close with a recent snuggle photo. These two are never too far apart.

28 Squeak Toys Later

2010-10-31T09:06:00.001-05:00

It was the best of times, it was the zombie apocalypse. I'm pretty sure Dickens didn't have that in mind at the time but he didn't have to live in a world gone to Hell.

Oh sure, it looks nice....a calm brisk Texas fall morning, but it was the last fall anyone would ever care about the leaves changing or what they would be for Halloween. Halloween, where kids and adults dressed up as ghouls and goblins, it was fun then...not so funny now.

When Hailey ran into whatever it was that one night we took her out, it wasn't that big of a deal. Heck, at the time we weren't even sure it was an "it" rather than just getting snagged on a branch or something. We took her to the vet, of course...they didn't see anything wrong, of course. So we brought her home all bandaged up and not that much worse for wear. But Lucie knew, the animals always know, so in tune with whatever we humans just can't understand.

When it happened, it happened quick. We were weak, we allowed our former attachment to Hailey to cloud or judgement, to prevent us from doing what had to be done and in doing so we may have doomed the human race. May God have mercy on us.

Hailey turned on the ones closest to her first, but fortunately they had planned ahead with the foresight we lacked. They grabbed their zombie survival kit and sprang into action. They used the squeaky fluffy cat as a decoy and while Hailey tore into it, they made their way outside.

Once there they used the explosives to mine the perimeter to fend off further zombie incursions that surely must come. Hailey, seeing that easy meal escape her clutches decided to look elsewhere for her meal. What neighbor wouldn't take in a little wiener dog.

That was the last time we ever saw Hailey but we're reminded of her every day in the putrid puss filled faces of the hordes of zombies that rail against the barricades. The hordes that have no end. If only we had acted in time to save the Earth from the walking Hell unleashed upon the world from a cute little zombie wiener.

Cancer Sucks - Puppy Up!

2010-10-02T08:50:00.002-05:00

Cancer = a viscous evil monster that needs to be eradicated

We would like to pause for a moment to remember all of our friends (with and without fur) that have been taken from us.

Zoolatry

For our brave friends and family that are fighting the good fight against this evil beast, we are here for you always.

You are never alone.

The Inaugural 2 Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk

November 7

All of the girls are ready to walk in honor of their friends and family that have been affected by Cancer.

Find a walk in your area today and help raise awareness!

Catch Luke, Hudson and Murphy on Animal Planet's Dogs 101 today at 8 p.m. EDT.

Back to Texas :(

2010-09-29T19:14:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, July 25 we were up very early. With a 16 hour drive ahead of us, we wanted to get on the road as early as possible.

One last sunrise..."Red sky in the morning sailor take warning..." So true, we later learned that the town of Ridgway was over run by rabid armadillos that afternoon. None were spared. So you know...we had that going for us.

The FJ Summit organized a group picture to be taken in downtown Ouray. Ahhh I'm just pullin' your leg. They wanted us in town at 6AM to set up for this shot. 6AM...on vacation. On the day we have to drive 16 hours back to TX. I like this way much better.

Lucie checking to make sure that we packed all of her toys and treats. Thunderbirds Are Go!

One last peak from our deck. Yeah I said "peak" grammar nazis! It works with either word so suck it :)

Let's go!!

hmmm..... Oh yeah I forgot about this part.

I have to go potty. (Ron: I swear I heard this from Staci every 2 hours!)

Wish we could have taken this train ride. We really should have taken two weeks of vacation. It goes from Durango to ummm Quebec? I keed, I keed, It goes to Alaska.

sigh

S-I-G-H Look honey, more flat.

Here is one last look at our Colorado adventure. I was born in the summer of my 39th year...

Looking forward to seeing Addie and Hailey. Dreading the 100 degree temps that were waiting for us back in Fort Worth. Ron took this opportunity to eat the biggest Whatchamacallit bar west of the metroplex.

My family went to Colorado and all I got was this stupid shirt.

I would like to thank our readers for joining us in our summer vacation. I am sad that this is my last vacation post. For me this was one of those once in a lifetime trips that changes your perspective forever. I look forward to our next adventure. We hoped you enjoyed the ride!

Last Day of Vacation

2010-09-26T19:46:00.001-05:00

Sunrise on Saturday, July 24th. This vacation went so fast. Today Ron and Fred had planned on running Black Bear Pass but after Fridays 12 hour trail ride decided to take a break from driving before our ride home on Sunday.

We spent the morning relaxing.

S-t-r-e-e-e-e-t-c-h...

ahhhh... that's the stuff.

Time for a morning nap.

Ok, I'm tired of relaxing. Let's go have some fun!

We headed into Ouray for lunch and shopping with Pam and Fred.

We ate at a German restaurant called Billy Goat Gruff. The food was not very authentic (or tasty) but the company was good and the setting was nice.

LOVE this pic of my man and pup.

They are just so cute!

Just like any other time that we came to Ouray, it started to rain but it didn't prevent us from giving back to the local economy. And by giving back I mean buying touristy items at tourist trap prices. Ron suggested we buy 20 pounds of back bacon, a 50 pound sack of flour, Hardtack and a pickle. He's such a smart-ass :)

I love ghost stuff but in all of my research prior to the trip did not find good activity here. This truck proved me wrong! Its like U-Haul meets the Ghost Hunters. After this pic was taken I believe Ron and Fred were slimed. At least that's what I think happened. All I know is that when we came out of one of the stores, Pam and I found them sitting on a bench next to the road with their cloths plastered to them and a clear liquid streaming down their faces. Either that or they'd rather sit in the rain as opposed to shopping with us. Hmmm....

On the way back we visited the Second Chance Humane Society in Ridgway. They have a shelter, mobile shelter and a thrift shop. I purchased a few shirts and got to hold one of the pups. He was a little Chihuahua mix that had been picked on by some of the big dogs in the shelter. He was shaking like a leaf but I gave him a good snuggle and he calmed down a little.

Being the last day of the FJ Summit, there was a party Saturday night. Dinner, music and the drawing of all the raffle ticket winners. Ron and Fred attended and had some luck. More about that later. Lucie and I enjoyed our final night in Colorado back at our house. We watched a storm come through. The same storm Ron was sitting in getting wet and eating crappy food listening to a bad live band.

Since our house is located at the top of a mesa, when a storm comes through it is pretty creepy with the wind howling through.

Lucie in her favorite snuggling spot.

Time for a belly rub. Hide your shame!

After the rain ended, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Complete with a full on rainbow.

If you look real close you can the a double rainbow but it's not all the way. What does it mean??

Does this remind anyone of that tree scene near the end of "The Ring"? Right before they found the well.

While we were enjoying a quiet evening, Ron and Fred were party animals.
According to Ron, "Yeee-Hawww!" They made that raffle drawing stretch out as long as possible with a break in the middle and more bad local band music. Ron and Fred weren't even fortunate enough to be under the tent, they were out in the intermittent rain. They bought a combined 400 dollars in raffle tickets for a combined win of 1. Some recovery kit and a cheap POS European LED light, the reason we know it was European was that it only had a plug for Euro outlets. Woooo Hooooo :/. On the way back, Ron was kind enough to look for a place to grab me a burger or something as I had missed dinner. This being Saturday night everything had closed by that time, the totally unreasonable time of 10PM. I'd say they roll up the streets by that time or other such saying but the truth of the matter is, most of the streets in town aren't even paved and I don't think you can roll dirt. He did get points for trying, he would have got a lot more for succeeding. Hubba-Hubba.

Ursus Arctos Fredis goes ROAR!
It was getting late and Ron and Fred traded yawning. The LED flash was not kind to Fred :)

Lucie is tuckered out and ready for bed.

Coming Soon - Back to Texas :(

Beautiful Trails and Sunset - Our Vacation Continues

2010-09-19T13:22:00.000-05:00

On Friday July 23, while Lucie and I were searching for our bear, Ron was out on the trails. Our friends Fred and Pam were in the FJ behind Ron so they got lots of great pix of our vehicle. Ron took the panoramic shots below. He took about 500 pix with our Nikon. Mostly one handed while driving (which makes him a combination of bad ass and stupid :) ). They are simply amazing and can be watched in a slideshow near the end of this post. So grab a cup of coffee or sweet tea, kick back and enjoy the ride!

This trail combo was like 50 miles long and took all day. It's a long drive.

When they started out that morning they were so excited, so full of hope and adventure. Little did they know of the one true horror that would befall them all, a curse and a haunting madness that would consume them all that day, a day that only a few would live to tell the tale and leave them envying the dead.

Whoa...sorry about that, too much Celebrity Ghost story on Bio lately...I meant they had a good time and came home for cake.

I think Heidi has a time share here.

This Jeep and it's driver were spared after a considerable amount of cash and snacks were turned over to the FJ crew.

Ron runs into a cloud, no injuries were reported.

This house is in the middle of the trail and has a reality for sale sign on it. It would take hours to drive to it but it's a beautiful spot. Right around here Ron ran into a collection of old ladies sitting by the side of the trail taking a small break. They recommended he try walking the trail like them. "Ha ha ha silly old ladies", Ron was heard to exclaim as he ran over one of their feet. I now believe that Ron thought they were gypsy women and he was secretly hoping one of them would do that "Thinner" thing to him. They didn't :(

Thank you very much Pam and Fred for the wonderful pix!

nom... nom... nom...
Yeah it was all cute fun and games till he viciously attacked the party and carried off a small child back to it's den.

This trail ride lasted nearly 12 hours. He was fortunate to stop for lunch in an oddly isolated little village/town. It was very "The Hills Have Eyes-esque" but the BBQ wasn't too bad. Tasted a little like....Tom.
Lucie and I were very happy to have Ron home safe and sound.

Dusk. I love this time of day.

Evening potty break. (Lucie had to go too)

Can you tell that he doesn't like having his picture taken much? To be fair, Lucie doesn't either. You would think that they would both be use to it by now considering that I always have a camera in hand.

Coming Sooner than the Last Post - Our Last Day of Vacation

Nom... Nom... Nom...

2010-09-19T01:41:00.001-05:00

How often have you had a chance to have a 20 pound bag of dog food donated to a shelter simply for writing a blog post? It’s really that easy. Pedigree has upped the ante big time. And please spread this message: The food drive is not limited to pet blogs. Imagine if we could spread this message beyond our circles and see how far it goes? The numbers could be substantial. Here is the full scoop:

•Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

•This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

•Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It’s simple: Write a post, help a dog.

•Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop, to help raise awareness for the “Write a post, help a dog” effort.

It is so easy to make a big difference. Please set aside a few moments to write a post. Include the bullet points above. Copy the pics if you’d like. Add whatever you’d like in addition to help get the message out. Because this is not limited to pet bloggers, there is tremendous potential. Know bloggers in other categories that might be interested? Please share this post with them, write one of your own, and be here Thursday to leave a link to your post. Let’s make this huge. It would just feel great.

Thank you Pedigree!

Lucie Goes on a Bear Hunt - Our Vacation Continues

2010-09-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

On Friday, July 23 Lucie and I spent some quality time together while Ron went trail riding on Engineer Pass, Cinnamon Pass which makes up Alpine Loop. We decided to go on a bear hunt starting with our morning walk.

The morning view from our dirt road. Actually...this could be any time and any day and you really wouldn't know the difference so suspend your disbelief and come along on a magical journey of discovery as a young girl finds herself and her place in the world. (and Ron said those creative writing classes weren't worth it....suck it dear!)

No bear here.

Wonder what Bella was up to this morning? She looks like a bear!
The woods around here are so thick that there could be anything out there waiting for us.

Oh look! It's some tall weeds!

Got to go through them to find that bear.

We had a lot of wild flowers around our house.

This one looks yummy! Om nom nom. The puking came later...no pix ;)

The mountain view from the cliff.

No bear here.

We were as careful as we could be to avoid the cacti that were camouflaged all over. They were cleverly disguised as cacti, mother nature is tricky like that.

"Glad all we found were these cacti! Jerk"

Later in the morning, we were relaxing in our house.

"What's next??!!"

We are going to try to find this guy again. You know...it must have been the altitude affecting my thought process. I actually was out looking for bears. Bears. Yeah let that sink in, what the heck would have I done if I found one? Oh I know...I would have been attacked and eaten probably, leaving a husband to wander the mountain with the rescue teams to look for the remains of a sweet innocent dog and her dingey owner. I'm not sure if I thought my cunning plan through.

"We are going to do what now?"

After our hike, we were relaxing on the deck...

when we saw this guy flying around.

Lucie kept a close eye on him.

Then we headed out again to try and find that bear.

We didn't expect to find any of these here (Komodo Dragon).

No bear here.

Looks like rain is coming.

This tree thing looked interesting.

This was the end of the deserted road near our house. It was strangely quiet down here. We both realized how far we were from our house and how secluded we were. Then we saw this...

...and quickly started back up the hill.

This hill was not this steep coming down it!

Pant, pant, pant, pant...
we recently found out from our new Wildlife Field Biologist friends that the poo was most likely from a bear and now we know what to look for in case we run into anything like this again.

"That was close! No more bear hunts for us."

We enjoyed the view from our deck for the rest of the day and were lucky enough to catch this little guy.

Well, we did until our next potty break.

"A little privacy please!"

Coming Soon - Beautiful Trails and Sunsets

Lucie Meets a Bear - Our Vacation Continues

2010-08-15T19:25:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, July 22 after taking a quick tour of Telluride, we headed back to Ridgway.

Even the ride back after the trails was beautiful! We passed the Double RL ranch on the way back, owned by single RL Ralph Lauren, sorry no pix we passed by too quick.

As we reached to top of the mesa where our house is located, we were welcomed by the local deer once again.

Lucie just loves deer now.
(with potatoes)

This deer was near the driveway to our house.

We arrived home at about 4 p.m. and opened up the doors to both decks to let in the fresh mountain air. I swear I could sit on our deck for hours and never tire of the scenery. Lucie discovered how much fun running back and forth between the two decks could be. Seems there was always something new to watch.

The night before while I was sitting on the deck after darkness had fallen, I could hear the roar of our local Black Bear. The longer I sat out there and listened to him, the closer the sound of his roar became.

With as dense as the woods are, who knows how close he could have been.
(Ridgway police: we traced the roar, it's coming from inside the house!)

Actually, the next day we saw "Yogi was hear" carved into our garage door. The fact that he used 'hear" and the well known fact that bears are horrible with homophones verified his identity and lead us to believe we had a full-on bear infestation.

Later in the evening, Ron headed to Ridgway to pick up some supplies and dinner.

Then we relaxed with dinner on our deck.

After dinner, Lucie and I headed outside to explore the cliffs around our house.We found this little fellow waiting for us right outside of the garage as soon as we opened it.

I have no idea what kind of bird he was but he allowed us to get real close to him. He was not afraid at all so I showed him and taught him a valuable lesson. Beware the hand of man!!! Just kidding, I threw rocks at him till he flew away ;)

After a quick look at him, it didn't look like he was hurt so we continued on our way. By the time we came back from our walk he was gone. I suspect he was a victim of the packs of bears that roam the mountain at that time of the day.

This is our view from the cliff behind our house. We had to be very careful when walking around because of the cacti and plummeting 900 foot fall that could be taken by stepping wrong.

As you can see there is no grass in the area so we always took Lucie for a walk around the neighborhood to do her business (She's an accountant).

The neighborhood is always so quiet and peaceful.

At the end of Lucie's walk, as we were heading up the street we noticed a large black animal stumble upon the road. From a distance all we could see was that it was huge and covered in black fur. We knew that there was a Black Bear in the area but just couldn't make out what it was. I had forgotten to take my camera with me on this particular walk. Just my luck.

(Here is a picture that I had taken a different day to show you where we were and the location of the animal.)

In order to get back to our house we needed to go up the paved road and then turn down our dirt road. Our house was the last house on the dirt road so we were not close to it at all. To do this, we needed to walk toward the animal. As we started to walk up the paved road the animal began to walk toward us. We decided to take a short cut to our dirt road through a wooded hill. Apparently, the animal was familiar with the area and was already headed in our direction down the dirt road once we reached it. At this point I am focused on Lucie when my husband says to me "get going!" The animal is now running after us and I am terrified at what could happen. Ron hands off the garage door opener to me like it's an Olympic torch and Lucie and I sprint to the house with Ron not too far behind.

Now, sprinting typically isn't very difficult, but at 8,000 feet I was huffing and puffing like I was going to fall over! Who am I kidding, it would have been just as hard if I was still in Texas, I'm not in shape! Once we were in our garage, we jumped in the FJ and took off down our dirt road curious to see what was chasing us. As we drove down the road we saw the animal standing on the road. As we approached, the animal disappeared into the trees. We then hear a ladies voice yelling "Bella". We pulled into a driveway where we heard the voice coming from and we met Bella.

(Not actually Bella since I had forgotten my camera.)

Bella is a two year old Newfoundland. I could hardly stop laughing at the fact that we were being chased by a gentle giant! We visited with Bella's owner who was very sweet and a pleasure to speak with. Bella was just gorgeous and full of energy. She typically wears a bell so that her owner knows where she is but it broke and she had not replaced it yet.

When you look at a Black Bear and Bella from a distance there are similarities.

Thankfully, we met Bella instead!

This beautiful sunset was the perfect ending to our day.

What amazing adventures will we have next?

Coming Soon - Lucie the Mountain Hiker Explorer

Conquering Imogene Pass

2010-08-07T21:42:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, July 22 we tackled our first trail named Imogene Pass. We want to be clear that we never leave the trails or disturb nature on our 4-wheeling adventures.

This was the dirt road to the entrance of Imogene Pass. This is an actual road in Ouray, I forget the name tho.

Lucie was excited to take her first 4-wheeling ride.

Outside of flying, I have never seen clouds up close like this before.

The drop along this cliff was very far down. Like 30-40 thousand feet or something...maybe less, I didn't get close enough to look down.

I have a thing about heights when there is a possibility that I could fall off of something. With no guard rails I was a little on edge. I don't know why I can't just trust my husband to keep us alive. Well, actually, I guess knowing him over 18 years probably gives me enough reasons.

Lucie didn't mind the height of the cliff much.

Me and my Girl

Our Family

We stopped for a quick potty break before hitting the trail. They had a port-a-potty which was the last one until the end of the trail. The trail ride would be about 4 to 5 hours long. I had been drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated due to the change in elevation so I really had to go regardless of how gross it was in there. Luckily a sweet lady which was in the lead FJ was handing out hand sanitizer. This would be the one and only potty break during the trail ride that didn't include squatting behind a bush. I got to know the land real well!

Finally, we reached the starting point of Imogene Pass.

I noticed this little fella watching us as we approached and went up the hill. I swear he was thinking, you guys are crazy driving up this mountain and then he laughed at us. You could almost sense his morbid fascination with one of us driving off the cliff, like he was trying to will it to happen. This groundhog was pure evil! I mean, look at him.....if you dare!

Gorgeous Lucie with the wildflowers on Imogene Pass.

It was at this point that I started not feeling well. We were at about 10,000 feet. Breathing was becoming a little difficult. A nurse that was with our leader gave me a big dose of aspirin to help thin my blood and we continued on. When we hit the top of the pass we were at over 13,000 feet, it was at this point I peed myself and forgot who I was for 30 minutes. Lucie had no trouble with the change in elevation at all. Since it rained the majority of the day, the trails were slick and a little scary at times but Ron kept us all safe. And by safe I mean it was a miracle we we didn't end up in a ravine His idea of safe driving was trying to stay on a slick rock trail at 13K feet with one had on the wheel while taking pictures with his other hand. Thanks Honey! There were so many amazing pictures that it was hard to narrow it down to only a few and do the pass justice. Please take a look at the slide show below and enjoy!

Imogene Pass led us to Telluride which is an adorable town known for its skiing and smugness. When you move in, the welcome wagon delivers a pound of Starbucks and a Macbook. By this time it was about 3 p.m. and we were ready to eat and relax. We headed back to Ridgway and I looked forward to using a real bathroom.

As a side note, that same evening, another trail group had a driver in an Explorer slide off the trail and end up rolling over down the hill. The mountain rescue sirens went off in Ouray and the mountain rescue team sprung into action http://ouraymountainrescue.com/. Fortunately the driver lived but was pretty busted up. The vehicle was a write off.

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Coming Soon - Lucie meets a Bear