Sunday, March 24, 2013

Happy Birthday Aubrey and Austin

 My niece and nephew had the sweetest little birthday party ever!  In their very nature, Austin is a cowboy and Aubrey is a cowgirl.  It's sooo cute!  Their grandparents live on some land and have horses.  So, the kids got to ride and enjoy the beautiful March weather.  

Austin is so sweet... always showing off to the camera!

And the beautiful Aubrey Rose.  looking stunning in her pink hat and matching boots.  Jed was the sheriff in town.

Jed and daddy watching the kids ride the horse.  
 Uncle Blake and Austin

"There's only room for one sheriff in this town!"


They had a cute child-sized table in the barn area with fun lunch boxes.  



Riley and me.  

A sweet family.


 Getting ready for some cake.

(I had to post this one... caught in the act!)

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Bud Wiser King of Beers

On a beautiful December day, long long ago, we got a call that our new puppy was going to be born.  The first puppy out, and the biggest... his belly almost scraped the ground.  His breeders are close family friends whose last name is Beers... And he was a Bud.  Everything about him was just... Bud.  So we made him first name: Bud; middle name: Wiser King Of; last name Beers.  He was loyal, a true "man's best friend".  We had many adventures, in the mountains, the snow, in the rivers... we took long walks, and played catch... through all of my college studying, he sat right below my feet, often on them, warming them.  He was the best dog.

He helped me through ACL surgery.


His best friend is Arla... she was his big sister (not biological).  She taught him everything he knows about life... manners and how to eat really fast.
 Playing in the mountains in 2007.
 And in the snow... he LOVED the snow, eating snowballs as Jesse threw them at him.



 A true mountain-loving dog.  On one trip, Bud swam across a lake to find Breann who had gone for a walk... it snowed that night... we thought for sure we were going to have to save him from the cold... he kept climbing into the tent that night.  


Some begging dogs...
 His friENEMY... Jazzie.  Jazzie never liked Bud at all actually.  It's really funny.  She dominated him so badly, it was FUNNY!  But, Bud gave her so much confidence around other dogs, especially at the beach, Jazzie wouldn't wander from our side until Bud was around.  


 Bud also had his share of injuries... both knees, his overly sensitive GI tract (making for some interesting clean ups) and of course his tumors that were everywhere.  But nothing stopped him from running like crazy, he would get so excited with his girly, high pitched bark.

 My niece Aubrey Rose was even a part of his recovery!
 One year, to curb the shedding problem, I decided to shave him.  Yes, me.  Oooh, wasn't that a mistake!  He looked terrible for about a week, then he looked sharp.  It ruined the razor.  

 Bud loved the pool.  After every walk, he would sprint to the pool and run right in.  He would just stand on the step and cool off.  




 "Play with me..."



 ..."Play with me!"

 Our Christmas card (I think 2009)

I was always confident in Bud around children.  He was such a sweet dog for kids to be all over.  Jed loved Bud (even though he called him Arla half of the time???).  


September 7th, 2013
About 4 months ago, it became a bit too difficult to maintain a household with a huge dog like Bud.  We couldn't walk him and keep him as active as he needed to be.  Jed had some significant allergies and it was just time to look at our options.  In no way were going to abandon him, but we did seek a perfect new home for him.  And we found it!  The Kenningtons were that perfect home, desiring an older dog to expose family members to dogs prior to getting a puppy.  Bud, unfortunately was only with them for a few weeks before passing away in his sleep.  (Bummer...)  We loved Bud and appreciate what he added to our lives!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Adventures with friends

Wow... it's been a while since I've been able to blog... we spent most of February sick... Jed for 7 days... and just as we thought we were healthy, Riley got (the plague I think) for another 7 days!  It's March now... a new month, great weather and fun to be had!

We spent this morning at Duncan and Tracey Reid's home.  We explored their amazing yard... and enjoyed wonderful company!   
 Hudson is for sure going to grow up a mountain man... he already fishes!
 (Jed, well, he was raking the grass because it was "messy")
 Emry was loving the creek... she may have a little mountain in her also!
 They have a great swing... Hudson was FLYING!
 And some Indian grinding holes... where they ground their food...
 The perfect size creek with a swimming hole... FUN!
 Jed got some swing action... and LOVED it!


 The Cadieux Family
 We got some work out of those kiddos... Jed loved working the wheel barrow... 

 Our babies... perfect ages!
This was a must do-over!