Dog Quotes

I finally updated the dog quote blog with the quotes from the last month. Please visit and check it out--there are some good ones!

Texas Day #3 (Monday)

On Monday morning, we all got up and Dad made pancakes. Yum--he made apple pancakes and banana pancakes. Then we all got ready and headed to town for some shopping and lunch!

My dad recently purchased a new truck, and it's pretty cool. It is a "Texas edition" Chevy, so the Chevy symbol on the front looks like a Texas flag.

The three kids together!

My parents' dogs--Dominique is the yellow lab and Chica is the black lab

Here is the part where I should be posting about our yummy Tex-Mex lunch, but silly me accidentally deleted the pictures off my camera without putting them on my computer first. We went to a little hole in the wall place that had been around for at least 50 years and has good, good food. My favorite is the red tacos--they soft tacos they serve are red! We had a good lunch and then headed home so we could go back to the airport.

On our way to the airport, we made a quick stop at one of Jason's sister's houses to drop off a birthday gift. We weren't able to stay long, but it was fun to see them! We miss you guys and wish we could see you more often!

Melaina

Livian

Avalie

After visiting there for a little while, we headed to the airport. We dropped Nessa off first, because her flight left an hour earlier than mine, then we headed to my terminal. We had plenty of time, so Mom and I hung out for a little bit. I then headed through security (without incident, thank goodness), found some Starbucks and Burger King and then waited to board. We finally boarded what was a pretty empty flight (I had a whole row to myself) and headed back to Denver, where I was greeted by the most handsome man with a beautiful flower. It was good to be home, but I really enjoyed my visit in Texas. I like being with my family and miss them! All in all, it was a very wonderful weekend.

Texas Day #2 (Sunday)

On Sunday morning, we attended the church where I grew up. I like going back, because I have so many memories and friends there, but it is weird at the same time to see all the new people who I have no idea who they are. At church, two different people who know my family fairly well asked my sister who her friend from college was (referring to me). They didn't recognize me with my curly hair and glasses!

After church, we had a family lunch at home. My mom invited several of our extended family members, so my two grandmothers and two of my aunts came, along with my cousin's baby, Kadyn. He is about nine months old and is SO cute! We had barbequed brisket for lunch (yum yum!) with all the fixin's. It was very good!

My aunt with Kadyn

Vanessa with Kadyn

Part of our lunch (I know, it doesn't look very appetizing, but it really was!)

After church Sunday night, my brother and I picked up Taco Bueno for dinner. Yum yum!

Part of my dinner--MexiDips and chips

Sunday night, my good friend Laura came over. She just spent a month in Australia and brought her pictures over to show us. After picture viewing, we all played Chicken Foot and watched "High School Musical." I love playing games with my family!

Laura and me

Howdy, Ya'll! Texas Day #1

My family (except Jason)

My mom and I flew out of Denver last Friday night to Dallas. Our flight was a little delayed leaving Denver, and we arrived in Dallas around 10:30 that night. We found my sister, who had flown in from Kansas City, and proceeded to our car. We left the airport about 11 and made the 2 hour drive home. Vanessa crashed in the backseat about 5 seconds after we climbed into the car, but I stayed awake to help Mom stay awake. We were pretty tired when we arrived home, but not too tired to wake Dad up and to tell Josh (my brother) goodnight (he was still up reading the new Harry Potter book--he had been to a midnight release party).

Saturday was a fun, fun day! Vanessa and I had lunch with Dad at Subway, then we went to the waterpark where Josh is a lifeguard. We went down all the slides once but spent most of our time in the lazy river (it is sooo relaxing!). After Josh got off work, he floated around with us for a while, then we headed home. On the way home, we treated ourselves to Braum's ice cream. Yum! It is so good and something we don't have in Denver. Mmmmm!

The cutest lifeguard at the waterpark!

Saturday evening, we went to see Josh in a local production of "High School Musical: The Musical" at one of the local theaters. It was so fun! Josh did a great job, and it is a really cute story. Makes me want to rent the movie!

Waiting for the show

Josh had a solo!

That is him standing on the table

With the school mascot

After the show

So Saturday was a jam-packed but fun-filled day!

We'll miss you, Tiny

I got home last night to the heartbreaking news that Tiny crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to join her sister, ChiChi. I am so, so sad for her momma and daddy--this is their second pug loss in less than a week.

Sandy, you are in all of our thoughts and prayers as you endure this difficult loss. We will miss you, beautiful Tiny.

Heading Home

This is the house where I spent a portion of my growing up years, and I am headed there today! Today, my mom is flying back to Texas, and I am going with her! I am going for the weekend to do some fun family stuff, and I am looking forward to it! My sister will be flying home as well, so we will all be together.

It has rained a TON in Texas this summer (which is very, very unusual), so these next pictures show how much water was in our yard. It is funny to see the grass so green, because it has never been this green before.





A rainbow after the storm. I am excited about my trip and will bring back lots of pictures of good times, good family and friends, and good Tex-Mex to share with you guys! Hope you all have a great weekend!

An Angel Gets Her Wings.....

One of our friends, Chichi, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge last night. She lived a great life and had a great family. Please visit her mom, Sandy, and let her know you are thinking about her. We will miss you, sweet Chichi!

My mommy is here!

My mom is here in Denver visiting for the week! She is nice enough to work on painting our house while we are both working during the day. Isn't that sweet? She arrived last night, just in time for my softball game, and she will be here until Friday. Tonight we had dinner at a gluten-free restaurant, and it was really good! We had pizza and then a brownie ice cream sundae for dessert. YUM YUM!

Whew, what a weekend!

We had a very busy, but very fun weekend! Friday, Jason and I took off work early and went to my very first NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) race. Bandimere Speedway, on the west side of the Denver area, hosts the Mopar Mile-High Nationals each summer. I really was apprehensive about attending, but I actually enjoyed myself (once the sun went down--before that, it was HOT, and the sun was beating directly on us). It was a fun night!

The legendary funny car driver, John Force (don't worry, I hadn't heard of him before this weekend either)

But Saturday and today were my favorite part of the weekend! Jason and I headed to Glenwood Springs, about 3 hours east of Denver, for a bike ride. There is a beautiful canyon through that area of Colorado known as Glenwood Canyon (carved out by the Colorado River, the same river that flows through the Grand Canyon), and all through the canyon is a great paved bike path. We camped Saturday night and got up early this morning and did the ride. The whole thing was about 27 miles and took about 2 1/2 hours (with a flat tire and several picture stops). It was incredible!

Our campsite (it was REALLY hot!)

Views in the canyon. One of my most favorite things in the world is the sound of rushing water, so it was so wonderful to ride along while the river rushed by (once I overcame the fear of falling into the water!)

My flat tire hero!

This is also a popular place to raft in Colorado. We actually rafted through here a few years ago with our church group.

All in all, it was a very great weekend. It was rewarding to ride that trail, as it is the furthest I have gone thus far. At the end of the summer, we are riding a 31-mile ride for the American Diabetes Association, and I hope to improve my time and endurance. But my next goal is to ride the path from Copper Mountain to Vail. We'll see--it requires a climb over Vail pass, which is 10,000 feet elevation!

Summer TV

Are any of you watching the summer reality shows? So You Think You Can Dance? America's Got Talent? The singing/lyrics shows? Big Brother?

Back to Normal

Okay, maybe "normal" doesn't describe Oscar, but he is back to his old self (normal pooping, peeing, sleeping, eating). Yippee! I am so happy my little guy is okay, and thank you all for your well wishes!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

On Friday night, Jason and I went to see the Rockies play the Phillies with a group of people from church. We had a great time (despite Jason's face above--he thinks it is soooo funny to make this face in pictures), and the Rockies pulled out a win in the 11th inning! The day was really hot, but luckily we were in the shade and there was a nice breeze blowing through the field.

Oscar Update

Thank you all for your kind words re: Oscar. Thankfully, I think he is going to be okay. I came in to work late today and left at lunch to check on him, and he seems to be feeling much better. He ate his breakfast with no evidence of throwing it up and has had a couple little poops. I think we are on the right track. He is more feisty today and actually ate his treats after we went outside, so that is a good sign. Thank you again--it is always good to know that I am not the only dog-obssessed person out there who worries sick about my little puggies! And the lesson learned--NO MORE RAWHIDES EVER!

Oscar

Thank you guys so much for your concern for Oscar. I didn't take him to the vet yesterday but am still worried about him and may take him in today. Here's what happened. I very rarely give the pugs rawhide chewies but did on Tuesday night, figuring it would be okay if they were supervised while chewing. Well, Oscar is somewhat of a pig and apparently ate a large chunk, probably the knotted end of the small rawhide bone. He started throwing up Tuesday night and threw up throughout the day on Wednesday. Once on Tuesday night, he threw up a big chunk of rawhide but had eaten it again by the time I came back with a paper towel to pick it up. He didn't eat well Wednesday either, which is completely unlike Oscar. He did eat little bits throughout the day and drank a little water, but most of that came right back up. I debated all day whether or not to call or take him into an emergency vet, but Jason reassured me that he would be fine. I slept in the floor with him last night, and he was acting so strange throughout the night. He was really restless and kept getting up and going to weird places to sit (like in the closet and under the bed). Needless to say, me nor the pugs slept much last night (Jason was smart enough to go in the other room so he could sleep). What should I do? He ate 1/2 his breakfast this morning and has been drinking and has not yet thrown up this morning, plus he is still pooping little bits (which aren't like normal poos, which isn't suprising since he has no food in his system). What would you do?

Needless to say, our 4th of July wasn't much fun. We had planned to go to our friends' house and cookout and watch fireworks, but I didn't want to leave Oscar home alone sick, so we stayed home. We did cookout--we had burgers, fresh corn on the cob, and potato salad. We had fun red, white and blue dessert but were too full to eat it. Maybe today. And we didn't go watch fireworks, either. Sort of a bummer, but life goes on. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful and blessed day! Thank God for the freedoms that we are able to have as citizens of the USA!

Daisy is sporting the classic red, white and blue motif, while Oscar is wearing the hot dog bandanna in honor of all the cookouts today.


Please keep Oscar in your thoughts. He has been sick all day, and I have been debating with myself whether or not to take him to an emergency vet.