How Does it Feel to be Married to a Champion?

That's what Eric asked me last night - "How does it feel to be married to a champion?" - after their impressive Championship victory over "The Playmakers". The only team they lost to during the season, and they're really good, but our boys managed to battle their way to the top when it mattered.

Eric's flag football team, "The Weekend Warriors" are an awesome group of guys. Not only are they all really athletic, but they're also the nicest guys you'll ever meet. My brother Jason actually put this team together. He handpicked everyone from a group of guys that get together every Saturday morning, starting bright and early at 7am (hence the team name "Weekend Warriors"). Needless to say, Eric doesn't go to many of those early morning games, but he still managed to make the cut. Good thing he's family. In fact, half of the team was family.
Pictured below: Eric, the brother-in-law; Ty & Jason, brothers; and Dave, Jason's bro-in-law. Oh, and of course, Cooper, Jason's son, and the team's biggest fan.

Tiffany, I hope you don't mind that I stole this picture from you. (this pic was taken earlier in the season)
PS. Do you like the handiwork on Dave's pants?

Feeling Blue

At only 14 weeks old, Blue is no longer with us.

Yesterday Blue wasn't himself. We got up around 7am, and I decided it would be fun if we switched up our morning walk and drive somewhere new. So we drove to a nearby park that we had all to ourselves. The healthy Blue would have loved it - running around unleashed, watching the ducks and romping in the snow but instead he just laid down in the grass and wouldn't really budge. This lasted for several minutes before I decided to take him home. Throughout the day he just got worse. He wouldn't eat, he was lethargic and he was having trouble breathing. At times he would just stand in the same spot and not move an inch for several minutes. Something was definitely wrong, but we kept thinking/hoping that it would eventually pass.

When I got up this morning his condition hadn't improved, and it was breaking my heart to see him look so uncomfortable and sad. I finally decided to take him to the emergency vet. Before I even walked in the door, I knew something was terribly wrong and I was nervous to find out what. The first thing the nurse did was check his gums, and that's when everything started to spiral out of control. She was suddenly very urgent and said, "Oh my gosh, his gums are white. We need to get him on oxygen right now" Then they immediately took him back for x-rays and an ultrasound, and that's when they discovered that Blue had a severely enlarged heart. Because of the size of his heart and because of Blue's age, we had very few options. She said that surgery might be a possibility, but it would only lessen the severity of the situation, not cure it, and it could cost upwards of $6000. Plus, even with the surgery, his life would be drastically shortened. She said the "kind" thing to do would be to let him go.

So we let him go. I didn't think I would get so attached so quickly but I did, and as silly as it may sound for some, today was a really hard day.

Blue was always an awesome dog, but I'll admit that during the first couple of weeks, I had a few "What was I thinking?!" moments. But over the past few weeks I became less and less overwhelmed and more and more in love with this sweet puppy.

I used to get frustrated if he'd interrupt me when I was trying to get work done, but toward the end he gave me something to look forward to during my day and I was always excited to take little breaks to play with him or get a quick snuggle. It was hard to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning and go on those cold morning walks, but it was also really nice to breathe in the fresh air while the rest of the world was asleep and to make Blue so happy. It was annoying when he tried to have a go at our food when it was in close range, but it was also really cute when he looked at us with those puppy dog eyes and reached his face up to rest his chin on Eric's dinner tray seeming to say, "Please just a little bite". And Eric always gave it to him.

Everywhere we went people instantly fell in love with Blue. There's a sweet 7 y/o girl next door who adored Blue. Almost every evening she would come over and play with him or ask if she could take him back to her house for a few minutes. She even gave Blue one of her favorite stuffed animals. Today, when Eric went to return the stuffed animal, both Meadow and her mom quickly asked, "How is Blue? Is he doing better??" Meadow's mom quickly figured out that he wasn't doing better and asked Meadow to go to another room while she talked to Eric. She cried when she heard the news and, after Eric left, she eventually told Meadow who later came to our house with a brave face but tears running down her cheeks, and she said, "When I get a Samoyed, I'm going to name him Blue and I'm going to let you play with him whenever you want." When Eric asked if she was doing all right, she said, "If you consider crying for an hour all right, then yes. Blue was my very best BFF." She said very mature things like, "He's in a better place." and "At least you got to be with him for a little while." and "He died because his heart was too big and too full of love".

Blue was certainly full of love. He was so sweet...and, unfortunately, so young, but Meadow is exactly right. I feel very fortunate that we got to have Blue if even for just a short while.

Fall Photos

Last Saturday our friends Kristin & Brigham asked if we could take some pictures for their Christmas card this year. In return, they would take some of us. Kristin borrowed a sweet Canon DSLR camera from a co-worker so even though we had no idea what we were doing, we still managed to get some fun shots. 

Hey Blue...

"Hey Blue..." sung to the tune of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles - that's what Eric and I have been singing around the house the past few days. There is something about that dog that just inspires feel-good music. And thus, I decided to set some of his finest moments to music.

Sorry, I realize that a 5:38 video strictly devoted to a dog is a little obnoxious, but, with all the cuteness going on, I had a hard time editing it down.

The first 44 seconds are just photos, but the rest is short videos. Highlights: Blue hugs/loves on Eric, Blue is forced to go down the slide by his mean uncle Tyler :), Blue attacks a fly and later attacks my Swiffer Sweeper, etc.

Life with pup

Turns out puppies are a lot of work. It's definitely been an adjustment, but we're finally getting into a routine, and it's...almost...fun. At the very least, entertaining.

Here's my Puppy diary:

1. We're waking up at 7am now instead of 6! An advantage to those early morning walks: it's dark so makeup and bras are optional. 
2. We go on 2-3 short walks a day. Now that fall has arrived, it's funny to watch Blue chase after the colorful swirling leaves. And he's so darling with his fur blowing in the wind. 
3. When I took him to the vet for his first exam, they disappeared with him to the back for several minutes. When they finally reemerged, they apologized and said, "Sorry, we were all passing him around back there...he's just so cute we all had to take our turn with snuggles." 
4. Luckily, he's too young to really understand the whole barking concept. When people approach him and when dogs and squirrels face off with him, he just sits and stares. I'm sure that will change.
5. It's unseasonably warm this year so although he loves to be outside, he doesn't like the sun. He's learned to dig his way down to the cooler soil. I hate it when he does that, but you can't be mad when he looks at you with those big dark eyes and his cute little nose, paws and tongue covered in specks of black.
6. The other night someone decided to throw an egg at our door while Blue was sleeping on the doorstep. He didn't even bark. After Eric heard the crack, he went outside and whoever it was had already taken off and Blue was still just laying there. Eric quickly cleaned off the door and brought Blue in for the night. The next morning I found poor Blue with dried egg on his furry little head.
7. He gets the cutest little puppy hiccups.
8. He can now sit and shake on command...and almost fetch.
9. He likes to chomp at the flies who dare fly around his head.
10. He's adjusting to his crate and sleeping through the night.
11. He loves to sleep right on top of our floor vent to keep cool.
12. When we lay down on the ground he loves to lick your face, nibble your ears, and put his paws around your neck in a sweet little "bear" hug.
13. He's growing at a rapid pace which is sad but good because right now he can squeeze through our fence and already has a couple of times. It doesn't help that our neighbor likes to give him loves. 
14. Blue prefers taking me for walks. I know I'm supposed to be the one in control, but it's just so cute when he carries the leash in his mouth and tugs me around.
15. Sometimes I'll drop the leash and leave him by his favorite tree (in the common area) while I walk to the dumpster to throw away his doo doo bag, and he'll just sit there patiently waiting for me and watching me with the leash in his mouth.
16. Eric loves to pick him up like a baby bundle and scratch his little freckled belly

Meet "Blue", Our New Puppers

Well, we finally have our new little bundle of fur. He's actually sleeping at my feet right now. Let's hope I don't roll over him with my swivel chair.

On Saturday we drove 5.5 hours north to pick him up from the breeder (in Orofino, ID). Luckily, he was a little trooper for the winding drive home. He didn't cry, didn't get sick, and didn't have any accidents.

My family completely spoiled me and the pup. My mom came over to take me out to lunch at Rembrandt's, allegedly for just the 2 of us, and my sister and sisters-in-law just "coincidentally" happened to be there. Those goof balls surprised me with a "Puppy Shower".

Beautiful view behind out hotel (a Best Western believe it or not)

Big Eddy's Marina

Dworshak Reservoir

Never too old for the swings.

Deer everywhere! These 3 were just hanging out in a parking lot in the middle of town...not the least bit bothered by us.

Dworshak

I can tell he misses his brothers and sisters.

Blue!

Already getting into mischief

Braden (my nephew, left) says he really likes him. "I felt a connection."
Cooper (nephew, right) didn't understand why we named him Blue rather than White.

Our little polar bear

Already planking at such a young age

He loves those belly rubs. (look at his paws...so cute)

Come over anytime to see him - especially if you need a good snuggle.

Cool DIY

I don't know what it is, but I have a fondness for glazed white porcelain. In fact, some may find this odd, but one of my favorite decorative pieces in our house is a porcelain pitcher like the one pictured below. (Ok, so it was a little spendy for a pitcher, but I paid for most of it with a gift card. AND, it's not just a pitcher to me)

From Pottery Barn

So it probably comes as no surprise that I was pretty stoked about this easy/affordable little DIY project I came across on Pinterest. This lady had the brilliant idea to re-create that elegant glazed white look with white high gloss spray paint. (Click here for her blog post)

Since it's fall, I decided to try an owl I found at Kohl's (with my $10 off coupon, it was next to nothing). I wasn't particularly fond of the bronze/brown speckled look so I thought he was a perfect candidate for my little experiment.

Pretty cool!

Boy's Weekend +

Eric had a couple of good friends visit from out of town this weekend. Hulse from Utah & Darby from San Fran. They went camping @ Redfish Lake, which is a really gorgeous spot about 3 hours away. Eric, of course, didn't take the camera, but this is Redfish below...

While Eric and the boys were out doing manly things, I spent the day with my friend Kristin. We went out to lunch downtown, hit the dog park with her German Shorthair Pointer, did a little shopping & then went to a movie at the cheap theater (only $4 for a movie, drink and popcorn!)

The boys did let me join them for some entertaining frisbee golf, however.

These boys, of course can't compete without a wager of some sort.  Unfortunately, Hulse was on the losing end of this bet so he had to swallow a live fish whole. Unfortunately, it wasn't your typical slides-right-down-your-throat goldfish variety. He was an aggressive, "spiney" little guy. See video below. 

Lagoon!

My brother Jason & his fam were kind enough to invite me to join them for a quick weekend trip to Utah. Friday, I got to hang out with my good friend, Heather & her fam, and Saturday we spent the entire day @ Lagoon. At first, I doubted whether I would be able to "hang" for that long...literally, from open to close, but it was actually a lot of fun. This also happened to be the day of Boise State's big season opener v. SEC power house, Georgia. Jason and I were both pretty excited about it so we took drastic measures to not allow anyone to leak the score to us (there were several BSU fans at the park sporting their gear). After a full day at the park, Jason, Braden & I all watched the game (thank goodness for DVR). We didn't get to bed until about 4am, but what a game! Totally worth it.

Check out Braden & Cooper's shirts :)

Sis-in-law Sheri & niece Tals

I think these were my favorite rides below:

Samurai

Colossus

Jet Star II

Rocket (Blast Off & Re-entry)

The white roller coaster

The Spider

Wicked

August

August was a fun, busy month. Nelson reunion, new baby niece is born (Ella May), new calling (YW Pres.), visitors, 8-yr anniversary, my 2nd oldest niece, Cami, goes to college, the Seattle Honns visit & football season begins!

I'm one of Braden's biggest fans! This was his first game in pads...and on the smurf turf!

My cute nephews are growing up. Alex, Michael & Ethan. We don't get to see the twins as much as we'd like b/c they're in Seattle, but I love these kids! So sweet, so talented & such gentlemen.

Michael is an awesome musician! Plays piano, guitar & drums (mostly by ear)

Family day @ Black Canyon Dam.

Look at that air. And, no, it wasn't a soft landing at all, but Cooper still loved it.

Sand V-ball

My nieces Faith & Talia

My oldest brother Scott with his son, Michael - Ice blocking

They're 15 y/o & 6'3"! (I have wedges on in the picture)