Choco Latte

The emotions are running high in our home as we had to say good bye to our dog of 10 1/2 years last night. They just don't come better than this lovable faithful brown boy.

The kids have never known a time this wonderful dog has not been part of our family.  We got him in our first year of marriage and have loved him so much.

He was an amazing hunter, running partner, companion, camping partner and friend. We miss him so much and remember many great times with this fun loving "mans best friend" Choco.
 

Day at the lake

Today was Noah's first day at the lake. We went up to Big Swan Lake with Chris & Carrey and had a great time! Noah watched daddy's poor attempt at wakeboarding. While daddy didn't have any trouble starting off or jumping the wake, his landings sure could use some work;)

Noah and mommy spent the afternoon on the beach visiting with the crew. Even though Noah was wearing some pretty potent sunscreen, he still stayed out of the sun as much as possible. Mommy was wearing sunscreen (& you can tell where she wasn't ;) and spent more time in the sun

We were excited to get Noah into his little swimmers so he could splash in the water himself. Even though the sun was out & warming things up, Daddy & Noah didn't spend too much time in the relatively cool (when compared to the bathtub) water. It was sure fun to get out to enjoy the sun at the lake!

Here are a couple of fun new photos...

I don't know why, but mommy has had it in her head that we need a couple of photos of Noah a la natual. Daddy's no photographer yet, but he is trying. I'm sure Noah will appreciate this one at graduation time ;)

Oh yeah, we still have a couple of dogs as well (you wouldn't know it if you were just reading the blog as of late). Here, Choco and Gemma are tracking down the elusive chipmunk. While this chipmunk is still bringing his A-game, the chipmunk that lived in the west boulder wall wasn't as skillful.



In addition to the chipmunk, Gemma has brought back a few other trophies. She must have found a nest of rabbits, as there was a week where she came back to the house with a bunny each night.

Stinky Dogs!

Not sure how well the dogs are adapting to the new addition to the family...

The other night, they disappeared off toward the creek. Alice & I had just been talking about whether they would stick with her if she took them for a run. So much for that.

When Alice came back to the house, she found quite a sight. Choco was running across the front yard, driving his face through the snow. As she rounded the back corner of the garage, Gemma was there, skunk in mouth, shaking it back and forth.

Alice corralled the two monkeys in the garage & came in to report that I had to get out there & shoot a skunk. As I cautiously approached, not wanting to get sprayed myself, I realized that there was no fight left in that rodent. I packaged it up in a very nice little bundle of plastic bags & dropped it in the trash can. I almost thought about tossing it out & letting nature take its course, but I really didn't want the animal to reappear on the front step.


Needless to say, they both got sprayed & got to spend the night outside in their kennel. Alice washed them up the next night & they don't smell too bad, but when they get wet, the scent comes back a bit. The mix that seemed to work pretty well is as follows:

• 1 quart hydrogen peroxide
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 3 tbsp dish washing detergent

On a lighter note, here are a couple pics of Noah that I just have to share.


Noah & mommy are doing fantastic! They both are healthy and feeling well. We are enjoying our time with Noah immensely. Alice is not looking forward to going back to work, as she loves the time with our son, and is very busy feeding/changing, feeding/changing, feeding/changing. She has also been a champ around the house and enjoying her time at home. I have to remind her to take a nap now and then.


Daddy & Noah were comparing feet sizes the other night. Noah has a long way to go to catch up, but daddy's feet aren't growing any more. Noah continuous to eat well & he seems to be growing quite a bit every week.