The Life and Times of the Kaplun's

Off for a fun day!

2012-01-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

We got up early this morning and got ready to head off for a great day of snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park. Matthew was excited when he saw his backpack come out and he wanted to wear his hat util we left.

Boys!

2012-01-27T21:57:00.001-07:00

Alex placed a board in a shelf on one of our bookshelves. Matthew quickly climbed up and stood on the top. Alex and Matthew thought it was great fun while I sat back and worried about Matthew falling. Silly boys!

A great hike!

2012-01-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine took Matthew and I out to a spot in the eastern plains about 1.5 hours from Fort Collins this past weekend. Matthew LOVED the hike and it was fun hiking with friends and be outside for awhile. I had to keep reminding myself that it was January since it was sunny and 60 degrees out!

Matthew and I hiking at Pawnee Buttes

One of the Buttes

Matthew loved running and falling in the grasslands.

"gee mom, can't a man get a little privacy?"

I put Matthew up on this rock and he absolutely loved it and wouldn't get down.

The picture doesn't do the sunset justice! It was so pretty.... and I forgot my camera so I had to shoot with my iPhone. The best camera is the one you have with you I guess.

This is over exposed but the light on the Buttes was gorgeous at the time!

Petunia update

2012-01-17T22:48:00.001-07:00

Petunia spent some time with Virginia (a great raiser in our club) a few weeks ago. Maddie (co-raiser) and I have been working really hard to implement her recommendations. And oh my gosh... I thinks it's begining to work.

She is still a very high energy dog but she is responding to positive praise so much better than negative corrections. She is never allowed alone an is ALWAYS at our side - yep even in the bathroom. we are not keeping her on a tie down anymore and instead keep her tied to our waists at all times.

What is exciting is that others have noticed a chamge in her too. This week I have literally had 5+ people at work ask me which dog I had with me. When I said "oh this is still petunia" they were all shocked and commented on how much calmer she is now.
It is really hard to not let her get excited and to not let her play with other guide dog puppies.... But if it helps her become a guide dog then it is worth it!
Thanks Virginia for your help! The picture below is petunia snuggling in a corner during a group pregnancy visit I was running today.

Growing up so fast

2012-01-17T22:37:00.001-07:00

Matthew looks so old in this picture. I can't believe he is 16 months old already!

My little helper

2012-01-17T22:36:00.001-07:00

Matthew helped me move furniture and hang picture this past weekend. He seemed to enjoy helping push the couch and use the tools!

Fun Family Day

2012-01-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

It was sunny and 55 degrees today so Alex and I took Matthew to the Denver zoo and then went to Boulder for dinner. It was a great day!

Beautiful Lions

It looks so cuddly but.... see below

Even a simple yawn can look scary!

Matthew loved looking at all the big fish from the amazon.

He had a blast chasing all of the Geese that were on the zoo grounds.

"What do you want mom? Can't you see I'm busy?"

Matthew's first ride on a carousel. He loved it!

We went on the train too.

A very tired Matthew kept demanding to wear Mommy's sunglasses.

Hippo!

So stubborn

2012-01-11T20:52:00.001-07:00

It is amazing how stubborn my 15 month old son already is! He hates climbing up stairs and instead want to walk up them one foot at a time like the grown up do. He's too little to do this though. Tonight he discovered that if he grabs on the the railing then he can pull himself up one leg at a time. It is do funny to watch him!

Silly girl

2012-01-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Just an update on our petunia.... She is doing a bit better with the suggestions from vagina, so maybe there is hope after all.
I got a few comments from other raisers about petunia's litter mates. Apparently they are just as difficult as petunia. It makes me feel so much better to know that! One would think that by my 4th dog I would kind of have the raising thing down. Goes to show that we never stop learning!!

Below is a cute picture of petunia sleeping in the car on the way home from work last week. I will never understand how dogs can sleep in such strange positions.

A fun night with friends

2012-01-09T20:50:00.005-07:00

Alex had to work a night shift tonight so Matthew and I had dinner with some friends. I think Matthew is in love with their 9 year old daughter. They are so cute! By the end of the night he was giving her kisses!

A fantastic day!

2012-01-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Brianna and I went snowshoeing in Estes Park today. I had such a great time!!! I bought Matthew a new back pack and everything and everything. It was super comfortable! Enjoy the pictures below.

"Yo dude... you down with a hike?"

"Dude!"

It was such a beautiful day! Matthew really seemed to enjoy the hike. Whenever I stopped, he would kick his legs and say "mama go"

Nymph lake

Beautiful!

Mother and Son!

Dream lake really is a dream... It doesn't get prettier than this!

Beautiful...yet the wind was fierce... it was so cold that I was afraid that Matthew's nose would freeze! : )

Two ladies and a man.

Can you tell that is is freezing? The wind was bitter!!!!

Matthew is SOUND asleep by this point./

Can you find my boy in that pile of hats and scarfs?

Matthew and Woodie

2012-01-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Matthew and woodie had breakfast together the other day. Cream of wheat with nutella and peanut butter in it. Yumm!!

Learning as we go

2012-01-04T13:22:00.001-07:00

Petunia has been a very challenging dog to raise! She is the worst garbage mouth I have ever seen and is a high energy dog. We were about at out wits end with her so we did some dog swapping for a few days with another raiser in our club.

After working with petunia she reminded us that it is important to praise what she does Good and not to just punish the bad. We do this with our son and don't know why we forgot to do it with petunia. So I send this out there for all those raisers struggling with difficult puppies... Remember to give them lots of positive reinforcement as they really do want to please us.

Below is a picture of Maybell, whom we watched while petunia was at "naughty dog boot camp".

Future raiser

2011-12-29T11:11:00.002-07:00

Matthew has been taking a lot more interest lately in what we do with petunia. Today we were waiting to eat at Snooze when he insisted on walking petunia. Petunia pulled him over a few times but over all they did pretty good.

Whose walking who?

Matthew is really learning to be a "Pack Leader"

A very tight fit

2011-12-28T22:35:00.002-07:00

Last week when I went to pick my parents up from the airport in Denver a set of four tires were accidentally left in my trunk. (long story... But the short of it is that my trunk was filled with tires). I did not know this of course, and headed out with the back seat full of work stuff, a car seat and petunia.
After I got my parents we realized we had a problem. We managed to some how squeeze all the luggage in the back seat. My dad drove while my mom, petunia and I all squeezed into the front seat of my small Carola. It really was an "aren't you glad you use dial" sort of hour ride home.

The picture is of petunia squeezed in between our feet. I had to hold one of my legs up the whole way home so I wouldn't completely smush her. I think that she was more comfortable than we were though.

Beautiful Irene

2011-12-28T22:30:00.002-07:00

I was watching Irene for a few days last week and she thought it was OK to ride in the car with her feet up on the seat. Silly girl!

You're not allowed on the seat silly girl

Later that night she enjoyed snuggling in front of the warm fire.

Yumm

2011-12-28T22:26:00.002-07:00

We got some great home made chocolate candies from a patient of mine. Matthew got spoiled and got to eat one. To say he loved it would be an understatement!!

First horse ride

2011-12-28T22:22:00.002-07:00

We were out at the grocery store recently when my parents put a cranky an tired Matthew on the electric pony. He loved it so much that he had to ride it through two cycles and then screamed like crazy when I took him off.

Fun with Grandma

2011-12-28T22:20:00.002-07:00

My parents came out to visit for the holidays. We had a big snow atom the day before they arrived and my mom and I had a lot of fun taking Matthew sledding. Like the last time. I took him, he only wanted to go down by himself. He loved watching all the big kids on their snowboards.

Matthew is watching the "BIG kids"

Grandma and Matthew watching all the action

Hello?

2011-12-18T21:35:00.002-07:00

I was playing telephone with Mattjew today and he kept grabbing my iPhone and giving me the toy phone. I guess he's got good taste!

"OMG! Really?!? Then what happened?"

Really

2011-12-18T21:34:00.002-07:00

When will my son figure out that food goes in the mouth not on your head or on the floor? My mom says that he'll be 20 before he figures that out. : )

He just dumped his whole dinner in to his lap!

Getting ready

2011-12-18T21:33:00.002-07:00

My little guy has change so much this past week. It's as if getting the tubes has totally changed his world. I'm so glad we did it. I was trying to get shoes on Matthew before leaving the other morning an I put a Santa hat in him just for kicks.

Sweet Irene

2011-12-18T21:31:00.002-07:00

Brianna loaned me her puppy for a night since I needed some extra comfort and snuggles this weekend - it's was a really long and tough week! Irene was perfect and exactly what I needed!!

Silly Girl - she kept thinking it was ok for her to sit on the seat...

All snuggled in for the evening.

Surgery

2011-12-13T21:02:00.003-07:00

My sweet boy had surgery yesterday to have tubes put in his ears. It was for me to hold him while they put him to sleep and then to walk away with him laying there still.... But I did and ten minutes later the surgery was done and he was back in my arms.

The change already has been dramatic. He seems to feel much better already and has been more energetic than I have ever seen him. He is babbling up a storm and I swear I heard him say doggie tonight.

Matthew loved all of the medical equipment in the room.

"they are going to do WHAT to me?"

Off we go to the OR

His gown was more like a dress... too cute!

That evening he was as happy as ever and well on his way to recovery.

Out with daddy

2011-12-11T19:38:00.003-07:00

Alex and Matthew went to home depot today. A really nice salesman gave Matthew a kids apron! He looks so cute in it!

Matthew learns the ropes from the nice Grandpa at Home Depot

Maybe he has a future as a salesman at Home Depot

Vail!!!

2011-12-10T19:24:00.003-07:00

Alex and I headed out to Vail today for our first day of skiing this year. The mountains got a lot of snow early on and than very little since - but the skiing was still a lot of fun! Some friends of ours from when I was in residency were out at Vail skiing. We haven't seen them in over 4 years. It was fantastic to get to catch up!!!

Oh to be back in the beautiful mountains!!!

Left to right - Alex, Me, Jim and Missy. It was great to catch up.

Food

2011-12-10T19:19:00.001-07:00

I wonder sometimes if my son will ever learn to actually get his dinner into his mouth instead of putting it on his face and head. My suspicion is that it will be a while yet.

Puppy bed

2011-12-10T19:16:00.001-07:00

I had to take Matthew to the doctor for preop appointment during lunch the other day. I didn't have time to drop him back off at day care so he came with me to work. He was super tired, since he missed his nap, and I eventually got him to take a nap on petunia's bed.

Random iPhone Pictures

2011-12-06T20:26:00.002-07:00

I thought I would upload some of the pictures I've taken recently on my phone.

Alex and Matthew Sledding

Matthew's first time sledding.

Matthew helped me wrap presents by tearing up as much paper as I would let him.

Sunrise as seen from my bedroom window last week.

Matthew loves the rocking chair that his "aunt" Laurie made him!

I am just floored by how much Matthew looks like Alex in this picture.

Tennis Shoes

2011-12-06T20:23:00.001-07:00

Mo sent me a great picture of Vigo during their training in Oregon. Apparently they have to wear shoes to go up escalator, in the snow and when the pavement is hot. Mo says that Vigo didn't like his tennis shoes very much.

Vigo Styling in his tennis shoes... love the red!

I feel so blessed that Monigue is sending us so many great pictures of vigo and her. It is makes me feel so happy every time I see them together and know that he is having a wonderful life with her.

Fort Collins GDB Holiday Pary

2011-12-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Each year Alex and I host the Fort Collins Guide Dog Holiday Party. We all have a great time and putty silly holiday outfits on the poor puppies.

"this is so humiliating!"

"Oh the shame"

Mikiko is equally as unhappy with the dress up outfit.

Virginia with her puppy

Attempt at a group shot

So Sweet

Tustisn... A career change 9 years ago due to being huge....

Yuma and I

Yuma... 4 months old

Brianna and Yuma

Montessa and I... she's 10 weeks old.

"REALLY?"

Montessa is just too cute!

Montessa with Antlers

Montessa is just so fuzzy and sweet.

Irene.... too cute....

Another attempt at a group shot.

Vigo Working Hard

2011-12-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Monique... Vigo's partner sends us great photo's of Vigo. Below are great pictures of him working.

Monique's kitty trying to befriend Vigo.

Vigo Working

Our handsome boy working..... I am so proud of him!

Doing Great

2011-12-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

Vigo seems to be settling in to his new life! Monique has been fantastic and sends us frequent updates and pictures. It warms my heart so much to see our boy so happy and working so well. We raise these puppies and poor our hearts into them hoping that they will some day bring great joy and freedom to their blind partner. It makes our efforts all seem so worth it.

Monique and Vigo out on their morning walk.

Seeing vigo working reminds me of why we put such effort into these dogs. Petunia has driven me nuts lately. She actually had the nerve to jump up and put her front paws up on Matthew's highchair and grab his breakfast. She is the sweetest dog but is the worst garbage mouth I have ever seen! She is smart and knows when I turn my head. I feel bad because she is such a bad garbage mouth that she lives on a tie down or tied to my waist. My hope is that someday she will give up and realize that no matter what she tries I am not going to let her eat everything.

Vigo's Partner

2011-11-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I loved our guide dog puppy Vigo immensely! I am so happy that he was placed with a very loving family. His new partner is in her 70's and Vigo is her third guide dog. I think Monique with take excellent care of him and they will be super happy together. Every time I give a puppy that I've raised back to Guide Dogs, my heart breaks a bit. But then when you see and feel the love between the dog and his new partner it makes my heart swell and then I know it is worth it.

Monique gave me permission to post the pictures she sent me. Thanks Monique for sharing a bit of Vigo's new life with us. We wish you both all the happiness the world has to offer.

A very proud looking Vigo.. What a beautiful dog he is! Settled in his new home.

Doug, Monique and Vigo after they arrived back home.

welcome to your new home Vigo!

Monique walking Vigo in Oregon at the GDB campus.

Vigo doing what he does best.... laying around. This is in the lounge at GDB campus.

I couldn't get this to turn.. sorry. This too is in Oregon... He really has grown up if he is willing to go out and guide in the rain. I am so proud of you Vigo!

So naughty!!

2011-11-25T18:34:00.002-07:00

I must have the naughtiest puppy ever. Petunia is normally so good at work. She sleeps on a pillow on a tie. I go back into my office after every patient and so she is alone for more than about 15 minutes at a time. Today I came in the room around 4 and this is what I found.

Do you see that her vest is around her back leg and the front banner is on the floor? Yes she chewed off her Vest!!

Look what she did to her BRAND NEW vest! AGGHH! So I put her in her kennel for the remainder of the day where she.....

Petunia pulled an extention cord into the kennel and chewed it in two! It was inches away from her kennel... I don't know how she got it and age it with out electrocuting her self!

After all of that I decided she needed some "back time"! What a naughty puppy!

Random pictures

2011-11-24T12:19:00.002-07:00

Matthew helped me stack wood

Matthew's first experience in a car wash... Yikes...

Matthew loves to try and stand in the puppy's food bowl. Silly Boy!

"Daddy gives me nutella and peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast!!!" He ends up with it all over himself most of the time.

Poor little petunia

2011-11-24T12:15:00.002-07:00

Poor petunia just can't get a break! Ears are cleared up, rash is almost gone for now, stitches are staying put in her eyes and then..... I decided to trim her nails. Ugh!! She wiggled and I cut one too deep. It bleed like stink and we couldn't get it to stop. We kept wrapping and rewrapping it. She kept bleeding through every one and it wouldn't stop. Once we got it to stop she would chew the bandage off and it would start again.
We tried the cone of shame but she could still get to her foot. Eventually I gave up and broke guide rules and held her in my arms in bed and went to sleep. I held her all night so she wouldn't eat the wrapping on her foot. At one point though I woke up with my face In her girly parts. Yuck! Her foot bleed a bit more today when she was playing with Irene but then stopped. Poor girl!

Cone of shame....

Petunia with her boo boo

Giving thanks.

2011-11-24T12:05:00.001-07:00

I am so thankful today for all of the many blessings in my life! We are going to a friends house to celebrate and I made a cake to take with us. Check back later for pictures.

Morning Fun

2011-11-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Alex seemed really sleepy so I let him sleep while Matthew and Petunia decorated a cake for the party we are going to today. Then a bit later Petunia's friend Irene came by to play. There are a lot of pictures but I just couldn't have fun playing with my new camera... which I LOVE by the way!

Matthew was giving Petunia some loving and was helping her get untangled from her leash.

Matthew has croup and and another ear infection. He was so sleepy this morning.

Such a pretty dog!

Best Buds! Oh... that's finger paint in Matthew's hair.

Yippee, tug!!

It is beautiful out today and we had a great time playing in the yard with the puppies.

A hot tired puppy.

I couldn't get my sick boy to smile.

Best buds!

Matthew watching the puppies run.

Poor Petunia

2011-11-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

Our current guide dog puppy, petunia, has had a lot of health problems. She has had two bacteria bowel infections, recurrent ear infections, skin rashes and of course eye lids that grow inward... Poor Petunia. She had her first eye surgery at 8 weeks and last Friday she had her second eye surgery. She only had to wear a cone of shame for a day and since then she has been a real champ about the stitches.

Such a good sport.

Can you see all the stitches in her bottom eyelid.

Sweet Vigo!

2011-11-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Vigo's graduation day. I wish more than anything that we could be there. Brianna and I spoke with his new partner on the phone for over an hour this past week. She is absolutely perfect for him! She is 72 and has been blind for over 50+ years. She has had two guide dogs in the past, in the 60's and 70's. Vigo was about to fail... he did not enjoy busy cities and traffic when his new partner appeared.

Her husband recently had a heart attack and is no longer able to guide her on her 3.5 mile morning walks. She lives in the country in Arkansas and the nearest store is about an hour away. Vigo is one of the gentlest, laziest and happiest dog I have ever meet. He will love guiding this beautiful lady on walks and on their monthly visit to walmart. She tells us that she has cats and a huge fenced back yard for him to roam in.

I was so amazingly touched by how close they have already become. She kept talking about how much they have bonded and how excited and happy she was to have him. I just know that he will have the most loved and wonderful life with her!

As we talked with her I couldn't help but remember my Grandma Johns. Vigo's partner immigrated from Germany in the early 1900's and talked and thought like my Grandma. At first I was a bit wired out but the longer the conversation lasted the more touched I was. After our conversation I cried for over an hour. Why you may ask... 1) because I was so elated that Vigo has such a wonderful partner 2) because I miss him so much 3) because I felt like I had just spoke with my Grandmother who had passed away several years ago and 4) because I have only gotten about 3 hours sleep a night for 3 nights in a row and was exhausted.

I am so happy for our boy Vigo and his partner. I wish them all the best in their lives together!!!
PS: If I get her permission I will post a picture of them together.

The joys of travel.

2011-11-13T09:38:00.001-07:00

This morning all was going well. We had a slow morning and a great brunch. Then we got some last minute vitamin D on the ferry. The cab ride to the airport was a bit crazy but we made it.

It was all down hill from there. The airport computers were being screwy and I waited for over two hours in the hot sun to get to the ticket counter. Then when I got there they gave me a hand written ticket for my bag. It just said st Thomas to Denver via Chicago. While in customs I realized I forgot my carry on at the ticket counter and had to go running back for it.

Then once on the plane the pilot told us that the scheduled 3 hour flight was going to take 5. The drunk and very stinky lady next to me was upset and made a stink, ha ha pun intended. : ) The plane had no food on it, not even to buy so we got water and more water.... To watch a movie cost $8... I paid for it just do I didn't have to deal with the drunk lady.

After a very long flight we arrived in Chicago and over half the plane had missed their connections. So off I went to stand in yet another long line. The good news was that united agreed to put us all up in a hotel and give us food vouchers.

As I expected... My bag was not with me in Chicago. I waited in another long line to find out that yes indeed my bag was not here. United was kind enough to give me a toothbrush and toothpaste and off I went to Stand another line for a shuttle to the hotel. Are you seeing a trend yet? Oh and by now its after 10pm.

The hotel was nice, double tree by Hilton. Apparently this happens so frequently that the restaurant had a separate menu that had prices that matched the prices of the food vouchers from United. I ate quickly and headed off to bed... Afterall I had to be up in 5 hours to go catch my next flight.

The next morning went fairly smoothly: up at 5, shuttle to airport, intense security and economy plus seat. The lady next to me was still drunk from the night before (different lady than first flight). What's up with me sitting next to drunk people??? The flight was super bumpy but I was able to sleep through most of it.

In a shocking turn of events... My bag was one of the first off in denver. I was shocked!! Now I'm waiting for my hubby and matthew... I can't wait to see them both. I am also excited about see petunia soon as well. Check out the picture of my luggage tag and you'll see why I was shocked that my bag made it.

It was a fantastic vacation and the trip home was a fun adventure. I am thankful that the flight chaos was not at the beginning of my trip. And I am proud of myself that I made it through everything yesterday without getting upset or flustered... Even when the waiter at the hotel told me he had lost my credit card. : )

Our last dinner

2011-11-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Jenny and I went out for our last overpriced yet yummy meal of this trip. I think it was also my best tasting... Coconut shrimp!!!

Another great day!

2011-11-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Jenny and I slept in today and then hiked about a mile to one of the best snorkeling sites on the island. We spent nearly 3 hours snorkeling and even snorkeled through a big rain storm. We saw a lot of great stuff! I tried to limit the # of photo's I posted but it was really hard!

5 to 6 foot ray right below me!

5-6 foot reef shark!!

Agghh.... The first of many barracuda of the day. I hate the way they don't move and stare at you.

See the little yellow fish in the middle? It is some kind of small really neat trunk fish.... maybe a baby?

cool brain coral with a Christmas tree worm on it.

I always post pictures of the male stoplight parrotfish so I thought I should post a a picture of the poor ugly female.

There were HUGE starfish every where. They were at least 2-3 feet wide!!

Lots of star fish!

I have never seen this before... I think it is some kind of underwater centipede. It was really neat to watch move.

Agghh... yet another Barracuda is starring at me!

There were tons of little neon fish that kept circling around us.

Peacock Flounder... These are so cool. Can you see how both eyeballs are on one side?

Giant Cucumber... It was at least a foot long.

HUGE Crab

Giant Porcupine fish

Aghh... yet another Barracuda is circling me! I swear I saw a dozen of them or more. Creepy suckers!

Smooth Trunkfish... there were tons of these. I followed them around for along time.

Giant ball of fish

Whoa..... a blacked tipped reef shark came out of nowhere and swam through the fish!

It was so cool to watch it swim around. I thought it was going to eat one of the fish... but alas.. it did not.

This is a different type of trunk fish. It was so pretty! and really big!

I floated on the surface for a bit to take a break.

The hermit crabs where huge!

After our long snorkel we went to Mohan bay to lay in the sand but it kept raining and then we got attacked by killer bugs that left us looking like we had the chicken pox. This was jenny's solution to both the bugs and the rain. It wasn't till after we got home that I realized that I had forgot to put sunscreen on my back... ugh... it is so burnt!

A day of diving.

2011-11-10T17:48:00.001-07:00

Chris is back at home and Jenny and I are on our own again. We decided to go diving in the morning and to spend the afternoon wandering St John's many cool shops. We picked up some cool Christmas gifts!

About to jump in for dive #1 of the day.

There goes a second spotted eagle ray of the day.. can you see it? its 5-6 feet across

Trumpet fish

Barrel Coral

Some type of pretty blue coral

coral and feather duster worm... when you come close to the worm it sucks up into a tube... It one of my favorite things to do is make them suck them selves back in...

There goes an eagle ray... can you see it? Visibility was absolutely terrible today!

Spotted Moray Eel

Some big spotted fish... don't know what kind.

Blue Parrotfish

Cow Fish.. Can you see it... it blends in so well.

yet another feather duster worm.

our second dive site

Jenny on the boat

Hawksbill Turtle

Spotted Moray Eel #4

Spotted drum.... these are VERY VERY rare and they are usually really small... this one was over a foot long! I feel super lucky to have seen it... and even luckier to have been able to get a photo of it!

A humongous lobster!!! It was at least 2-3 feet long... no joke!

Porcupinefish and a cow fish in the back. My favorite photo of the day!

Tomorrow is going to be our last beach day, as we both head home on Saturday. We are hoping to go to a bay where there is a manta ray that lives there all the time and there are glass blower artist. I don't know how they blow glass in this heat... Then there is another key we want to go to that is suppose to have good snorkeling. There is a big swell that has kept us from a few keys on the north side but hopefully it will be calmer tomorrow.

Fun night and St Thomas

2011-11-10T10:35:00.002-07:00

Tuesday night Chris, Jenny and I all went out for nice dinner followed by drinks on the beach. We all had a great time. The next day it rain cats and dog the whole day so we put our jeep on a ferry and went to St Thomas to shop and see what there was to see.

We ended up not buying a thing and determined that we had made the right decision by staying on St John! It is so much slower and more relaxed and just over all way more pleasant! Here are some pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sunset from our Veranda

Sunset Tuesday night!

Jenny and Chris at Dinner

Chris and I at the Beach Bar

The 99 stairs up to Blackbeard's castle on St. Thomas. (there were actually 102.. I counted)

Cruise Ships at port in St Thomas

Flag outside Backbeard's castle.. The castle was actually closed but Jenny sweet talked us in!! We ended up with a private tour of the castle. Way to go Jenny.

Jenny and blackbeard.

We've been captured.

View of St Thomas from the Castle

Jenny and Chris at the Castle... Chris is a pilot and was on his way to work, that is why he is all dressed up.

Jack Sparrow and I at the Castle.

View of the almost full moon from the ferry on the way back to St John

VIGO!!!!

2011-11-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

We just got the news that Vigo is graduating!!! We have not yet learned anything about his partner but he will be graduating on the 19th in Oregon! I am so proud the silly boy! We are working on plans to go to graduation but they are still up in the air.

VI Day # 3

2011-11-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today. We slept in and had tee on the deck and relaxed. Then we headed out to the beach. We wanted to go to Trunk bay but when we rented fins to go snorkeling the lady told us that we shouldn't go there.... it is the sacrificial reef for cruise ships and there were huge surges and the beach is closed so we drove all away across the island to salt bay. The beach was really nice and the snorkeling was nice. We snorkeled forever and ended up over a mile out from shore. We saw lots of cool stuff! The swim back was pretty long though!

Can you see me waving Hi from the Jeep... The roads here are CRAZY!!!

Do I look a bit sweaty and hot... yep it's humid here!

Jenny and Chris

Coral Bay

Salt Bay.... one half of it anyways....

Tang

Ouch... don't touch the see urchins... they hurt!!!

Puffer fish

Blue Tang... it was over a foot long...

Giant Puffer Fish

Pretty Coral

School of Blue Tangs

Blue Tangs

Awesome turtle that was 2 feet in front of me.

What a pretty turtle.... she could hold his breath for a really long time.

St John Island VI - Day #2

2011-11-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

Oh what a wonderful day. I woke up today to a message that my suitcase was waiting for me at the ferry dock! After retreiving my bag I sat on the porch and drank a cup of tee and stared dreamily at the beautiful ocean. Eventually Jenny and I made it to brunch - fresh crab Benedict and mimosa! After a short swim in the ocean by our condo we jumped in our cool jeep and drove out to a beach. We went to cinnamon bay and snorkeled and soaked up some rays. And now we are headed out for dinner!

I have a bunch of pictures from the day but my SD care reader is not working. I'll update when I get home and I figured out the reader so moving forward I should have pictures!

Vacation - Day # 1

2011-11-05T21:06:00.000-06:00

I left Colorado at one in the morning last night and finally arrived in St John US Virgin Island. I flew from Denver to Charlotte and then on to Miami where I met up with my friend Jenny for about 30 seconds before she boarded her flight and I had to wait for mine. When I finally arrived in St Thomas my bag was still somewhere back in the states. Because I had to make a claim on my bag I missed the ferry that my friend Jenny was waiting for. Thankfully she was able to check in and get our jeep without me and I was able to make it eventually to the island on a later ferry.

Our condo is amazing!!!! My friend Melissa found it and arranged it but then had a knee injury and couldn't come. We have the penthouse with two amazing balconies and a Verni (sp).. That it a balcony with a bar, sofa, table, TV, etc... It is amazing!! All of the balconies overlook the marina. The rest of the place is beautiful! I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them.

I sat and ate a salad while waiting for the ferry and starred up at the trees.

Self photo... My first vacation drink... it's called a pain killer... rum and other yummy stuff with nutmeg.

On the ferry... That is St John in the distant.

Self portrait #2 on the ferry... Yeah... I've FINALLY made it!

View from one of our balcony.

Where is Matthew?

2011-11-04T07:56:00.001-06:00

After a long night of tears and screaming from teething molars And ear infections i couldn't get matthew to wake up. I'm not sure how he was breathing in there.

Halloween!!

2011-10-31T20:44:00.000-06:00

Matthew has a bad cold and is teething molars so we decided not to take him out trick-or-treating this year. We figured he wouldn't really understand it and would have plenty of other years to go. As it turned out, he had a blast passing out candy to all the kids that came. He loved dropping the candy into their bags!

My nice camera broke today so I apologize for the quality of pictures. New camera is on its way!! Yippee!!

My little dragon playing with his airplane.

I was trying to take some nice shots but my camera was not cooperating.

"hmm... I think I'll shove it back in here..."

"Mommy can I help you pass out candy?"

Petunia helped pass out candy too!

Candy guard dog!

Matthew was so sweet... he would grab a piece of candy and put it in everyone's bag. It was so sweet that it almost made me cry.

Petunia quickly got board with the whole thing.

"Ugh!!! How much longer to have to be dressed like a silly bee?"

Help!!! were being attacked by a dragon and giant killer bee!

Mmmmm... Pizza from Costco with hamburger that mom added.... Yummy!

Miss Bee

2011-10-31T11:06:00.000-06:00

Petunia went with Alex and I to a Halloween party. She was suppose to be a pumpkin or a grape but she wouldn't keep those costumes on. So I had to resort to Vigo's old costume. She wore it well.

Petunia getting ready for the party.

after we got her all dress she went and sat in the corner. Poor puppy.

At the party.... I think Petunia was possessed.

Poor Petunia

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

The other day my Mom and I took Matthew and Petunia to Cool Beans Play house. I think the kids loved Petunia more than any of the other toys. She was so well behaved!! I was really proud of her!

This little kid was so cute. He kept kissing Petunia on the head.

"Don't worry... I'm being good I promise!"

Porr little petunia!!!

"Phew! Being a Guide Dog Puppy is hard work!"

Estes Park

2011-10-30T19:17:00.001-06:00

My mom wanted to go for a drive in the mountains today so we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was a beautiful day!

Sorry - computer wouldn't let me turn it... turn your head instead.

Matthew is stylin' in his silly kid glasses.

It was a beautiful day and there were herds of Elk all over!

Matthew and Grandma check out an Elk up-close and personal.

Shortly thereafter she bounded away.

Out having fun on a beautiful sunny warm day in the Rockies! Yep... That is a Chapel Hill sweatshirt on my boy!

The big bull of this herd.

I know this looks like the same photo but check out his tongue!!!

Grandma Visit

2011-10-30T08:00:00.001-06:00

Grandma Johns is here visiting this weekend! Yippee!!! Matthew and Grandma are having a blast and Alex and I are loving a bit of some help!

Matthew loves the new books that Grandma brought.

Playing at Cool Beans Playhouse.

Matthew just LOVES slides!!!

Going to the Vet

2011-10-29T18:15:00.000-06:00

We had to take Petunia to the vet last week and before our appointment we played in the parking lot with the snow that was falling.

"Wow, that's a big snowball!"

"OK Momma, I'm coming."

Puppies in the snow

2011-10-26T19:24:00.000-06:00

Brianna and Irene came over today to run in the snow and play. I took a ton of pictures but I mostly got a bunch of blurry fuzz balls. Here are the few decent shots I got.

Petunia sitting for a rare moment.

Brianna give Petunia a much needed correction and time out.

Petunia sneaks a chew on a branch from our broken willow tree.

What a pretty puppy!!

First Snow of the year!

2011-10-26T11:08:00.000-06:00

It seems that we always get one big snow storm in October. It usually seems to coincide with my mom's visit every year for some reason. It came two days before her visit this year. It also always seems that we have big storms on days I have off and never on days where I'm suppose to work. strange. We've gotten at least a foot already and it is still falling.

Peaking out our kitchen door this morning

"What is this strange stuff"

"hmm... maybe I'll grab it without my glove..."

"Aagghhh its cold! I don't like this stuff without my gloves!"

Yep that's some snow.

no fire tonight

Our poor willow tree has really taken a beating! Several of the really big branches has broken off.

Looking around, looking around

I think Matthew was happier playing in the basement with his old baby toys than he was out in the snow. We may try it again later today.... after his nap when he isn't so cranky.

Check back later. I get petunia today and she has a play date set up with Irene at 5 so they can play in the snow together. I hope to get some good pictures.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T18:50:00.000-06:00

Matthew is getting 4 molars all at once and he has a cold. Some kids get diarrhea when they are getting one tooth, can you imagine how much Matthew has had getting 4 molars at once? I will spare you the details but lets just say he had 4 showers today and mom has a lot of yucky laundry to do.

So after a morning of poops and playing in the back yard we thought it would be fun to go to a pumpkin patch. Matthew had other ideas. He mainly seemed overwhelmed by the whole experience. We drove 30 minutes to this great farm and when we got there he was sound asleep. So.... we sat in the car for nearly an hour waiting for him to wake up. I didn't get many smiles today but here are a few shots of our trip.

colorado hay ride????

"I like this one!"

No hands

He really wanted to pet all of the animals.

Peek a Boo

He He Ha Ha

"Daddy!!! Come rescue me from Mommy and her camera!"

Silly Kitty

2011-10-23T18:22:00.000-06:00

So most of my post are either about my son Matthew or one of our Guide Dog Puppies, but today I have a silly picture of our crazy cat Bree.

She watch nearly 30 minutes of the today show this way.

Yard work

2011-10-23T14:48:00.001-06:00

Matthew and I did some yard work today. While I trimmed bushes he played in the mulch and had a great time.

Shopping

2011-10-21T18:12:00.003-06:00

Shopping is so much easier at gymboree! To bad I can't afford any of their clothes. I enjoyed looking amd Matthew had fun at least.

Matthew is on the Left.

Helper

2011-10-19T15:04:00.002-06:00

Maybe it's not a good idea to have a toddler around when you are trying to touch up the railings on the deck?!?

Can you see how much paint is in his hair?

"Me? I made a mess? Never!"

Really!

2011-10-14T22:03:00.002-06:00

"How many shots did you say I'm getting?"

Halloween preview

2011-10-13T07:29:00.002-06:00

My friend Brianna bought our puppies some really cute costumes at our local good will store. We have plans for some fun photoshoots but here is a preview of fun puppy pictures to come.

GDB regional meeting

2011-10-08T20:13:00.001-06:00

Today was our annual GDB regional meeting in Denver. I just love seeing some many puppies all in one room. Guide Dogs for the Blind sure does breed some cute puppies!

Beautiful Miss Irene at the event.

The "M" Litter.

Petunia sitting so politely during the meeting.

Park fun!

2011-10-05T20:53:00.003-06:00

Matthew, like all little kids, loves the playground. We live right by a great playground.

Having Fun

Matthew loves the wobble rides

Lunch

2011-10-05T20:51:00.002-06:00

Matthew and I had lunch with my friend Brianna and Irene last weekend. Matthew played in the rocks and mulch while we ate and then Irene got to take her vest off and play in a near by fountain.

Brianna and Matthew

Irene gets to play in the fountain.

Forget lunch... you want some mulch?

My hubby

2011-10-05T20:45:00.002-06:00

My husband grew up in Russia and immigrated to the US when he was 21. He didn't have many toys growing up and I think he was really excited to have kids so he could play with toys with them. Tonight after matthew went to bed he got up and started building things with Matthew's Lego blocks. He was really enjoying himself. It was so cute!

Sweet Irene

2011-10-05T20:26:00.002-06:00

I watched Irene last Saturday for my friend Brianna. She is such a sweet puppy! She has one toy of Matthew's that no matter how many times I correct her she still won't leave alone. I finally gave up and let her have it. She doesn't chew on it, she just carries it around. It's actually really cute.

Teething

2011-10-05T20:06:00.002-06:00

Matthew is getting two molars and he is chewing on everything. My larabars are his favorite chew toys. I think it's because he can now bite through the wrapper amd gets a yummy taste.

So snuggly

2011-10-05T19:53:00.002-06:00

Little miss petunia is so snuggly!

Sweet Puppy

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Petunia is such sweetie. I am so glad that Maddie and her family are willing to share her with us, I am so thankful!

What a beautiful puppy.

The age of Hats

2011-09-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

Matthew seems to be at a stage where he wants to put most things on his head, or... his mom thinks it is cute when he puts things on his head and so puts silly things on his head... who knows?

Matthew took the lock of the backing cabinet.

Guide Dog Outing

2011-09-25T17:25:00.000-06:00

Today was our monthly GDB outing. I have both Irene and Petunia right now so I figured I had to go. Outings are not my favorite GDB thing, seeing as I feel I take our puppy so many places that the outings are kind of pointless.... but they're required...blah blah blah.... With my husband deathly ill and my self not much better, I stayed for only about an hour. I recently got my camera lens back from the repair center so I wanted to see if it was really fixed.... so I snapped a few shots.

About half of the FC GDB gang at the Loveland Sculpture Gardens.

Petunia checks out a wolf sculpture.

The group during the walk. Petunia is with Maddie (co-raiser) second from left.

Kind of There

2011-09-24T18:36:00.000-06:00

Even though we haven't raised Petunia since she arrived here on the puppy truck I feel like we have "kind of" been there. I was there when she came off the truck and Maddie let me snuggle her since I was tearful about Vigo's return. We have puppy sat her several times... she is the only puppy I have ever seen that at 8 weeks can jump out of the puppy enclosure that I've made. She had to have eye surgery right away due to an eye problem that is much better now. She is such a sweetie!

Petunia and I at the puppy truck the day she arrived and was given to Maddie.

Jorinda, Petunia and Vigo and most importantly Madeline.

New Puppy!!!

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

When we put Vigo on the puppy truck we knew it was going to be hard not to have a new puppy. Vigo was not chosen as a breeder and was flying through training. But then he got stuck... he has been in phase 7 for over 5 weeks now. I suspect that it means a career change is in his future but we just couldn't stand being without a puppy any longer. So long story short.... Madeline - who raised Gabrina, Betsy and Jorinda - has a new puppy named Petunia. We have watched her a bit and she is now 5 months old. Maddie is a senior in high school and is really busy so we all agreed to co-raise Petunia together. We are supper excited to have a puppy back in the house.

Irene on left - now 9 months old - is staying with us this weekend, Brianna is off having fun with her hubby.... Petunia - on the right - is becoming fast buddies with Irene.

Here is Miss Petunia. She is really sweet and snugly but a bit of a garbage mouth. We are really going to enjoy co-raising her.

Random Shots

2011-09-23T15:12:00.000-06:00

So its official, Alex and I are both really sick. We have been taking shifts taking care of Matthew and the Puppies. By some grace of god Matthew hasn't gotten what we both have. I am really hoping it stays that way.

We bought Matthew a tunnel to play in... but the kitty and puppies keep climbing in with him.

"I don't want to be a cute penguin!! stop taking my picture get this off of me!"

Diaper change break on the way home from Aspen.

The nice thing about off season is that you can let your little one run around with his blanket in the restaurant because we were the only ones there.

This made me sick... this is a store front window, one of many I might add that had little girl clothes that started around $500 a piece. I saw fur coats for 6 month old babies. Now that being said, I work at a place where all we do is care for those that have nothing so this kind of excess makes me flat out angry. But instead of being angry I will just hope that the people that buy these things some how give back.

Aspen Day 4 - Maroon Bells

2011-09-19T19:34:00.000-06:00

We didn't get up early enough for sunrise at Maroon Bells, but I am gonna try and go tomorrow. We had a lot of fun just watching Matthew play in the lake. The beauty of the spot was absolutely astounding. One of the most amazing mountain visit I've ever seen and I've done a lot of mountain hiking in a lot of different countries. The lighting wasn't great for mountain shots so most of what I took were shots of Matthew with the mountains as a background.

Family photo #1

Family Photo #2

Off and running.

"Hurry up Mom, what's taking you so long?"

We made it to the lake... "please can't I go in and play?"

"Really? I can???? Yippee!!"

"I think I'll just eat the rocks"

"what you looking at?"

"Look Mom... I found more rocks!"

"pretty view? Who cares... I'm loving the water and the rocks!"

"This is the best!"

This is my favorite shot of the day.

Check back tomorrow night and see if I got any good sunrise pictures. And we start co-raising petunia next week and will have Irene with weekend as well... so check back next week for fun puppy pictures.

Day #3 the afternoon

2011-09-18T20:36:00.003-06:00

After our naps we headed up on the gondola to the top of Ajax mountain. We spend the afternoon sitting on the sun deck and walking around. It was beautiful!

sign at the top of the gondola

View into the back - all of those peaks are over 14,000ft

This took a lot of effort and this was the best we got. As it turns out getting a toddler to sit still and smile on command is really tough.

"I just wanna run and climb and eat rocks!"

Daddy and Matthew

What a pair.

Attempt at a family portrait #2.

There were a bunch of hula hoops at the top and Matthew had a blast playing with them.

"Do it again mommy... its funny"

Matthew carried around the big hula hoops around everywhere.

Tomorrow we are headed out to do some hiking, assuming my cold will let me. I am hoping for some good photo ops.

Apsen Day #3

2011-09-18T12:36:00.001-06:00

Yeah!!! It is sunny and beautiful today!!! Freezing but who cares! We got up real early, much to both of my boys displeasure and went to the balloon show. They are both napping now so I got a chance to put up some pictures from the morning. We are headed up to the top of the mountains after their nap so check back later for more pics.

One thing I loved about this festival is that the balloons weren't roped off. You could walk right up to the balloons as they were being filled. It was really cool! At one point there were 37 balloons in the air. I took a gazillion pictures so I'll try and show some restraint and only post a few, wish me luck...

We were there by 7am and the moon was still out... can you see it in the picture... its the white dot on the right.

It was only 37 degrees out... Burr.....

Balloon as it floated over headed.

The beauty was just astounding.

Matthew Giggled at all the balloons.

Funny shaped triangle one... weird but cool.

My hubby was so sweet.... he watched Matthew the whole time so I could run around and take pictures.

Sorry for the spots on my camera lens... guess I need to clean it. : )

I never saw the planes but the contrails were everywhere.

I am finally figuring out how to do silhouettes on manual mode....

Balloons everywhere.

The balloons just kept coming

up up and away...

I imagine the view from inside the balloons was spectacular. Maybe next year the ride part won't get cancelled by the rain.

Check back later for picture from the top of the gondola... I'm gonna go wake the boys and were off for more fun and adventure.

Aspen Day #2

2011-09-17T20:42:00.000-06:00

Today we ended up not doing anything that we had planned to do. But sometimes that is what makes vacations fun, rolling with the flow of things. It rained all day today so the hot air balloon show was off. Bummer! We drove to Snowmass anyway, just to check it out. Cute little place.

We changed hotels and decided to splurge since we haven't taken a vacation in nearly two years. We were pleasantly surprised when they up graded us to a two bedroom. We ended up with a condo type place with a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and two baths... SWEET!!!

Since it was raining we took a long afternoon nap (my sick body really appreciated it!) and we wandered the Saturday market in the rain. We also spent a good bit of time sitting in coffee shops trying to warm up. After our nap we went to the Aspen Brewery. Its opened in 2008 and is not yet selling their beers outside of Aspen. It was really good and they plan on starting to bottle and sell their brews in the late fall. We had another yummy dinner and then put our very sleepy little one to bed.

We are hoping that tomorrow will be less rainy so we can check out the balloon festival and do some hiking in the mountains. Below are some random pictures I snapped with my iPhone today.

"I hate the rain!"

Matthew running around a coffee shop.

More walking around in the rain, I was freezing but Matthew was all snugly warm.

Downtown Aspen

They have such fun electronic cars in this town.

Another cool electric car.

Not just a Segue but an off road Segue? Really?....

Our hotel living room and kitchen.

View from the Brewery... beautiful!

Matthew loved banging on the bell and making it ring.

Click on this and read... I promise it will make you laugh.. this was on the wall at the brewery.

Matthew saw the big water fountain and just squealed with delight.

Finally some sunshine! So we went for another stroll.

A weekend adventure - Day # 1

2011-09-16T22:06:00.001-06:00

Alex is taking classes again so can't get away for more than a few days at a time. We were both in need of a bit of time away from the "grind" so we packed up Matthew and our stuff last minute and head out. We decided to drive to Aspen and check out the hot air balloon festival in Snowmass. We new it was gonna be a bit of a long drive for Matthew but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

We decided to take the scenic route over independence pass and boy am I glad we did! The drive was stunning. The aspen trees are starting to turn and the highway is almost all above 10,000 feet so the view are absolutely stunning! I have a real bad cold so I didn't have the energy to put into taking a lot of pictures but I did snap a few along the way.

The views just kept getting better and better.

So pretty!

Break time at the top of independence pass... over 12,000 ft.

"Hi mom, it's really cold up here but I don't care and I don't want you to carry me up... I can walk.. I don't care if it is taking forever and my fingers and nose are freezing off." Seems to be that he is as stubborn as his parents.

Cheerios!!!

More cheerios! Yummy!!!

View from the short walk up to the top of the pass.

yeah a table to bang on! Matthew you and I played in the park while daddy checked into our hotel.

Yippee! We are finally here... we changed our clothes and headed out to dinner. Notice what good dental hygiene my son has. Yes... that is a toothbrush he is chewing on.

We went to dinner at a great Spanish restaurant and now my cold is kicking my butt so I am off to bed. Check back tomorrow for hopefully some more fun pictures of our fun weekend away.

My one year old

2011-09-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

I've been super busy and sick lately so I haven't taken a lot of pictures. I have snapped a few on my phone though. Below are a few of them.

Getting ready for winter... check out my new hat!

learning to feed oneself can be very messy!

baby bathtub surfing!!

Cool Bean Play house rocks!

The foam pit at cool beans play house.

Phew... all that playing makes for a tired toddler.

Yum.... nothing like a banana snack after a bath!

cool dood wearing mommy's shades at the play ground.

Fire

2011-08-28T20:09:00.000-06:00

We recently bought a "fire pit".... It's wonderful!

Daddy teaches the boy about fire.

Daddy, Matthew and Rhubarb (GDB puppy we are sitting) watch the fire burn.

Run Matthew Run

Alex and Matthew play with willow branches in the grass.

"why can't I have the big stick to eat!?!!!!

Learning how it's done.

2011-08-24T22:22:00.001-06:00

On sunday after Matthew's birthday part we let him have another piece of cake. This time he grabbed it right away and shoved it in his mouth.

Yumm, ymmm CAKE!

My smiley boy just loves bath time.

Miss Petunia

2011-08-23T22:21:00.001-06:00

We are watching Miss Petunia this week. She is just over 4 months old and is super sweet. I took her to work with me today and she made me laugh so hard. I recently bought this really cheep ($20) kennel at target for work. So far it has worked great but Petunia figured out that if she jumped on the walls that she could roll the kennel.

I came out of a patient room and heard laughing near my office. When I looked in, I found Petunia jumping on the wall of the kennel and moving it slowly across my office. If you look closely you can see her in the kennel.

After a few that's enough she settle down but insisted on laying with her face pushed up against the mesh door. Silly girl. At one point she managed to roll the kennel into the hall outside of my office. What a goofball.

After lunch I decided to see how she would do outside of the kennel. She did great! She stayed on her "bed" all afternoon and didn't try to eat anything. I was so proud of her.

After a long first day at the office.... sweet petunia passed out at my feet.

Pretty pictures

2011-08-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

These are just a few shots I wanted to share. I do a lot of photography with my big Nikon but... As the saying goes, the best camera is the one that is with you. I took the pictures below on my iphone while out on runs around the ponds behind my house.

I am thankful for the beauty in my life!

Puppies

2011-08-22T09:00:00.003-06:00

I have been missing Vigo so much lately. He is now in phase 6. I wish he would just graduate or fail... the waiting is killing me. Hopefully we should know soon if we are getting a puppy on the next truck or not. I was missing a puppy so much the other day that I "borrowed" my friend Brianna's guide dog puppy Irene for about 4 days. It was so great to have a puppy around. Irene is such a sweet snuggle bug and I just adore her.

Zora (friend's pet dog), Irene and Jorinda (GDB puppies) playing on the deck....

"Please can't we all come in and join the birthday party?"

After the party Irene helped me clean up by checking out and eating the left over ice. She would dig in it and then stick her whole face down in the ice. Burr...

Check back later this week for more puppy pictures, we are puppy sitting little Petunia this coming week and Rhubarb this coming weekend.

Matthew Turns one

2011-08-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

I can't believe my boy is one! I feel like just the other day I was pregnant and on bed rest snuggling with a baby Vigo. Now vigo is in phase 6 at GDB and Matthew is running around the house. I know everyone says it... but man how time flies.

Matthew's actual birthday was last Monday but we celebrated it this weekend with a party for family and friends.

This was on Monday on his actual birthday. He hates having clothes on but he didn't even try to take off the crown.

Birthday boy on his throne! He loves to watch us go pee. So we bought him a potty to sit on. He sits on it with his diaper on and watches us go in the real potty.

The birthday party....

My friend Brianna took pictures for me so that I could enjoy the party. I am so thankful for my wonderful friends here!

Daddy and the Birthday boy.

We gathered around the cake to sing, Matthew watched, not quite sure what to think.

"Mmmmm.... my own little cake"

What fun!

Balloons!!!

This was one of my favorite gifts... so true!

"Silly mommy.... don't put a bow on my head..."

Matthew loved his gifts but he got the biggest kick out of playing with two of the hangers.... go figure.

And just so you don't think my son is always smiling... fuss fuss fuss.....

A fun hike

2011-08-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Alex and I took Matthew for a hike in one of the natural areas up the Poudre Canyon. We had intended to only go about a mile to the lake but ended up hiking about 3 miles each way. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Daddy and Matthew out on the trail.

We hiked around and then up and over... and eventually ended up at the lake and found a secluded part and went swimming.

Matthew just squealed with laughter. He loves water.

Mom and her boy.

We hiked from the other side of the lake up and over the hills to this spot.

Matthew wanders the beach.

After much bouncing, singing and shhhhing we got matthew to finally sleep for a few minutes. We then started hiking back when..... I suddenly heard a rattle and looked down.... there was a rattle snake two inches from my foot. I jumped, held matthew tighter, and ran. Scared the snot out of me!

The boys on the way back.

Matthew cried the whole way back to the car and then as is typical for him, feel asleep right as we got to the car.

Weekend at Yellowstone

2011-08-14T15:56:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I went up to Yellowstone with some friends of mine to photograph wildlife. I didn't get that many good shots but I did have a ton of fun. And I think I even learned a bit about my camera. The lens I normally use broke so I was limited to my telephoto lens, boo hoo, but I made do with what I had.

Yellowstone is full of such strangeness.

Brianna and I in front of the falls.

The Bison were rutting and were everywhere.

We got up each day at dawn

The Bison are such large beautiful creatures.

Dawn

Morning Fog

The morning sun was gorgeous!

The fields of wildflowers were just spectacular.

Flowers

Grizzly Bear

Wolf

Brianna and Sara waiting for Old Faithful to blow.

Crazy Day #2

2011-07-31T21:28:00.001-06:00

We had another crazy day today but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Below are a few silly pictures of Irene misbehaving.

Irene kept grabbing Matthew's toys this weekend and we kept correcting her. This was one of her favorites. It is a fish that goes over the faucet in the shower and she loved to stick her mouth in the hole.

Matthew says... "Irene! Give me back my toy!"

Irene kept getting her nose stuck in the hole.

Such a silly girl!

Matthew with rice all over his face (dinner) celebrates the return of his toy form Irene.

Matthew just loves walking with Grandpa and pulling his new toy.

View from out porch.

Grandpa and Matthew

"I love pulling my puppy"

Pretty View!

Crazy Day

2011-07-30T20:19:00.000-06:00

It was a zoo in the Kaplun household today. My husband was sick and couldn't get out of bed, my parents are visiting and my Dad and I had food poisoning. My mom recently had ankle replacement surgery and is hobbling around in a giant cast. Our friends are moving and they dropped off their bird, pet rats and cat for us to watch, oh and we are watching Irene for the weekend. And did I mention that Matthew has a double ear infections and the antibiotics that he is on are giving him horrible diarrhea.... like 10 episodes a day of explosive run down the leg diarrhea. Oh yeah and he's getting two new teeth. So needless to say today has been a bit cray... here are a few photos from the mayhem.

Matthew crawled in to play with Irene

Irene did not enjoy sharing her Kennel and so left after giving Matthew a bunch of kisses.

Finger-painting!

Irene is a terrible garbage mouth! Here she is with one of Matthew's toys - Stinker!

Irene was so silly... she would carry a toy up to the top of the stairs and then let it fall down and chase after it.

Such a pretty girl.

Say cheese!

Guide Dog Picnic

2011-07-10T20:34:00.000-06:00

Alex and I hosted our local Guide Dog for the Blind summer picnic again this year. I think everyone had a good time. Here are some pictures of the many puppies.

Sprint is HUGE.. at only 14 weeks of age.

Miss Irene (6 months) just loved playing in the pool.

You may recognize this puppy.... our second puppy that was career changed for health reasons right before becoming a guide.

Jorinda and Cupid taking a snooze.

So sweet... the student and the teacher.

Left to right... Jorinda (14 mo), Cupid (8 years), Petunia (11 weeks)

Puppies are so sweet!

How can you not love those faces?

Most of the Fort Collins Gang.

My friend's son Darius playing drag... I mean tug with a puppy.

Hoss and Spirit, warn out by all the activity.

Crazy Busy

2011-07-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

I am not sure what we have been so busy doing but it seems the last few weeks have been crazy. They have been full of 5 different puppies of all different ages, grandparents, friends and of course work.

Daddy and Matthew at our community pool.

Learning to swim.

Matthew loves the water!!!

"This is so much fun Mom!!"

Playing in the water fountains in downtown Denver

Matthew Rocking Lowes

One of the many puppies we have puppy sat over the past few weeks. This is Petunia... 10 weeks old.

Cake I made for a Doc who was leaving the clinic I work at.

"Mom... where did you go?"

Look closely... Alex and Petunia... both doing some "back time" on the couch. I know its illegal, but she is little and she was asleep in his lap to start.

A friend of mine bough Matthew this hat... too cute!

Matthew love's Jon Stewart too.

An early morning Jet skiing with friends.

We are hosting the annual Fort Collins GDB picnic again this weekend. So check back next week for lots of puppy pictures. On side note... Vigo was NOT chosen as a breeder. We don't know why yet. Doesn't surprise me at all though. He lost his boy parts a week or so ago and is now in regular training. So far he is in phase zero. I'll keep you posted. I sure do miss the lazy boy!

Small World

2011-06-18T08:47:00.000-06:00

I originally started my blog for my parents, so they could see what we where up to on the other side of the country. But the more I put up the more followers I got. I became amazed who all read my blog. But the day after I posted the page about Vigo's return I had a great thing happen. I received a comment on my blog that made my heart swell.

A volunteer, named Lindsey, walked the puppies from the puppy truck when it stopped in Utah. She walked Vigo twice and said he is doing well. I hope he wasn't too out of control around all the other puppies! It made me feel so good to hear that he was doing well. A huge thanks to Lindsey for giving our big boy some loving. And a big thanks to the blogging world and the fun it brings.

Just a cute picture

2011-06-18T08:37:00.000-06:00

"Hi Mom, I 'm not sure what I think about this new sun hat."

Happy Early Father's Day

2011-06-12T21:09:00.000-06:00

I wanted to do something special for my husband for father's day this year since it is his first. So I bought this kit thing and built a very large work bench and put together a big bin organizer for his tools. Then I cleaned out and organized the third bay in the garage so he can use it as a work space rather than the basement. I have one other gift up my sleeve but I can't say yet in case he reads this....that one he is going to have to wait till next weekend for.

After cleaning up the space where the new bench is going to go and after a very nice friend of mine delivered the wood I bought... Matthew and I started trying to put things together. Matthew was a great helper... cheering me on!

One thing I had to figure out was making the stupid saw work. I eventually figured it out and got down to the business of measuring and cutting. And I managed to NOT cut off a finger!

After about 5 hours of work and a few curse words I had a beautiful workbench and bin organizer to present to my husband.

The finished product... a work space in the garage for my honey.... He seemed to really be surprised and loved it.

Alex and I went to a new restaurant in town tonight. They had a bunch of columbines out front. I snapped this quick so it is blurry but I just love these flowers... they are so pretty!