More to come

I have more pictures, but believe it or not, the real estate market is picking up, and work has been really busy.. so this is all I have time for right now.

KAYAKING IN THE SNOW

We finally got the kayak that we have been researching and shopping around for (and by "we" I mean "me".. Luke didn't really care WHAT kayak we got, or what kind of deal we received on it, he just wanted a kayak)

But, as would be the case with any long-awaited purchase, we weren't about to let the weather get in the way of testing it out..

So we dealt with the mockery of people in the parking lot.. and the weird looks we got from people.. and we went kayaking in the snow!

We just took turns using this one kayak, because REI only stocks one color of the one that we wanted, and clearly we can't have matching kayaks, that would be lame.. so the color that I'm getting has to be ordered.. won't be here for awhile..

I didn't realize this picture was going the wrong way until it was too late, and I wasn't about to spend the time to go back and edit it.. so.. uh.. tilt your head?? This is on the way to Prineville Reservoir.. he looks like a kayaker huh?

Um.. same here?? These are the fancy warm wet-suit type pants that we got on clearance.. we were rejoicing over this purchase once we got out on the water.. they kept us very warm.

Bentley was the biggest focus of the day... we got him as a little bitty puppy after it was already cold and snowy.. so he has never swam... so it was our goal to get him to swim.

The maiden voyage.. check out that outfit!!

Bailey LOVES to swim.. she was in heaven.. never mind the fact that the water was about 10 degrees..

This ball didn't make it home.. Prineville Reservoir is one plastic ball richer..

Here is the moment we've all been waiting for.. When Luke was in the kayak he would paddle out and call Bentley, trying to get him to swim.. but Bentley just paced the shore crying and barking..

But even cold, deep water is not a great enough barrier to keep him away from his mom.. he couldn't handle me being that far away.. so....

HE SWAM!! He looked terrified with his little eyes sticking out of the water.. so I pet him (and pushed him away since he was very near tipping me over trying to get into the boat) and then paddled back to the shore so that he didn't drown..

So proud..

They were filthy.. wet, cold and filthy.. so we took them to the self-service dog wash at Pet Express.. a little expensive, but worth not having to get them up the stairs and through our house to the shower..

See the snow falling?

That is snow on our bumper..

His teeth were chattering, it was pretty sad and pathetic..

Way too much snow on the ground for the end of April..

We actually did get a little bit of good weather, basically it was snowing when we first arrived.. and the boat ramp is closed at the Prineville Reservoir because they completely rebuilt it.. so we had to carry the kayak all the way down.. (which I thought sucked, Luke, of course, said it wasn't that bad).. then we had blue skies and sun for about 45 minutes, and then when we got the boat all packed back up and started the long walk back to the car it started snowing harder..
all in all, not a bad day!

For Phil

The purpose of this video is to prove Phil wrong.. who claimed that I didn't have the skills to have embedded video on my blog.. what he doesn't realize is that I am a genius.
(this was the first video I could find.. and Bailey's cute enough to be blogworthy.. but you don't have to bother watching it)

Dysfunctional Madness

We had yet another painful reminder that babies would be easier at this point...
I don't have any pictures of the following stories (but after you read it, you'll thank me)


so..
I took a little side job doing Home Inspections on Foreclosures, Bankruptcy, missed payments, etc..
so anyway..
Luke has decided that for safety purposes (one of the first ones I did was a little sketch) he was going to accompany me, so we chose to take the dogs with us last night..
well, as some of you may remember, Bailey has had a little trouble with car sickness, but she has been doing better, so we thought she was over the hump..

well.. we were wrong.. Basically the evening went like this..
Inspect a house, pull over & clean up puke...
inspect another house, pull over and clean up more puke..
Inspect another house, pull over and clean up even MORE puke (where this girl manages to pull stomach contents from is beyond me...)

So, we're down to a few houses left to go.. and the sun is setting quickly, so we need to get them done quickly (because nighttime doesn't work very well for photos)..
so we're driving along when we both start sniffing the air, we look at each other and both ask the same question "what's that smell?"
well.. it didn't take long to figure out that "that smell" was the contents of BENTLEY'S stomach (who has been having some tummy issues later).. came out the opposite end of Bailey's..

At that, I made the executive decision to postpone the remaining houses and head home.

So we pull in to the driveway, and I go around the back of the car to let them out...
what I didn't anticipate was what happened next..

I opened the backdoor and the dogs jumped out.. but when they jumped out the poo (which was covering them) came flying out with them.... all over my face.. and arms.. and clothes..

That's when I gave up (Luke was laughing) I just said "I'm done." "I don't even know where to go from here"

Basically we wrapped Bailey in an old sheet and luke carried her straight up to the shower (she was MORTIFIED because she HATES being even a little dirty.. so to be covered in poop was beyond her)
Luke bathed her while I cleaned out the car.. (meanwhile Bentley is screaming in the backyard because we locked him back there alone, and he has never been alone a minute of his life)

Luke and I switch places while Bailey dries off and Luke carried Bentley upstairs (all 80 pounds of him)...

It was quite a night...

I swear babies would be easier..


Forget headaches, and being tired.. nothing ruins the mood like being covered in dog poop..

Nothing Exciting

There really hasn't been anything blogworthy going on in our lives, so I just decided to upload the photos from my blackberry: sorry it's not really entertaining.

Bentley

Sleeping

Really early birthday morning...

I love his eyes..

One of my favorite pictures..

He's our little sock mongrel.. and if you take it away and hide it.. he'll find it.. he's JUST that good..

CORRECTION

Katie Scott deserves the credit for the video in the previous post..
she's the comic genius.. Nicolette was just a pawn.