Happy New Year!

We wish all of our friends a wonderful and successful New Year! 

Monty's Cold Snooter

Monty here.  Sam say Monty can tell story on blog.  Monty in charge...  hehehe...

I is cute!

Mom says I has to quit poking her with cold snooter.  If not remember, look here.  Monty loves poking Mom.  She shriek like deranged squirrel.  It quite funny...

Hehehe - she all legs and arms....

Mom says she is going to find way to make Monty quit poking her, or warm up his snooter.  Monty worried.

Mom awfully clever sometimes....

Dis not funny, Mom.

Santa not bring you anything next year for dis.

Mom here - Don't worry, he wouldn't leave it on.  But seriously, any body have a snooter warmer I can borrow?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Our day has been spent with the boys and enjoying our little family.  The boys have been spoiled and we are looking forward to a good Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 Of course, the boys have to pose for a few pictures before they can open presents....

How dis for a cute look?

Sam is the master at opening presents.  Once he is done with his, he moves on to whichever presents are still wrapped - including Dad's!

Got to open these presents!

Monty watched Sam for a while and then realized it could be fun....

Are you sure I won't get in trouble, Sam?

He figured it out and had just as much fun!

Shmmoooffff....

I think Sam might be working off a little inner wolf...

Grrrr....  Snarl....

 We always like to get the boys new and interactive toys, things that make them think outside of the doggy box.  This year?  Our boys got their own rocket ship club house!

When are we gonna build it?

 Monty couldn't wait to become an engineer!

You don't mind if I put my new kitty on the instructions, do you Mom?

Monty found the assembly fascinating.

Could you get me a wrench, Dad?

While Sam isn't so impressed, Monty is ready to play!

Make sure you secure Kitty - we don't want him to float away!

Monty and I will send you a post card when we reach our destination!

I wonder what the in flight movie will be?

Sam and Monty also got extra treats!

Nom nom nom

...and Sam had more fun tearing up the paper!

 We hope you all have a wonderful day!  Merry Christmas!

Meet Nicholas

I know we still need to post Part 2 of our Sherlock mystery, but we wanted to share with you a very special boys who needs prayers and love sent his way...

Aaron and I are proud supporters of Arizona Golden Retriever Connection.  Every Golden who passes thru the loving arms of this organization is special and in some cases, only needs a place to rest a weary head for a night before moving on to their forever homes.

Sometimes, however, a case comes thru that can pull at you heart and make you wish you could move heaven and earth to change the world for one small pup.   Some are truly broken when they come to AZGRC and need a little more love and a lot of help.

Meet Nicholas...  Nobody knows what happened to Nicholas, but the fates brought him to AZGRC.  Nicholas has a growth on his face of some sort (the next picture is graphic), weighed only 44 lbs (...in comparison, our rather lean Monty weighs 65), and was covered in mats and ticks.

Nicholas getting a little lovin'....

In the short time AZGRC has had Nicholas, he has already shown signs of improvement.  Who wouldn't with all this loving?

Getting snuggled in the van...

Typical Golden - always room for a treat...

There is still no answer as to what the growth/injury on his face is. 

I'm still a handsome fellow!

Nicholas definitely needs a Christmas miracle.  He has a lot of healing he will need to do before he can look for his forever home.  If you would like to follow Nicholas' story or donate a little to help with his care, you can click this link. 

In the mean time, he could really use a little Power of the Paw. 

Is this the way to my new home?

We are sending Nicholas lots of GOLDEN love!

Sherlock Sam and the Case of the Counterfeit Dollars

It was a quiet evening at 221b Baker Street.  Sherlock Sam and I had just settled down with the evening paper, happily full on Mrs Hudson's home made kibble, when a knock sounded from the front door.  Mrs Hudson answered it, we heard a muffled conversation, and then the housekeeper appeared holding a letter. 

"Special delivery for you, Mr. Sam," she handed him the letter and quickly left the study.

A most mysterious letter...

Sherlock Sam sniffed the letter, and then quickly opened the envelope and scanned the contents.  What the letter said, I will never know, but we both noted a small scrap of paper fall from the envelope.

A clue?

"A great crime has been committed, Watson," he said, tucking the envelope into his collar. 

Sherlock Sam was grave as he revealed our next caper.

"Only I can see the contents of the letter, but this small scrap of paper is our clue to solving this mystery."  He stood, "I shall need to retire to the library, to ponder all that this might imply."

The hours passed quietly, I studied the evening post and, I'm sorry to admit, might have napped.  I knew Sherlock Sam would be applying all manner of science to this small scrap in order to reveal all that it would tell us.

Sherlock Sam in the library.

I stood and stretched my legs in the hall.  I realized how engrossed Sherlock Sam must be, since a tray of tea sat on a small table outside the library, Sherlock Sam's favorite treats untouched on a small plate.

Sherlock Sam must be deep in thought.

At length he reappeared, concern etched clearly across this face.  He was dressed to go out, and I could tell by his impatience that he was in a hurry. "You know my methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did not apply to the inquiry. And it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones from those which I had expected."

A startling revelation!

 "You mean..."  I had not expected the usual suspect to be at the heart of this crime.

"Elementary," said he.  "It is apparent that the crime includes the counterfeit of large sums of money.  This one scrap is the only proof that the villain does not have the method perfected yet.  My hope is that we can stop him before he floods the market."

I felt a chill deep in my heart.  This could only mean that the culprit was Sherlock Sam's arch-nemesis...  None other than Monty Moriarty!

What devilish scheme has Moriarty devised this time?

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to "Sherlock Sam and the Case of the Counterfeit Dollars" and an explanation to this craziness! 

Monty gets sneaky...

I'm a very cold person normally - just temperature wise!  I can be cold despite it being 120 degrees outside.  Our house these days is very chilly in the morning, and Monty has discovered a new game to help pass the time.

He likes to sneak up behind me and touch the back of my leg with his cold nose.  I think he likes my reaction, which usually includes a shriek.  He likes his new game so much I catch him peeking around corners trying to sneak up behind me.

I love this first photo - while it is very dark, you can see Monty peeking to see if I'm occupied.  Oddly enough, that is Sam's shadow in the background.  I'd hate to think this is a team effort!

Sam and Monty...

Monty doesn't seem to realize he should try to hide when I turn around... 

I caught him this time!

It's going to be a long winter! 

November BarkBox!

Our November BarkBox has arrived!

I've learned about letting the boys help me open it. Both boys have gotten really good at diving in, stealing something and taking off before I get a photo.  I decided I'd open this one on the pool table...

So what did we get?

An Acadia Antler Rope Toy....

A Bionic toy - we've got this in the freezer!  We can't wait to treat out boys.

Lots of coupons...

Fruitable Skinny Minis - the perfect size to treat our boys!  (They smell delicious!)

...and a Cool Treats Smoothie!

I decided to give the antler toy to Monty.  Right now he does not trust what I give him, since I slipped him an apple yesterday.  He is convinced I tried to poison him.  Let's just say he isn't snatching anything out of my hands right now...

This might be a trap....

How Sweet it Is

We got a package from our dear friend Sugar - all the way from Hawaii!

A surprise!

What was in it?  One of Sugar's t-shirts with a beautiful Hawaiian Golden on it!

How pretty!  This design is on the front and sleeve.

Design on the back.

We had some discussion on who could wear it.  We decided it was meant for Sam, to help cover his many "bald" spots.  Sam graciously said I could wear it!

It also came with a pretty picture of Sugar!

Thank you so much, Sugar!  We love the shirt - what a beautiful design!  :D

Happy Thanksgiving!

How Sam Sees It wishes everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sam Update

Finally!  Sam is unwrapped and declared healed and whole.  He needs to finish out his course of antibiotics, but he is finally mending.

What does Sam have to say about it?

I'm free!

The second the bandages were off our little guy put up quite an un-Sam like fight to get out of there.  I think he was just as happy as we were to see them gone!

Thank you everyone for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers - we really appreciate it!

An Update on Sam...

Do you ever have the feeling you just can't win?  Sam finally got the drain out today, but the site where the drain was is now badly infected.  So, poor Sam is wrapped again and on another dose of antibiotics.  His shirts are being bleached and washed, and he has to stay covered till Friday when we go back. 

Monty being a good brother and watching over Sam.

Keep you fingers crossed that the bandages can come off on Friday!

Our Anniversary

 

It's our anniversary today.  Four years ago we took a detour to Vegas and got married. 

We've told a lot of horse and dog stories over the years, and will have many more to tell.

We already know the ending to our story...

...they lived happily ever after!

Cross stitching...

Parsley from Seasons of My Mind has been posting pictures of the beautiful cross stitches she has been making.  When I commented on how it made me want to get back into them (I did them a long time ago), Parsley was so wonderful and sent me a pattern, thread and fabric.  I couldn't wait to get started, but I had one small problem...

I couldn't remember how to start!  Parsley has come to my rescue, offering tips and tricks and bucket loads of patience, but I am embarrassed to say I had to go to the hobby store and buy a starter kit with step by step instructions.

Seriously, Mom?

There is a perk to my apparent lack of memory - I now have two kits to do!

I do not know the lady holding the camera....

I've now gotten started on the pattern Parsley has sent me.  I'm enjoying watching the design emerge and am already looking forward to my next pattern.

The pattern is French Country Dog.  I'm a little farther along then it shows in this picture.

Parsley had one request - that I send this pattern on, to pay it forward.  Would anyone be interested in trying their hand at cross stitching?  I should be done with this one in a couple of days and can send it on.