Mr Monty's Gotcha Day!

Today is Monty's Gotcha Day!  Aaron and I can't believe that 5 years have come and gone since we adopted our lovable boy from AZGRC.  Monty has made us smile and laugh every day. 

Click to make bigger!

Monty is as quirky as ever, carrying on his affair with Wendella (his beloved blue blanket), stealing tissues whenever we aren't watching (or he thinks he can get away with it), and chasing every little bit of light that he can find. 

....and I iz handsome as all get out!

I went through and found a few (there are so many!) of our favorite Monty posts:

...like how he harassed his brother, Sam....

...like how he is a styling fashionista....

...like how he resists taking orders...

...like the day he got over his aversion to vegetables...

...how he is a champion, two years in a row...  (...and yes, this October we are going for three!)

...and why walking the dogs stresses me out...

Our wonderful boy has been an adventure all to himself!

Happy Gotcha Day, sweet boy!

AZGRC's Gotcha Day 2014

Those of you who have followed the blog for sometime will know that one of our favorite events to go to each year is AZGRC's Annual Gotcha Day.  We were well pleased to see that today would be cool and breezy - the perfect weather to spend outside playing games with the pups and visiting with friends.

Mr Monty happy to be out and about!

Harlow, of course, was excited to go out and greet her adoring public friends.

I iz ready to meet da people, Momma!

It didn't take long for her to get the attention she so loves!

Holding court with her fellow people...

...and a meet and greet with Leilani...

Harlow gets to be our social butterfly since Monty is reactive around dogs.  We had to keep him a little separate from the others, but I think he enjoyed himself hanging out with Dad and keeping an eye out for any birds that may want to make it ashore.

Harlow, Dad and Monty

We also played a few games with the pups.  No photos, unfortunately, but the pups both had a lot of fun!  Harlow played musical chairs/paws and Monty played the ball toss.  Unfortunately, Momma wasn't quick enough to help Harlow place in her game, but Monty did very well in the ball toss - well enough to earn 2nd place with a grand total of 9 balls tossed and caught!

Monty is a champion!

Harlow also got to visit with her friends Higgins, Emma and Sadie (no pictures!) and CJ and Simon.  Harlow always gets a little nutty around Simon and Higgins for some reason. We were also very surprised to meet some wonderful folks who read our blog. 

We were trying to get them to all face the same way for a photo...

We waited until we got home to take photos of Monty with his 2nd place ribbon.

I iz proud of my ribbon.

He also got a gift bag full of toys.

Thank you, AZGRC!

On a side note, I won a raffle prize!  Woot!

Chock full of relaxing spa items!

Of course, in true Princess form...

Dis for me, right Momma?

We all had so much fun today, and both pups are very happy with all the goodies they get to share.  Thank you, AZGRC!

Thank you!

Harlow's Gotcha Day and her own personal PSA...

Harlow had her very 1st Gotcha Day with us this past weekend.  Like Monty's Gotcha Day, we will have to postpone the festivities till I am out of the hospital.  I did get a hospital visit from the Princess, and she was all smiles.

Hi dere!

Harlow has decided to move forward with her campaign against her biggest enemy yet - fruit.  She has commissioned campaign posters, and has already began to distribute them via Facebook.  She feels it is one of her most important duties as a Princess to inform the public.

She's pretty convincing, isn't she?

Monty's 4th Gotcha Day!

Those of you on Facebook already know this, but I will be in the hospital for the next several  weeks due to complications from my pregnancy.  Yes, Monty and Harlow will soon be big brother and big sister.  :) 

 Aaron and I can't believe that our Monty has been with us for four years.  Four years since our beautiful ottoman-loving, sun-chasing, lazy-in-the-morning redhead came to be with us.  I had plans to bake him a cake and throw him a party, but he will have to wait until I'm back home - I'm sure he won't mind. 

Happy Gotcha Day, sweet Monty!

Monty's Gotcha Day!

Today is Monty's Gotcha Day!  Can you believe it has been 3 years since I looked at a little pup on AZGRC's website, turned to Aaron and said "Can we adopt him?"

Dad said yes.  I is a lucky pup.

We decided we would throw Monty a Gotcha Day party!  It started with new collars:

Red Paisley for Sam

Green Monkey's for Monty

Of course, you can't have any kind of party without cake...

BarkBox supplied this one

It was easy to make.

In which Mom tries to get fancy....

The boys loved it!

Chomp chomp chomp...

Chomp chomp chomp...

Then, we moved on to presents!

Our April BarkBox came just at the right time!

Monty loves these hedgehogs.  They fit just right in his mouth and the wheezing sound is his favorite.  They are also the toy he is least likely to shred.  We buy him one every chance we get.

Dis mine, okay?

...and of course, Sam got a toy too!  Don't let his smile fool you, we know what he is thinking about this sock monkey!

Sock Monkey spotted.  All systems set to "Destroy".

There were other treats to enjoy as well...

Duck Jerky?  Please!

...and pretty soon the boys were tired and ready for a nap!

Dis boy gets no privacy...

Happy Gotcha Day, Monty!  We love you!

AZGRC's Annual Gotcha Day!

I took Monty to AZGRC's Annual Gotcha Day event today.  We love this event.  There are games to play, great food, and lots of friends to catch up with.  Since Sam still has a drain in his side, we decided I would go with Monty and Aaron would stay home with Sam.

Of course, the best part of the day is seeing all of the Golden's...

Waiting to play games...

I think all the dogs were finding old friends to say hi to!

This one had new prizes to take home!

We are always a little nervous about taking Monty out in crowds, our sweet boy doesn't like being crowded, but the folks who come to Gotcha Day are very understanding.  I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to help Monty greet their dogs.  I wish I could have gotten pictures of all of your pups!

One of Monty's new friends.  His Mom, Donna, made sure Monty got lots of positive attention.

There were games to play too.  This shell game variation (using plastic cups and hot dogs) proved to be very difficult for the dogs.

I like how the Golden's are waiting patiently in line for their turn.

Even Monty patiently waited his turn!

You're just going to have to sit in the dirt, Mom.

Of course, Monty also got to meet his former foster mom, Candy, and he kept an eye out for her the whole time we were there.

There she is!  I see her!

 There was a game where you had to take lei's and beads off of your head and get them on your dogs head in the fastest time possible.

Mom was kinda slow....

In my defense, the beads tangled in my hair.  ...and then there was a hoop game, called Hoop Hopping, where the dogs had to get two paws in a hoop to proceed to the next hoop.  Monty earned 3rd place!

I is just awesome.

He got a 3rd place star!

I am very proud of our boy!

Monty and me.

Update on Sam:

Sam still has a drain in one spot but is recovering slowly.  He is wrapped up pretty tightly but is being a good patient and leaving his bandages alone.  He was a little upset he didn't get to come with, but we were worried about the drain site getting dirty.

Sigh....

Monty's Day