Visitors from Home

Our parents traveled on spring break and so did our extended family.  They came to see US!  They spent four days visiting us and seeing the local sights.  It's soooooo much fun to have visitors.  They give us the love we don't receive from our parents . . . just kidding, Mommy!!  They give us lots of EXTRA LOVE!

When discussing the details of the sleeping arrangements, Mommy told Cousin A he could sleep in Ruger's crate since Ruger was on a sabbatical . . . Cousin A took her up on the offer and Jenna did too!  Don't worry, he didn't actually sleep in there!

Cousin A spread the love to Dixie too!

The small town our cousins live in doesn't have a Starbucks, so the humans went for special drinks and treated us to puppuccinos too!

Cousin C was kind enough to blow bubbles for us!  We had so much fun!

The cousins got to sample the local fare also!  We're not sure why they didn't get a doggy bag  . . . 

Cousin A tried his best to catch a jackrabbit!!! Trust us, if WE can't catch one, neither can you!

One day they all went hiking.  A certain small cousin didn't want to go hiking . . . until he realized what hiking actually was!  Then he LOVED it!

And it looks like a third generation has an interest in cacti too!

A good time was had by all!
Dixie and Jenna

Vegas Vacation

Our parents traveled to Las Vegas for the first time while Mommy was on spring break back in March.  It wasn't really a place Daddy wanted to go, but he agreed he wanted to be able to say he'd been there and done that .  Now they say they've been there and never need to go back!  They've decided they didn't really care for Vegas, but they LOVED the day trips they took while in the area.

They did spend a little time on the Strip . . .

They LOVED seeing these three in concert all together.  It was a great show!

Daddy learned what to do and what NOT to do while gambling his money away . . . Mommy is breaking some sort of rule by taking this picture, but she's the Queen of the Unseen Photographers.  

Hoover Dam was amazing!

Personally we think the BEST part of Hoover Dam was this guy . . . 

Mommy especially loved the road trips, because she got to see MOUNTAINS!!!!  (She hears angels singing as we type that!!)  Our Mommy is a Mountain Girl for sure!  She can feel her chest swelling with excitement when she sees them!  Seriously!  It's a big thrill for her.  (And now you know she's an even bigger weirdo than you thought previously!)

Our parents also took a day trip to Valley of Fire State Park about an hour north of Las Vegas.  

They saw these cool petroglyphs carved into the side of a huge rock.  Daddy even braved his distaste of altitude and climbed a BIG set of stairs for Mommy so she could see these!  Mommy admitted later the stairs weren't thrilling for her either because you could see through them!

What creature does this look like to you?

We do have pictures of Daddy, but he isn't a fan of having his face out here on the internet.

Our parents were super excited to see RAIN while they were on this trip!  It had been about five months since we'd had rain at home.  They weren't sure at first what that wet stuff falling from the sky actually was?!?!?!  It's now rained maybe three times since November, but we still haven't had a total of more than two inches!  We are definitely in a DROUGHT!

Mommy has developed a love affair with cactus over the last couple years.  She is fascinated by them.  Grandma recently traveled out West and is in total agreement with Mommy!  

Like mother, like daughter!

One final look at the mountains . . . wish we could have been there too! (insert eye roll)
Dixie and Jenna

PS: Tomorrow is our parents' NINETEENTH anniversary!!!!  Whoa!!!

Long Time No Write . . .

You may (or may not) have noticed that we haven't written a blog post lately.  Mommy has been super busy at work and hasn't had time to help us with our final drafts.  Now that school's out for summer, we should have more time to post.  Summer also means daily morning walks (which we definitely prefer over afternoon walks) and spending time with Mommy almost 24/7!

The biggest event that took place in our lives actually only took place in one of our lives: Ruger's.  We hinted in the previous posts (a long, long, time ago) that we had big news about Ruger.  Ruger left us for FOUR MONTHS to train for bird dawg hunting.  He left on January 6 and we didn't hear hide nor hair from him!  YIPPEE!!!!  (That was Dixie's input.)

Here's Ruger on the morning he left us.  He's still clueless about what's going to happen to him . . .

He's about to be dropped off.  His future looks bright!

Technically, that statement about not hearing from Ruger isn't totally true.  Mommy and Daddy visited Ruger once a month.  They took him special treats and Mommy tortured him with photo sessions with various bandannas and bow ties!  (Good to know his absence didn't excuse him from Mommy's special photo ops! Ha!)

When Mommy and Daddy had their first visit with Ruger, he was super excited to see them.  Mommy kneeled down to love on him, and he leaned into her neck and moaned. The visits were special for our parents.  The biggest surprise each time was how much Ruger had grown!  He returned to us weighing about EIGHTY pounds!!!

Here are a few pictures from each visit so you can see his growth . . .

Visit 1 - February 3

Is this a beautiful location or what?  It was very scenic.  They even saw mountain goats!

Ruger still has that puppy look here.  Like Mommy's tee shirt?

Visit 2 - March 3

This visit was full of costume changes for Ruger.  (insert eye roll)  Mommy needed to show her pride in UNC basketball and so Ruger had to wear a Carolina blue bandanna.  Since Ruger missed Valentine's Day, this was his first chance to wear his Love Bites bandanna.  And lastly, Ruger needed to pose for his Easter pictures.  We girls have bandannas in the same fabric.  

Visit 3 - April 7

This visit was shorter than the others because the trainer had a death in his family.

You can see Ruger has GROWN in these pictures!

The Pick Up Day!  May 5

Mommy is VERY excited about this day!  Dixie not so much!

Ruger has settled back in as if he never left.  Our parents were afraid he would forget all his potty training, but he's been home a month and hasn't had one issue!  Well, not with ringing the bell and going outside.  But he DOES have issues.  He still likes to try to be "intimate" with Dixie and he still occasionally eats POOP!  (Not his own, just ours . . . ICK!!!)  We're working on both situations.  If you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know.

We're back to being the Fab Five again!

Dixie and Jenna