February

With February brought snow. Since we were not getting any in the Sierras my friend Joleen and I went to Utah!!! We drove out there with her boyfriend David and hit it just right. We followed a storm in and got to ski powder the whole time. We skied Canyons in park city and it was beautiful! The snow was fluffy and deep! Joleen and I skied from the tallest lift that was full of experts only signs. It was amazing! We played in the aspens which was magical.

At Canyons they have a Belgium Waffle shop and OMG they were to die for! They would stuff your sweet fluffy with 2 bars of Belgium dark chocolate and then top it with whip cream and strawberries! I was in Heaven! That was my favorite part of the trip only second to the powder runs with Joleen.

On our way out of town we stopped at a local museum because they had the Dead Sea scrolls exhibit. That was incredible! This is one of the jars the scrolls were found in. being able to see the history from Jesus’ time was absolutely incredible! I know I am such a history nerd.

Gotham is growing up also. He is so goofy and loves to play with all his toys. He is not partial to one or the other he must play with them all.

The end of February also brought my Dads birthday. In honor of him I made his favorite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. He could never get enough of them. I miss him so much!

I also was able to get a few Ski Patrol Days in at Sierra at Tahoe. I do love my home mountain! It is so pretty watching the sun get low and doing sweep. I feel so close to my Dad in these times.

Janurary catch up

I know I have not bloged in a log time so it is time to catch every one up! Here is Janurary!

 

For New Years I went to Tahoe to spend it with some amazing friends. Yes baby Gotham and all his cuteness came too. He got to experience snow for the first time and LOVED it! He was digging in it, eating it, and running in it the whole time. We took a hike to Fallen Leaf Lake and Gotham got to experience being in a back pack and ice on the water’s edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  We did lots of hikes while he was young and until he was 4 months he had to be in the back pack. He really did not like it! He cried the whole time and complained every step. We hiked the Nevada hills alot with my roomate Kim. When we went to Folsomwe hiked Folsom Lake when the water was super low. On one of our Folsom Lake hikes we saw the old salmon falls bridge that is usually deep under water. Drew did a flip in the setting sun and we all walked across the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

   

 

 

 

 

I even found a love note from God. Whenever I see heart rocks I think of Him. This was a great one!

 

 

   Aspen is much friendlier with Gotham than she was with Hansel. She will even cuddle with Gotham as they sleep.

Baby Gotham!!!

Welcome home Baby Gotham!!!

A week after I took Hansel back to GDB I picked up Gotham. A cute, fluffy, fat, 8 week old yellow lab puppy. I thought he was very cute but it took me about 2 weeks to love him. I missed Hansel so much that it was hard for me to jump into loving a new baby. I also was not fond of his name but both he and his name grew on me. He was just adorable! He had such a wrinkly face and droopy eyes that made my heart melt.

 I had him over Christmas so he got to be the Christmas puppy with a big red bow on and everywhere we went people adored him.

When he was eating he would get so fat I thought he would explode! He also would get tired while eating all his food and have to sit down in order to finish. He has no trouble finishing his food now!

 

 

The first walk we took was adorable. He wanted to stay close to Aspen so he walked great on the leash because she was there. His little tale was so high in the air and it flopped back and forth as he walked.

His first outing was to the hairstylist. He was pretty good and just hung out under the chair. He also wanted to explore everything. He is super smart and started learning things right away! He is going to be a good one!

Good Bye Hansel

On December 15th, 2013 I had to bring Hansel back to Guide Dog for the Blind Headquarters in San Rafael California. I had him for almost a full year from the time he was a tiny puppy until he was a poised confident dog ready for his next adventure. It was so hard to leave him but I knew he was going to do great! He was more interested in the new toys that hung from the ceiling than saying goodbye to me. That night was so hard! I could feel an empty void in the back of my car as I drove home. I collapsed in tears because I missed him so much! He had become my best friend over the last year and will always have a special place in my heart.

While he was there I got to watch his progress on the phase report that came out every Thursday. I was so worried about him passing medical checks but he flew through them no problem! Once he was in a class he wasted no time in learning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8! A phase each week! I got the letter that he was in class and then graduating on April 5^th 2014. I found out that he got paired with a man named Dan who lives in Canada. WOW a fingerprint of God right there. When I brought Hansel home I put him on the bed so my dad (DAN) could see him. My dad loved it! Shortly after that he passed away. Now Hansel is paired with Dan. They are a perfect match. Hansel walks super fast in his harness and Dan loves it. Dan loves that Hansel is a lap dog and cuddles with him every night. I am so proud of my Little Man and how well he has done. I am so happy that he is with Dan and how much Dan loves him. Even though it is hard to let him go I know that my little puppy is changing Dan’s life every day!

Congratulations Hansel & Dan!!!