Lucy's First Christmas

This year is Lucy's first Christmas with us and we couldn't be happier. She has been such a joy and we cannot imagine our life without her. Christmas is my favorite holiday, so of course Lucy had to join in all the festivities! Lucy has been very patient with us...she let us dress her up with reindeer antlers and a jingle bell collar. I wasn't sure how she was going to react to having a tree in the living room, especially since it was going to go right next to her bed. But she loved it. Initially she did try to nibble on the branches, but soon realized it wasn't that tasty. What we quickly realized is that we couldn't put any ornaments on the lower half of the tree because her tail would promptly whip them right off the branches! So we put the breakable ones up high. She liked that with the tree, she could sit on her bed and look out the front window...something she cannot normally do because the loveseat is in front of the big picture window. While Lucy was probably looking down the street for her boyfriend, Roscoe, we liked to pretend that she was waiting for Santa and the Reindeer to come pick her up.

This Christmas we split time between our two families. We headed down to Portland on Dec. 23rd and spent Christmas Eve with the Tull family and then left for Spokane on Christmas Day. I was a little concerned since we were greeted by over a foot and a half of snow in Portland. I think the City of Portland literally only owns one plow and all the major streets weren't plowed, so getting around town was a nightmare. And I heard that due to environmental concerns, the City of Portland wasn't using de-icer on the roads. Oye! We had heard that parts of I-84 freeway were closed and nervous about driving along the Columbia River since the winds can get pretty bad. But Clark was determined as ever to see his family and make it to his Grandma's house for Christmas dinner, so we left around 7 AM. The first couple of hours were pretty bad because the roads weren't plowed, but once we got to Hood River, it got significantly better. The good news is that we saw some amazing sights along the drive. We saw three bighorn sheep, a handful of deer, and even some antelope! We didn't have time (and frankly were concerned about stopping on the freeway with the snow and ice) to stop and take pictures, but the animals were RIGHT along side the road...it was pretty awesome. It's pretty rare to see Bighorn Sheep in the wild, so it was very cool. We also passed Multnomah Falls, which was half frozen over, a rarity. Didn't snap a picture, but a cool thing to see.

I insisted that Clark get a set of chains in case we need them...despite all his objections and reassurances to me that he knows how to drive in the snow, he finally caved and bought them. I argued that if we don't need them that is fine, but at least we have them in the car just in case :) And as it turned out, we did need the chains while we were in Spokane (over 6 feet of snow!)

After spending a week in Spokane with Clark's family, we drove back to Portland on New Year's Eve and rung in 2009 with the Tull family.

While we were in Spokane, Lucy stayed in Portland with Grandma and Grandpa Dog. I cannot tell who was happier about it....Lucy or Grandpa Dog. We call my dad, Grandpa Dog, the Dog Whisperer because not only is he a dog lover, but he has a special connection with Lucy. Lucy absolutely LOVES their house and their huge backyard. She follows around Grandpa Dog because he feeds her treats, lets her lick his dinner plate, he massages her legs, and lets her lay on the couches. She really is spoiled at their house and we were really concerned that she wouldn't remember who we are!

Lucy joined us when we got our tree...she wasn't sure what to make of it at first. She was super sneaky and slipped out of the car while we were tying the tree down! I guess being on house confinement means any sort of car ride or outing is "extra special"

Lucy with her reindeer antlers...getting ready for Santa to pick her up

Lucy is probably yawning because she is bored to tears by my antics of dressing her up and snapping pictures

Andrea getting ready to put the lights on the tree...red and white lights to go with our Peanuts-themed tree this year. You will notice it is snowing outside. Yes, there was Christmas music playing and we were drinking hot chocolate...it was perfect!

Here is our tree after all the lights and ornaments are on...you cannot see up close, but I have all Snoopy and Peanuts-themed ornaments. Some are newer from Hallmark, but many of them were given to me by my mom. We chose the Peanuts theme partially because that is what Lucy is named after...the Lucy character in the Peanuts comic strip.

On our TV stand, we had red pointsetta plants on each side along with some Peanuts holiday decorations.

Here is the other side.

Side table with Peanuts decorations.

Our stockings hung from our TV stand since we don't have a fireplace. Mine and Clark's stockings are Peanuts-themed and Lucy's....well, I guess you can figure out which one is hers.

The view from the couch.

Our front door with a holiday wreath and our Snoopy lit decor on the porch.

Our welcome mat inside the front door.

Inside the window of our office, which overlooks the front porch is another Peanuts lighted display.

Snoopy is wishing you a Merry Christmas!

This is pretty much what Lucy did most of December...

Update on Lucy's Recovery

I am very happy to report that Lucy had her 8-week post-surgery checkup with the vet and it's all good news! She had an x-ray and it showed that her knee is healing very nicely. The vet says her knee has healed to about 95%, which I guess is pretty good. Lucy walks and you cannot visibly notice any limping. The only thing she still does is that she favors her right leg and puts more weight on that leg than her left leg when she is standing stationary. But the vet reassured us that it's okay...she is still adjusting. Over time, she will regain strength and muscle in that leg and knee.

So what does that mean for Lucy? It means she can now go on leashed walks every day! It also means we can let her to "go do her business" on her own rather than take her out on a leash, which is nice considering the weather is getting colder and wetter! She still cannot run off-leash or play with other doggies for another 6-8 weeks. In the meantime, we have to work to build back her muscle and endurance.

Good news!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

So, the snow starting coming down on Sunday, December 14th and it didn't seem to stop...before we knew it, we had over a foot of snow! It's pretty rare in Western Washington to get more than a couple of inches and VERY rare for a White Christmas. While I was initially really excited about having to work from home, it got old pretty quick. I started to get cabin fever...I read through four books, knit a scarf, got caught up on all my TV sitcoms, and cleaned and organized my closet and kitchen pantry. Luckily I have a snow-driving veteran - Clark - who grew up in Spokane and is very comfortable with driving in the snow. Even in our little Prius, we were able to get around town. Those all-weather tires really held true!

Lucy LOVED the snow...she loved to run around the backyard in it and stick her snout in the ground and eat it...here are some pictures of Lucy in the snow. It's looking like it's going to be a White Christmas after all! And even though we are traveling to Portland and Spokane for the holidays, there is even MORE snow in those places - yippee! The only bummer is that we are driving, so I just hope the roads are okay...

View of our front yard and street from our front porch

View of the front of our house

Lucy sporting her holiday jingle bell collar in the snow

Lucy loves to eat snow and I was able to snap this picture before she licked it off her nose...too cute!

"Mama, will you please let me back inside the warm house?"

We forgot to put away Lucy's summer pool...whoops! Lucy discovered that underneath the layer of snow and ice was cold water...she slurped it up!

Snow mustache!

Looking at me with those eyes, I can never say NO to her!

Lucy catching snowflakes on her face!

Action Shot - Lucy running through the snow!

Sitting on the snow-covered back deck

Another cute shot

Seriously, I think I should enter Lucy into a cute dog photo contest...

Lucy's pawprints in the snow

Lucy Meets Santa

I love getting my picture taken with Santa and thought it would be even more fun taking Lucy to meet Santa. Conveniently, PetSmart had a photo station set up and for only $10 we could our picture with him! Simple enough, right? WRONG. I forgot that Lucy has been on "house confinement" for the last 8 weeks recovering from her knee surgery. What does that mean? Well, for the first 2-3 weeks she was slow moving, but after that she started to go stir crazy...wondering why she wasn't getting her daily walks or why she wasn't allowed to run around the backyard or why she couldn't play with her boyfriend from across the street, Roscoe. We figured since she was healing nicely that we could take Lucy, on a leash of course, to PetSmart for the big Santa photo-op. Well, Lucy started getting excited when she saw her leash...she continued to get even more excited when she realized she was going for a car ride (one of her favorite things). So by the time we pulled up in the PetSmart parking lot, Lucy was fired up and ready to play. While Lucy is a well-behaved dog in our book, she definitely could learn how to walk on a leash without pulling. She is 90 lbs of pure muscle and if she isn't wearing her walking harness, good luck to you. I don't know what we were thinking about not using her harness. So as Lucy approached PetSmart, which is filled with all sorts of dog smells and since pets are allowed in the store on a leash, she started to get even more excited. Luckily there wasn't a line for a picture with Santa, so we went right up. Bless Santa's heart...he was a dog lover, so he was very patient while we tried to get her to sit. Lucy was so worked up and excited that she could hardly sit still....very much a wiggleworm. If you have met Lucy you know what we mean. She greets any and all people with not just a tailwag, but a bootie wag. That is what we call it...it's when her whole but and hips shake from side to side and her tail is going crazy (we learned the hard way and no longer keep anything on the coffee table).

After 5-10 minutes of trying to bribe Lucy with treats, she finally sat down long enough for us to pose with Santa. It took both me AND Santa holding her back by her collar.

As Lucy would say, "Happy Howlidays" and "I woof you a Merry Christmas!"

Clark Turns 30!

Today, Clark turned 30 years old. It is official...he is indeed an old fart! We celebrated with friends by having a mini bowling and putt-putt golf party. It was fun...of course Andrea beat EVERYONE, including the birthday boy himself on the first game of bowling...scoring a 132. Of course Clark had side bets with his college buddies going on and I cannot really figure out who "won," but it was a fun time.

After bowling, we playing a round of putt-putt golf. Tower Lanes in Tacoma recently rennovated their indoor putt-putt golf and it's really nice. Again, Andrea was the champion beating everyone, even the birthday boy, who is REALLY good at golf. Andrea got a hole in one on the last hole. Enough about me, this day really belongs to Clark. Happy 30th Birthday!

The birthday cake I baked for him...a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and crumbled Almond Roca.

Clark blowing out his candles.

This is the 30-year-old, Clark Mather!

College buddies from WSU - Bryant, Dustin, Clark, and Todd

Clark with his work mentors - Robert Thoms and Jeff Gombosky

The Norm Dicks Crew - Ryan, Clark, Sara, LaTasha, and Joe

Mollyrose, Ryan, and Sara

Dustin getting ready to putt-putt

Todd getting ready for his shot

Clark doing his best at putt-putt

Lucy's First Thanksgiving - Our Little Gobbler!

This was our first Thanksgiving we celebrated with Lucy and we have much to be thankful for this year. Here are just a few of many things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1) Lucy - she has added such joy, happiness, and love into my life. She makes me laugh and warms my heart every time I see her. I know I am an obnoxious parent that thinks everything she does is so precious - the sound of her slurping water, the sound of her chowing down her food, her cute bootie wag...everything is the "absolute cutest thing ever." I know I am annoying, but at least I can admit it! :)

2) A Healthy Family - I lost my Nana earlier this year, which was really hard for me. She was my last living grandparent and I was particular close with her. Nana taught me how to play Scrabble and was a fun shopping buddy. I am so thankful that the rest of my family is healthy this year. I have the best mom in the whole world...we sure used to fight when I was growing up, but now she truly is my best friend. She is the most generous person I know, always thinking of others first. I am also thankful for my dad...he is so giving of his time and spent many weeks this year coming up to "visit" and helping with our home and yard improvement projects.

3) House and Job - with the economic downturn, all you hear about is layoffs, foreclosures, and businesses closing down. I feel very fortunate to have job security...a job I like and in the field I enjoy. I also feel even more fortunate to be able to afford to own my own house. It's a luxury and certainly not a right for someone my age to be able to own their own home. While I do feel I have worked hard to get where I am in my professional career and in a position to buy a home, I definitely think I am blessed and lucky too.

4) Living Closer to Home - I loved living and working in DC, but it sure is nice to be only a few hours from my parents and the rest of my family. It has been good seeing my family more since I moved home from the East Coast.

5) Clark - I am so thankful to have Clark in my life. He is my best friend, my partner in crime, and is EXTREMELY patient with me. At times, I know I can be high maintenance and impatient and his support and love to me are unwavering.

Okay, I could go on and on forever about everything I am thankful for, but I also wanted to share some stories and pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to head to Portland this year to spend it with my family. The last three Thanksgivings we spent with each other, but without either one of our families...mostly because we were living on the East Coast and it was too expensive to fly home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Anyway, this year I had no desire to cook and just wanted to relax. We were a little concerned about taking Lucy because she is still supposed to be on house confinement, but we got it cleared by the vet.

So we headed to Portland for an extended holiday weekend. It was great...the food was delicious and it was great to see my family. I was even brave enough to give "Rock Band" a try. While I love to sing, I am completely tone deaf, so it was an interesting experience. Apparently being the lead vocal is the easiest of all the different roles (compared to drummer and guitar), but somehow I still found a way to fail - whoops! Those singing lessons that my parents paid for me when I was child certainly didn't pay off! Oh well, we had fun putting on a show for mom, Auntie Carol, and Auntie Cor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lucy and Andrea taking a nap on the couch

Napping with Mom's Infamous "Magic Blanket"

Lucy gets to lay on the couch at Grandpa and Grandma Dog's house

What a spoiled little pooch

Lucy sitting like a good little girl waiting for her special Thanksgiving dinner feast

Lucy's Thanksgiving Dinner Feast - kibble with a couple scoops of mashed potatoes and turkey and covered in gravy

Lucy chowing down

Lucy went straight for the turkey first, then mashed potatoes, then attempted to lick all the gravy off the kibble before polishing off the kibble

Lucy licking her bowl clean...a trick her daddy dog taught her!

Lucy is full from turkey and took a post-feast nap

Lucy getting ready for the Rock Band show

Andrea on lead vocals with Bryan on drums

Clark on guitar

Andrea laughing at herself for singing SO out of tune!

Cousin Jordan on Base Guitar, Andrea singing, and Bryan on Drums

Lucy hanging out at Grandpa and Grandma Dog's house...you know she is having fun when her tongue sticks out of her mouth sideways

Continuing our tradition of buying Lucy a squeaky toy for each holiday, Lucy is checking out Henrietta, the Sexy Chicken

Lucy not sure what to think of the weird squeaky noise

Lucy finally gets over her fears and rips it apart, pulls out the stuffing, and conquers the squeaker!

Yummy chicken leg!