under the knife

been busy taking care of this patient of mine...
poor guy. he was all smiles BEFORE the surgery. not so much now :(
healing is going well. he's got a pharmacy of meds to make him feel better, his own personal nurse, and two furry friends to keep him company. i never knew how awful shoulder surgeries were. but steve did. this is his 4th one.

these guys are helping him heal. therapy dogs, right?

positive thoughts and prayers are appreciated!

jackson hole anniversary trip

we just got back from a quick trip to jackson hole to celebrate our anniversary. and man oh man was it a good time. i had never been there and steve hadn't been since he was a kid, so it was super fun to experience the area together. it was a gorgeous drive to jackson and the weather was beautiful. we stayed at the snow king resort which was really fun since there was a small ski resort attached to it. unfortunately, the whole area lacked the fresh powder we are getting from today's storm. we had a great time being lazy and having nothing to do but be with each other. i love this guy so much and it was so fun to get away with him for a few days. especially since steve had shoulder surgery awaiting him when we got home...
sorry for the OVERLOAD of pictures, but the trip was just that fun :)

our first stop was at soda springs in idaho. it's a beautiful little hidden gem off the highway with some cool history. this natural pool produces carbonated water that you can drink. very cool, but i am not, however, a huge fan of drinking the water.

driving into jackson along the snake river. such a gorgeous day and we even saw some mountain sheep on the slope. can't wait to visit this place in the warmer months and play in the river.
so sweet, steve arranged for rose petals to be spread all over the room. i think i'm gonna keep this guy :)
our view of the resort from our balcony. like i said, awesome weather, just a huge lack of anything resembling powder, even in the trees :(
view of jackson from the middle of the slope. the lift to the summit was closed that day, so this is as high as we could get. awesome view though. off to the right is the elk refuge and in the distance, the tetons.
i know this isn't a great picture of steve, but it's the best one of me, and i'm the one who does the blog, so...tough luck steve-o ♥
they built these arches all over town from the elk sheds found on the refuge each year.
thomas and joseph, our belgian horses who led the sleigh on the elk refuge. and our driver in the background.
such a cool place for elk to come during the harsh winters. they said there weren't as many this year due to the non-harsh winter. boo.

back at the elk refuge visitors center, we saw these "little" ladies. a mama and baby moose! the first live moose i have ever seen :)

on the way home, we stopped at my sister-in-law's parents' house. they have cattle and a lot of them are calfing right now. we got to play with the new babies. not really a huge fan of cows, but the babies are just so darn cute!

and lastly, meet grace. we watched one of the cows give birth, and in honor of the spectator, me, they named her grace. not sure if that is an honor, having a cow named after me, but whatev, i'll take it. pardon the slime, she is just a couple minutes old and mama is still cleaning her up.

can't wait for next year's trip!

1 year

my how time flies when you are having fun. today is steve and my's 1 year wedding anniversary. a year ago today i married my best friend. what a great day! and boy did i love him then. but i had no idea how much more i could and would love him as time went on. i couldn't imagine my life without him and thankfully, i don't have to. he is my everything.
i have absolutely loved this year of marriage and seeing how much our relationship has grown. i love waking up to his mug every morning. i can't wait to have babies with him and see our family grow. i even can't wait until we are grey haired old folks sitting in rocking chairs on the porch watching the sunset. most of all i love that he loves me for who i am and that i can completely 110% be myself at all times, and he can do the same, and our love grows more each day. i think that is exactly how it should be. i sure feel like one lucky girl to have snatched up a hotty like steve.

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BABALISH!

can't wait for the many many many more to come, you lucky dog :) and thank you for sharing your life with me and showing me how awesome love is. i must say, i'm a fan.

snow day

just a few pics of the fam and what we've been up to lately. the dogs are getting along quite well, though jack beats up on marley unrelentlingly. poor marley has little puppy teeth scabs all over the place. the good thing is, he is learning to fight back more and more. and when you aren't looking, they are little cuddle bugs. brotherly love...

we went up mirror lake highway the other day and played in the snow for a bit. this is the best self portrait family picture we could get. it's a lot harder with 2 dogs now.

typical picture of how the boys eat their food.

jack has no concern for what his feet are standing in. he often steps in his water too and then spreads paw prints all throughout the house. fantastic.

jack was a natural in the snow. rolling all around and laying down in it. marley does great in the snow as well, but he's not one to roll around in it if he doesn't have to.

we took a lovely walk down to the river. so pretty.

the ice wasn't as thick as we thought and huge chunks of ice broke off right where we were standing. luckily we had cat like skills and stayed dry.

the pup wasn't so lucky and he got his first rude introduction to the water. amazingly, he was dry 5 minutes later.

then off to play around. see below marley demonstrating his regulatory skills on jack.
soaking up some sun, looking so regal.
thanks to steve for this photo of jack. just imagine how great it would be if we had a decent camera...
lounging in the sun and snow.
soooo tired on the way home. cuddling!
and for your own viewing pleasure...this is how we found jack napping the other day. i love this guy. he's got such energy, but when he sleeps, he sleeeeeeeps.

a few trips planned coming up. jackson hole for our anniversary (only 10 days away). i'm stoked because i have never been. and then in april, denver! also never been there. and after the denver trip, it will be camping time again! can't wait for the warmer months so we can play outside more. but we may have to shave jack so he doesn't overheat. poor guy pants just laying in the house.

brotherly luuuuuuv

the first few days we had jack, we weren't sure how well the two dogs would get along. marley was very interested in jack, but jack was so docile and scared. we were hoping it would get better as jack got more comfortable around us.
well he did get more comfortable. and it did get better. jack suddenly got very interested in marley and wanted to play ALL THE TIME. marley was being a bit of a stinker to jack and ignored him, not wanting to play, but instead lay down and catch some zzzzz's as he does best. it's so funny to see the different personalities. marley's goal each day is to sleep in, eat some food and water, maybe get a quick run in, and then go back to sleep, on the couch or bed if he can finagle it. jack on the other hand, wants to play from sun up to sun down, only sleeping and eating to get enough energy to play again.
we were hoping that by getting a puppy, he might make marley more active and marley will help the puppy to mellow out and catch on to training a little easier.
well...it seems to be working out the way we had hoped. the other night, we caught these two doing this...

i was a little worried before we got a puppy that marley would think i didn't love him anymore or that he was being replaced, but he's taking it quite well and i must say i really enjoy having two dogs. now if we could just teach jack to walk on a leash so we could take him up to the mountains with us.
here are a few other pictures of them fighting. notice how jack goes straight for the neck and already dominates on marley.
ps. pay attention to this puppy's paws. he's going to be huge!