Trip Home

December 13th I left the four boys to fend for themselves and hopped a flight to Minnesota.  Our MN girls were happy to see me and I was thrilled to see them.

I was lucky enough to attend a gymnastics practice which is always a treat. 

 Shelby is on her first year and loves it, she is a social butterfly. 

With her daddy's help she masters the parallel bars 

And the balance beam

Jumping is a skill that she has been working on.  Her jump looked pretty good here says this grandma

 It was nice to see that everyone of the kids in Shelby's group had a daddy there helping them.

  Julia is a true gymnast (she's been at it a while) and is moving up to the pre-competition group soon.

 Warming up-look at the position of those little feet-toes pointed

Listening intently to her coach 

These look like too much fun

 I suppose this could be just a proud Grandma but look at that form :)

 Our Minnesota Christmas was another success, the only thing missing was Grandpa.

The girls helped momma make cut outs (a very brave momma she is :)

 Both girls loved their Eye Spy Me quilts that I made and had a blast looking at the pictures on the quilts.

 Nope they didnt get a real puppy for Christmas but momma said I could get them 'almost' real dogs.  Their joy as they opened these brought tears to my eyes.

Shelby's was 'Bouncy', true to her name she bounces if she sees you walk in front of her, bounces and barks just like a real Roscoe.

 Julia's is Cookie.  Cookie loves to snuggle and chew her bone.  When you snuggle with Cookie she makes a contended sound just like Peeko.  Yup these were a hit.

 For some reason the girls always drag me up to their rooms to play.  I did get this nice picture of Shelby on the top of Julia's bunk bed.

 And our other little Christmas angel sitting in the living room.

 Lenny and Kelly graciously hosted our small group for an early Christmas celebration.  This year I requested meatballs...we not only had meatballs but home made marinara as well as Kelly's famous stuffed mushrooms-delish.

 When we told Julia who was coming I said remember Great Grandma Loi and she responded, "Oh yeah I have another grandma, she's my old grandma"  That 'old' grandma walked in and got a huge hug from Julia-loved it.

                                       Shelby Marie thinks her GG Loi is pretty cool as well.

 And Aunt Kelly always always buys Julia the most interesting gifts.  This year it was the Doggie Doo game.  You give the wiener doggie a treat then take turns shaking the dice.  You squeeze the bulb as many times as the number on the dice-continue on this path until the dog poops.  Each squeeze of the bulb allows the dog to release some noisy gas as the treat travels down the digestive track.  We played this until our jaws hurt from laughing.  Poor Kelly had to go into Julia's teacher on Monday to explain to her what the deal was in case Julia decided to share about her new game.  Yep-Auntie Kelly scores the best gift given again.  BTW before you think 'OMG sick and twisted'  Kelly L actually saw a commercial on Nickelodeon for the game....Oh ok it is still sick and twisted but so Kelly W :)

After a busy early Christmas my little MN family relaxed by the tree.

This was perhaps the nicest visit I have had in a long long while.  Thanks Len and Kel for making it so.

We actually did have Christmas on the day.  Friends from Canada and their family who drove down,
a friend from where ever her motorhome is and David and I packed into the motorhome -ate, laughed and had a very nice time.

Parker took an instant liking to Jill-Gail's bonus grand daughter

Connie and Ella (Gail's daughter and partner) Gail and our friend Judy.  

 The group of 9 fit comfortably in the motorhome.

 Jill (Gail's bonus grand daughter) and Avery her grandson filling their plates

 Now this is my kind of Santa.  No reindeer or sleigh but a nice lookin Harley and the roar of thunder along with a 'Ho ho ho' made this Santa a popular site in the park.

It was a nice Christmas and we thank you all who helped make it so.

And Parker Makes Three

Many of you know that I am affiliated with the volunteer group Lost Dogs MN
http://lostdogsmn.com/

It is because of what I have learned from Lost Dogs that I was able to rescue the dog who is now called Parker.  

David came home from town (Parker AZ) one day and told me that he saw a dog on the side of the road.  He said that he called to him and walked towards him but the dog ran off.  I said of course it did David, the poor thing is probably in survival mode and that is certainly not how you get close to a dog in survival mode :)  Seriously, I bet you didn't know that if your dog goes missing, chances of he or she coming back to you when you call his name are not good...he/she will more than likely run away from you.  Read the info on the lost dogs Face Book page titled Tips and Tricks because you may need it some day.  

Anyway, I gathered up a blanket, some water and some stinky old shredded chicken that I found in the fridge,  and off we went to try and get the pup.  He was in the desert not far from the road and as the cars passed he looked up as if to see if his people were coming to get him.  Once we parked the Jeep David went one way and I the other, when he saw David off he ran only to sit right beside the Jeep.  I sprinkled some chicken on the ground and sat with my back to the pup talking softly.  He came closer but then walked away.  It took some time but I eventually was able to walk slowly up to him, held out some chicken and he took it and some water as well.  I gently put the blanket over him, picked him up-he sat on my lap all the way back to our place.

Here he is in the 'I got him' shot.  It was a pretty exciting time for me!

 Once we got him home he ate a little and drank a lot and totally passed out.  He was pretty matted, his ears, belly and feet were one matted mess...poor guy.  He had, at some time, been groomed and he certainly was not skinny.  We did find out that a week earlier a gal had tried to get him but was unable to.  He had been in the same spot for at-least a week and most surely longer.

We went to the groomer in town (Brenda's Critter Corral) to see if he was familiar to them and asked them if they could give us a deal on a grooming.  Nope they didn't give us a deal but did the job free!  They said he was full of ticks and that his ears were so heavy from the matted hair that the ends were bleeding.  It took them four hours to get  him cut and bathed refusing to take even a tip!

Here he is nice and clean and once again totally passed out but feeling better.

 We have checked with the vets, the shelter, the RV Parks and a few stores.  He has been advertised on the local radio station and we have looked through all of the lost doggie postings we can think to look to no avail.  It seems that for some reason or another he may have been dumped right where we found him.  Someone had at one time put some money into him because he had what is called Cherry Eye and it had been repaired-not a cheap fix we are told.  It baffles me, if only they could talk but maybe we wouldn't want to know...

David took him to the vet for a wellness check and because I was sure he had an ear infection.  His ears were so full of bacteria that the vet said he had had the infection for a while, he also has an eye infection.  After a rabies shot, antibiotics, medicated ointment for itchy skin, stuff to wash the ears out and a scheduled return visit to be checked for Lyme's the vet said that he was in reasonably good health given he had survived the desert.

Yep, once again passed out-this time on David's lap with Roscoe.

 Our two boys pretty much welcomed him into the family...well OK Peeko welcomed him, Roscoe ignored him for the first day but has since decided he might be OK to have around.

  
The first two days Parker (so named because of the town we found him near) slept beside the bed..but then he discovered that he was able to get up on it with the other two,

 now there are 5 of us in that king size bed.  And even though I am the one that 'rescued' him, David is his favorite, he follows at his heals no matter where he goes.  He is a good boy,  doesn't bark and has been taught the word no.  He knows what a leash means and is very well house trained.  He doesn't seem to know how to play with people or other dogs but he is well behaved and he is responding to his new name.

We are still looking for his real family but if they are not to be found, Parker makes three pups in our family.  Quit rolling your eyes, I know who you are and we just don't care...HA

I am now back in MN for a long weekend (and Christmas with the family) while David is in AZ taking care of the boys.

A Perspective Buyer?

Someone has looked at the house two days in a row and although he has not committed to buying-nor has he made an offer (minor details) he did help corral a little pup that was found in the ditch sitting under the for-sale sign on our property.

The first showing was Monday (my birthday BTW:).  When they drove up to the driveway the little peanut was huddled under the for sale sign.  He was shivering and scared and wouldn't let the realtor near him.  She didn't want to push it so she returned later with food, water and an armful of blankets-set it all as near the pup as she could get and left.  The temp dropped to 12 degrees that night.

When they went back the next day for the second showing (yep same person looking) the dog was still there and still alive.  Somehow they lured it up the driveway with food and attempted to get it to go into our porch.  The fella that was looking at the house (did I mention this was a second showing :), knelt down and the little guy ran into his arms.

Our Realtor took the pup to the Longville Vets who deemed him healthy and about 8-9 months old.  Since the area doesn't have a human society, our Realtor is paying the boarding fees so that this little guy can stay warm and dry at the vet clinic until his family or a new forever home is found.

Isn't he just the cutest little peanut, a miracle dog!

Now if this stand up Realtor could only convince the nice gentlemen to buy our house-paws crossed

What's Goin On

We have settled into park life at Emerald Cove quite easily.  Mr social butterfly knows everyone and I am getting familiar as well.  The weather continues to be unusually warm and mild and the pool feels great.  The boys and I take long walk every day and we find ourselves spending the mornings at a friend's for coffee with lots BS thrown in.  

One evening the sunset was particularly stunning

 And then I literally turned around and caught a picture of the full moon rising (isn't their a song somewhere in that sentence?)

 The boys tend to get quite dusty given we are in the desert.  They don't necessarily like baths but do feel better afterwards

And poor little Peeko had to have his hair cut.  I kept myself in the motor-home for much of this process...it scared me to see what he was going to look like in the end but I do have to say David did a darned good job.

The park has a craft sale twice a month.  It does draw quite a few vendors and I was able to purchase a few Christmas gifts.

Last year Gail and Colleen talked me into participating this year.  Colleen and Mark will not be here until January but Gail and I set up next to each other.  Gail is sitting behind her adorable knitted scarves and that is my David at our table

We had name signs for sale.  I take pictures of things in nature that look like a letter, put them together to make names, secure them in glass and glue them onto a board...wallah a sign with your name on it.   They certainly did pique the interest of the looky loos and we actually sold 6!

As often as we see burro's around here I just never get tired of them.  This girl was about ready to cross the road

 But waited for her friend and they totally looked both ways prior to crossing I am sure of it!

Poor David, when he doesnt have a card game to go to he gets a little wrestless, he even tried bingo one night but hasnt been back..HA

It's a good thing that Gail and Neil's house has a nightly game of dice

 Neil and I don't shake-he scores and I am the peanut gallery.

So yes we have settled in nicely and are enjoying our time.  David is looking forward to an actual Texas Hold Em tournament being held at the casino next week.  We didn't win the lottery but gee could he win a tournament at least :)