McCall Winter Carnival

Last year, we went to the McCall Winter Carnival on the 2nd weekend of the festival, so this year we figured we would go when all the action was. We took off work and school on Friday, packed up all the electronics, people and dogs and were headed north by 11:30am. On the way, we stopped at McDonalds and had lunch. Normally, we NEVER eat fast food, but we were on vacation and needed a quick bite. When we got to Cascade we turned off and drove all through Tamarack, a beautiful resort and dreamed of buying a second home or property.

We arrived at the AmericInn just around check in time and right before cookies were served! We love this hotel because they are dog friendly and have a nice indoor pool and hot tub that Aaron and I use when we're not out around town. We unpacked, then went to Chapala's for dinner, then watched the Children's Parade and a spectacular fireworks show for the opening ceremonies. It was cold out, but we all had pretty good clothing, so we were mostly warm. After the fireworks, we headed back to the hotel where Aaron and I promplty put our swimsuits and headed to the pool and hot tub for a relaxing soak.

Saturday morning we all slept late and rush to catch breakfast at the hotel and then we got bundled up to head out for the parade. We found a parking spot pretty easily and walked the couple of blocks to Main street and got a great spot to watch the parade. It was terrific! The dogs got a little cold sitting in their stroller, so Dave and I held them and they kept us toasty. Aaron was running around catching candy and watching the parade up close and had fun also. After the parade, we walked around town a bit and then got some great noodles at the festival. Aaron and I shared some funnel cakes (our favorite fair/festival ritual) and we walked out on the frozen lake and let the girls run off leash. We walked around a few hours and then headed back to the hotel for a few hours of rest before our big prime rib dinner at the Mill.

Sunday morning we got up and this time took our time at the wonderful breakfast at the hotel, got packed up and then went to the craft festival. We also drove around town and looked at some of the sculptures we missed the day before when we were on foot. We headed south on a side road and admired more of the subdivisions and homes.

When we got home, we quickly unpacked and settled into our jammies to watch the Super Bowl. It was a great weekend!! Full picture album here.

Pepper and Chloe - Our Girls

When Dave and I met in 2001, I thought we might have a child together. I had Aaron, who was then 6 and he had 2 more boys, then 10 & 14. We quickly decided that the 3 boys were going to be plenty for us! So, in 2004 we got our first baby girl, Pepper. We "met" her when she was 4 weeks old at a local Havanese breeder. She was the last one available in the litter and we immediately put down a deposit on her. I went to visit her every day and she was just a joy. I had bought a stuffed dog toy a few months prior and that became her "baby" which we put in with all the puppies and her mama so she could always have a piece of her family. When she was 6 weeks old (and still nursing!) her little collar was still too big for her and I begged the breeder to let her stay a few more weeks but he insisted she would be fine. So, excited beyond description I headed there with her baby and my cool dog carrying bag. I put her in the bag and put her on the front passenger seat and she promptly cried her little head off. I then unzipped the top of bag and she stood up and snorted like a little pig. It was so sad, she was missing her family. I tried to comfort her, but she just wailed. By the time we got home, she totally sacked out and took a big nap in the middle of her blanket. The first night, I put her in her crate beside my bed and spent most of the night with my hand through the wire door. She did very good and only cried when she needed to go out. I hung a small bell by the back door and each time I took her out, I hit it with her paw. Within a week, she was hitting it herself to go out and to this day still uses that as her signal to go out. After a few nights, Dave said she should be able to sleep on the bed with us. And today, she still does.

When Pepper was 2, she was kind of apathetic and didn't really do much and I really wondered if she was lonely. She also had almost no interest in eating and only ate her kibble every 3-4 days. Around the same time, I became involved with an online Havanese Rescue Yahoo Group. I had signed up to be a rescue contact in Idaho since there were none and so did another lady that had Havanese. Soon, I did a home visit for a third woman who had signed up and then I needed my home visit done. Heather was the one assigned to do that and we quickly became friends. It turned out she had Peppers sister from a different little and another Havanese as well as a German Shephard. She was heading to Bend, Oregon the next week to get a 3rd Havanese from Hystyle Havanese and let me know there was another puppy available in the litter. She also raw fed her dogs, something I had been looking into due to Pepper's lack of luster for her kibble.

Well, Dave and I decided we had to have this little cream Havanese, then named Q-T-Pie. Heather went and got her and her own Tootsie Pop 2 weeks later. By now, Aaron was 11 and very much wanted to be friends with Pepper, but their relationship had started off a big rocky because Aaron was too rough with her when she was little. And Pepper was never really a cuddler, or lap dog. She would sit by you, but not on you and didn't enjoy being held. From the moment Chloe came, Aaron held her and carried her around like a baby, which she still enjoys today. Pepper immediately shared her toys, her bed and her Mom and Dad like the good dog she has always been. Chloe came from a breeder who raw fed, so I switched Pepper and Chloe has never had kibble. Both my dogs LOVE to eat every day and their coats and skin are wonderful and I believe they are very healthy. Each day I feed them a raw chicken wing, a 1/4 of a sirloin patty (from Costco), some rehydrated veggies and Nupro powder. I also give them organ meat and occasionally some rice.

Like all Havanese, they like to shred and play "run like hell", espeically in the snow. They go most places with us and if they can't go, they stay with Auntie Heather and their sisters. Pepper and Chloe have brought immense joy to our blended family. To them we are Mom and Dad and all the boys are their brothers. They bridge the gap of "theirs" and "ours" and love everyone the same. Yes, having dogs are a lot of work, they require time, love, attention, money, feeding, walking, grooming, brushing and a huge commitment, but they are worth every bit of effort.

The dogs also have thier own website www.PepperandChloe.com

McCall Winter Carnival

Dave, Aaron and I (plus 2 Havanese) headed to McCall for the 2nd weekend of the annual Winter Carnival in McCall, Idaho. Full pictures here. Since Dave and I met, we have spent president's day weekend in McCall with all the kids. We used to ski but as the kids grew and their interest waned, we stopped going. Last year, Dave and I (plus doggies) drove up for the day on the actual carnival weekend. We stopped for breakfast in Cascade which took 2 hours and caused us to get behind a huge accident that had happened right in town as the parade was starting. Needless to say, we missed the parade, but walked around town with the girls in their stroller and had a nice day anyway. This year we decided to stay over, and to go the next weekend so there would be less people. Well, I didn't realize that they had moved the harmonica festival to McCall and on that weekend, so it was still crowded but not nearly as bad as it was the weekend before.

It was the first trip for the new Acura MDX that Dave bought last Fall. Aaron was excited and of course immediately hooked up the PS2 and wireless headphones and started gaming. I had my ipod and was listening to podcasts as I read RSS feeds from offline google reader. Poor Dave was left to listen to XM all alone on the wonderful 10 speaker dolby surround system.

The drive up was a bit slow since the roads were snow covered, but not bad at all. We all got off work and school early and headed out about 2pm. We arrived in McCall after about 4:30p and stayed at the AmericInn which was excellent. They had an indoor hot tub and pool and a great breakfast each morning. They of course allowed dogs and I always enjoy staying with other dog people as they are usually friendly.

Friday night, I had made reservations for The Mill which is Dave and Aaron's favorite place to get prime rib. Dave had the "enormous" size which was something like 44 oz and Aaron had the "medium" which was still a huge 36 oz. They both did really well and managed to eat almost all of it. I was stuffed with my measly 12 oz New York steak.

Saturday it was snowing, but fairly nice out as we headed into town to look at the sculptures and go to a little Craft festival. We even rode the bus into town so we could leave the MDX safe in the hotel parking lot. We took pictures of most of the sculptures and even found Aaron a new pair of snow pants in the local thrift store since we found out after we arrived that he didn't have his anymore. He was also fascinated by the huge icicles hanging around various buildings. He had some fun with those. We came back to the hotel in the afternoon and Aaron and I headed to the pool. Aaron met some kids his age and had a great time playing pool games. I sat with my laptop and ipod and was of course happy to have time to do that. The girls were really well behaved and did well in the crates in the hotel while we were out and of course enjoyed the longs walks in the deep snow. There was a storage facility near the hotel that I walked them around and I let them off leash a few times and they ran crazy.

Saturday night we headed out to Mexican. We decided to walk since it was close by and it was a nice evening. It was snowing pretty heavily by dark and on the way back from dinner, we saw the fireworks that launched over the lake. I had never seen fireworks in the snow before, it was pretty cool.

Sunday we had breakfast and then headed home as it was Superbowl Sunday and Dave wanted to see the game. We unpacked and had a nice relaxing, quiet, Superbowl in our jammies and ordered chinese food for dinner.

Santa Was Very Good to Me!

Here it is, Christmas day afternoon. The kids have all disappeared with their goodies and Dave is watching football. I turn to electronics as I sip a Fat Tire and prepare taco meat for Dave's birthday dinner.

Santa brought me 3 GREAT gifts from my Froogle wish list. Very cool. I got the memory card for the Blackberry Pearl that I bought myself for Christmas a few weeks ago. Now I can put MP3's and more pictures and video than I can stand on there. Also, it allows me to take 200+ pictures with the built in camera, instead of the 77 the 20mg on board card allows. I can also use it like a thumb drive for moving data around as I do with my ipod. Now I just need the cool Bluetooth headphones Dan sent me on Friday that will allow the Pearl's headset jack to be stereo on nice wireless headphones that you can talk on the phone with also. No more pausing the Ipod to answer the phone if it's all in one. I also got a heating blanket that's low wattage and supposedly not bad for you. Also, the coolest bedrest with a light, heater and massager and cup holder. Sweeet! Dave's mom got me the cutest doggie purse, I can hardly wait to take it to work tomorrow, it looks so real! Bobbi got me a beautiful pink columbia jacket. I wear the dark pink vest she got me almost constantly, but sometimes a girl needs arms :) Dan got me a leatherman, so I don't have to borrow his and Dave's all the time. Aaron promptly read the directions and quizzed me on how to use it. I guess without him around I should learn to fend for myself mechanically :( My friend Heather also got me a cool Fiskar's cutting system for scrapbooking and some cool toys for the girls.

Aaron got a skateboard, some games, a cool tool set and cash. Matt got money, Jeff got all Wii and DS stuff, Dave got a lot of food and gift certs and some wine and the girls got some new toys and treats and a new toy box.

The festivities started on Friday when the girls and I exchanged gifts at work. That was fun. Then the Mad Dogs in the afternoon. Saturday I was pretty sick and just stayed in my jammies and tried to rest up for the next two days. Sunday we all went to brunch at Dave's sisters and ate and talked. Sunday night we went to Bobbi's for an excellent lamb dinner, fancy stuffing and rice and a really good salad. I topped it off with too much toffee cuz boy did I have a stomach ache after all that! Today we did the stockings, waited for Matt to get up and come over and then opened gifts. It's been a nice quiet day.

I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow. I originally had the day off as Aaron was supposed to leave for his Dad's but now that's been postponed until Saturday the 30th.

My friend Cheryl's cute little Bentley is doing much better after his scare earlier this week where he had to be rushed to the vets because of low blood sugar. Chloe is still not eating as usual, but today she is off the 2nd pain med and is definitely acting more lively and not whining nearly as much. Now it's just been she's being a baby or wants something, not for pain, LOL

To all a Happy Holiday!