Finally, we get to the shows!!

In the blink of an eye, two months have passed, and spring has arrived at Big Sky. After having the coldest and snowiest winter I can ever remember in Texas, I am very glad to have the warm weather, green grass, and flowers finally appear! We have also begun to show our little Birdie and Bean (though neither are quite so little anymore!), and they have done well. Birdie took Best of Breed both days at the Wichita Falls show, and Bean took Best of Breed both days at the Ft. Worth show, so both now have three points towards their championships. We took a few pictures the other day, so here they are at 8 months. We also decided we needed an updated picture of their sire, Valor, so here he is as well at age 4 years. Enjoy!

Winter Wonderland....in Texas?????

Well, this winter, we have had the most snow I EVER remember having in Texas!! First, it was the white Christmas that we have never had, and now it is over 12 inches of snow in one day..WOW!!!! While the white stuff is not really my cup of tea, the kids----both two legged and four legged----really had a blast playing in it. It took days for all of the snow to finally melt away, and now, they say we could get more today? That darn groundhog! Why did he have to see his shadow? I was ready for spring!

BLACK BELT!!!!

It's been a lot of hard work, and many days at the gym, but Madolyn tested for her black belt in Taekwondo on Saturday. She did an awesome job, and was the only one who broke all three of her boards in the very first try. She now has a black belt with two Taekwondo associations, has been the #1 junior handler in the country with a Scottish Deerhound for the last four years, and has never had anything but straight A's in school! Madolyn also has played piano since she was four, and has just started learning guitar. Proud mom? You bet!! :)

I will walk myself---THANK YOU!!!

Well, we had a few internet connection issues, so I'm a bit behind again on the blog, but we are finally back! I wanted to share a video of our little Birdie, who is now six months old. It's funny how kids are all the same----whether they are human or canine-----as to wanting to do things "all by myself." Here is little Miss Byrde demonstrating that she is quite capable of walking herself......thank you!

They grow like weeds!

Deerhound puppies grow like weeds, and in no time, they go from one pound blobs to small colts! Bean and Birdie are now six months old, and they are 75 lbs and 62 lbs respectively. They are also 28.5 and 27 inches tall! As you can see, they are getting to that all legs stage. I think they are adorable :)

The Animals of Rome

By now I think you might be able to tell that I LOVE animals. Every where I go, I tend to always notice them, whether they are real or pieces of art. In Rome, we had plenty to see---both beautiful works of art as well as the real thing.

One of Maddy's favorite spots was the cat sanctuary that is located amongst some ancient ruins in the middle of the city. There were some 300 cats (all spayed, neutered, and vaccinated) living and playing in the spot where ancient temples once stood. They are fed through donations to the animal shelter, and are adoptable. It was fun to try and spot them as they wandered around.

This is the spot where the cats lived-----pretty cool, huh?

We also visited the Roman zoo, where we spotted some unusual lemurs along with some typical favorites.

A man and his four dogs on the bridge. I noticed how well behaved the dogs were, and also noticed how they all looked like purebreds-----a Bullmastiff, German Shepherd, Dachshund, and Vizla!!

We also visited the Vatican museum, where they had an incredible collection of sculpture, which included several sighthounds.

White Christmas in Texas

For the first time I can ever remember, we had a white Christmas in Texas. It's funny because on Wed, Dec. 23rd, it was 77 degrees and sunny, but by noon on Christmas eve, it was a blizzard! We woke up Christmas morning to SNOW everywhere! Maddy and the dogs had a great time romping and playing in the snow. The puppies (Bean especially) found ploughing through the snow with their noses, and then flipping the snow up, to be major excitement!!

Happy New Year!!!! We are finally back!!!!

After a very long hiatus, we are finally back! I never intended to go this long without posting, but as the puppies got older (and hungrier and more active), I found myself immersed in all things puppy. The last puppy left on October 30, and then suddenly, I found myself smack in the middle of holiday season and all of its activities. Needless to say, my time on the computer shrank to a bare minimum, and now here I am, three months later, finally posting again to my blog. I can't believe how time flies!!!! Anyway, I am finally back, and will be posting on a MUCH more regular basis now. I've also made several new items for the store, so those will be posted and added very soon! I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Happy 2010!!!!!

During my little blog break, we also took two trips---one to Rome, Italy, and one to Las Vegas. Both were lots of fun, but I have to admit that Rome is definitely my favorite of the two!! This was Madolyn's first trip to Europe, and boy did she have fun. The weather was gorgeous, the food was incredible, and there was literally a picture perfect shot everywhere you looked. We found some great deals on a few choice Italian goods as well. We stayed at the Kolbe Hotel, which formerly was a convent, but has now been converted to a modern, boutique hotel. The location couldn't have been any better, and we found ourselves gazing at the Roman forum every morning when we left our room. The very generous complimentary breakfast buffet gave us all the energy we needed to start the day, as I think we must have

walked at least 10 miles every day. There was so much to see, though, that we really didn't think anything of the walking. Exploring Rome on foot was so much fun!! Here are a few shots:

I took about 700 shots, so these, of course, are just a mere few, but you can see many more on my Facebook page. Reflecting back on our Italian adventure already makes me ready to go back!!