8 stitches later

I was taking Ella on her morning walk yesterday when she spotted a bunny in the neighbors yard. I unhooked her leash so she could go chase it -one of the funnest joys in her life. She stealthily crawled under the fence and then WHAM, booked it after that bunny like a greyhound on a race course track. She rounded a corner chasing her prey, after which I couldn't see her anymore. Minutes later she came bounding back, searching in the initial spot for the bunny.

We continued on our walk. Crap, Ella had cut her back paw. I kept staring at it, sort of in disbelief, sort of hoping it wasn't that bad. It looked pretty bad, a nice clean slice. I was hoping that after she got out of the water, at her favorite spot in the river, that it would be better. Ummm, no, it was worse. Good idea Andrea.

I was in a mild state of panic. Ella on the other hand couldn't care less. Her paw was gushing blood but hey, there were still birdies to chase and other dogs to play with!
I turned around and started running home. By this time I'm trying really hard not to look at her wound for fear of fainting. So I do the next logical thing- I knock on our neighbors door and have Emily look at her paw. How sad is that. I can't even look at my dogs hurt paw to decipher whether or not to take her to the vet.

Ella hates the vet. Especially the big black man who scares her so bad. And of course with our luck he was there to take care of her. So after four hours at the vet, sedation, IV's and 8 stitches, Ella is home and in good spirits. I just had to get her that duck to kill so she wouldn't hate me for taking her to that (in her opinion) big, scary man again.

Day Off

I'm still on vacation from work... which means that today I woke up at 10 am, showered, ate breakfast and fell back asleep... it's now 1:30pm and I'm still in my pj's...

Vail Weekend Getaway

Eric and I took a much needed vacation to Vail, CO this past weekend. I cannot even tell you how nice it was to get away with our dog and have a worry-free trip. We've been going through a lot of trials and trying to plan a vacation to Cali during the midst of it all. Unfortunately, or fortunately in hindsight, the trip didn't pan out and we made an impromptu decision to head up to Colorado's mountains. We did a 4 night, 4 day activity-packed trip that reminded us of our honeymoon... two and a half years ago!

Before our Trip

(Two weeks before)

(Eve of our trip)

Ella is a good dog... but this is the SECOND pair of my flip flops she has torn up like one of her chew toys. The first pair she tore up weeks before. I thought we had scolded and scared her up enough that she wouldn't do it again... But lo and behold Eric and I came home from a fun concert night to see my brand new replacement flip flops demolished.

My theory is that she gets mad at me when I'm gone for too long (all day). Scoff and ridicule that theory as you will, but I'm the one who knows and lives with her and that's what I truly believe.

Any-who, Ella was pretty depressed from us yelling at her that we just had to do something fun right?! So we took her to Vail with us. We're so good to her :)

Day 1

Eric and I started out the funnest day we've had since our honeymoon by renting mountain bikes and taking Ella on a long run down the Vail River. First of all, the people in Vail are MUCH nicer and dog friendly than they are in Parker. I don't know what it is but people love dogs in Vail so much more than they do in Denver. Ergo, having Ella off leash but with her shock collar on was less stressful because people didn't mind! She was so obedient and loved running along the bike path. We took numerous stops in the river for a quick swim and cool off. The 6 miles we rode with Ella were the 6 funnest miles of our lives with her.

Us trying to get Ella to pose- by the end of the trip we had

passersby commenting on how well our dog poses.

We then took Ella home and let her onto the hotel bed. The hotel we stayed in was one of the few to allow dogs. It wasn't a fancy hotel but it served its purpose and we loved it. So did Ella. She was hesitant and awkward about being on the bed because she isn't allowed on our bed at home, but on this vacation she was treated like a queen.

After some delicious homemade sandwiches, Eric and I hopped on the gondola with our bikes. This was the first time we have ever been mountain biking. I was a nervous wreck inside. Eric was just so happy to try this new challenge. After braking all the way down the first 1/2 mile of the 7 mile descent I said "screw-this" and ripped it down the mountain, of course to follow Eric's suit. Mountain biking is the bomb! It rivals skiing it's that much fun. We were going so fast and the bumpy mountain was shaking our arms so hard that the underside of our elbows were indescribably itchy. But an itchy body and bruised palms were well worth the fun and exhilaration.

After our mountain biking we returned the bikes and got back on the gondola. We were headed to a BLUEGRASS CONCERT! For those of you who don't know me well, bluegrass is one of my FAVORITE music genres and I was in heaven hearing the music. There were hotdogs and hamburgers for $3 too- what more can you want in life, cheap food and good music. This was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Eric showing his disdain for pickles

The bluegrass band is under the yellow striped tent

Day 2

Nothing could beat our Day 1, probably not for years to come either, but our day 2 was pretty fun as well. We started off with walking Ella, and then drove up to Wolcott to do some horseback riding!

We had a good tour guide, but the terrain was pretty much as you see it in the pictures below... not that interesting and unbelievably hot- with no shade whatsoever. We did however see where the shoreline used to be in the mountains and where a pack of mountain lions live (just the location, not the actual mountain lions).

My neck got pretty burnt- the only place I didn't

put sunscreen :(

For lunch we ate at the Blue Moose Pizzeria. I didn't care for the pizza but Eric loved it. We ordered half and half of a BBQ and meatless lasagna pizza.

Ella sitting outside the restaurant with Eric picking her

eye-burgers and Ella wanting to eat them (like usual)

After lunch we went strolling around town, walking through the different villages and just taking it easy.

Now comes the best part of the day: dinner. I had been craving steaks for awhile, and so we took a recommendation to eat at the restaurant below our hotel: Montauk.

Oh my heavens sake, this is the best restaurant. Our first course was of muscles cooked in white wine. I can still taste them now. They were by far the most delicious muscles I've had in my life- Eric totally agrees too.

We gobbled down our main course so fast I didn't even think to take a picture of it. I ordered the top sirloin and Eric ordered a yummy prawn/scallop/noodle dish. Loved, loved, loved every bite of these two dishes. This is definitely my new favorite restaurant.

Before we ordered our meals, out of the corner of my eye I see one of Eric's schoolmates- Nabila and her family! What are the odds. They are a great family and we enjoyed talking with them. It was Nabila's birthday and they were celebrating at Montauk as well.

After dinner we ran upstairs, changed and ran down to show Nabila's son, Ella. The last time he saw Ella she could fit into his lap!

Day 3

Day 3 = The Sabbath

We drove to Avon to go church. It was a great experience. The branch was half whiteys and half hispanic. Therefore sacrament meeting was half English and half Spanish. Eric sang in Spanish and I sang in English- it was fun. The two speakers were Hispanic and gave their talks in Spanish- Eric translated the words he knew and then I got a headphone device that translated the talks into English via the missionaries. It was like we were in a different country.

AND we counted 11 redheads sitting in front of us. Not all from the same family- three different families of redheads!

AND the best part of church was when I was looking around the room and spotted this:

Yeah that's a dog. A dog! I tried to sneakily take a picture of it but little did I know the flash was on... whoops.

Our next adventure took us to Piney Lake- a hidden lake at the end of a looooong dirt road above Vail, where moose are at large. We were hoping so bad to see a moose- and we did! I spotted it (two for me (porcupine and now the moose), none for Eric). Momma and baby moose, chompin' away, not at all concerned about us.

It is imperative that you click on these next two pictures to

enlarge them and see Ella in all her happy glory :)

When we got back to our hotel the concierge told us about the New York Philharmonic Orchestra that was playing at Vail Village's Amphitheater. Could this vacation get any better?! Seriously. We went upstairs, quickly gobbled up some dinner and hit the road running. Gotta catch the orchestra! Huffing and puffing we make our way to the amphitheater to hear the last...five...notes...and then wild applause. Oh well, it was a fun journey and Ella got to play with two giant great danes.

On the way home we walked down the river. So much fun for Eric and Ella, not so much fun for me. I was cold and didn't want to fall because I had my phone in my pocket- my new Droid for that matter. So Eric graciously let us get out early. What a good man I have.

Vail Village

My sweatheart and me

Climbing up the mountain at night and finding a dandelion crown (Ella was CRAZY on the mountain- running up and down, to and fro, and in circles- she might have loved the trip as much as we did- getting to be a mountain dog and sleeping on a real bed). As Ella's parents we found so much joy and happiness seeing her so happy- it was a great feeling.

Day 4

First things first, take Ella on her morning walk. I took her up the mountain again but she didn't run as crazy and wild as she did the other night. We then took a stroll through the village and this picture is of her seeing and stalking a birdie. This is what we call the "Shere Khan walk."

And of course we had to get ice cream one more time. Eric had pineapple and peach gelato from Rimini's and I had Brownie and Caramel from the ever delicious Haagen-Dazs.

We then left Ella at home and strolled around Lionshead and Vail Village at our leisure until we were ready to go home. And that was our trip!

Ella turns ONE

Today is Ella's one year old birthday!

Born on France's Bastille day, this little girl has blessed us so much with happiness and good memories. I still remember the impromptu decision to get her...

The Friday before we got her I was at work looking through the classifieds. For some reason I went straight for the dog section and saw Ella's ad. I cut it out to bring it home. The following Sunday I brought it up to Eric and showed him the ad.

We thought we'd just feel out the situation and gave the lady from the ad a call.

We didn't have serious intentions on getting a dog.

But sure enough the ball started rolling and we had set up a time to go out to Elizabeth and see the pups... that evening.

After preoccupying myself all day with cooking for dinner guests - the missionaries, Katrina and Westin, we shooed them out the door and jetted for Elizabeth.

Once we got to the farm and saw Ella and her brother cuddled up under a heating lamp, we knew we were not going home empty handed. Ever since Sep. 27, 2010 we have LOVED having Ella as a part of our family and hope to celebrate many more birthdays with her. We love you Ella.

Ella and Rosco playing at the dog park on her b-day

Utah 7/4/10

Dinosaur National Park

Winter Park, CO

I had a three day weekend from work so Eric and I packed up the car and drove to Utah. Friday I got out of work at 4:30pm and we were on the road by 5:30pm. Dinosaur national park was our goal for the night's camping trip. We had one stop in Winter Park, CO for some grub at a BBQ restaurant. There were many statues of moose and cowboys riding horses that Ella was petrified of. She was growling growls I've never heard before and the mo-hawk on her back was raised from head to tail.

When we got to the Dinosaur campsite, it was 2am and all the campers were asleep. I felt so bad for driving and unpacking at 2am and probably waking up all the people- although they didn't yell at us thank goodness. When we got out of the car to unpack I made a beeline towards the bushes- as soon as I lowered my pants to squat and pee I was attacked by mosquitoes! Eric and I definitely did not expect to be surrounded by so many of what Eric calls "satan's minions."

After sleeping with mosquitoes in our tent and being bombarded by them down by the river we promptly left at 7am.

Being in Utah was fun- we spent a lot of time with Eric's family. Lots of out to eats, lots of dog time and lots of chillin'.

By far the funniest moment of the trip was when we were walking back from lunch when E's mom spotted a diaper on the sidewalk. She walked right up to it, picked it up, sniffed it and happily claimed she had an extra diaper for her soon to be born granddaughter. Eric and I were hysterical with laughter because E's mom and dad were squabbling over the diaper. In the end she had to leave the diaper on the ground because it was not allowed in the car. My stomach practically still hurts from laughing so hard.

Pharm Tales

Pt: I'm here to pick up two of my Rx's

Me: Ok, it looks like I have one for you and there's a note on the second one saying we called and talked to you because it won't be here until Thursday.

Pt: Oh thats fine- so it's coming on Thursday?

Me: Yea, my pharmacist said she talked to you and you said that was fine.

Pt: Huh, ok. Well if I had remembered I would have picked both Rx's up on Thursday. Anyway, not a problem I'll just get the one today.

Me: So just a reminder the other Rx will be here Thursday in the afternoon, and we'll call you when it's ready.

Pt: Ok sounds good.

ONE HOUR LATER

Ring ring ring...

Me: King Soopers Pharmacy how can I help you?

Pt: I was just in there to pick up two Rx's but only got one.

Me: Yeah the other one will be here Thursday. Remember I talked to you and the pharmacist called you?

Pt: Oh ok, so the other will be here Thursday?

Me: Yes sir.

The medication that is coming on Thursday for him is for Alzheimer's, no joke.

Ma ma mustache

Eric decided to grow a mustache... AGAIN. Against all better judgement too. March was mustache month and he wanted to participate. I've since convinced him to shave it off and here is the pre-shaving picture (along with a cute one of Ella and me).

Okay so you can't really see the mustache because Eric's hair is so light, but take my word that it wasn't great