Oh Boy do I have a lot to talk about. First off, Happy Birthday to my bestest sister in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! She turned 24 on a day this weekend. He he he.

Next up.....Very good news on the video camera front. It has been found. I didn't know whether it was stolen or if I just lost it. Luckily I found it. I have no idea how it was placed where it was but it has been found. I was so excited I jumped for joy, gave Jason a huge hug and screamed. Yes, that's right, Screamed. Woo Hoo! You ask, where did I find it? Well the drawer to my filing cabniet wasn't shutting. I thought maybe a computer cord was caught. I was cleaning this weekend and I kept trying to shut it. Finally I looked down and seen a strap. I picked it up and there was my camera. Now I can start video taping my dog shows again and sharing it with the world. I need a You Tube account :-) I think I'll start one tonight.

This weekend was a very hot weekend. Not as hot as my friends are down in MS but it was around 96. I woke up on Saturday really wanting to go hiking. We decided to take Taylor and Chase. Tay needed to take a trial hike before we made the final decision to take her backpacking this weekend. She failed. After 2 miles of hiking she was exhausted. Both the shelties were actually, which is surprising. I did get some really cute shots of them though and of the falls. We had planned on hiking the full 8 miles but ended up stopping about 1 mile in where the rivers meet. We stopped for the longest time at the 3 waterfalls. I tiptoed across rocks to get closer to feel the mist. Since it was just us we took the Shelties off leash. They started running around like mad dogs. Chase ran a little too far and ended up in a very deep pool of water. Poor thing wasn't expecting to go for a swim. She was just kicking and kicking. She had this look of fear in her eyes. Once she calmed down I kept calling her over to me and finally she came. Check them out....The Plunge

Tay waiting on Chase to arrive back on land
I absolutely love this photo.

Labor Day Plans......
Speaking of Labor Day, Carie, wouldn't it be funny if you had little Peanut on LABOR DAY! Ha, I crack me up.

Ok, so I told you all we decided not to go to Maine. We're heading to the Adirondacks. Jason and I have decided to become 46ers. A 46er is someone who hikes all the 46 tallest peaks in the Adirondacks. Each trip you take you fill out a report summarizing the trails you hiked, how you felt, weather, etc. Then you send it in and they keep track of your summits. 20 of the 46 do not have trails so once we get our GPS we're going to start bush wacking and getting those. I'm very excited to become a 46er. Luckily the summits are not very high. Marcy being the highest at 5344 feet. We packed our bear bin (which is required) and packed our bags.....Oh wait....

All My bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

I'm leaving to go hiking
I don't know if I'll be back again

Nope, not drunk or high, just a little crazy tonight.

Well I better stop right there. He he he

First off Happy Birthday to Jacqui. You're younger than Jason is! He he he.

Now to catch you guys up on what's been going on.....

Farewell to Maine, Hello Adirondacks
We did some research and spoke to several people in the area about our trip to Maine. We found out it was going to take a heck of a long time to get their. Longer than we had originally though. So we decided to save Maine until next year when I have more vacation time. Now we're heading to the Adirondacks. We're both really excited because it's been a really long time since I've been to my favorite place in the world. We've decided to hike the Hurricane Mountain and stay for the night. Since we've chosen the Adirondack park we had to purchase a bear bin. They require it. Actually, if you are caught without one they will make you head back. So, we picked one thats approved for both black and grizzly bears. I can't wait until next week when we head out. We've also decided to leave Kenzie at home and take Taylor for her first backpacking journey. I hope she'll enjoy it.

Sad disappearance of my video camera....
That's right, it's gone. I don't know if it was stolen or if I lost it. The last time I seen it I was at the DOCNA trial. It sucks too because I just got it back in February. I'm not sure if I'll get another one. It was a lot of money to lose. But, then again, I miss taping our agility trials. We'll see.

Port Jervis Agility Trial
On Friday we headed to Port Jervis, NY for a agility trial. We arrived about 7:30 or so. Just in time to set up camp before dark. The trial sight was beautiful. We positioned ourselves where we had campers only on one side and then the woods on the other. For more than one reason too (no bathrooms in the camper). So, I went in the woods all weekend :-) I waited until dark too so no one would see where I was going. Friday night we had a rough storm. The camper was rocking like crazy but it only lasted for about an hour or so. Then it was sleepy time. On Saturday our first walk through wasn't until around 10:00 so we slept in, well 7:30 was sleeping in. When we woke up we noticed that Tasha was acting strange. She wouldn't go outside we had to place her outside to go to the bathroom. Normally she follows the pack in and out. When she's cold too she's the first at the door to come inside. When we called the furkids in she just sat their and shivered. We tried calling her but she couldn't hear us. So, Jason had to pick her up. When he put her down she immediately laid down by the door and wouldn't move. Normally she just sleeps, eats and potties but this time she really wasn't moving. I was very scared. So we left and went to the trial. I talked to Jacqui and her mom about her symptoms and figured she wasn't going to perk up and possibly this could be it. When we went back for lunch Jason was checking her out and noticed that her eye was shut and it was oozing. When he opened it up it was white. So we knew we had to take her to the vet when we returned. Oh yeah, no Q's for us on Saturday :-( Chase did have a very good Jumpers run, we were so close. She also had a wonderful start line stay. Something I do not work on enough. On Sunday Tasha was feeling much better. She was moving around like normal and her eye wasn't oozing. We slept in until around 7:30 again. Then headed over to the trial. Jason ran first and got his first Ex A Q with a first place. It was really nice on a VERY hard course. When it came time for me to do my jumpers course I was kind of scared about the course. When I walked it I realized my fear. This judge was nasty. I walked the course and knew for sure we wouldn't Q. I hate to go into a course thinking that and honestly, this was the first one that really made me totally feel this way. So, time to run.....I told Chase to stay. I needed to lead out and head at least 2 jumps ahead. She broke the stay so I took off. At first we did ok but then I was lost. I've also never been lost in a course either. I told Jacqui I have added this judge to my list that I will not go to trials when they are their. After all of us finished it was time to load up. Before we loaded the Jeep we celebrated Jacqui's birthday with some cake. Umm was it good. (Jacqui, I think you should have asked who looked older) he he he. Did I mention it was cold all weekend? Weird.

Let's see, what else......

Oh yeah, we bought Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz and played them together. That was tons of fun :-)

It's been raining all day today. If it's nice on the weekend it will be a great time to hike Ricketts.

OH yeah, I was talked/forced into joining a weight loss challenge. My team could win 1,000.00 though so I guess it's worth a try. I'm sure we'll lose though. I like food way too much. My weight today was 155. I'm telling everyone this so you guys can keep on me and help me lose the weight. Ahh, twinkies never looked so good...

Congrats Jacqui on Gy double Q. Just a few more to go. :-)


Too all my Memphis Agility buds.....Anyone up for a trial in Dayton, OH end of November? It's the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'd love for the clan to get together again. Jacqui will be judging so we're heading down. We'll be able to visit with the family and stuff. If not, maybe next year we can all meet up somewhere 1/2 way.

Birthday's, Q's and a great time!

Please come back tomorrow. I have no energy to post tonight. :-) I have tons to talk about though.

I couldn't share this earlier but for my momma's birthday I made her a collage. I thought it turned out really cute. I wanted to post the collage earlier but I knew she reads my blog. Mom you sure did have a couple of hotties :-)
So work has been a little crazy. Thank goodness I can goof off during the insanity. My good friend Cheryl brought me a present the other day. It's called Flarp. I honestly about cried when she gave it to me. I've been wanting a jar forever. It's kind of like puddy or jello feeling. When you stick your finger in the jar it makes a farting noise. A good one might I add. So today I wanted to let a "flarp" go. It sure made a good one too. My boss Lesley told me I could only "flarp" once a day. If I did it any more than that my flarp would end up in Toy Jail. I started crying from laughing so hard. Toy Jail????? So all of us collect experiments and all sorts of noise makers and things you can throw. Sometimes when we use them too much or it gets out of hand Lesley takes our toys away and puts them in jail for a few days. I swear, we're a bunch of little children. We also sell this thing called a keg at work. They make great wiffle balls. We hit them at people, throw them at people, you name it, we do it. Ahh, I love my job! I don't think I've ever said that before.

CONGRATULATIONS to Jacob and Trish and their new baby girl Dakota. Trish and Dakota are doing great and looking beautiful. See photos on Trish's blog:

http://www.thesolemates.blogspot.com/

I can't wait for her to meet Aunt Tonya when you come in October :-)

First off my good ol "Preggo" friend (as some people call them) is in labor right now. Trish and Jacob are due to have little Critter any time now. I'm excited for them and can't wait to meet Critter when they come and visit us in October. More news on the labor front tomorrow. :-)

Jason and I have had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday we cleaned the house and kind of goofed off all day. Then we watched a 2 movies, 300 and The Contract (which was stupid). I really liked 300. I kept telling Jason how much I enjoyed the lead guy saying "Spartans" His voice was the coolest. The Contract had 2 of our favorite actors in it. Morgan Freeman and John Cusak. While the scenery was incredible, not to mention they were backpacking, the story was horrible. Jason fell asleep and I watching the whole thing wondering, what's next? Then when it ended I found myself saying "I can't believe that's it".

Sunday we decided to skip church. We slept in until 9:00 which never happens. Then we headed out for bagels and then to Hickory Run. I really hadn't planned on hiking much however we ended up hiking 7 miles in like 2 hours. Needless to say I didn't carry my pack, nor my bladder so I was dehydrated. Jason had 2 nalgene bottles that we shared. We also had to share with Kenzie. Our destination was Boulder Field. It was the coolest thing ever. You're hiking in the woods and then all of a sudden it gets really rocky and then.........100 acres + of nothing but boulders. WEIRD! How did they get their? They looked placed. Anyway, we walked a while on them. You really had to watch your footing because some shifted. The noise that they made when it shifted was indescribable. It was the coolest noise ever though. You could tell their were several layers of boulders underneath the ones you were walking on. Kenzie's feet started to hurt so we headed back. We then headed to the Leigh Gorge to check out the river. They had released the dam so the water levels were floatable. We spoke to a couple of whitewater rafters just asking about the type of paddling. Now Jason and I are searching for a new boat. We're thinking inflatable kayaks so we can take them anywhere with us. Tune in later on in the year or early next year to see what we end up with.

Anyway, check out some of the photos from our hike.

Yes, there are boulders over their too! He he, actually he was pointing out the only tree in the field (see below)

Reminds me of the Tree in the courtyard in Lord of the Rings

Here's a collage I just completed of Kenzie. It will hang downstairs in the dog area. Isn't it cute?

THE WORLD OF FUNNY FACES.....
By Tonya McKenna (he he he, professional, eh?)

I absolutely love making funny faces. Here are a few to make you laugh.


Oh Please make my mom go away! Ha, just kidding

This is a favorite of mine

Sweet and Innocent

Congrats to us on a fun filled AGILITY WEEKEND!

First off, let me start by saying, screaming might I add "SAM GOT HER JUMPERS TITLE" . I never thought this day would come but for some reason my precious Sam just loves DOCNA. Maybe it's because she spends a lot of time with her Boy Toy Jynx. He was a little bit away but I think she knew he was up their was was on fire. :-) I was so excited for Sam. She also received her first Q in Intern. Poor Sam is exhausted now and laying downstairs. Actually, she won't get up she's so tired.

To sum up the weekend I took off work early on Friday. Of course I really didn't work hard because I had other things on my mind. After I left I headed straight over to the fairgrounds to help set up the show. First I set up the camper because I wanted to get it up before it started raining. Set up was fun. Darrel had some funny music playing and we were all dancing. Then after numerous calls to Jason (I forgot stuff) I finally felt like nothing else needed to be brought. People were starting to arrive and I was starting to get more and more excited. We only did 3 runs, if I remember correctly. A standard run, Jumpers and I think Traditional Gamblers. All the kids did really well. That night we went to sleep, or tried. Poor Taylor was irritated and was barking every few seconds. Jason finally decided at 2:00 am that he had enough and was going to head home. I told him to stay and he did. I was very excited because we had a good Saturday. Besides being exhausted all day Saturday was a good day with a few more Q's. After the show I headed over to the Breed/Rally/Obedience show. Oh my gosh, I didn't stay long at all I was so bored. I felt myself knodding off and shaking my head so I went back to the camper. Once I got back I really felt like roller blading. So, Kenzie and I went out. Everyone was shocked that I was rollerblading because they were all tired. TONYA NEVER GET'S TIRED! So we rollerbladed a few rounds and then headed back. Poor Kenzie just couldn't take it any more. After I dropped her off I went out for another lap and decided to call it a night.

Sunday was a fun day. Still tired but we all were so of course we are all a little nutty at this point. We had 4 classes and around 100 entries, I think, so I knew the show would be over quick. We ran one of my favorite things, Trigility. Jacqui's dad John ran Taylor (and did a fabulous job), Jason ran Sam and I ran Chase. We didn't Q but we had a great time. One of these days the McKenna team will get our Trigility titles. Jumpers was at the end of the day. I moved Sam up to intern and she rec'd her first Q. Woo Hoo. I was sad to see the show end but I was glad to be home so I could rest.

Sorry I didn't post this earlier. I was exhausted and didn't feel like blogging. :-)

Family Vacation

So where in the world do I begin.......What photos do I post? Which are my favorites? Well, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to sum up our whole vacation and then post all the photos on a photo viewing website so I do not have to pick and choose which ones to display.

Day 1 - Friday
My family arrived just as I was leaving work. They met me in the parking lot, which was cool. We drove to Quaker Steak and had dinner.

Day 2 - Saturday
Today Jason and I took Stacy to NYC. We drove her their so she could visit some of the museums since we would not have time on Wednesday and Thursday. When we arrived she loved the city so much she did not want to go to a museum. So, we ended up walking to Times Square, checking out some stores and we also went on top of the Empire State Building since the day was so clear. On the way over to NJ on the ferry we got to see something so wild. A passenger helicopter crashing into the Delaware River. It happened so fast that Jason wasn't able to pull his camera out in time to photograph the crash, however we did see it and took photos after the fact and during the rescue. Everyone escaped saftley but they was a little shaken up. Jason tried to get his photos in the NY Times, however they didn't use it. Blasted NY Times people.

Day 3 - Sunday
On Sunday we went to Gettysburg for the Reenactment. It was going to be 105 that day. We stayed for a little bit of the reenactment however I was started to get sick because of the heat so we decided to leave early. I was very sad because we missed the best part, Picketts Charge. Oh well, maybe next year. Since the heat was horrible we decided to tour the Hershey Factory. Now that was really neat. We also see the worlds largest chocolate, the Hershey Kiss. It had to be like 10 - 11 feet tall. Guiness was their on Saturday measuring it for their records.

Day 4 - Monday
We drove to Philly today. Again it was suppose to reach 105. The heat was almost unbearable. When we decided to visit Philly I wasn't expecting to like it. I was expecting a very dirty and unsafe city however I really liked it. It was very beautiful. We visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Reading Station (which was awesome), Betsy Ross's House, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We left the city around 4:30 and headed for Millville. We checked into our hotel and drove to Cape May to watch the sunset. Then we ate at the most horrible restaurant ever. Imagine me and my family eating in a ritzy restaurant. First off, I had my swim suit on and just raggy clothes. We all had planned on swimming. We walked in and immediately felt uncomfortable but decided to go ahead and eat. The ladies behind us talked to one of the wait staff about how rich they were. So, I was very aggravated and said out loud so everyone could hear "Why don't we go to the beach house later my fine fellows". I think they got ticked off because they didn't leave much later than that. The waitress was horrible and didn't like us. Oh well.

Day 5 - Tuesday
On Tuesday we went back to Cape May and decided not to stay long. To many rich people and who knows what I would have said to them. We drove to Wildwood and checked out the lighthouse. Then drove to Atlantic City, what a horrible dirty nasty place. Ghetto.....Then we drove to another light house, forget the name. Then we headed to Lyndhurst to stay the night.

Day 6 & 7 - Wed - Thurs
We spent both days in NYC. It was so much fun. By now I was sunburnt and was in a lot of pain. Let's see, we checked into our hotel, then purchased tickets for the sightseeing tours. Our first stop was the Empire State Building. My family we up and we walked to B & H photo. The coolest camera shop in the world (no kidding). Second stop was the WTC site, Third stop was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our first stop was suppose to be the Brooklyn Bridge however it started to pour so we headed back to the hotel. I have never been so wet in my life. We had to ride on top of the double decker bus. We held our heads down because it felt like knives on our faces. That night we ate at Ellens Stardust Cafe, my favorite.
On Thursday we boarded the bus again and headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. On the way we got to see the Naked Cowboy. I was very sad that none of us was able to get a photo of him. It was so cool. Then after the Brooklyn Bridge we headed for Central Park and then home.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we headed into NYC and planned on taking the Ferry over. Mom and Jack missed the exit and was able to drive through the Lincoln Tunnel and into NYC. I was scared, mom was hysterical but she made it out ok.

Friday - Everyone headed home and we picked up our furkids. I sure did miss them.

This weekend, we had planned on going to see the 4X4 festival however I'm exhausted and thinking about sleeping all weekend.

Check out my photos of our trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mckennasndogs/FamilyVacation?authkey=jL9yhfp4kFk

To wrap up the weekend Jason had to work on Saturday. I had signed up for a agility show close to town so I took all the furkids down for the day. It was a beautiful day. Low 80's with a nice breeze. Chase and Tay had some really good runs however Sam was whistled off the course both times. Which, has made me think about pulling her from agility for good. It's such a tough decision. Sam's my favorite, everyone knows that, however I'm losing a lot of money when she can sniff in the yard. Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

I have a praise, Jack was able to get out of Jury duty so I will be able to see them again in like 10 days. I found out while I was at work today and almost cried I was so excited. Thanks to everyone who has been praying.

Our basement is almost finished. Jason did a wonderful job at drywalling, even though he'll say he didn't. We painted the projector screen wall black, which looks really cool. Once the basement is cleaned I'll post photos up for all to see.

Hum........what next.........Well, I guess that's it. Life has been mainly cleaning the house and getting it ready for when my family comes. I hope all is well with everyone and I'll post photos soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!

We're so close, we even bathe together.
(Too bad I cannot attach MP3's, "She's Got Legs") he he he
To My BESTEST BUDDY IN THE WORLD! I hope you have a great one! Can't wait to see you guys again and can't wait for our next hiking adventure.

It's been a LONG weekend. Actually, I totally forget what we even did on Friday. It's so sad. Saturday we got up early and headed to Turbotville to have the canvas sewed on our camper. Since we was going to be close to Mad Agility I told Jason I wanted to go ahead and see if I could pick up my early Christmas gift, my A-Frame. Luckily it wasn't a problem so we headed out. We turned in the canvas and drove through Amish town. The Amish are so peaceful. I told Jason I loved to farm so maybe I should become Amish :-) Then we headed to the mall to waste some time since Mad didn't want us to come until the afternoon. So we went to Gander Mtn and to Dicks. Two of our favorite stores. Then we just happened to find a Ritz Camera that we didn't know was their so now we're really excited. Then it was off to McClure to pickup my A-Frame. McClure runs alongside the Bald Eagle State forest and it's such a pretty drive. We picked up the A-frame and I got REALLY EXCITED! I can't wait to actually use it. On the way home we stopped at Quaker Steak for dinner. Around 6:00 we headed for Bloom because Jason has started playing basketball with some of the guys I work with. One of them is my boss so it's exciting they can get to know each other. All the guys are around our age. They are going to start playing around 4 times a week. I took Chase and played for a while. I'm so horrible at Basketball that I really just do not enjoy it. After our little game of 3 on 3 the guys rounded up some high schoolers and played a few games. Jason is very sore today but I think he had a great time.






Sunday, we're sinners and skipped church. We just had so much to do and so little time to finish until my family comes that we decided to get some work done. We didn't get much done because we found out our water heater is leaking because it's all rusted out. So, we headed to Home Depot to pickup a new water heater. We rented one of the HD trucks to bring it home. I had Jason leave me while he took it back so I could mow the grass. 1/2 way through mowing I stopped to talk to our neighbors Larry and Rhenna. I let go of the mower to pet their dog Bailey and the mower started rolling down the hill. Now I've never lived in a place where a mower could actually get away from you so I was quite embarrassed. Rhenna and I just kept laughing.

Oh, now I remembered what we did on Friday. We had a storm roll through and I wanted to get some lightning photos. So, we had to try to find a piece of flat area to park so we could at least see the lightning. We had to drive up over the mountain and park on the top of another to get a clear view. Unfortunately we did not get any good photos because we forgot the Tripod and the camera has to be extremely still when taking lightning shots. Oh well, maybe next time.

We didn't do much this weekend so I'll keep it kind of short. We had planned on going hiking however when we woke up it was foggy. Since it was suppose to rain and it was foggy out we figured we would just stay home. Wouldn't you believe it didn't rain? Gurr....

Anyway, Jason put the final coat of drywall stuff on the downstairs wall. So, just a few more days and it will be ready to paint. We've decided to paint the wall black, which should be interesting. I'm kind of curious to see how the black wall turns out. Since it's our home theatre wall we figured it would look awesome with the screen and his speakers. We'll see :-)

I bathed all the dogs yesterday with my home made bathtub. I bathed them all outside which was nice.

Last night something VERY sad happened. Well every evening several bunnies come into the yard. I normally just let the kids out and the bunny leaves. Well, last night a poor little bunny got caught in the yard and our kids caught him. The poor bunny was screaming so loud. I ran over and pulled Sam off him and then told Taylor to drop it and she did. Needless to say, the bunny didn't make it. I picked him up and Jason and I drove him up to the state game lands and dropped him their. We CANNOT put him anywhere near our yard because of the bears. I have been sad all DAY long. I enjoy the bunnies and I don't want them to never come back.

Well, that's about it. We're heading home to Ohio this weekend so that should be exciting.

Watch It, The Yellow Ones Don't Stop.....

Anyone remember in Elf when he went to NYC? Well, that's where Jason and I went this past weekend. We had so much fun. I honestly have never walked so much in my life. I would have loved to have a pedometer on me to see exactly how many miles we walked.

We left the house at 5:30 and filled up in Jersey before heading in. Most of you don't know this but in Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas. Weird.....Ok, moving on. We got into the city around 8:30 and headed for Central Park. We started off at the Heckscher Playground, which was really cool and then continued up to the Jaqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir which is near the top of Central Park. We stopped for lunch on the Great Lawn around 12:00 and decided to walk down town and see some of the sites. It took us around 1 hour to get down to the tip of Central Park. We began our tour of the city at the Apple (Mac) store. Which is the coolest store ever. Since that's my next computer we've spent a few minutes goofing around on it. Then off to FAO Swartz to get my picture taken with the guard. Then we walked past the Trump tower and headed toward St Patrick Cathedral. We stopped at a few cathedrals along the way and they were all amazing. Then we headed to Grand Central Station. Keep in mind we have already walked 10 blocks just city blocks. Not counting Central Park. After St Patricks it was on to Grand Central Station (another 11 blocks). Then off to the Chrysler Building. We forgot that these buildings are huge so when we got their taking a photo of the building was nearly impossible. So we headed over toward Times Square and stopped at the NY Public Library (seen in Day after Tomorrow, 4 blocks) We sat their and watched a few old men playing boce ball. Then off to Times Square (2 blocks). Times Square was so cool but we had to keep walking because by that time it was getting close to check out time at the garage. But, we stopped at the COOLEST diner ever Stardust Diner and had lunch/dinner. The wait staffers sing and perform while you eat. They all had amazing voices. We both wanted to stay longer but knew we had to get going. Then we walked another 16 blocks back to our car. I cannot wait to go back in July when my family is in town.

Check out these photos:

Central Park Skyline
Belvedere Castle in Central Park

FAO Swartz Guy

One of the Cathedrals

Grand Central Station

Chrysler Building (I think I seen King Kong)

Bryant Park
Times SquareThe coolest diner ever

For more pictures of our trip please check out my album on yahoo photos. If the link doesn't work please let me know
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/tonyamckenna/album/576460762402936427

Also some trivia. Does anyone know what state the Giants stadium is in? Answer to come on Wednesday.

Check back with Blogger tomorrow. I'm working on uploading photos right now and I'll write all about our weekend tomorrow.

No JACK! DON'T JUMP!

Ok, did anyone think Jack was going to jump tonight and all of 24 would end? Good thing he didn't. I'm looking forward to January! Welcome back both my favorite shows Prison Break and 24.

Congrats to all you lucky pooches and handlers on a good Q'ing Weekend! I'm so happy Bay did great and can continue to run. She always looks like she's having a ball. Way to go Cajun on your second ever agility trial.

Now for my weekend. Jason was in Memphis all week hanging out with Crazy Carie and Chris. Chris, did you show Jason your prego stomach? I about said Peanut, he he he. Carie, Jason said your Peanut is getting pretty big :-) I wish I was their to see it. Anyway, all you people thinking bad thoughts, shame on you. Ha!

So, let's see. I had Date night on Friday night. Without Jay, boo hoo. I went out with a friend and we had a great time eating at Quaker Steak. On Saturday my adoptive family invited me to a CD release party. It has been a while since I've seen a band play and I had a great time. One of the guys was playing a Steel guitar and I kept staring at him. He was amazing. I totally want one now. Sunday, well, let's just say "I'm SORRY GOD!" I woke up to barking dogs around 8:30. I put them out and then climbed back in bed. About 30 minutes later I got up and put them back to sleep and I went back to sleep as well, of course after watching Twister first. Then at 1:30 I woke up and had dinner. Let the kids out and went back to bed and watched Crimson Tide. Then the kids relaxed with me again for another few hours. Come 7:30PM I decided I needed to get up and go out or I was going to die. So, I went to Blockbuster and then Giant and picked up some chips and chip dip. Now I really don't like Chips and dip so I have no idea why I bought it. I should have bought cream horns or something. Umm, that sounds so good. I ended up watching over 1/2 of the Notebook and then headed to bed around 11:00.

I have several things to thank God for:
- My husband is coming home, I've missed him. God keep him safe on the final drive home.
- Jason's mom finally got a dog for their family. I am so thankful for this because dogs make a huge impact on families. So far they are loving her and I can't wait to meet her myself.
- Jack's dad, my grandpa, is still alive and doing much better than this weekend
- I mowed the grass and the mower didn't tip on me
- Now this may seem weird but I LOVE TURKEYS. One flew over my head this weekend and I was just so amazed. Isn't life and all God's Creation wonderful? TURKEYS ROCK! I can't wait to see another one so I can take a photo.
- Last but not least, I thank GOD for the friends that I have made here. Especially Cheryl! Cheryl you mean so much to me and I appreciate you welcoming me into your family. Your family is wonderful and I love you all! I also thank GOD for my other friends I've made at church Nikki, Colleen. I'm just getting to know you both but I'm very thankful I've met you.

I'm very sorry my Blog has been boring lately with no photos. That will change after this weekend. We're heading to NYC for the day. Sammy will probably be going with us to hang out downtown, ride the Staten Island ferry, walk around central park and visit some Pet Boutiques. Woo Hoo!

Another Agility Weekend

Good luck to all my agility buddies heading to Decatur this weekend for the agility trial. Be sure to send an email letting me know how everyone did!

Sam the Q'ing Queen

If you can believe my title it's so very true. Sam beat all the shelties this weekend at the DOCNA trial. Woo Hoo for Sam 3 great Q's. Since I'm exhausted I'll keep this short and sweet.

Helped Jacqui (I'll get your name spelled right one of these days. Am I right?) load up the trial equipment and take it to the fairgrounds on Thursday.

Friday we hooked up the Doggie Motel to the Fur X Fur Jeep. I took a 1/2 day so I could help set up the trial.

Friday evening: Show N Go. It was fun. Only about 20 or so dogs but we ran Gamblers and Snakes and Ladders

Saturday morning up at 5:45 to get the kids pottied and ready to set up the course for the trial. Tay was nervous on Saturday but stayed in the ring and did well on all her runs. All 6 that is. (Yep, 6 instead of our normal 2). She Q'd in jumpers. Chase missed all her contacts and received a lot of Whoa's when doing so. She had a beautiful jumpers run with a Q.

On Sunday Jason woke me up 1 hour earlier than needed. I think he felt really bad for doing so (testing out the alarm at 5:30 to see if it worked, bad idea). So, he ended up taking all the kids potty without me having to ask. I think he knew I was really mad though! :-) Still love you baby! Sam was the first up. She had a little flirtation time with Jynx, the new love of her life, so I think she was a little wound up before running. I say this because she left the start like and ran around the ring as fast as she could. I'm not kidding either. Then she ran out of the ring hunting for something to kill. Then back into the ring for more laps. The judge asked me if I could get her to sit or down. I told her I didn't know because she had never did this before EVER! I totally wished I had it on tape. Friends in MS, you wouldn't believe what you would have saw. After words she was so worked up it was time to drink a LOT of water. Chase missed those dreaded contacts again. Tay Q'd. Now onto my new FAVORITE event Trigility. We competed with each of our dogs in the same ring. Kind of a relay race. Jay ran Taylor on the Standard course, I ran Sam on the jumpers and Jacqui ran Chase. Poor Chase didn't know what to do. She ran with Jacqui, then she ran to me wondering why I was just standing their. I ignored her and Jacqui got her back. Then out of the tunnel over a jump and back to her mommy. It was the cutest thing ever. She just loves me too much I guess. Thank you Jacqui for running her. I really appreciate it. We didn't Q but it was the best and the funnest run I think I have ever did. I came out of the ring, dogs in hand and got all kinds of loving and gave it all back!

Anyway, that was our great weekend. DOCNA is awesome and I can't wait to compete again. Even though I ran a total of 12 runs each day I had the best time.

Thanks to Jacqui again for running Chase and for hosting the DOCNA trial. I cannot wait for our next trial in July!

As for the dogs.............Each one of them crashed on the floor when we got home and have been asleep since!

Now I wasn't able to post this on Friday but I hope everyone down in MS had a great Q'ing weekend at the Priceville agility show. I expect a full report!

One Hiking Dog in Training


This weekend Jason and I headed out to our favorite hiking spot for a new challenge, our longest hike yet. We decided to get up really early Saturday morning and attempt the 7.2 mile hike around the falls trail at Ricketts Glen State Park. Along for the ride was our veteran hiking dog Kenzie and our hiking dog in training, Taylor. Now most of you do not know I've been having problems with my hips lately but I still told Jason I wanted to try it out. It's the most difficult trail at the park and has around 30+ waterfalls. We started out at 9:20am, not too early. It was going to be a fabulous day with sunny skies and a high of 70. Things had changed a bit since our last hike at Ricketts. NO SNOW! So I was able to see a lot of the ground and the flowers, etc starting to bloom. Jason took his camera and we planned on taking tons of photos. When we arrived at the second set of falls it totally looked different from the last time we saw it. Here's the falls back in March.Here's a photo of the same falls today:

When we reached where the two rivers meet we had to decide which direction to head. Since we're both left handed of course we chose to go left :-). The falls were stunning and the rivers were running quite quickly. Actually Taylor got into the water at one point, slipped and started to get carried away. So she thought, we had her on leash :-). Here's some photos of some of the other falls:

While sitting on a rock at the falls directly above I was able to shoot my favorite photo of Jason.....I was so excited and it turned out perfect and not blurry (which is one of my photo taking problems). Aren't they so cute?
Now by the time we reached the 3rd trail at the ridge line poor Taylor was starting to slow down. The ridgeline hike was 1.2 miles and totally welcoming. I say welcoming because the falls trail is straight up jagged slippery rocks the WHOLE way. So we was able to hike on somewhat level ground. Once we reached the second branch of the falls trail we started our way down. By this point the trails were crowded and not that enjoyable. We still enjoyed seeing the falls though. After about 5 miles it was time to find a shady spot to have lunch at and rest. I pulled out my butterfinger granola bars and Jason his trail mix. Both Tay and Kenzie was treated to some doggie bones and we just laid back and relaxed. Taylor was so tired I was able to shoot this cute picture. (the photo was blurry but still cute)
Finally at 2:30 we reached the car. My legs were jelly and the kids were exhausted. What a wonderful day hike though. BEAUTIFUL! It's so hard to believe that we live here.

Anyway, I'm leaving you with one last photo. It's called BUDDIES