Dakota has a new friend

Derek and Tamika brought home a new dog. I guess you can call her a dog, she's almost big enough. As you can see, after a few days of Dakota mostly trying to ignore her, she gave up.

Dakota is so patient. Regan loves to play, Dakota is pretty happy just sitting there...until yesterday. Now Dakota gets into it too. It's almost scary as Dakota opens her big mouth over Regan's tiny body, but Regan loves it.

After a session of rough-housing. They were both ready for a nap. Regan has definitely brought some life back into Dakota. I guess all us older people need a little youth to keep us from aging too fast.

The $53 fish

Fishing license $36
Gas $10
Lost lures $6
Hand sanitizer $1
A perfect day, with a perfect guy -priceless

So after years of being away, I finally put other things aside and spent a great morning with Kevin down at Flaming Gorge Lake.
My first catch of the day besides moss was this great stick.

The 2nd catch of the day, besides more moss was my glove. I tried to leave it on while cleaning off the moss. Not a good idea. I couldn't get the knack of just flipping it off in the water. Kevin said he remembered as a kid watching a couple old drunk guys flip it off their poles without having to touch the yucky stuff. I guess I wasn't drunk enough :)

Ah, but the 3rd catch was a good one.

The time just flew by. Then the wind came up and

it was time to call it a morning. Kevin got more bites than me and got a couple close to the bank before they wriggled off his hook. It reminded me of fishing on the Kenai in Alaska with Bridgette. Got the big one right up close, but couldn't get the net under it.

But there will be more perfect days

A week with grandpa and grandma

We were able to have Michael and Jake spend
a week with us. We took them to Allie's college to see the dinosaur displays and the wildlife museum.

Michael's explanation of why the animals were not moving was

"They're broke, the batteries are dead."

Jake wanted to check out the fish Kevin & Derek caught, but Michael didn't want too close.

The boys got pretty involved when Kevin was opening his birthday presents.

They played together really well.....

Most of the time (Michael must take after Todd in that he can stay calm in tense situations)


They had a couple days at the park.

Brother see...brother do.

No one took a picture of Grandma taking a 3 hour nap after they left , but
we had a great time and look forward to summer when they can come and stay again.

A day of fishing

To celebrate my birthday, Derek took me fishing..sort of. Here's the first fish of the day.

Look at the color

Here's my first catch of the day.

My second one. It felt good to finally outcatch Derek.

We called it a pretty good success

you know your pet is part of the family...

when she needs surgery and you cry hoping she's make it through then give her plenty of treats when she does...



It's hard to write a blog when pretty much everything worth writing about we do as a family and everyone else writes about it in their blog, but here's a new one. Hope you have a strong stomach.
As you know, Dakota is our 10 yr old chocolate lab. She's been getting these fat deposits on her shoulder and neck and they are bothering her when she walks too long. You can see them in the picture on the left. Oblivously, she is fine here.
Anyway, we decided to have them removed.


I guess this is like liposuction. 5# of fat. I think I like the old fashion way of dieting to get rid of my extra.

She looks pretty sore here

We worried that she'd be mad at use like when we had her fixed. But she has done really well. Now look at her, she looks pretty lean and mean, but she still knows she's good for a treat when she wants one.