Jackson's Polar Plunge

Happy Thursday, y'all!

I know a lot of you back on the east coast are sick and tired of snow, but we have decided we somewhat miss winter being cold. So when we miss it being cold and want to romp around in snow, we head up the mountain (because that seems to be our go-to for just about everything). This week, we went up to see some of our favorite spots and what they look like covered in snow with no people.  First we went all the way up the mountain and saw the ski slopes and the hoppin' town of Summerhaven and then we went down to see the lake, Rose Canyon Lake.

As this sometimes happens, we forgot and underestimated how far away the lake is from the main road since usually we drive all the way down and this time the road to the lake was closed. But it was a great adventure romping through the snow and Jackson had  BLAST! When we finally made it down to the lake we were (maybe just I was) surprised to see that it was frozen over. This was super cool and we started throwing sticks and rocks to see how much ice there actually was. Now, as you know, Jackson LOVES to retrieve, so he was struggling a bit with the whole "leave it" thing when we were throwing perfectly good fetching objects. We also assumed Jackson wouldn't jump off the ledge into the frozen lake. But no. Shortly after I jokingly said "Ben if Jackson goes in are you willing to go in after him," the retriever instincts kicked in and he jumped off the ledge into the frozen lake. Good news, everyone was fine. Along with the retriever instincts comes quickly drying fur and there is nothing quite like an ice bath to really wake you up. So on the walk back Jackson sprinted to and fro which thankfully kept him warm and dried him off pretty well. (bad news, he probably wasn't supposed to get his incision site wet). 

Hiking Up The Highway

Our little family of three loves to be outdoors, so generally any chance that we get we try to be outside. This past weekend the weather in Tucson was PHENOMENAL! We're talking 60s and sunny. So we headed up the mountain to go for a family hike. (At some point we will branch out more, but for the time being we are in love with the Catalina Highway and Mt. Lemmon. ) After some searching online we decided to do a trail called Soldier Trail and to start from the bottom and hike up. What we learned that day: it gets hot fast when there is no shade and we are woefully out of shape. 

(Jackson is not out of shape and decided to rub that in our faces but running laps around us)

(there's Tucson!)

Once we got our fill of Soldier Trail, we decided to continue to trek up the highway where there would be shade and...SNOW! Lots and lots of snow. So we romped around in the snow and played some fetch with Jackson. He was having the time of his life. 

'

'

All in all it was a pretty stellar weekend. Also, today Jackson is having his "goodbye manhood" procedure and I know he would appreciate any good thoughts and prayers. 

Over and out!

Catch Up

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) where you have a to-do list and instead of getting anything on that list done you find yourself falling asleep mid conversation with the lights on at night? That was our week. My to-do list consisted of many many things including update y'all on life, and each night I fell asleep on the couch and somehow made it to the bedroom. But we digress.

This week has been a pretty splendid one and here is the low down on our life out here in the wild west.

Jackson ate some pretty important things while we were test running leaving him out and about in the house during the day.

(goodbye quadcopter radio and headlamp)

Ben got a grill for Christmas, so we put it together and cooked...

THIS DELECTABLE ITEM! Still dreaming about how amazing that meal was. 

Then, the menfolk got out the power tools for another day of manly adventures in the backyard. 

Which resulted in Jackson having a new "place". He had been chilling out on a cardboard box, but after many enthusiastic leaps onto the box it was no more. This is much more sturdy (and was built large enough for Jackson to have a fur-sibling someday!).

After receiving his new place (his new throne), he got his nails done. Truly they were becoming a bit knife-like, but in true dramatic Jackson form he accepted his title of Prince of Tucson and decided getting your nails done isn't such a bad thing after all. 

We went for many sunset walks around the neighborhood as a family.

And had many adventures of fetch in the park. Jackson also met a few friends (some collies and a beagle) and we learned that he gets a bit jealous when we try to talk with other dogs. 

We also did the exhausting job of painting Jackson's throne. This called for an immediate nap in the sunspot of the backyard. 

(also, this week while chauffeuring Jackson around town, many people said "I'm so glad my dog is small." Well, to that I say "my 60 pound beast doubles as a pillow..what now?!!?")

Lastly, we went on another grand adventure this weekend. It deserves its own post so here is a teaser. I promise I will (try) to do better this coming week of updating y'all prior to crashing on the couch. 

Also, apparently our lives revolve around the brown dog. Whoops.

Over and out!

Jackson's First Christmas

This year was Jackson's first Christmas! And what a Christmas it was. He learned early on the struggle of being a child on Christmas when he found me wrapping his gifts and then wanted nothing other than smelling out their location and opening the gifts. The whole wait until Christmas morning thing was real tough.

The festivities began with Jackson's fourth cross country road trip (where he showed once again that he is a champ). Once in GA, Jackson paid his respects to Uncle Speck.

Once Christmas morning rolled around, he was more than ready to get to the opening of gifts and was allowed to go first in unwrapping his new nylon bones (still trying to figure out the food allergy thing and he goes through antlers like nobody's business).

One spectacular gift we received this year was from my mom and is a portrait of Jackson! We now have him guarding the hallway in our house. (Is this when we should know that we are too obsessed with Mr. Brown??)

(turns out he loves a good infinity scarf)

In our treks across the Peach State, Jackson was able to visit with lots of other fur family and had a blast swimming, rolling around in the mud, playing tug-of-war, and generally being rambunctious. 

(he seemed to have the most fun playing with Aunt Marley and she sent him away with a dragon toy to remember her by)

To finish off his time in Georgia (and prepare for his fifth trip cross country), Jackson had a New Years Eve party with friends. He stayed up way past his bedtime and may have been flirting with a few of the ladies. 

All in all, I would say Jackson's first Christmas/New Year was quite the success and he's already making his wish list for next year.

2015

In 2015 we...

Started the year as an engaged couple not knowing what all the year would bring.

Celebrated five years together.

Went to five weddings and celebrated with friends as they made commitments to each other.

Graduated.

Got our first dog together. 

Found out we would be moving across the country and flew to Tucson to pick out a home.

Packed all of our belongings into a uhaul and said goodbye for a month.

GOT MARRIED!!!

Started our life together in Tucson.

Welcomed our perfect niece into the world. 

(she was really upset that we had to go back to Tucson)

And ended the year as a family of three. 

In addition to that,

Ben traveled the country with his best friends. 

We left our keys in Georgia two times.

I drove cross country five times post wedding.

Ben flew cross country four times and drove three times post wedding.

We got rear ended.

I said goodbye to one of my childhood dogs, Speck.

And we went on some amazing camping/hiking trips in our new state. 

For us, 2015 was the year of change. This year will be our year of settling into our new life together.