Adventures in Puppydom...

I am trying to decide if it is an age thing, or if there are some unmet baby urges lingering around my heart that have caused me to become one of those people. You know the kind, the "dog people". Not the "I have a dog and she is a great companion and friend" people. Oh No! I am talking about the kind who look at and buy the most ridiculous things to dress up their dog's with. I confess, I have lingered over puppy booties, I have called Mark about an amazingly human like PINK hooded winter vest...he said "no". I came across a bath robe that would be perfect for our newest little girl when she comes in on rainy days like today...OHHHH! There is a VERY cute raincoat I really should have bought...think of all the toweling off it would have saved!

For now I have resisted these urges, mostly because I laughed at my mother when she knit...yes, hand knit, slippers for Jake when she had him. Maybe this is an inherited gene...Hmmmmm....

Here is the little miss that is the focus of all of these spending and dressing up urges:

Kallie is a first generation Golden Doodle, which means her mom is pure bred Golden Retriever and her dad is a Standard Poodle. Kallie will be 85-100% non shedding and low to non allergenic.

She's a smart little thing and really loves people...thrives on attention and pleasing us , which is making the training go fairly smoothly. I am pretty tired...but she is SOOOO cute!

By the way, with 6 people to name a new pup, and the trouble we had with 5 opinions over Jianna's name...Mark and I named and had tags made for Kallie before the kids even knew she was here. Miss Jianna was very dissapointed that we had not chosen 'puddles' as her name, so I told her that she did not have a middle name yet, and she could have 'puddles' as her middle name. I am not prophesying messes in the house with this name though!!
It was VERY rainy Friday when we brought Kallie home and coming from two water dog breeds, she loved laying in the puddles while I waited in the rain for her to do her business...so her middle name is very suitable!!!!

What we can learn from a Newfie....

Because Mark gets such a kick out of teasing me about my Newfie heritage, I had to share this on my Blog. My dad, (the true blooded Newfie), sent it to me. I had to chuckle, maybe you will too. Enjoy.

A Newfie walked into a bank in Toronto and asked for the loans officer. He told the loans officer that he was going to Newfoundland on business for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000 however he was not a depositor of the bank. The bank officer told him that the bank would need some form of security for the loan, so the Newfie handed over the keys to a new Ferrari. The car was parked on the street in front of the bank. The Newfie produced the title and everything checked out. The loan officer agreed to hold the car as collateral for the loan and apologized for having to charge 12% interest. Later, the bank's president and its officers all enjoyed a good laugh at the Newfie for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral for a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drove the Ferrari into the bank's underground garage and parked it.
Two weeks later, the Newfie returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest of $23.07. The loan officer said, 'Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?' The Newfie replied: 'Where else in Toronto can I park my car for two weeks for only $23.07 and expect it to be there when I return?' Ah, the Newfies..... See! Salt Beef and Black Horse is good for the brain. Have a great day and hug a newfie when you can................................................They are great for the heart!!!

My Personal Retreat...

I had felt since mid way through summer, that I needed to set some time aside this Autumn in order to pray, plan and have a personal retreat with my God. Mark agreed with my plans and enabled me to get away to this wonderful place in Leamington. It was a stretch for me to go away with only my CDs and my thoughts to keep me company, but it was wonderful...God is So very very good. Just wanted to share a special place that was such a gift to me. It is so easy to hear God in the beauty of such natural surroundings...

Pelee national Park has a bird sanctuary and a butterfly sanctuary...it is also the most southern point in Canada, therefore a few weeks behind us in the seasons...there were butterflies everywhere. As it was late in the season, it was not very populated, and it felt as though I had my own personal sanctuary....shared with some of these beauties.

I spent my time on this beach laying in the sand, listening to the waves and talking with God...it was BEAUTIFUL!
I loved that there was such variety in the landscape and nature in this park. Marsh, trails through the woods, and my personal favorite, the BEACH!!!!

The most southern point in Canada is this very stretch of sand reaching out into Lake Erie.