Raisin is just like his Daddy!

So, when we got Rai, we kept in contact with his Dad and Mom's owners. The owner send me a few pictures of Rai's parents a few months back, and was amazed at how much Rai looks like his Dad. Well, recently, we realized that Rai also takes after his Dad in other ways...Rai's Dad likes to sit on the top of his doghouse and just sit and look. Rai likes to sit on the top of his toy tub, too. Chris, thinking this is hilarious, has taught him to jump up on the tub on command. Because of Rai's love of tub jumping, we had to move the tub away from the patio furniture so that he didn't learn to love table jumping. And we keep it away from the walls so that he doesn't learn to love wall jumping....(but Chris encourages Rai to love Eden-jumping...it's actually pretty funny to see him sailing over Eden's back...)

Rai, on his tub.

Rai, still on his tub...

That's Chris before work, right next to Rai...on the tub...

This is Rai's daddy...see the similarities? It's crazy! 

Mutt March 2006

Yesterday, Chris and I took Eden and Raisin on the "Mutt March". It basically is an organized dog walk. We got T-shirts. Eden and Rai were very well behaved. Raisin got beat up by two daschunds. (More impressive, though, was that they snapped at him and he didn't get aggressive back.) Anyways, we took at 5k walk, and the dogs loved it.

Here's Chris, walking the two pups.

In this one, the pups were trying to get to me, because I was in front of them.

We got a free picture, too. This is before the walk. The puppies were very well behaved, because not 20 feet away were 4 other dogs, barking their heads off. 

Raisin and the Peanut Butter Jar.

The best treat ever is peanut butter. When I want them entertained and quiet, I rub peanut butter all over the side of their crate boxes. When I want to brush them and trim Eden's nails (Rai won't let me), I put peanut butter on the door. When I want them to sit and be quiet in their crates, I put peanut butter on the bars. When Chris and I want to keep them entertained in the back yard, we stuff a kong ball full of peanut butter and kibble. As you can see, we go through a LOT of peanut butter, so I buy the super sized container. We finished one off the other day, and there was a little peanut butter on the inside of the container, so I gave it to the puppies. Rai's nose is longer, so he did better at licking the inside. Anyways, here he is...

Rai, with his head FULLY in the jar.

Rai, trying to push his head entirely in the jar.

Eden, sitting, watching Rai, pretty much thinking..."what an idiot!"

Rai finally figured out that if he put the jar in his food bowl, he wouldn't have to chase it around the kitchen. Can you see how far he shoved his head in the jar? 

Dogs wearing seatbelts

So, before we went on vacation, I ordered the dogs some seatbelts so that they could ride in the back seat (on a hammock-style cover). I ordered them both mediums, and when we got them, Eden's fit, but Rai's was just WAY too big. So I sent it back and ordered Rai a small and had it sent to my sister's house. By the time we got it, Rai had grown a bunch, and now the small was too small, and Eden's medium fit. So, when we got back to AZ, I sent the small back and ordered a large for Eden (she's getting bigger), and will give the medium to Rai. Got that? Anyways, in the mean time, Rai sits in back with a harness on that we got him once he broke his collar when he was tethered at my sister's house. (We looked outside, and he was gone. Oops. Fortunately, it was in a fenced in yard.) Anyways, the dogs have been enjoying sitting in the back seat. Basically, they just fall asleep. Here are some pictures we took while we were in Wisconsin.

You can see Eden's nice seat belt. It has padding to protect her chest.

In this picture, the dogs have fallen asleep. It was funny, because one second, Rai was looking at us, and the next second, his held fell backwards and he was sleeping. He's our narcoleptic dog.

Rai falls asleep while sitting up, also. Better that than hopping around. 

Back from a GREAT vacation!!!

So, a week ago, Chris and I got back from our vacation. We had a GREAT time in South Dakota and Wisconsin, and Chris had more than enough fun in Chicago. Here are some pictures that I took (with my NEW camera) while on vacation.

So, Hannah has perfected her "Smile on command" smile to look like this...It's a good thing that she is so cute naturally...

Here are Chris and Isaac, walking out of the baseball game that we saw. Isaac is clearly making a scary face.

This is Ellee jumping from the wall to be caught by Mark. It's such a cool picture because she's literally in mid air!

Isaac is also a fearless child. There was no-fear for this one! 

New Camera!!!

So, for about 2 years, I have been wanting a new digital camera. We got our first one about 4 years ago, and after we got it, we noticed all the things that we wished were different, like with our old camera, there is a delay between when you press the button to take the picture, and when the picture actually takes. That means that we got really good at anticipating when something would happen (about as good as possible...). Also, while the old camera is a small camera and would fit in a backpack or a large purse, it is too big to take all the time. Also, the camera has a 3x optical zoom, and a bigger digital zoom, which is great if you aren't moving when the picture is being taken, but otherwise, the digital zoom can come out fuzzy. So, based on my new wants, I found a great camera that has a 7.1x optical zoom, is super small, and takes pictures right away! It is a Ricoh Caplio R4. Initially, I wanted the R3, but then they came out with the R4, at about the same price, so I decided on that one. I had to order it online, because Ricoh doesn't really try to sell their cameras in the U.S. Anyways, I got it, and it is super cool. Here are the first pictures I took with the camera (to keep). Of course, they are of the puppies!

This is Eden. Remember her? She loves having her picture taken!

And here's Rai. I had to chase him around for this one because he has gotten super excitable lately!

Here's the front of my camera. That's my hand holding it.

Here is the back of the camera. Self explanatory! 

Eden, stuck...

So, I used to have a tub under a plant holder. The tub was filled with dog toys. And then, the puppies learned how to stand on it and pull the plants out, and chew them to a mushy pulp. So, now the tub sits in the middle of an open space. Yesterday, Eden learned to climb on top of the tub. Chris and I figure she was trying to get on top of the table that is nearby. Well, she couldn't. And then she realized how high up she was, and couldn't get down. She was sitting there, and then she was whining, and even too scared to stand up! So I had to go outside and lift her down. She has not climbed all the way on top of the tub again since then!

Here she is, looking at us...we didn't know why at the time. (She wanted to get down)

Here she is again, just barely lifting her butt up. Immediately after this picture, she began to whine. Poor girl!