Our New Shelf Decoration

We have noticed that Koda LOVES small, dark spaces. He seems to be a true den animal, always looking for small spaces such as corners, under the sofa, behind the television, etc. His newest place to hang out is the bottom shelf of one of our bookshelves. Not only does he love to hang out here, he loves gnawing on the wooden shelf. Having a large puppy is much different than the gentle little Belle. He tries eating everything from the couch, shelves, plastic plants, shoes, hands, legs, etc. It seems as though any waking moment, he is up wandering around just seeing what he can get his teeth on. Luckily Belle is already out of the chewing stage. I guess the bright side is that we only have one puppy in that stage. As you can see Koda is making himself at home and making us laugh minute by minute with his adventures.

We have updated three times today. The reason being we had to get a new camera and the pictures have to be uploaded one at a time and at a smaller size. I'm not sure if that is because the mega pixels are greater or what, but I will see what I can do to fix it. Thanks for checking in. Talk again soon.

Upcoming Test

Dustin is getting a firm grip on school as he continues to be learning new things, including how to study in medical school. You will find him most of the time in his room writing on his board, as you will see in the picture.

He has his next Anatomy test this coming Tuesday!!

Things are going well here. The scenery is beautiful as the leaves are changing so many different colors. The temperature is also getting cooler. This morning when I left it was 34 degrees. It was cold!! Anyway, talk to you soon. Enjoy the pictures.

Getting Settled With Koda

It was an extremely rocky beginning. Belle and Koda were fighting over everything including who was going to be in charge. That phase is finally subsiding, after many whimpers and squeals. I am proud to say that Belle won queen of the house and Koda flinches when she comes at him ready to brawl. They are getting along as you can see in the picture. They are both puppies so of course their is the friendly squabble here and there accompanied by the occasional angry fight. All in all, it is going well.

Never say never!!

I recall Dustin saying we would never get our dogs clothes. Well, now that Dustin is getting a "manly" dog, he is much more lenient about what is acceptable for Belle. Now that he does not have to walk Belle because he will be walking his "manly" dog, he is okay with her having a cozy winter sweater for the cold winter nights that are settling in. Surprisingly she doesn't mind the sweater. I think she was getting a little cold. We still do not have heat, and it's getting cold in the house. This is one of her new sweaters. She also got a pink winter coat, complete with fur around the neck. I will make sure to include pictures the first time she goes out in that.

Update on the new puppy. Sadly, we didn't get to bring him home Friday because he was sick on his scheduled surgery day. They didn't want to risk anything, so he is waiting until Tuesday to have the surgery, and we are going to bring him home on Wednesday. We will certainly be updating with more pictures. Thanks for the name suggestions!! They are great! Ultimately the decision lies with Dustin, so I will be interested to see what he chooses. Thanks for checking in. Talk again soon.

A few more pics

We wanted to included a couple more pictures. You can see in the fist one that Belle is showing her teeth in warning (ha ha). The other one just gives you a better idea of the size of the new puppy. He is a little guy.....for now!!

Another New Addition

It is official, our puppy family has been extended. We adopted a Finnish Spitz from the animal shelter this week. We bring him home this Friday. He and Belle get along very well. They are the same size right now, but Belle is 8 months and he is 3 months. He certainly weighs much more, but they are the same height and length. The new puppy also has significantly more hair. We haven't thought of a name for him yet. So send your great ideas our way!!

Belle stil feels loved and we made sure they met on neutral ground. Within months, the new puppy will outgrow Belle reaching a max weight of 30-50 lbs. Poor Belle will probably never break 8 lbs. She doesn't know that she is a little thing though. She holds her ground and lets him know who is boss. Enjoy the pictures.

Our newest addition

It has been a while since we have written. Our appologies...things have been pretty busy. School has of course consumed Dustin's life and time. My work hours make it difficult to do much in the evenings, as I work 2:30-10:30pm. Work is going well though.

We wanted to say a quick hello and include a picture of our car. We traded in Dustin's gas guzzler for a 2008 Toyota Prius. We have averaged 50.1 miles per gallon so far. It goes about 600 miles on each tank of gas, so filling up is certianly more infrequent now, not to mention the amount we are saving on gas. Dustin didn't shed too many tears as he said goodbye to his first car, the Xterra. The gadgets that are included in this new car kept him from regretting the decision to trade. He is certainly glad we did now. I always thought it ironic that an Environmental Science major was driving a 12 mpg car anyway. Enjoy the pictures, and talk again soon.