It's so hard to be wittle...

This was a quote from Jaida when we were hiking/sledding/snowshoing last weekend with Kyler and Rogue. Kids really do say the funniest things sometimes...Just makes me want to pick her up an squeeze her!I have actually gotten to use my snowshoes several times this year. I have always loved to go for a walk with the doggers and be able to get some good exercise myself! I haven't used my snowshoes much in the last few years, it has just been too hard with Jaida walking with me. Now that she is in school for a couple hours 4 days a week I actually can get out for me time. I am off on Mondays and Fridays so I usually drop her off at school and go for a hike if it isn't too nasty out. The dogs enjoy it!

Here she is jumping off a rock on our hike. I just couldn't get the timing quite right to get her in the air...She isn't afraid of much!We went out to Fitchburg yesterday to go sledding with Mike's brother, Chris and his family. Their daughter, Rainie, is 5 years old. She is a great kid, she helped take care of Jaida and Jordan (Mike's sisters 2 1/2 year old). The girls had a fabulous time on the track that Chris made. A short walk throught the woods near their house is this perfect sledding hill. They have spent time over the last couple of years perfecting it and cleaning it up. The ice storm this year put a damper on it as it took quite a while to clear the path and the track itself of all the downed trees. It has become the neighborhood hangout spot. Kids and their families come to hang out for the day sledding and enjoying the fire pit and some frosty beverages!

Jaida enjoyed going down the hill by herself, which from a mommy point of view was nerve wracking at first. Seeing her first born go flying down this hill and around the corners all by herself! After seeing how well she did the first time, however, it was clear that she was quite comfortable in her tube and the track is built for safety. After this picture was taken Chris and the other guys there finished adding more safety snow fence on the corners as extra protection from going over the sides.

And, finally, a Friday afternoon nap...Awhhhh!

Great weekend!

We had a really fun weekend here at Forest King! My truck has died twice due to random things, so it has been interesting trying to get around with my small car and the dogs. The first time, on Christmas eve it died at work. As it turns out a bunch of rodents had eaten the wires leading to my fuel pump and cut the power to it. I got that repaired and then Friday I went to park it in my driveway and it wouldn't shift into park...Something in the steering column broke. So now I have to have it towed again tomorrow morning to fix that. I had to put the emergency brake on because the truck is stuck in drive, so it tries to roll away with out it! Yikes...Oh well...

Friday I took the dogs for a short run (only 45 minutes or so). Cedar actually got to go! It was his first "real" outing since his accident, so I was a bit nervous about how things would go. I strapped on his orthotic to help protect his foot. We still have to adjust it a bit, I have to send it back to the manufacterer. There are 3 adjustments included in the first 3 months for free. (not including shipping, of course!) He isn't using it as much as I would like, he tends to walk on the back of the orthotic, as opposed to flat footed on the bottom. Other than that it seems to fit fairly well. For the run I tried to cover his toes, as the snow will pack into the foot portion of the orthotic, which I imagine could be uncomfortable. He looks a bit silly in the pictures as I wrapped his foot with vetwrap, but of course, the section I put on the toe portion fell off! The only benefit I see to allowing snow build up is that since he is running in the snow it could be helpful in preventing swelling, just like an ice pack.

His toes are still undergoing a lot of healing, and one of them is fairly swollen. I think he might be developing a seroma (fluid filled pocket, slight blood tinge to it) due to the foreign material in his foot. He had another small pocket developing in between 2 other toes and it was obviously bothering him. On Saturday I noticed that it was open and a little oozy...I looked at it closely and noticed something sticking out of a hole in the middle of the swelling. I pulled out a small bone fragment from the lump! It was originally part of one of his toes that were shattered. Hopefully at least that one spot will heal up quickly now that the piece of bone isn't irritating it anymore.

The very beginning of the video is a bit shaky, sorry, I was walking in the snow and it wasn't a flat trail!

On Sunday we got together with a group of people to run the dogs. The group consisted of us with Kyler and Rogue, Stephanie and Manny (who own Baron, Roxy and Benny), Sam and Frank (who own Timber and Muki) Dave Nelson (who owns Chya), and 2 groups of other friends that each had 2 dogs. It was quite the group of dogs running and playing. All with 10 people plus Jaida. The dogs really had a great time! We hiked for close to 2 hours and then hung out to have dinner and beers. You don't see Kyler and Rogue much in these pictures because they were both off hunting and were very far from the rest of the pack. They played initially, then decided that hunting was what they wanted to do.

So, a big thanks for Stephanie for inviting us for this great day! Thanks also to Dave for allowing us to warm up in his house and then to Sam and Frank for letting us all hang out in their living room, dogs included! Rogue is actually sleeping on the couch as I am writing this, which is a very difficult thing to accomplish!

Also, thanks to Stephanie for finding an interesting beer that I am looking forward to trying. As a Christmas present she gave me a bottle of beer named "Rogue", how fitting!

Then, I received a couple pictures of Kyler's puppies at the end of the week. Briar, and Zealand. They are so darn cute and it sounds like they and their families are very happy! The first 2 are of Briar and the 3rd is of Zealand, cuddling with her stuffed pheasant, how appropriate! Briar was the male that we had for an extra few weeks, who had a minor fracture of his leg. He is doing well other than being a bumbly male puppy. I am looking forward to meeting Zea's family, as she was the red puppy who Wendy sold for us, so I never met her owners. It seems that we have the same taste in beer, so I am sure it will be a great time when we do finally get to meet!