Our new puppy!

We met with a breeder today and we signed up to buy a yellow lab puppy!! We got to meet the mom and talked with the breeder a lot about the dogs and the family. Sounds like our little puppy is coming from quite a successful family; championship show dogs & hunting dogs on Maizey's (mom) side and field champion hunting dogs on Otter's (dad) side!

Maizey is due on April 4th and we can take our little bundle of fur home after 6 weeks. Malcolm Mack is our breeder and he has a great passion for dogs and his dogs especially. He works for the Mukilteo District and Jen met him on her ESL testing travels. It was perfect timing and he got to know what kind of dog we are looking for and he can try to match up our needs with the temperament of one of he puppies.

We are super excited about getting a dog. The fence is almost done in the backyard and after that should be dog ready. Now we just have to learn how to train a puppy!

A couple pictures of Otter hunting on the Arkansas River:

Picture of Maizey, her mom was a Grand Master Pointer, can ya tell? :


Here is Malcolm with Maizey on the left and his other black lab on the right.

Casey

A few snapshots of our good friend Steve Casey who passed away this morning after being diagnosed with cancer just 5 months ago. You will be missed greatly.

Bachelor Party in Vancouver

Together for our 1 year anniversary in August, 2006.

Brooks' 30th Birthday party.

Snow!

Here is a picture of beautiful Shoreline yesterday morning. The snow is very pretty to look at, but it's a bit cold here. Area schools have been closed much of the week and my Seattle U class was canceled last night. We're hoping our pipes don't freeze... Where are you rain?

Queretaro - Fotos

Markers on the street took you on a self guided tour of this very pedestrian friendly town.

The historic lobby of our hotel overlooking the street and building beyond.

The Plaza de Armas in the middle of town was a gorgeous place to walk through on a sunny afternoon. Not a bad place for shopping either (note the shopping bags).

There are several fountains in the downtown center. The aquaduct still bring water to the town, but people don't come and fill their buckets here anymore...

Photos of Life in Morelia

Our daily walk to class took us through El Bosque (the forest). It was really a big park with lots of trees and paths for walking and young couples smooching.
Just like Post Alley, this tree got all the spent chewing gum of the kids (like us) walking by.

Our local cantina with our friend Mario. He was a med school student from Chiapas who played great acoustic guitar and sang each week at the Cafe de Quixote.

One of many of the narrow streets in the center of town.

Cutest girl in town bundled up for the early morning walk (about 35 degrees) to school!

Fotos de Familia

Right at midnight, all the family gathers around and a Christmas blessing is read before all the children put the baby Jesus in the manger. A great tradition to start the evening celebrations.

Here we are in front of the tree at our host grandparents house. The tree is about 10' tall and is still about 10' below the ceiling!

Here I am with Alejandra (left) & her sister at Christmas Eve Dinner.

Our host family in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve: Poncho, Alejandra, & Alejandra.

Somebody found the desert table! Lots to choose from. I only had one of each...

Home Sweet Home

We made it back home with no problems with luggage or Customs or anything. It was a welcome suprise.

We already miss our (host) family & friends in Morelia, and are adjusting to reality here in Seattle. Oh, and we miss the sunshine and warm afternoons too!

Our pictures are in the works and we will be posting those in the next couple days so keep checking back.

More adventures to come!!!

Brooks