Weekend in Nyssa

Once a year my KKG little sis and I try to get together, and as we live 400 miles away from each other, it takes a lot of planning.  Since 2007 we have made it work, minus one year... But who's counting ;) This year was our year to head to eastern Oregon and even Dale made the trip with us :) 

Like always, we had a blast. The boys did a lot of fishing, the pups did a lot of running through the sprinkler, and Tiffany and I did a lot of talking, so we call it a win.

As a new adventure, Tiffany, her sister Alisha, and her nephews, helped me get started on making my first quilt.

To be continued on the quilt making :)

We also went to a rodeo and it was very impressive. The stampeders and the cowboys put on a great show. 

We also got to see their new farm out in God's country as Tiffany called it :) and it is so exciting to see the potential and future making roots in that ground. 

Once again we had a fabulous weekend and I'm so glad to have this lady in my life :)

Dale on the farm

My parents babysat Dale while Brian and I were in California, and I think he likes it better there than at home ;)

 

Charlie watching Dale be crazy

Dale being crazy and chasing goats

Buddies

Charlie and Dale!

Ground clearing

Starting in February the ground started to dry a little, so Brian go to work. He is clearing a space for some fruit trees and garden beds, and getting rid of some shrubs, weeds, and blackberries...

This last weekend while I was at work, he planted our fruit trees.

Fuji apples for me and cherries and plums for him :)

He was hard at work digging, planting, and putting up the wire yesterday while I was at work and so today I had the job of watering. Of course there is no water access down there yet since it's down the hill from our house, so I carried two 5 gallon buckets full of water down the hill, watered, carried them up, filled them, took them down... it was quite the job! Here is Dale, hard at work... he's even yawning...

This is a huge hill for those buckets full of water!

After "we" watered the trees, we went down to the creek and Dale perked right up to go for a swim.

Putting these pink Hunters to good use out here!

Practicing with Dale

I can't even count the number of times people have told Brain and I that it is important to "practice" raising a baby by getting a dog. Might be over a million times. Seriously. Not that I disagree, and I know that Brian and I have had some great conversations, problem solving, and team work as a result of Dale coming into our family, but it gets a little old, ya know?

Today I did in fact practice with Dale, but it was instead of parenting, it was with my new, fancy camera. I'm still working on honing my inner photographer and using my canon and photo shop, but I think I got some awfully cute pics of this little pup if I do say so myself :) definitely do feel some motherly love for this little guy...
















~McKenzie

Welcome Back Dale

Hunting school was a long 3 months for our little pup, and he's learned so much, not to mention grown so much. He's finished his training and we are so excited to welcome him back home! We picked him up this afternoon and trainer Butch showed us what he's learned before we brought our little guy home. Having him back helps our home feel more full... But I'll have to get back into the swing of cleaning my floors much more often :)

Dale Update

I may or may not have called a few times already to get updates on Dale while he's at hunting school... So far he's getting A's on his report card :)

They say he keeps his kennel clean and follows direction, and is fetching around 40 yds by command. They also say he's very smart and a really nice guy. I miss the little guy!

Right now as we speak Brian is hunting and wishing he had Dale because he can't retrieve his ducks he got this morning. I think that's his way of saying he misses him too :)

Over halfway there... Only about 5 more weeks!