Hero for the day-More puppy chatter

In case you are not aware, we have had two litters of puppies. Most of them end up going through a diabetes alert training program and placed in homes with a child with diabetes. We just heard that one of our pups from our June litter, Bear, was delivered to his new family last weekend. The first 3 days at his new house he managed to alert on his new vet, who was just diagnosed with diabetes, as well as, a runner in the park who was in the beginning stages of being diagnosed. He even managed to trump the new $6000 monitor his new family had just purchased and alerted even when the monitor failed...and he is only 4 months old! I will never get tired of hearing these stories! Here is Bear at 2 months.

Digging out

Well, we ended up with about 3 1/2 feet of snow. We did end up strapping on the ole snowshoes and heading out on a search and rescue mission for MacGyver. I forgot he always has his trusty stead, Tank, in tow. I'm so glad he can take him to work! What was I thinking? We met him about halfway. He was snowshoeing back up to the cabin, too! The boys went out later to try and dig the Jeep out and was finally able to get it home. We were able to get to the Bobcat and spent the rest of the day clearing the rest of our road. Can you say FUN? He cleared most of the road to the nun retreat but didn't even attempt to go up the hill to the monk hermitage (monkey village, the kids call it), but at least we can get in and out now! Forget the "by hand" theory. You can clear snow in a tenth of the time with the Bobcat...if only we could find those missing chains! We'll have to wait until next week when the snow melts off. It's going to be back in the 60s! Woohoo!

Fall 2009 - First Big Snow

I've heard we have about 3 feet of snow. I believe it. I stopped counting at about 27 inches. When I went out to feed the horses last night, I had to traipse through knee deep snow. That was about 5:00 last night. We've been getting about an inch an hour and it snowed all through the night. I will have to shovel the front and back doors to get them all the way open, and will have to make another path to get to the horses and their hay. Luckily, Ike LOVES the snow and LOVES to shovel (and sled) through it. Now the trouble will be getting MacGyver home. He's coming off shift this morning and will have to chain up to get up our driveway. I pray he doesn't roll off the side. It can get pretty hairy when it is snowy or muddy. It might be mid-morning before I see him. I'm considering strapping on the ole snowshoes and meeting him at the end of our road and at least make an attempt to help. I don't think I can shovel 3 feet of snow 1/2 mile by hand, but I can at least hit the most treacherous spots. Maybe he can get to the bobcat. For now, the wood-burning stove is roaring and crackling, the coffee is hot, the butternut squash bread is warming in the oven and I've just finished doing my morning devotions, all before 7:00. Now I'll have enough time to get ready for school and feed the animals before the kiddos wake up!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Our family went to Anderson Farms (a local agritourist spot) to pick some pumpkins from their humongous pumpkin patch. They had pumpkins and gourds of every possible kind, a 12 mile long corn maze (yes we did the whole thing), sheep, chickens, and the cutest little baby goats and llamas... but no camels (which Izzy was very relieved about) and pumpkins as far as the eye could see! We always have so much fun here!

Scenic pix

Coming up our driveway with snow and frost covering the trees. It's hard to make out but the sun is setting and illuminating the top edge of the trees. I love living here...it is so peaceful and beautiful!

FEMA news

MacGyver and Tank passed their FSA (foundation skills assessment) on Sunday! He had several types of tests to pass, including no dog or stranger aggression, agility, directability, 5 minute down-stay, and searching for two victims on a limited access pile. Ike has been suffering with a terrible episode of asthma so the kids and I missed out. But, Mac said that even though it was a long day with 8 or so dogs in various stages of testing and retesting, Tank did great! He has worked so hard to get this far, we both feel an equal sense of excitement and relief! Although the hardest part is behind us, they are slated for two more trips before they are finally certified. Go Machine and Tank! These are pics of them cramming for the final and cleaning up Tank's directablity at WMFD's new and improved station, burn tower and cache site for FEMA's COTF-1. Check out all that equipment!

The Honda Adventure

The kiddos and I were coming back from the Open House Saturday and were about 8 miles from home on the interstae when the Honda stopped. No big deal. We called MacGyver and walked to the nearest shopping center, about a mile away. The interstates in Colorado have some of the nicest paved sidewalks for bikers and runners (as well as parks on just about every corner) and we took our little pup, Grizzy, for a nice little walk. We were even able to eat a yummy dinner at Noodles while we were waiting! We had trouble finding a tow truck so our hero got off work and came and picked us up. We had it towed to our little cabin and MacGyver decided the next day that the timing belt had snapped. We were so thankful it happened less than 10 miles from home, it didn't destroy the engine, and macGyver could fix it at his leisure. God is so gracious! One of my favorite things about MacGyver is he can fix almost anything; hence the nickname! Oh! Here is a picture of Grizzy (who later became Abby), at her new home. Can you see the mohawk between her eyes? So precious!

Open House at the Fire Department

MacGyver's department had their annual Open House Saturday. He and Tank spent about three hours demonstrating a Search using 5 different bark barrels. The kiddos and I went and had breakfast and checked out some of their equipment, watched 'our boys' work and took the last puppy from our litter, Grizzy, the biggest of the chocolate pups. Four different families wanted her. She ended up settling into the EMS Chief's family, who fell head over heels in love with her. We delivered her to her new home a couple of days later. On the way home, the kiddos were asking their daddy about the hierarchy of Lieutenants, Captains, Chiefs, and Battalion Chiefs. Out of the back seat, Izzy says, "Daddy, is your Italian Chief really Italian?"  We laughed and laughed and then explained to her that they are Battalion Chiefs...not Italian Chiefs.

New horses in the west pasture

We put the two geldings, Bud and Khayel, in the west pasture behind our house yesterday morning. By noon they had found a low spot in the fence and were out wandering around. We put them back up and patched up the fence and so far they have managed to stay put. Last night Maggie (our Berner) was growling and barking at what I thought was the horses. I kept seeing eyes in the flashlight and didn't know if it was a horse or deer or worse. About 9:00 I went outside once more to see if I could see anything. I heard something tromping through the scrub oak and brush. When I shined my flashlight I was startled to see the LARGEST elk I had ever seen! He stood there for almost 10 minutes staring at us. He must have had a 6 foot spread on those antlers! MacGyver wanted to take him out right there. Boy we need to get a tag...