How'd he get so old?

Josh & Brittny

Josh & Emmett

Such handsome boys

Emmett and Whitney

Josh creeping on Emmett

They looked so great!!!

Last night was Junior Prom.  I'm not sure how Josh & Emmett went from being these cute little kids that were hanging around the house watching Pokemon and Avatar cartoons to being 17 year old Juniors in high school.  Crazy!!  And so fast.  Proud of both of those boys--they are such good people & choose to have such good people in their lives.  It was fun to see them all dressed up last night!!

Makes me happy!!!

These two girls make me so happy!!  Wendy, my wonderful niece is on the left and Cass, the girl that James was dating before he left on his mission, is on the right.  Wendy and Cass go to college together and are roommates.  The best part of that is that they're only an hour from me!  Yippee!!  I love having them so close and getting to see them all the time!  They're here for Easter weekend & I am so, so excited to spend time with them!!  Love, love, love these two girls!!!!!!!

Erin & Gabe

11.5 years ago, a sweet tri baby boy was born here.  There was always something special about this little guy.  He was always beautiful, but even more, he was always a sweet, affectionate boy.  Gabe lived here until he was almost a year old.  I got to show him and finished his championship.  He was a fun guy to show.  After a specials home that did not work out and a Juniors home where the Junior stopped showing, Gabe went to Texas to spend a couple of months with my friend Erin.  Long story short, Gabe wrapped his furry little body around the hearts of Erin and her husband Adam, and has lived with them for about 6 or 7 years.  I could never have asked for a better family for Gabe.

Erin and Gabe have made a breeder's dreams come true.  She has had an amazing show career with him, including winning a Best In Show with him.  Gabers is the only dog we have ever bred to win this honor.  I'll never forget the day that Erin called to tell us.  We were in the car and I instantly started crying.  Mom was speechless....and that never happens!  It was a high point for me, as a breeder of a dog.

But even more importantly to me is that Gabe is loved and adored by his people.  He is a member of Adam and Erin's family--and is completely convinced that he is the center of their world.  He is more happy curled up in their laps than anywhere else in the world, and there's nothing more that I could ask for than to know that this wonderful dog I bred is loved and spoiled rotten!

At the national this year, Erin and Gabers won the 11+ veterans class.  People ringside could not compliment him enough, and most thought he was about 5 years old.  It was wonderful to see this team in action again--they were the most beautiful duo in the ring!  Thank you Erin for helping to make this breeder's dreams come true.....but mostly, thank you for loving this sweet, goofy boy so much!!!

Oh, I love watching this dog move!!

what an amazing day!!

Gabers happy with his daddy

Erin & Gabe in the ring at Nationals 2011

Pretty sure the look on his face says it all!!

Snapshots of the trip to Tulsa...

  dingbat Liza realized about 2 hours into the Tulsa trip that the camera is at home!  Sheesh....but, my phone does have a good camera, so I was still able to get some good photos.  Not as many as I normally take, but I kept forgetting I had a camera on my phone!!  

Is it spring??  The day we left, it looked like winter!!

Good thing Wyoming does have some cool scenery, because I really hate that state!!

Boring, boring, boring......

 

I have never seen a covered bridge over the interstate before!!!

 

Hahaha!!  I don't know what the purpose of this 20 foot tall guy was, but it made me laugh every single time we pulled up to the show site.

Happy 125th Anniversary, CCA!!  Gorgeous cake and it was soooooo delicious!!

Love this dog!  This is Dash, who hopefully will be involved in an announcement later.....

Erin and Gabers......more on them later....

I absolutely LOVED this necklace!!  Sadly, even in silver, which I prefer, it was out of my price range, so it is not around my neck.

Hard Rock Cafe!!!

Poor Hannah was not thrilled about being on the trip with us.

Gabers, however, is happy anywhere, as long as he has a bed.....

 

 

 

And of course.....my mom's quilt.  She makes a quilt for the Collie Health Foundation to auction at their annual auction.  For the 125th Anniversary of the Collie Club of America, she did a quilt that has the names and kennel names of hundreds of collie breeders embroidered into it.  It took her 7 months to embroider and looked amazing.  They auctioned it for $800.  All together, mom's quilts have brought over $10,000 to the Collie Health Foundation.

It was an amazing trip.  I haven't been to a National since 2006, so it had been 5 years since I had seen so many of my friends.  It was wonderful to see them all again and spend time with them.  I got to spend time with wonderful people, see beautiful dogs, and have a week and a half away from reality.  It was perfect!

Kara's baby shower!

My wonderful friend Kara is expecting her third baby next month---her first boy!  Yesterday I got to spend a very enjoyable afternoon with my awesome friends at Kara's baby shower.  Angie and Mica outdid themselves with wonderful food, Dessa brought an amazing chocolate covered strawberry bouquet, and Steph opened her beautiful home to us.  Kara got some wonderful things to prepare for her new sweet baby boy, and we got to indulge in an afternoon of our favorite things....yummy food and incredible friends!!

yummy food!

Dessa's amazing chocolate covered strawberry bouquets!

                                      

Two little angels!

I got to spend most of the weekend with two sweet little angels!  My wonderful friend Jenni went out of town for a couple of days and trusted me with her sweet little twin girls.  I love all of Jen's kids and had so much fun getting to stay with Lili and Koryn.  I had a baby shower to go to yesterday afternoon, so had Josh come in and watch them for me.  Josh has spent time with little kids at basketball games and things, but never spent any amount of time with kids.  He was so, so nervous about being responsible for them. It was funny.  In the first hour or so he was with them, I got about 8 texts, and 5-6 phone calls, with concern about various things, telling me what they were doing.  Then the next text I got from him was, Take your time...I love these girls!  I got back to Jenni's to find two very happy little girls and one very smitten teenage boy.  Those two sweet girls have him wrapped totally around their little fingers, and he's wanting to know when he can babysit again.  Love those sweet girls!!  Thanks for trusting me with them for the weekend Jenni!!

**Chills***

Ok, so I am admittedly a big Glee fan.  But I got chills when I heard this song for the first time tonight.  It's beautiful, and puts so much of what I feel so much of the time into words.

Giving Thanks

A very good friend reminded me yesterday of the value found in learning to live for my blessings.  I think sometimes I spend far too much time wallowing in my trials and focusing on the bad things that come my way.  I have so much good in my life though and don't take enough time to truly be grateful for all the many wonderful things in my life.  So I thought such a good way to focus on my blessings would be to give thanks for them all.

**my amazing family**

**my awesome friends, who are always there for me**

**my health**

**a job I really enjoy**

**working for a company that is based on integrity**

**working with people I enjoy and respect**

**being able to learn from my mistakes**

**being able to choose the path my life takes**

**a working brain**

**no physical ailments**

**the gift of agency**

**a foundation of beliefs and faith**

**the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father**

**my wonderful dogs who always seem to know what my mood is**

**the ability to work my feelings out through piano**

**music**

**the ability to find humor in life***

**laughter** 

 **ice cream**

Holy Deliciousness!!!!!

Thank you Char for the recipe for this delicious soup!!!!

1 lb chicken breasts (3-4 fillets)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C diced onion
1 garlic clove
4 C chicken broth
1 C masa harina (flour)
3 C water
1 can enchilada sauce
16 oz. Velveeta Cheese
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Add chicken breasts and one can of cream of chicken soup to a crock pot and bake for about 4-5 hours on high.
When the chicken is done baking...
Add onions and garlic to a pot and saute over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until the onions begin to become translucent.
Add chicken broth to the pot.
Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.
Add the masa mixture to the pot with the onions, garlic and broth.
Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices and bring mixture to a boil.
Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.
Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
Serve in cups or bowls and garnish with shredded cheese and crumpled tortilla chips.

(I made my own tortilla chips for this soup. Slice up several flour tortillas into thin strips and saute with a 1 tsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt until the tortillas strips are crispy).

Ahhhh.....renewal

I've been battling a case of the blues and douldrums big time.  And to the amazing people in my life who have been trying to pull me out of it, I love you so much!  I found an unexpected way out of those blues today!  I went into ShopKo innocently today and found a half price sale.  I was far too weak to resist.  But when I spent the rest of the day smiling every time I looked at my super cute new purse, I knew that this little peek of spring was exactly what I needed!  And who can argue with $15?