Poor Little Guy

Today little Sammy got fixed. I felt terrible for leaving him at the vet's, but I knew he would be in good hands. Everything seems to have gone pretty smoothly. I was happy to go and pick him up after work. He is pretty tired and sore, which is to be expected.

Here is a picture from the other night when he was barking at me.












This is a picture from from last night. Uncas and I thought he looked so cute sleeping on his back on my lap!














Here is a picture of him from tonight. In his favorite place - Mama's lap!

Seattle Weekend!

This past weekend Uncas and I flew to Seattle to visit my best friend Lisa and her husband Brian and their adorable, cute, and sweet baby Caiden (who happens to be my godson!) We had such a wonderful time. We were able to see some sights, but also spend plenty of time just hanging out and playing lots of fun games! Above we are standing at the market downtown (watch out for the flying fish!) Below Lisa and I (and Caiden tagging along) went to a couple of wineries for some tasting. The guys, joined by L & B's friend Rob went to a brewery tour.
Here is a cute picture of Caiden (I took lots and lots of him) in his new "big boy" car seat! I think he likes it!
Uncas chillin' with his new buddy!
Yet another picture of the two cuties! Caiden and Uncas became fast friends. It was really very cute.

Friday Lisa and Caiden took us to downtown Seattle. We took a tour of the "undergrounds" and walked around afterwards. Of course no trip to Seattle would be complete without a stop to Starbucks!!! Here are Lisa, Caiden and I in downtown Seattle.

Uncas and Sally by the water.

Thursday night and Friday night Lisa and Brian cooked us some wonderful meals. After dinner we played some Wii! It was a lot fun. I am pretty terrible, but I still had a blast trying. Depending on the game you play, you can certainly get a workout in! Check out Uncas's fabulous moves!

Saturday after going on respective tours (wine for the ladies, beer for the men) we met up with another one of Lisa's friends from back in IL who also lives in Seattle. We had some tasty Chicago style pizza. We then headed back to B & L's and played some fun card games. The weekend went by super fast and we had such a good time. Caiden was a little sweetheart and so good the whole time! Thank you so much to Lisa and Brian for letting us crash with you. Hopefully we can see you guys again soon!! Here are more pictures from the whole weekend!

Open Letter to Grandma and Grandpa

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Thank you so much for watching me while my parents went to Seattle. I had lots and lots of fun. I liked hanging out with Grandpa during day and I liked going for walks and playing fetch with Grandma. It's nice to be home again, although it's a little lonely during the day. But here's the most interesting thing. When I go up the stairs, my mama and daddy get all excited. And they give me lots and lots of treats! What a strange thing! Had I known they were going to be this excited, I would have done it long before. My mama took a video of me going up the stairs. Silly Mama was holding it the wrong way, but you get the idea. Can't wait to see you again soon!

Love,
Sammy

Uncas's Fishing and Camping Weekend

This weekend Uncas went fishing and camping with his dad in Northern Minnesota. They had much better luck than last time. The weather was a little cool the first couple of days, but they still had a good time. Here are some pictures that Uncas took:

Mr. Uncas at the campsite:
A picture of their picnic table set up:

The boat. I like this picture a lot - it came out very clear.
Lake Toohey

Fish Fry!I had a busy weekend with Sammy. I cleaned, took Sammy on lots of walks, did a lot of baking, hung out with Josh, cleaned up the flower beds and pots outside. Oh - I also did quite a bit of shopping.

Currently Sammy and Uncas are running around the house together. I think Sammy is glad to have his little play buddy home. And you know what? I am too!

We have a short work week - YAY! Because we are going to Seattle this weekend - Double Yay!!! I can't wait to see my little godson Caiden!

Hanging with Friends

On Tuesday night we went to Matt and Janis's house for dinner and to catch up on things. We hadn't seen them for almost 2 months and they live in the same town as us! They have a golden retriever Charlie who is so sweet. Sammy came along and got to "play" with him. They have a little trouble because Charlie is so big and Sammy is so little. It was really funny. Here are some pictures that I took that night.

Uncas left this morning to go fishing and camping for the weekend with his dad. They are going to northern MN and the last time they did this two years ago, their boat trailer broke, they got caught in a snow storm and never did get to go fishing. Let's hope this year they have better luck. Sammy and I are going to hang out at home and get some cleaning done inside and perhaps some yard work done outside. Oh - and lots of cuddling on the couch while I catch up on TV watching!

Best Husband Ever and Saffron's First Party

This weekend Sammy and I drove down to WI to a "Meet Saffron" open house at my brother's. Uncas opted to stay home, as he will be gone the next couple of weekends. I figured he would sleep in late, maybe go fishing, and most likely play on his computer a lot! Boy was I wrong! Instead of being a lazy bum, he painted our kitchen! I have been wanting to do this and we were originally going to do it last weekend, but other things came up. When I came home, Uncas met Sammy and I at the car. He told me to go inside and to see the little surprise that he got for me this weekend, I thought it was something to eat! I was quite surprised to see the kitchen completely painted. The pictures below don't do it justice, but it looks unbelievable and so beautiful!!! And he also bought me flowers! BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!!

A cute picture of the man of my dreams!

On to the rest of the weekend. Little Saffron had her first party! Because many of our family live in IL, my mom thought it would be fun to have a "Meet Saffron" party. Derek and Jeanna loved the idea and decided to make it an open house and they invited their friends as well as family. Little Saffron was the cutest little guest of honor and so very good. I tried to get as many pictures as possible of people holding her. You can see my pictures from the day here. My mom also took some pictures. You can see them here. You will notice in my mom's picture, another baby at the party. That was my brother's co-worker's son. He was born the same day, an hour after Saffron. He was almost 3 lbs bigger than her at birth. They were really cute together! Sammy of course had a blast hanging out with his cousins Tina and Snoopy. He ran and played all day long. He is quite the tired puppy! He also couldn't get enough of little Saffron, he wanted to lick her legs, fingers, cheeks, nose, etc. He got so excited whenever he saw her! Here is a picture of happy baby Saffron.

And finally - a big huge thank you to my bestest friend Lisa! I made cupcakes for the party and the frosting recipe that I tried to use came out terrible! I called her frantically for the frosting recipe that she uses (from her sister Karla) and the results were amazing!

Pretty Fall Weekend

Tomorrow I have my first conference that I am Program Assistant. That is normally my job title, but I do very different work than the two other Program Assistants in my department. Due to poor scheduling in our department by management, the two other PA's have a crazy conference schedule - there are 3 Program Managers that do conferences, but only two PA's to support them. Not really realizing until the middle of August that they were in trouble, they asked me to help out. All while doing my regular job responsibilities. It's been a fun couple of months to say the least. I am at the point where I am just trying to do everything that I can, to the best of my ability. I am not worrying about things that I can't control. But I know that I will be tired after the next couple of days, so I thought I should get this blog post out now.

Earlier this week, Uncas worked from home on Tuesday. Here is a picture of his "home office" set-up and his assistant.
I have also been trying to teach Sammy to climb our stairs. I know they must seem very steep and daunting to him. So far, he can only make it up a couple of steps and that's with some help (a red pillow at the bottom step).
Yesterday it was a beautiful day in the Twin Cities. Sunny, warm, cool breeze - a perfect fall day. We decided to take Sammy for a long walk at a nearby park reserve. As you can see, Sammy was not happy about it at all:
Uncas took this picture while we were walking. Most of the leaves haven't started turning yet, but it was still really pretty and peaceful.
We ran across a tiny, tiny garter snake.

Sammy sitting for me.
Me and my baby!
I think he is look for a treat or something here.My two cuties!

Uncas and I both saw this tree at the same time. We thought it looked so perfect!

We figured that we walked/hiked for about 4 miles. Sammy was pretty tired out, but he had a great time. We picked the right day to go, because today is cool and rainy. Tonight I have plans to see Kathy Griffin live. She is a comedian who I find very, very funny. I am going with Josh and Jaron, so it should be fun.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 73rd birthday! I am bummed that I won't be able to see him this weekend, but next weekend I will be in town, so we can celebrate then and eat some birthday pie or cake or cookies (or a combination of all three). I hope you have a great day dad!!!

Picture of my dad with his friend Dick from this summer. My dad is the one on the right.

Photos - Upstairs Improvements

Before I put the link to the pictures of our newly improved bathroom (and upstairs), here is a "before" picture.
Click here to see the after pictures.

As I mentioned earlier, today Uncas and I went to the Twins game. It's their last game of the regular season. It was a fun game - they lead the whole time and scored 6 runs. We have to wait and see if the White Sox win tomorrow. If they lose - the Twins go to the play-offs. If the Sox win, the two teams will have to play one game on Tuesday to determine who goes to the playoffs.

Uncas and I in our new Twins shirts.

No post can be complete without a cute picture of Sammy.

Behind on the Updates

It's been a long, slow week, and I know that I am behind on updating my blog. Last weekend Uncas and I finished up working on the upstairs of our house. I haven't posted much about it because his mom was coming to stay with us this week, and we wanted it to be a surprise. We repainted the bathroom, replaced the medicine cabinet, added a shelf and small cabinet. I have pictures on my camera, but the dog's on my lap sleeping and God forbid I move and disturb him! I promise to post later this week (or possibly later tonight). We also finished up the guest room by adding a small night stand and a new Roman shade. Uncas organized his office and hung some pictures and I unpacked books in my office. It looks so great up there now. It was fun showing off our hard work.

The rest of the week has been comsumed by work - Blah. Things are super busy, but I don't like talking about work on my blog, so enough about that!

This weekend is proving to be a lot of fun. Friday night we just hung out at home. I caught up on my tv shows while Uncas played his new computer game. Yesterday we hung out and didn't do much during the day. Last night we got together with Josh and Jaron. Josh made chili and cornbread and I brought over apple crisp with caramel sauce. Yummy food for a fall night. After dinner we headed out to bowl! It was a lot of fun and I surprisingly didn't do too terrible. Jaron was the best bowler in the group, but Uncas rocked the last game!

Today we are going to the Twins game. They are currently in first place and need to win today! If they win and the White Sox lose, then the Twins will go to play-offs. It's going to be lots of fun. I even went out yesterday and bought Uncas and myself Twins shirts! And on that note, I need to get the laundry - it's done and you will note that I will move the dog for that! :-)

Hurray for the Cubs!!!

Today the Cubs clinched the National League Central Division - they are off to the play-offs! Hurray!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrlLmTh32KI

Tiny Cubs Fan

The Magic Number is now 4! Go Cubs Go! Little Saffron is cheering them on to victory! If the Cubs win tonight, my dad and brother will be at the game tomorrow and hopefully they will clinch the division!

Who's that in the Mirror?

Emergency Trip to the Vet

The whole time I have known Uncas, neither of us has had to make an emergency trip to the doctor or hospital (knock on wood!). Yesterday, however, I ended up taking Sammy to the vet unexpectedly.

I came home as usual over lunch to let him out. We played outside for awhile and he was pretty energetic. I went inside to put my lunch plate away and get a treat ready for when I put him back in his kennel, when suddenly I heard this loud crying. Thinking that it couldn't be Sammy and ran to the backyard and found him laying in the middle of the yard, not moving and crying. I ran over, picked him up and brought him into the house. Gone was his energetic self and instead he was crying, barely moving, with his ears pulled back. He seriously looked distressed. I called Uncas to consult with him and and after waiting a few minutes, I called the vet and they had me bring him in.

Fortunately we live about 5 minutes away and they were able to examine him right away. I was sure he ate something that he shouldn't have (a screw?), but after the exam, they thought perhaps he was bit or stung by something. They offered to keep him for the rest of the afternoon to monitor him. I gladly took the offer because I needed to get back to work, at the very least to pick up Uncas! So, with a quick pat, he was off to stay in the back room.

Uncas and I picked him up after work and apparently he was just fine. He never did swell up or anything (thank goodness) and while his demeanor was slightly subdued last night, there appear to be no lasting effects. Who knows what happened to him and he's not talking!

Here are some pictures we took of Sammy this week - they are of him sleeping/laying on the couch:

He looks happy here, cause he is in one of his favorite spots - laying next to daddy's computer that shoots out plenty of warm air on him! See his smile?

I was goofing around with the camera and thought I would take a close up picture!

I wasn't feeling well on Sunday and he seemed to know it, so he just stayed with me on the couch and cuddled for most of the. What a good pal!

Pictures of Our Day with Saffron

We had such a fun day yesterday meeting Saffron. We left The Cities early in the morning and drove to Madison. We were the first to arrive and Saffron was finishing up some lunch. But as soon as she finished, I got to hold her. She is cuter in person than in the pictures! And she is so very sweet too! The night before, she slept from 11:30-5:00 am, so Jeanna and Derek were fairly rested. Later on my parents arrived with my grandma and we all stayed for dinner too. My aunt, uncle and two cousins also stopped by to meet Saffron. She was so good even as we took turns holding her and passing her around.

Tina and Snoopy have been doing fairly well adjusting to having Saffron around the house. Tina is a protective older sister and just loves licking and looking at Saffron. When Derek asks her "Where's Saffron?", Tina will run around the room, hop up to look in the bassinet and then finally find her in Jeanna's arms eating. It's so cute. Apparently, she also will get up a number of times during the night and go over to the bassinet to check on Saffron as well. Snoopy isn't quite as enthralled by her . . .but he still seems to be adjusting. Both dogs enjoyed having Sammy over and they spent a lot of time running around outside.

We drove home early evening and fortunately the drive was very uneventful. Not much traffic and a very tired out little puppy made for a peaceful ride. I took a lot pictures of little Saffron. Here them out!

My mom also took some pictures. Some are very similar, but can you really have too many of a new baby?!

Today we had a very lazy Sunday. I mean, VERY lazy. I didn't leave the couch very much and basically spent the whole morning cuddling the puppy. He seemed to know that I was tired and just need to rest with him. My dear Uncas was very sweet, buying me donuts and juice, taking the puppy out, cleaning up the kitchen and removing a dead bunny from our yard. I did manage to take the puppy for a walk later today, but that's about it. Now I am alternating watching the Bears game (let's hope at least one team from Chicago wins today!) and the MTV VMA's. I am officially too old because I am bored to tears by the awards show and there are people that I have no idea who they are and I am unfamiliar with many of the songs . . . the best part for me is seeing Travis Barker playing drums in the house band (which apparently a band consists of a DJ and a drummer - who knew?!)

Meeting Saffron!

We got home a little over an hour ago from meeting Saffron today. What a cutie! She is such a good baby and Derek and Jeanna are excellent parents. It was so much fun to see them, Grandpa Ron, Grandma Jo, Great-Grandma Vi, Uncle Dale, Aunt Margit, and Cousins Doug and Brad. I am exhausted, as is our puppy Sammy who have a fun time playing with Tina and Snoopy. I will post more pictures tomorrow!