Just me, myself, and I

It's been one of those weeks.  

Now the kids are off on a camping trip and I am enjoying this colada on the patio watching a sun shower and a rainbow develop.

Ooooh!  It's a double rainbow :)

Captured

So it seems last year's yearbook, which isn't given out until the next school year, had some photos of the Can-Man.

From one of the school dances...

to Special Olympics from last year and years past.

I was told they have extras and I could buy one in the office, but they are $50.  I think we will just get his senior yearbook.

She's a Sophomore

Sahara starts her second year today.  She leaves for school after I do so she has to take her own photo.

Have a great year girl!

The New Girl

Friday, on the way out from work, a co-worker asked me if I wanted a puppy. Before she could get the words out I said noooo.  Then she said she was hoping I would since I know about Weimaraners. Well, that kind of got me.  Sascha has been gone for 19 months now.  The plan wasn't to get another Weimaraner, or any dog for that matter, but I just said yes before even thinking about it.

On the way home from work, without even seeing her, I decided her name would be Lola.  Why Lola?  I have no idea.

The next afternoon we picked her up.  Basically, she will be Canyon's dog and so will be his 16th birthday present (a little early).

Upon picking her up we saw that she was not silver like Sascha but chocolate.  Which isn't a 'true' Weimaraner color.  Mouse brown is a true color but she is darker.  So, she may be mixed with something, but has all the Weimar characteristics.  She was going to be put down along with the litter and rescued at 5 weeks old. (Stupid people didn't know that even if not full blooded, they could have been sold for $100-150 a piece) Anyway, somehow Michelle got a hold of her and fostered her from then on.

Well, being Canyon's dog, we quickly concluded that he could not pronounce Lola.  He would call her Noah and Nova.  That wasn't going to work.  We went through a list of names and Sunday morning decided on 

Isn't she so pretty?

She is 3 months old and is going to be HUGE.

Jared really likes her because she likes to rough house...waaaay too much.  We have a LOT of home-training to do.  At Michelle's, she must have been allowed to do anything she wanted and get away with it. They have a baby in the house learning to crawl and this pup was way too much to handle around the baby.

She barks in the house a lot, chews shoes, gets feisty (we all have battle wounds), and is very hyper, has accidents....loves to snuggle, gets along with Malaki and Chloe (although they aren't too thrilled she is here, (but a lot of progress has been made), sits on command, and can fetch.

She also loves to play in the sprinkler :)

Canyon is warming up to her, but like Malaki and Chloe, the hyper-feisty play is a little too much.  We are working on calming in the house and a lot of hard play to wear her out outside.  She sleeps fine through the night in the living room which is a big plus.

I'm going to plan to have her fixed and have her dew claws removed during Thanksgiving break so we can be home for her recovery.  Unfortunately her tail is not docked and I don't think that is something that can be done at her age.  The nerves and arteries are formed now and recovery would be a lot harder.    

Well, guess we have a new pup!

He's a Sophomore

I don't think one day of summer went by that Canyon didn't ask: 'School tomorrow?'

He was so ready to get back to this schedule.  

Summer farewell

So it's the last day of summer break.  Being a Sunday means grocery shopping and laundry, but we had a last day at the lake as well.

Tomorrow may be the first day of school, but today I have my toes in the sand :)

We didn't stay very long this time.  I didn't go in the water at all.

I didn't go in because we brought Malaki and there is no dogs at the beach :(  So someone had to sit with him in the grassy area. (but I did sneak him in the water to cool down)

It was toasty today, but he was cooled down and liked to watch the kids in the water.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow!

Back in business

Friday was a good day.  The neighbor's relative had the lawn mower for weeks this summer.  He finally figured out what was wrong with it.  It really makes me distrust a lot of people.  Engine shops that had told me it would be a $750 (at least) carburetor fix were wrong.  Or something that would entail the engine being torn completely apart and rebuilt.  It turns out it needed a new starter.

It's still as slow as a turtle and we have no idea why, but it runs and cuts, has sharpened blades, new plugs, oil, filter, and battery.  And hopefully will last me 3 more years.

So the back part of the back yard, shown above, finally got cut.  That was a long and big job since it was 3 feet tall!

Also, I found out all I needed for my BBQ to be functioning again was new heat plates.  The old ones had rusted and disintegrated and collapsed onto the burners.  But the burners were fine.  The starter is hit and miss and may need to be replaced as well, but for now it seems to be working ok for the most part.

After the big yard makeover, we made pork chops and baked potatoes for dinner.

Summer Sunsets

So according to the school year calendar, summer is over.  We have had a crazy-weather summer like we have never seen.  7 days in July and August, the air conditioner could be turned off and the windows open. I got to walk and enjoy my coffee in 60something degrees.

We also had some beautiful sunsets.  The news said this was due to Sahara Desert dust making it's way to our atmosphere. 

Another summer day...

New cut ~ new color for mom.  Not the best background but I love taking pictures at my bedroom window because I look more washed out and polished in that light :) 

This photo actually taken yesterday before lunch with teacher friends.  Turned out the ones who showed up were all retired but me!

Canyon took his coin jar in to be cashed out at the machine at the bank.  He made out with $86.01.  1 cent back in the jar to start over.

After the bank and lunch we hit the lake for some more swimming.  The water was very warm.  As soon as we got there these clouds showed up and rain was in the distance.

But we stayed and the storm vanished before it got to us.

Trying out some selfies.

Mount Nebo

Last minute decision to head up Mount Nebo to the swimming pool at the state park.  It was already noon when we left so Sahara threw together a picnic lunch to take while I gathered other things.

It was pretty quite there when we arrived; only a couple other families.

Canyon' swim selfie for his teacher.

I was there and here is my proof. 

 My toes!

The view from the pool to the River Valley below.  Kinda hazy today.  Probably the humidity.

Lunch break in the pool picnic area.

Getting my sun on.

Canyon coming down the slide.  He went round and round on that thing.

It was crowded 2 hours later so we packed up and got a Red Box movie and headed home.