Big Basket of Goodies!

On Sunday afternoon, our friends Mike and Tina came over for dinner and fun. They brought us a HUGE basket of goodies as a Christmas present...all stuff made from their garden this year. It was incredible...there were pickled beets, hot peppers, chili, vegetable soup, butternut squash, display gourds, a bottle of champagne to ring in the new year, corn and green tomato salsa...they even included a basket of treats for the dogs. They also gave us a really cool gourd that can be dried and used as a bird feeder in the spring...COOL!

I told you it was a huge basket. We are really going to enjoy eating all of these homemade goodies! Thanks, Mike and Tina...you guys are the best!

The Christmas Aftermath

By Christmas night, we were exhausted from all the fun and shoveling during the day. Jeff and I went down to the basement to play Mario Kart on Wii for a little while (which is so fun; I would highly suggest it to anyone with a Wii) before bed. When we came upstairs, this is how we found Kira and Koda...zonked out from their day of craziness and fun.

I guess Christmas proved to be too much for these two little puppies....

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas...we certainly did!

Snow, Snow and (yes) more Snow!

This post is for all of our east coast, warm weather friends...if you are comfortable with your 80 degree Christmases, then don't scroll down!

Winter seemed to come a little later this year than last; but boy, when it came, it came with a vengence! It has been snowing on and off for the last week and a half. As soon as we would snow blow the driveway, it would start coming down again. Well, we hadn't seen anything yet. It started to snow on Christmas Eve night and didn't stop until the day after Christmas. It was the crazy, swirling, blowing snow where you couldn't determine which way it was coming from. By the time we had opened presents and cleaned up, there were drifts in the driveway and yard that were 3-4 feet in some spots. Jeff and I got bundled up and went out to dig out. This is what we were up against...

It was crazy. There was at least 2 feet of snow in the driveway alone. Jeff got out the snowblower to tackle the driveway and I set out to shovel a path to the front door (no easy task)...


After we cleared the driveway and the walkway to the door (which took a couple of hours), I decided to have a little fun and jump in the big piles of snow...it was so much fun after working so hard to clear the snow away.
My theory on snow...it is fun to look at and play in, but crappy to have to drive in. Oh well, I guess this is what we signed up for when we moved to Utah!

Muttluk Mayhem!

After we had finished opening presents and cleaning up the house, the dogs wanted to go outside. It was snowing so hard that we figured now was a good time to try out their Christmas present from us....new Muttluks! Muttluks are all-weather dog boots that have a reflective tape on them for hiking. We decided to get them for Kira and Koda after Kira burned her paw this past summer hiking on a trail. Anyway, they warn you that it takes some time for the dogs to get used to walking in the Muttluks. It is a really foreign concept at first for them, but after a little while, they get the hang of it. We started with Kira first, knowing that she would be the more mild of the two. We put them on and she started walking around the house like a duck, throwing her feet in the air and trying to shake them off. She was adorable!

We kept making her walk around to get used to them as we wrangled Koda to put his on. He was, of course, difficult. He kept balling his paws up, so that we couldn't get his feet in the boots. He was hilarious walking around...he looked all dejected and kept trying to bite them off. Still, we managed to get a picture of them on him.

We let them outside and Kira was off and running. She absolutely LOVED the muttluks because they kept her feet warm and dry. Koda is still getting used to them, but we are hopeful that he will warm up to them quickly. They certainly are stylish puppies!

Christmas Morning

Christmas started out in the dark for us...literally! We woke up around 6:30 am to the power going off. It was a near blizzard in West Jordan; you couldn't even see across the street and the wind was blowing snow everywhere (more about that later). Anyway, Jeff called Rocky Mountain and they said that it wouldn't be on until around 11:00 am...after that, we decided to call both families (as they were already opening presents in FL), let them know we had no power, bundle us and the dogs up and head back to bed! I was really glad we did, too, as the temperature dropped from 68 degrees down to 61 degrees without the heat running. Just as Jeff was trying to get the fireplace to work, the electric came back on around 10:30. So much for a warm toasty Christmas morning...we didn't start our Christmas until almost noon!

Here is the tree all lit up with all the presents still underneath...pretty, huh?

When we finally got around the opening presents, we had to let the dogs dig in to their loot. They got TONS of stuff from the grandparents...it never ceases to amaze me how spoiled they are. They got a new treat bowl filled with treats from my mom and Mike and two picture frames that say "Woof" for their pictures. Here they are checking out the treat bowl and goodies...

They got a toy, some treats and a rawhide bone from Jeff's parents. They were in heaven with all the goodies!

Jeff and I then opened our gifts...we got so much great stuff. I got a Wii fit and a new watch from Jeff, a new cell phone (thanks, Jim), some sweaters and picture collage frames from my mom and Mike, some books from my sister and a really cool necklace and earrings set from Jeff's parents. There was a bunch more, but those are the highlights. Jeff made out as well; he got a Sony iPod docking station and new watch from me, Mario Kart and Wii recharging station from my brother, a homemade beer kit from his parents and more Wii games.

One of the cutest presents we got was from Jeff's parents. It was a miniture replica of a Shiba Inu (Koda's breed) and it looks just like him. But, better than that, we got this incredibly cute picture of Koda checking out his new "friend"...

Overall, one of the best holidays so far (with the exception of no power and the literal blizzard that dumped on us Christmas day). Thanks to everyone who made it so special. We wish we could have been home to spend it with everyone in Florida, but you were all in our thoughts all day.

It's Still Not Christmas, Koda!

On Tuesday night we were just sitting around relaxing when we heard Koda start growling at Kira anytime she walked into the library where the tree and all the presents were. He has been very protective of the presents this year and loves to just sit on the chaise lounge and look at the Christmas tree. However, his growling was not a playful growl, so Jeff and I went in to investigate and this is what we found....

He went and got his Muttluks out from under the tree and started running around the house with them in his mouth. When either Jeff or I tried to get them from him, he growled at us. We kept telling him it was not Christmas yet and he would have to wait. Finally, we wrestled them from him and went back to relaxing...only Koda had another idea.

He once again started to growl at Kira any time she went into the library. This time, he was being very protective of another gift under the tree. This one said "To: Kira and Koda, From: Grandma and Grandpa"; it was a treat jar from my mom and Mike. I couldn't believe that Koda would know that it was for him, but when Jeff picked it up, we got our answer...my mom had filled the treat bowl with, what else, but treats! Koda smelled them and wanted to get into the box.

He really is a pretty smart dog.

Anyway, after we put all of the dog's presents up on the curio cabinet and got Mr. Koda calmed down, we got the following really cute shots...does it really get any cuter than this?

Weekend Scare

Jeff and I got the biggest scare we have had for a while this weekend with Kira. Lately, Kira has been licking her paws- a lot. Generally, we just tell her to stop and she does. Then, about a week ago, she started biting her hind quarters and other parts of her body. We bought oatmeal shampoo and gave her a bath, thinking that she was having some dry skin from the cold, bitter weather here. Then, on Friday we take her outside and she has this large bald spot on her right hind quarter! I mean completely bald, not even a little hair. Needless to say, I started freaking out and made her a vet appointment for 9:00 on Saturday morning.

When we got to the vet's office, she weighed in at a healthy 81.5 pounds. The vet looked at her skin, performed a skin scrape and determined that it wasn't mites or parasites...she tested negative for all of those. He then said that he was a little concerned about her thyroid, as he believed that her skin condition was a secondary manifestation of an abnormal functioning thyroid. He wanted to take some blood and test it to see if her thyroid was out of whack. If not, then another possibility was cushions disease. He told us to be hopeful that it was a thyroid problem, as that is much easier to control with medication. Still, as he was talking I could see Jeff getting anxious...Kira is totally his baby and he was (of course) preparing for the worst. I, on the other hand, am really glad I am a toxicologist because I could follow the vet's medical explanations pretty well...I knew that in either case, Kira would be okay. My heart just went out to her and hoped that she would be all right. After they took her blood we took her home to fret over the results the remainder of the weekend (with some antibiotics for her itchy skin).

Yesterday morning I got a call from Jordan River Animal Hospital...and Kira's blood work and thyroid came back in normal range! No thyroid or cushions disease. The vet believes that she may just be suffering from an allergic reaction of some sort (possibly from the cold weather...after all, she spent most of her life in the warmth of the south). This was the best news we could have recieved...Kira is going to be okay! It may have cost us almost $400, but at least we have some peace of mind that she is healthy...thanks for being such a good sport, Kira. You always have the best attitude and the sweetest disposition. You are one of a kind and we love you!

Great Picture

I just had to share this picture that was taken of me and Jeff at his Christmas party on Friday night. I would have included it in the blog post, but it was sent to me only yesterday from Michael aka "Dancing Queen"; man, that guy could certainly dance! I think it may be one of the only pictures of the two of us together that were taken that night. Anyway, I think it is a great picture of two of us and just wanted to share it...that's what these blogs are all about, right?


Thanks, Michael, for capturing such a sweet picture!

Kira and Koda's Early Christmas...or so they thought!

On Saturday morning we were lazy to get up and start the day. One thing on the agenda was to open up the boxes Jeff's parents had sent to us for Christmas; they had arrived on Friday but we never got around to opening them and getting the presents underneath the tree. Of course, grandmom and grandpop didn't forget their grandpuppies...there were gift bags for Kira and Koda. We just placed them underneath the tree and didn't think anything of it. When we started opening boxes both Kira and Koda were out in the backyard; it was snowing and they were playing. Kira wanted to come in first. Would you believe that she went right to the Christmas tree and started sniffing her bag? It was hilarious...but not as hilarious as Koda when he came inside. He went straight to the tree and started knocking down bags and pulling out tissue paper to see what his loot from grandmom was. Don't believe me?...check out the pictures...

Koda notices something is different...

and brings Kira over to investigate it with him...

Closer....
and even more closer...

and, FINALLY, he's in...
He and Kira then proceeded to tip the bag over and start rummaging through it...JACKPOT!!

It got so bad that I had to go and grab both bags and put them up on the curio cabinet until Christmas...I knew leaving them under the tree was just asking for trouble...

You can even see the sadness and determination on their faces when I disturbed their mischief and picked up the bags to put them away...silly dogs, Christmas will be here soon enough!

Delta Valve Christmas Party

Friday night was Jeff's work Christmas party at the Marriott City Center. I didn't know what to expect at first, as this was the first major party we have been to for his work. I did know from past experience that they usually put on a pretty nice shindig. And they didn't disappoint...We got there around 5:00 (they let the entire company leave at 3:00 to go home and get ready) and valet parked the car (completely paid for by Delta Valve). We were ushered upstairs to a large room where there was a reception with yummy food and an open bar (more to come on that later).

After about an hour, we moved into another banquet hall for dinner. It was really nice and the food was outstanding (for hotel food).

Scott, the Human Resources Manager, stood up to kick off the dinner and told everyone to look under their chairs, as there were some prizes taped under special chairs...I had to turn mine completely over, but sure enough, I won a gift card to Sonic! After that, they announced some Service Awards...Jeff's boss Jeff received one for 5 years of service.

Scott and Reid drawing the name for the plasma TV...

All the managers getting ready for to pass out the service awards...

Jeff Atwood, Jeff's boss, getting his 5-year service award...

Oh and the company gave each employee a present (even if they did win a prize)...they get to expense out $100 for dinner with thier spouse or significant other. Yeah! I know that we will be going somewhere nice for dinner soon! Thanks Delta Valve!

After that, all the fun started. They had a live band playing songs and people were really shy to get up and start dancing...luckily, they started out with a slower song, which helped people feel more comfortable.

Then the band started playing some more upbeat stuff. No one was going out to dance, so one of the singers came down from the stage and pulled me out to the dance floor because I was grooving in my seat; being shy like I am (yeah, right), I joined her...I had had about 6 glasses of white wine by this time, so I was feeling pretty good (I visited the bar numerous times that night)...

I must have been okay because I got a $20 giftcard to Blockbuster for joining in the fun. The band played more songs and then opened the stage up for karaoke, which I thought would be hilarious....and, trust me, it didn't disappoint. The first group sang "Love Shack", which is a classic karaoke song...too bad they didn't know all the words and the audience was louder than they were (with Jeff and I being the two loudest, of course). Here are some of the other karaoke singers performing...

Dave rocking the house, twice...

Michael and Rachel, who sang the cutest rendition of "Summer Lovin'" from Grease...

After he sang, Michael was out on the dance floor hooping it up by himself...I felt bad for him, so I went out and joined him...

It was a TON of fun....I danced so much that I could barely get out of bed on Saturday. my whole body ached; I guess that I am getting too old to do stuff like this anymore.

They also played limbo, which was quite funny because there is a guy that works there that is pretty short and everyone is always teasing him about his height (and before you ask, no, he is not a midget)...well, he had the last laugh because he can sure limbo with the best of them...

Rock on, Tyler! After the limbo contest, they gave away all the prizes...we didn't win anything this time, but they had some really cool gifts...surround sound systems, blu-ray disc players, Rock Band for Wii, Wii console systems, gift certificates to Ruth Chris Steakhouse and the Cheesecake Factory, Bose docking stations for iPods and Bose noise cancelling headphones. One thing that I have come to realize is that Jeff works for a really nice company. They know how to treat their employees and keep them happy.

Overall, it was a really fun night; we didn't even get home until after 1:00 am. Can't wait until next year.