" I'd Like to check you for ticks"

Brad Pasley's song totally inspired the title of this post. Except for the fact I would like to STOP!! checking for ticks. Some of you may not know but this tick season has Mike and I at a total loss.



When we moved into our home we were noticing that the dogs ( Max and Bella at the time) were starting to get some ticks. We had started spraying the yard and changed from the cheap store brand of flea and tick treatment to the exspensive Advantix. We also started spraying the yard. We have been facing this battle ever since. It died down for a bit in the winter, but as spring is approaching the ticks have come back FULL!! force. We spray the yard about once a month and were bathing the dogs in anti-tick and flea shampoo also still using the Advantix once a month. And we still get them horribly.. last week 22 of them on Bella (and this is after checking them daily) we now have our little Titus whom just finished his puppy shots which has me worried to death.



We have been talking about getting the dogs the Lyme disease shot and tossed the idea. It wasn't until my co-worker's 8 month old boxer got lyme disease where I totally freaked and talked to Mike and said we had to get the dogs their Lyme shot and see what else we could do.



So here we are 1 vet visit down ( for all 3 dogs) a change from Advantix to Fronline Plus, Garlic pills ( suggested by Titus' breeder and groomer) Heartgaurd meds, continuing to spray the yard and baths with the anti- flea and tick shampoo. We face this on going battle. I just pray we see some relief. Next the Oleander is to come out of the yard so there is no way the ticks can hide.
This is like armagedon!! can it please end?

Productive Day!!!

Today had to have been the most productive day in this house ever. It really started yesterday when Mike, his brothers David and Joe and our 2 nephews cutting down our eucalyptus tree that has been falling for a week. They cleaning that all up chopped up the big branches and made a really nice wood pile in our backyard for the outside fire pit. ( you can burn eucalyptus in the fireplace indoors) Erin and I were moral support. Erin took all the kids to church while the big boys worked hard. My sister came to visit me for I had tonsillitis. After the finished cutting it down and cleaned the mess it was time to rest, Leaving the rest for today.
Today everyone woke up bright and early Mike, David and Joe and loaded up our truck with the stuff that wasn't in our woodpile and made a run to the dump. Erin dropped the kids off at school then her and I set out to run a BUNCH!! of errands. All the while the boys ran to the dump. Mike soon left for work about 1 Erin and I returned to see that Greg and Paige ( Mike's Brother and sister in-law) had come down to get a play set... Well long story short it wasn't going to make it up the hill for them to use so they came to drop it off at our house.
It was a pleasant but short visit for they had to go back up the hill to get their other children. After they left we all ( David, Erin myself and all 6 of my nieces and nephews) set out to tackle the front yard. We wanted to get it ready for Grass seed and new plants next weekend.
So the boys racked up all the leaves and sticks ( then went to the backyard and picked up dog poop) Dave mowed the lawn Erin and I got all of the plants dead or half alive out of the flower bed. I then weed eated and edged. We all raked some more, hosed the front of the house and the drive way. Erin made dinner while Dave and I did the finishing touches of hosing the drive way and scratching the lawn for the seed and water...
It's not complete but it is a start and it is amazing!!!!

How is it going you ask???

Well the Saturday that everybody finished moving in about half of our eucalyptus tree fell in our front yard. Thank goodness nobody was in the yard, therefore not hurt.. just extremely inconvenient.

Everyone slept really well and it took awhile to get everything in it's place but I think we are done. Sunday morning more of our tree fell (yay!) but Mike unfortunately flooded his chainsaw and could not get it down before church. Dave and Erin stayed home from church and finished UN-packing, while Mike and I braved it at church with our 6 nieces and nephews. And i tell you what that was brave. We have alot of sympathy for the parents who do it every Sunday. And we have one question for you... Do you ever get to hear the speakers?

Monday was my day off and a big day in getting things done. Everything is now in a place.

So how has it been?.. It has defiantly been louder and there is more people to cook for and clean up after. But it really has not been bad. The kids are such a big help in cleaning and picking up after themselves. Dave and Erin have also been a big help! It is nice to have the company. It has only been 4 days, but all in all I don't think it's going to be that bad.

A Loved Life!!

One of the best weekends in long time.
It started off with a nice slow Saturday at work and then attending a very close friends birthday party. To which after a majority of people left and then was able to watch some MMA fights with these close friends. Mike was able to come later and it was a great ending to a good day.

Sunday Mike and I were able to sleep in then take the dogs on a nice long walk. We chatted with some neighbors then returned home to get ready for church. Sacrament was a nice surprise because our 12 year old nephew was asked to give a talk. He did such a great job. In reflecting you can really see what Christ meant when he said "be as a little child" for it is them that we should learn from to return to him. After sacrament we pulled our sister in-law aside and had a nice prayerful conversation about the possibility of them moving in temporally. We are doing fine financially but they are not. They have come across some struggles and have begun to drown. To help them in their efforts and to get them back on dry land. They are moving in next weekend. 3 adults 6 kids and an outdoor cat. ( we are brave!) in the end I think if we look at it. If family can't help you then who can.
After spending Sunday evening working out the sleeping arrangements and getting a storage unit for Dave and Erin. We ate dinner watched the F1 race. Everyone went home and Mike and I hit the sack.

Monday started out wonderful and couldn't have ended better. We woke up and again were able to take the dogs for a nice long walk. When returning home we sat in our (HUGE) backyard and talked about the next couple of days to prepare for the move of everyone in our home. It was at this point that it struck me. We have so many climbable trees in our backyard that we have never climbed ( it was always said that Mike and I would never grow up) to this I got up walked to a giant tree by our room and with Mike's help got in the tree and started to climb. After mike's several attempts to call me crazy... he finally caved told me to move over so he could join me :o) This was a sight to late 20's adults climbing trees. After jumping out of the tree (not getting very far) Mike responded that we could probably get higher in the pine tree on the other side of the yard. Of course I thought this was a brilliant idea and decided to join. Indeed we got higher and greatly disturbed our dogs for they kept circling the tree trying to get to us.
When finally coming down and returning to grown up things like going to the hardware store and cleaning the yard. We took a nice long nap, then about 4:30 prepared to go to our friends ( Howard and Dev's) home for Family Home Evening. With a wonderful meal (which we are always blessed with when going to their house) we had such a great time talking about the gospel and the blessing we have seen bless our lives. We have truly been grateful and in aw to see such a change in our greatest of friends to see them accept the gospel and see it's miracles of everyday.

After a wonderful evening with friends we chose to end it with family. Mike's family (part of the whole) ended up getting together for their own impromptu FHE ( family home evening) to which it is wonderful to see kids learn these simple yet valuable lessons.
I want to say Mike and I truly have a loved life and although there are hard times we are blessed!

Our Dogs ( Maxwell Smart, Isabella, and Titus)

Here are our dogs that bless our lives with love, affection and never a boring moment. Max is our large male black lab ( the one in the red collar) Bella is our little female lab ( in the pink collar) and then our newest addition is our 14 week old german shepherd Titus.

The Fun Continues

This morning about 4:30 AM Mike and I were startled awake by the sound of our 2 year old lab max throwing up his dinner. GREAT!!! See poor mike had to get up again at 6 and I can not bring my self to clean up vomit. Mike and I had a deal when we first got married that I would take care of the poop duty and he would do throw up. (I'm a very sympathetic vomiter.. even with my dogs oddly enough) So Mike had to clean it all up. The really crap part about it all is that Max continued to throw up off and on till about 8:30 am when I decided it was enough and had to take him into the vet. I had to call into work to say I was going to be late or not there at all. I was the only one to take Max in. So I sat at the vets office which seemed like forever. They had to rule out if he had eaten anything that was obstructing his intestine. All to come to the conclusion..... drum roll please!!!..... He has canine influenza! and people say that dogs are not like kids. I beg to differ.
I have since brought home the huge baby (90lbs of lean Lab to be exact) full of a subcutaneous shot of fluids for dehydration prevention and a shot for anti-nausea he is sleeping soundly. I was given instructions that for the next 24 hours he is to be monitored to make sure he drink and does not have any further problems or any un-for seen obstruction they missed.
So I sit cleaning the house and checking to make sure that Max is fine. I love the big dumb dumb and would do anything for him!
I am very grateful for my hubby who so diligently cleaned up all the vomit and still went to work for his 15 hours and for my amazing vet and boss who understand my concerns for my babies.

Not What I Planned

This morning was proving to be very productive and was looking like it was going to be a great day. As it comes to a close I should remind myself not to be so optomistic.



Mike woke up about 6:30 got ready for work kissed me goodbye and left. I was going to take advantage of sleeping in (seeing as I didn't have to be at work until noon, this was going to work out great) That was until Titus ( our 13 week old german shepherd ) decided that he had to go potty NOW!!!! at 6:45 (so much for sleeping in)

After the dogs had thier daily backyard run, bathroom time, and barck at the neighbors time. I figured it was time they should go on a nice long walk and drain the energy. (and hey it doesn't hurt me either right?) After arriving home from our nice LONG walk everyone got fed. Then it was time to clean the house.

After the clean house happy dogs it was time to make the journey to work.



I arrived to a very busy store to which everyone needed something to look at or done.

I dont know if the short us had uloaded in front of my work today, all I can say is what a day. At the end of the day about 1 hour before closing the store for the night the bathroom had flooded so bad it was on the sales floor. Which left 1 manager and 3 employees to close the store, care for the customers and clean the flood. It was definatly time to go home after that.



As I reflect on the day, I think it was not what I planned. Oh well Maybe tommorrow