Maren:
We are happy to have a new year upon us and are hoping that with it will come some good things? Maybe a return to school? We don't know, but we're hopeful. For Christmas mommy asked for a bike rack for her car so that she could load us up and take us to the greenway for rides. Daddy got her a really nice one and we have been able to go riding a few times. Not that she has the rack, she can take her bike and go with us, which we really love.
Our good friend Cindy, the breeder of Luker-Duker, has a dog Sarika that is expecting a litter of puppies any day now. Mommy made arrangements with her for me to be there so that I could help out and watch. Since we don't know when they are coming, I may have to miss school, but mommy talked with my teacher to get my absence excused in exchange for a presentation! The week before the puppies were due I got to go to the ranch to help Cindy get Sarika ready. I helped soothe her while Cindy shaved her belly and then we bathed her with a special shampoo to kill all of the bad bacteria on her tummy. While Sarika was drying and I stayed with her, Cindy went down to the barn and cleaned the room where she will have the babies. She scrubbed the walls and the floor and put clean bedding down. Just a few short days later my mommy got a call from Cindy.... the babies were coming! She came home to get me and took me to the ranch around 7:30. Just a few short minutes after we arrived a puppy was born. I got to be present for 9 of the 10 puppies born and stayed up with Cindy until 3:00 in the morning! I got a few hours of sleep and then stayed the remainder of the day to help Cindy with the new pups. It was such a great experience!
Maddox:
This month I turned 6! Just a few short months ago I told mommy that I didn't want to, that I wanted to stay 5 forever so that I could be her baby forever! But, as my birthday drew closer, I definitely got excited. The week before the actual day, Uncle Frankie and Miss Michelle came over for dinner. They brought me a few really cool gifts! My favorite is an amazing rubber band rifle! This thing can really shoot!
January birthdays are pretty rough due to the weather and Covid lock downs this year made it even harder to find a place to have a party. So, mommy planned a birthday party for me that was full of surprises and ended up making me very happy! Daddy was a huge help setting everything up to keep us all warm because the party was completely outside. Mommy asked him to set up part of the elk tent by the fire pit along with a pop up shelter to keep us out of the drizzle of rain that came off and on. She set up a nacho bar inside the tent and we all got to make big plates of nachos to fill our bellies! Yummy! She also surprised me with a camo colored bouncy house that was big enough for everyone to fit in and jump around! We had a blast! Then... just as we were getting a bit bored with jumping, she brought out a basked full of nerf guns and bullets! A full on nerf battle began! I had a great time and got lots of great presents, including some really amazing lego sets. Then, we had cake! An incredible galaxy cake decorated with the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda! What a great day!
One bummer about my birthday was that Nonno was not able to come. Because of his eye surgery a few weeks ago he can't come to our house because of the elevation and a weird bubble in his eye. But, Nonna made sure we had a special night at their house to celebrate a few nights later. I thought I was pretty special to be getting a second birthday and asked if I was 7 because of it!
We finally got a little bit of snow at our house... the first of the winter. It was great to get out and do a little playing and mommy, daddy, and I built a snowman and snow doggie!
The other night, when I was super tired, mommy crawled in bed to snuggle with me after our rocky-time. I rolled over, wrapped my arm around her neck and said... Mommy, can I close my eyes while we snuggle? Just for a minute. About two seconds later... I was asleep.
