Good Weather has arrived!

Weather II has been here approximately a week and it's been really nice. She was picked up in the McDonald's parking lot after somebody drove all the way to Santa Rosa to pick her up for us. It's a 3+ hour drive to Santa Rosa and a one hour drive to the kind people who picked her up for us. She weighs 16 pounds and is a little chubby Lab puppy. She's very outgoing and easygoing puppy. She has some true confidence. She does like to chew on my ankle braces but overall she's been a very quite and relaxed puppy!

She barely even barks! It's very strange. Sometimes she will start "crying"when she has potty-ed in her crate and wants to get out but very little true barking. She has quickly figured out that she needs to go to the bathroom when she gets outside. She's figured out "Let's Go" on the leash, a "wait" and "release" at her crate, her name, and of course the "hurry" command. She's so lazy she can "sit" but she hasn't really learned it. At this age she's more learning to be in the house, to not chew on things left on the ground, to not eat leaves, to not chew on my stuffed animals. I'll wait another week to start her serious training.

The funniest part is that she may be the laziest dog I've ever had. I have some lazy dogs and Belle still takes the cake in laziness as a puppy but she sleeps all the time. She will fall asleep halfway through a training session. She'll curl up on the grass outside if she is done going to the bathroom. When it's play time she's ready to go but once she's asleep, that's it. You'll notice a theme in these photos.

Mama! She's stealing my sheep!

Time to nap... again.

You want me awake for the picture? Awake? What is that?

New Year's in Disneyland!

Part II of our two week adventure in Disneyland!

This is Sleeping Beauty's Castle, still lit up for Christmas a few days after Christmas. It is really beautiful.

Where did Carmen go?

The kids...

Now the significant other's...

Lastly, the friends!

All of us on the stairs in Club 33. My mom, dad, Carmen, and Jan were missing from the photo. Mom and dad were taking pictures of us and so was Carmen, in her own unusual way.

This was Genevieve's first trip to the club. She behaved beautifully. The waiter was kind enough to bring her a bottle of smart water... room temperature of course!

Pluto was very kind and happily played on the floor with Diva. She absolutely loves Pluto and loves to get to see him! She started wagging her tail when she saw he had entered the room.

This is a really good picture of Mickey, Pluto, Diva, and I. It was hard to get Genevieve to focus with her two buddies right behind her.

Mickey alternated between scratching Pluto's belly and Genevieve's belly. Mickey was really great and took pictures with everyone. It was really nice.

This picture is funny because in the back ground you can see the door to the club and you can see a man taking his picture in front of the door. I love the view from the balcony upstairs. It's a great place to just watch the goings-on in New Orleans Square without having to be in the middle of them.

After the Club 33 luncheon we wanted to hit Splash Mountain in our very nice clothes. Again, I braved the front seat. What can I say? Bravery is not a strong point within our family genetics.

One day it was raining particularly hard at Disneyland and I decided to take a picture in the rain!

We saw the newly reopened Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I like the old show better but this one is interesting too.

On New Year's we went to Disneyland and wandered around for a while. We played card games at Pizza Port and rode a few rides. About mid-day I went back to the hotel to let the dogs rest and then left for the park again. We went to Fantasmic show, unfortunately this year they had no premium seating for the midnight showing so we took the 10:30 showing and stayed around to watch the New Year's fireworks and the midnight show. We had a lot of fun, even though it was cold.

More New Year's Eve Fireworks!!!

This is Belle and Diva's balcony. While at the hotel they survey their puppy-dom from it. They are very familiar with this hotel so are very comfortable standing and looking around out there. I usually leave the door open because my bed is right next to the door and I like fresh air. Sometimes Belle would come over and "thunk" into the door because she didn't realize it was closed.

On this trip I made Diva's bear. It is something I keep to remember her by when she goes to Advanced Training. I recorded her snorting and installed it in the bear. The person who helped us make it was very nice and Genevieve stood on the pedal to fill the bear.

One scary reason we left early (to bring the dogs home) to the hotel on New Year's Eve is because we met several very scary "service dogs". Two large Newfoundland "service dogs" and a few Labs were parked outside a bathroom in Disneyland and we (my dog and I) exited the bathroom and made the mistake of walking within eyesight of the other dogs. The Newfies shot up, moved forward, and began barking loudly. They were at least 120 lbs. each. I was in an instant panic, shoved my dog behind me and hightailed it out of there. All I could hear was their handler shouting "No! No!" at them. I have never been that afraid of a "service dog" before, or any dog, really. Later, I saw these same dogs and hid my baby to protect her. Fortunately she is very easy going and probably never noticed that she was under any threat. My mom saw this group of dogs a few days later and managed to stop and talk to one of the Lab handlers that had been with them. The Lab was "fully trained" at 5 months old!!! My dog is just reliably house trained at 5 months, much less fully-certified to be a service dog. My mom took a video to show how well "trained" they were to me. In the video you can see the two Newfies walking in the lead and behind them is the Lab, lunging all over the place, eating every piece of popcorn off the ground he could find, and actually stuck his head in someone's bag! I couldn't believe it. I am very tempted to post this video on YouTube.

Later, I saw a Min Pin that snarled and snapped at a woman who made the mistake of reaching down to pet the dog. I just had to put my dogs to bed, for their own safety and my sanity. What was I going to run into next? A service alligator?

Now don't get me wrong, I have NO problem with any well behaved dog being in a public area, service dog or not. I have seen some great dogs at Petsmart but this was just ridiculous. As long as the dog is quiet and well-behaved, a cleanly best friend should be allowed to come and join you for a cup of coffee or a run to the bookstore.

Christmas in Disneyland!

On the 19th of December we took off for Disneyland. In tow, I had two dogs, my mom, my sister, my younger brother, my brother's girlfriend, and his girlfriend's little sister. Later we would meet up with my Dad, Jan, my brother from another mother, Cody, as well as my older brother and his wife.

We spend two weeks in Disneyland every year and try to do many different things. These past few trips to Disneyland we have been making an effort to eat at different restaurants to expand our taste. Our traditions are going to Outback's on Christmas Eve, watching the fireworks at midnight in Disneyland on New Year's Eve. We also went to Club 33 and visited the ride and attraction that had just been refurbished. We slept a lot, shopped more, and ate a ton.

The first things we do is decorate our hotel room. We draped Christmas lights, put up our tree, and thanks to Roxana and Carmen had ornaments for the first time. We had a lot of presents to put under out tree too.

The Matterhorn on our first day in Disneyland. It's one of my favorite rides. We also went to Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride. I stayed off to take pictures.

On one of our first night's we were there we went to ESPN Zone and were smart enough to have scheduled the Sky Box. It's so nice and quiet in there, more importantly we get to control the TV.

Our friends that met us there managed to get the running banner that goes around the inside and outside of the Zone to wish Joey and Roxana a happy anniversary.

We went to the Aladdin show a few days into our trip. It's still a pretty good show. I really only go to it to see the Genie and what new material he is using. This trip he used some "Tiger Woods" jokes.

Us on California Screamin', one of my favorite rides. We look good.

During the trip our friends had told us that Avatar was an excellent movie. So we went to go see it in IMax 3-D. It really is an amazing movie. It was so good I wanted to see it again. It was absolutely riveting. For the first time I could actually see the 3-D that my brother claims to see in every 3-D movie. I flinched a few times. This is us at the theater.

On Christmas Eve we went to Outback Steakhouse and then returned to the park to close it out. Small World Holiday was up and raring to go this trip. Woo. Flipping. Hoo. I tolerated it like I do every year and got through it.

After Small World we stood outside and watched the Christmas fireworks that went off. We had an excellent view even back there. It's really cool what they project onto the facade of Small World. It was worth it to watch. Then we caught the last train around to Main Street and went home to await Santa.

On Christmas day, after we cooked breakfast at the hotel, opened stocking and presents, then we went to Ariel's Grotto for afternoon lunch. Joey and I had drinks first, it is the only way I can tolerate the singing and the princesses in the restaurant. I really only go for the tri-tip.

Later that night we went on the Mickey's Fun Wheel. You can see how much fun everyone was having!

This is all of us the day after Christmas.

Santa's reindeer!

The Story Book Land Canal Boats just re-opened after the refurbishment. I like how they always do the Land up for Christmas. Each

Once more into the fray...

I have again decided to take the plunge. I was called on the 30th and was told they had a puppy ready to be placed on the 5th of January. Her name is... Weather II. She is a beautiful black lab puppy out of Thistle II and Terrence. Thistle is half-sister to Pismo (my 3rd dog), so this dog is a niece to 'Mo. I'm not sure of Terrence's lineage though.

When I heard I was getting a puppy from this litter I was so excited I didn't even ask the puppy's litter letter or name. However my mom was quick to search for the litter on the CCI websites and found the litter and pictures. It was the "W" litter. I was worried because my mom interpreted the print out as having only one female in the litter and her name was... Williamette. I was in an instant panic, thinking I had again picked up a dog with one of my cousin's name. I mean, what were the odds? I called back CCI and asked for her name. She is definetly Weather. ::phew::

And here she is!