Grandma Helen

Doug's grandma Helen's funeral was on Friday September 21st.

"To remove sorrow from death, we must remove love from life."  - Eric Tolman

We had a nice afternoon spent with family telling stories, sharing memories and enjoying each other's company. 

I stopped at a store after the funeral and saw this note on someone's car.  It says, "Shame on you for parking in a handicap spot. I called the police."  I guess they don't pay close attention to details like the handicap sign hanging from the rearview mirror.  I removed the note because the drive doesn't need to deal with it:

I high jacked this from my brother Jason's Facebook page.  It's a great picture of him and my nephews.  I love that Ethan is giving Shawn a moose ear:

Winnie has a rough life!   Yeah right!!  I think she knows she's got a good life.  Ruger has been spoiled since he was 8 weeks old, so he doesn't know anything different.  Winnie is a grateful rescue pup:

Haze in the Air

Too bad this picture doesn't look as amazing as it did in person!  It looked like we had to suns:

It seemed like the whole world was posting pictures of "First Day of School"!  I put Ruger and Winnie's life vests on and took their "first day of school" pictures.  LOL  They're such good sports!:

Winnie misses her papa when he's gone .... she also wants some of his dinner:

Local fires make for hazy, smoky days.  The sun has been bright pink or red because of the smoke in the air:

Tug of war with Ruger.  Winnie loves to join in, but she mostly likes to chew on the rope while Doug and Ruger pull on it:

Hiding From The Heat

We had a week of triple digit temperatures.  A few days were 105-108.  If we weren't working we were hiding indoors.  I feel for everyone that works outdoors, especially my hubby. 

Hot summer night with a tiny bit of cloud cover:

One of us had a pen in our pocket that went through the wash.  It was stuck in the hole, so I had to use pliers to pull it out.  I didn't think any of the ink got on any of our clothes, but Doug said he noticed a few spots.  WHOOPSIE!!

Already a warm morning.  This picture didn't come out great, but it looked like the world was on fire from a distance:

Waiting for a train.  I like to count the cars as it goes by:

TOASTY drive home!!  I know the thermometer picks up extra heat from the asphalt and direct sun, but it was 108 this day:

Stubborn Winnie not eating the last of her breakfast:

I'm really glad we did all the training and put all the effort we did into training Ruger when he was little.   He is really good at down stay, especially if he thinks there's a reward in it for him:

I texted this picture to Doug with "$10 Tuesdays!!!"  I got 2 pizzas for $20 - dinner DONE!

Hey look!! Another sunset picture!!  This picture had stripes of color as the sun was setting:

Another warm morning started with a pretty sunrise.  I'm ready for some Fall temperatures!!!

Winnie is such a stubborn turd sometimes.  I was telling Doug that she has been a total brat and won't come inside in the mornings.  I think she's smart enough that she knows I'm leaving and I won't leave until she comes inside.  She'll take a seat and not move; if I walk towards her she'll run off like she wants to play:

If I try to wait her out a little then she'll just lay down.  I texted this picture to Doug.  I'm sure it said something like, "This is what I deal with..."

Ruger Fun

I put Ruger's pool out and started filling it.  He started digging in the water against the side and his nail punctured it.  Apparently the plastic is weak after a few seasons in the sun. 

The destruction of the pool began slowly:

Then it was party time for Ruger:

It fit in the trashcan when he was done. LOL

I guess the universe felt like topping this day off with a little love because it wasn't "fun" enough. A gaggle of geese flew (fun fact: a group of geese in flight is called a skein) over head while I was on the phone with my mom. They fly over the house every evening as they leave the nearby pond. They were "honking" on their way by, so I mentioned what the noise was to my mom. About 2 seconds later it sounded like it was pouring rain onto our patio cover. Nope, not rain... goose poop. The pups and I were under the open spot on the right and not a single plop landed on us!! These two weirdo dogs started licking the concrete, so I quickly hosed off the patio. This is a picture of the top of the patio cover; if you zoom in you can see all the spots.

Rock Climbing

Bonnie texted and asked if we would take Caleb rock climbing.  We had a quick refresher about knots and safety and then we started our afternoon. Caleb was eager to climb:

Doug would encourage him and we would help him with foot holds and hand holds to get higher and higher.  He was willing to try just about anything. 

Doug bouldering - the picture looks sideways, but it's not:

Doug and I took a few turns here an there:

The top of this route has a treasure chest of Tootsie Rolls, so Caleb threw a couple down:

Rules are important and some dingbats need to be told to watch the person they are belaying:

I should have cut all my nails off; they weren't very long, but it sounded like I was scratching the wall.  I really need to strengthen my wrists and arms.  Typing all day isn't good!

More bouldering:

Doug helped Caleb learn to boulder:

I like this picture a lot:

Time to head home!

Doug wore a Superman shirt because he was also wearing a Superman shirt when we went rock climbing while we were dating.