Cuddle buddies

One of the rare moments when Sissy lets Baxter get close without barking his head off. Too cute, though, it only lasted a moment. He just snuck up to her and laid down. I think when she realized we were watching, she decided to end the snuggle session. At least we were there to catch the shot! It's one of the few pieces of evidence we have that they really do like each other - or let me rephrase that, that Baxter adores Sissy!

Our weekend fun!

Well, for anyone whose ever gone through this, you can feel our pain. Saturday evening, just as we are going to get cleaned up to go out to one of the few fun events in this town, a BBQ cook-off in the local canyons, we discover water is running outside. What do we find when we go to the source, you might ask? A FLOOD! The main pipe that runs from the city main to our house busted. Turns out it must have been leaking for quite a while, as was the city's water meter. Long story short, after getting the on-call city guys out to replace the meter late Saturday night and a night without water, Clint and his dad got everything back in working order mid-day Sunday. It was quite handy that Clint and his dad have been renting this cute little Caterpillar for work. It made quick work of the digging, although, our lovely flower garden looks like pig slop now. The pipe should be good long after we're gone as they used some special corrosion-proof, freeze-proof, unbreakable tubing. But, alas, we missed the cook-off. I guess there's always next year.

July 4th a big day for Baxter

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjTexas424/DogVideos?authkey=ppvdK1HmauI

Clint and I, along with the dogs, went fishing at his family pond on the 4th. We didn't catch anything but a few mudcats, but Baxter learned a new trick!

He fell in the water a few times, being his usual graceful self, and sunk like a rock. We were really having to watch him closely, but he still seemed to enjoy it. When Clint pointed out an area where he could touch bottom, he played and got so excited, running and jumping and splashing in the water. He wanted to venture out farther, but he was so scared. We started encouraging him by throwing out sticks just out of his reach. Finally, it was his love of Coors Light that gave him the courage to bite the bullet, no pun intended. Next thing we know, he is begging us to keep throwing the can so he could go fetch it. Check out link to the little video I got on my camera - no sound. The first video he sunk the can, so the second one is better. He eventually learned to swim to the area where he could walk out of the water on his own. Needless to say, Baxter's Papa was very proud. Yes, indeed, it was a big day for Baxter. Sissy on the other hand, was not impressed or amused. Still, she suffered through, being the good sport she always is.

I hope everyone had a good holiday!

New Walls

The walls in the living room are de-wallpapered, textured and freshly painted. After that horrendous task, we think we are going to try to seal the other existing wallpaper in the house and paint over it. Considering there is only one room in the house that doesn't have wallpaper, it's certainly the easiest route, if it works!

Here are some before, during and after shots.