Our new dog, Chace

 This is Chace.  We rescued him when our neighbor said she wasn't taking her grandson's dog with her when she moved.  

They said he was three, but he's too small and still chews up stuff.

He likes to play fetch. 

Enjoys the kiddie pool with Cassy.  I think even more than Cassy.

Took him to Utah for Cassy's birthday.  They both had a great time on the mountain.   

They both had a great time at Meadow Lake.  Love the smile on Cassy's face! 

Tromping through the creek.

Maybe he'll learn to ride the quads like Cassy.  Don't get too excited, he only went about 10 feet before jumping off.

He's a snuggly little thing.  I think maybe he should have been called Shadow, he sticks to me like glue.   

He likes to look out the window.  

I think he'll fit in really good around here.  He and Cassy have been playing, wrestling and enjoying the companionship I think.  Life is really a new adventure when you add another dog to your family.  

The Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

This year it took two attempts to acquire our beloved Christmas tree.  The first weekend of December was bitter cold but we headed out anyway.  We were stopped just before the Virgin River Gorge by highway patrol.  They had closed the gorge due to black ice and snow.  We turned around and came home only to hunt another day.  

Our second attempt was successful.  We headed up Cedar Mountain, beyond Brianhead to the parking area outside Meadow Lake Estates.   We crossed the road and headed into the woods.  

I was not allowed to walk into the snow to hunt trees because of my recent knee replacements.  Scott, Timm and Christy all headed in to find our trees.  The snow was deeper than we thought it was, so it was probably a good thing I didn't wander off the road.  It certainly isn't as much as the snow though. 

We found our three trees pretty quickly.   

Christy really gets into this tradition of ours and she loves it too.  

Scott and Christy's tree. 

We even found a bird nest in one of the trees...super cool.  

The successful second attempt was a pretty quick trip but we still enjoyed lunch at Lupita's Mexican Restaurant in Cedar.  The dogs didn't go this year, Chris and Bri had to work.  I hope next year they are all able to go with us. 

Quick Utah Get-away

I got my little adventure finally.  We took my 4 wheeler up to Cedar City for some TLC so it's ready for spring.  After talking about some barbecue, Chris recommended Sonny's BBQ so we grabbed some before heading up Cedar Mountain.  Good grub by the way...looks like another favorite place to eat in Cedar.

We stopped at Wood's Ranch, it's still really covered with snow.  If you know Cassy, you know she loves snow.  She must have rolled around in it for 15 minutes before doing anything else.  

And if you know Shelby, you know she just wants to play fetch.  

Click on the photo to watch. 

We headed up to the top of the mountain and turned around at Midway.  The wind was really chilly up there and we weren't prepared to hang out in it but we did let the dogs get out and play a bit more.  

She was trying to catch snowballs.  I thought she was going to dig half way to China to find one of them. 

With that being said, here's another video for you.

When getting back to town I shopped at a cute little shop on the main drag called Country and More...I think.  It's in the old Bulloch Drug building.  Cute stuff...I bought a couple of frames.  An early dinner at Lupitas...Timm's favorite Mexican restaurant and we headed home.  I'm glad he took the day off to go with me, I really enjoyed it...and the girls did too. 

Wild at Heart

In August, Timm went to Cedar Mountain, Utah for the annual Wild at Heart mens' retreat from Canyon Ridge Church.  Normally, Timm leads one of the ATV groups for their day of adventure.  This year he took the smoker and taught a group of men the in's and out's of smoking.  This group also prepared the meals for the rest of the groups.  Rave reviews were had by all and it looks like he'll be back at the pit again next year.  The best part of it all...bringing men closer to God.

Than Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Once again, we hit the mountain for the annual hunt for the perfect tree.  It was a pretty, sunny day that made it a great day for tree hunting.  Lots of snow this year, more than last year even.  That being said, it was hard to hike into where the trees were off the road. 

I love Timm's hat!

The boys finally took the plunge and headed into snow to cut two trees.  The snow was deep.  I tried to go in only to get stuck, fall over and had the dangest time getting back up.  I was banned from further snow treking. 

Christy trekking in after the boys with a hand saw.  They got a couple of really nice trees. 

This year, Christy's mom was in town for Thanksgiving and she went with us the day after Thanksgiving. 

The dogs go with us every year.  They love to play in the snow.  Cassy and Roxy were pretty tuckered out and had a hard time climbing back up the snow bank,  they had a great time though.

Obviously, Zoey and Shelby had a wonderful time in the snow as well. 

Cassy has a great time on the mountain

We took my ATV up to Cedar City for some service.  Now I know we could have it done here in Vegas but it seems I can't even get parts here without it being a hassle, besides the folks at All Seasons treat us like family.  Any excuse to get up there is a treat for me, I just love it up there.  We headed up the mountain to hopefully see the changing colors.  We missed the spectaular event by about 2 weeks.  They've had lots of wind so most of the aspen trees were bare. The bottom half of the canyon had some awesome color, the yellows were really intense, along with rusts, reds, and deep maroons against the green pine and juniper was a sight to see. 

We ventured over through Cedar Breaks which is always an awesome sight, but it's elevation is just too high for lots of color this time of year.  Did still get some amazing views of valley though.  We made our way back over and headed to Duck Creek for lunch.  Cassy found a new friend, Jordan, an english lab about a year old outside our lunch stop.  It's amazing how many traits are the same in labs. 

After lunch we stopped at Aspen Mirror Lake so Cassy could play.  Getting out to explore is her thing for sure.  As if she wasnt excited enough, once she saw water it was game on.  She loves to swim and retrieve.  Oh, and roll around like a lunatic afterwards.  She had an awesome day.