NaNoWriMo, the Dunes, and other updates...

November has been a very busy month for all of us!  I decided that this year I would successfully complete the NaNoWriMo challenge and I did!  50,000 words completed!  Woot!

 It wasn't easy.  I traveled for a week to work at Grand Teton National Park, which put me behind on my writing.

So very cold...

Plus, tried to enjoy the cooler weather and get some riding in...

Dusty boots=A happy girl!

 Plus, we needed to make sure the pups had some adventures!  Like going to the dunes for the first time...

I iz going on adventure!

Me too!

Harlow made a new friend...

This is Cinch - he is a McNabb.  No puppies were damaged in the making of this picture...

...and worked on her tan...

Hey!  Where my sun go?

Monty worked on begging for treats...

I iz starving and weak.  Any crumbs for me?

Aaron got to play in the sand...

All smiles!

...and so did I!

Those are other rails at the bottom - it was a long way down!

The pups were safe and sound back at camp - away from all the noise and cars.

I'm starting to catch up on blogs now and cleaning the house, but I did my usual mistake and marked all of them as read in Feedly...  sigh...  It is too easy to do that! 

Updates

Hi everyone.  First of all, I need to apologize for being so hit-and-miss with blogging lately.  I am still reading everyone's blogs, but due to Sam's illness, I feel like my comments are coming out as snarky or depressing.  I'm trying very hard not to do that to our friends, so I am just staying quiet for now.

Sam is fading from us.  I think we are looking at weeks, maybe days, instead of months.  How I hope I'm wrong.  Sam remains cheerful, quick to wag his tail and expect his treat, even though his body is slowly failing him. 

Can I have a slice of pizza, Dad?

 Monty and Harlow are fully aware something is wrong with their big brother.  They both spend time with Sam, laying near him or hovering. 

Sam and Monty - brothers forever!

...and yes, Sam has a produce sticker on his head in the above picture...

Keeping her big brother company...

Harlow seems to know when I need to smile, and pops up in the most unexpected places.

...any chance I could have a treat while I'm here?

We have more news to share, including AZGRC's calendar - featuring our boy Monty as Mr October, our prize from winning a contest held by Jack and the Tall Guy, and a lot of photos of Monty and Harlow playing together.  I promise we will be better at updating the blog.

Meet Sam's Cousin Cody

Sam here! Sam taking over his blog to do update. Mom busy visiting her Mom in hospital, so Sam has to take matters in his own paws. Sam decided to introduce you to other cousin. Not the "alleged" cat cousin, Frisky, but his other cousin, Cody. Cody lives in Iowa, where it is cold enough to freeze Sam's butt off. Sam definitely not visiting till summer!

First off, here is Cody with Mom's sister, Becky.

Sam find it very odd that Dad's sister is also named Becky and she is the Mom of the cat Frisky. Sam very puzzled by all this. Sam thinks there is a conspiracy going on.

Anyway, Sam is glad to see Cody also likes to play with toys.


Sam is offering Cody a visit in nice warm Arizona. Here he is begging to come in before he freezes his butt off. Look at this! He has been sent outside without the proper gear!


Sam also update on Grandma. Grandma still in hospital and still sick. Mom and Dad says she will be spending Christmas in either hospital or rehab. Mom very sad about this. However, she is slowly on the mend but it will take time. Sam wants her to get better quickly, 'cause Grandma always sneaks the Sam an extra cookie. Don't tell Mom, though!

Too Cool

After over a week of worrying, things are starting to look better for Sam and Monty's Grandma. She has a long road for recovery, but things are definitely starting to look up.

I wanted to share something with you that I got as a free sample in the mail. These are really too cool! First you take an ordinary Christmas tree, like so:


...and then add a pair of specs from here...

And look what happens! Keep in mind, the haziness in the picture is from shooting through the glasses with the camera.

Do you see the reindeer? You may have to click on the picture to enlarge.

Very Late Update

Hello, Everyone! I'm sorry for the lack of activity on our blog lately - Sam and Monty's Grandma is in the hospital, and we've been rather distracted.

Aaron did mention that I should post an update on Sam. We've had great news! All of the tumors have come back as benign, which was a great relief to us.

Sam got his stitches removed last Saturday, but decided to do a little self-surgery and managed to re-open one of the sites. We had to bring him in for more stitches.

We do think this was all part of Sam's master plan, though. We had mentioned the word "bath", and you know Sam, he will do his best to avoid one!

Gabby has been found!

Hi, all! I just wanted to post a quick note that Gabby the Service Dog has been found!


If you would like to read updates, you can view her Facebook page here.