Puppy Love

This post is for you dog lovers out there.

My husband & I have 2 dogs & we love them to death. We have a 4 year old black lab that we adopted from a friend. His name is Cody & he is the sweetest, doofiest dog in the world. He thinks he is a small lap dog that can fit into any space. We have had Cody for about 2 years now. Last summer we felt that he needed his own companion, or his own dog to take care of.  We ended up getting this 100 lb. lover's own dog & pal, Sookie. 

"Sookie" like cookie but with an "S" & NOT "S-N-ooki" like from the Jersey Shore, has been an awesome addition to our family. People for some reason always want to call her Snooki, but c'mon.... get it right Petsmart!!!... Her name is clearly stated on her tag & her paperwork!!! Ok sorry (composing myself).  I adopted her from the Inland Valley Humane Society or better known as the Pomona dog pound. She is a terrier mix & she is about 8 lbs..... significantly smaller than Cody. Sookie is our lap dog for realz.

It's so funny how the little one can totally dominate the big one. She can be a female dog sometimes. Despite her fiestiness (due to her terrier-ness), all in all she is a little sweetheart.

Because we love our dogs so much, here are some snapshots of our Cody & Sookie.

Sleepy boy.

 Handsome Co-dad.

Majestic Sookie Mama.

Sook loves her nylabone.

Cody & Sookie truly love each other. They are both really good dogs. She can be a little rascal sometimes, so I tagged her as the "bad dog," but we love them both equally.  I find it really difficult to photograph them together, but this was the best one I have shot so far. I would really like to pose them one day with hats, bows, & scarves for a possible holiday card, but that will take some time to train the 2 to sit still & look directly at my lens. I can only dream at this point.

Tahoe \\ Heavenly \\ Genoa

Back in January, Brent & I took a weekend trip up to the Tahoe area. I was extremely excited to go because I had never been up there before. We arrived at night, so I was not aware of the beautiful surroundings of this heavenly place. All I knew was that it was feeeeeerrr--rrreeezzzing!

We stayed at the David Walley Spa & Resort located in the tiny, deer infested, town of Genoa, NV (pronounced juh-NO-ah; many inside jokes based on the pronunciation of this town's name). When we woke up to the new the day, we all hopped into the truck & began our trek up the mountain, with our snowboard gear tucked safely in the bed. Tons of snow everywhere!! As we came up over the ridge, I was finally able to see the vastness of the lake & all of its natural beauty.

My brother & his friends were up to for the week to rip & shred and shred & rip (R&S 'n' S&R).  The first day, Brent & I decided to explore the hiking trails alongside the banks of the lake while the boys were shreddin' for the day. We drove to the Vikingsholm Trail that was located in the Emerald Bay inlet of Lake Tahoe. We began at the look out point of the trail, walked to the trail map & noticed it was closed. Brent being the daredevil that he is, said that he had done this trail as a kid & ensured me that we would be fine hiking down to the lake in the snow. "It's only a couple miles down honey......" I had my Uggs on for goodness sake. I replied "Okay.... let's do it!"

Me: "I don't think we should do the hike if its closed."

Brent: "We're good!"

Me: "Peace out.... Let's do it!"

This image reminded me those kiddie books I loved called I SPY. It reminded me of one of the book covers or inside pages of the book. I spy...... a pine cone!

Brent got a little agitated because I kept on stopping for my photo safari. No persons or camera equipment was harmed in this incident.

Just because I had on Uggs did not mean my feet were warm. Hiking through snow makes my toesies chilly willy.  I was not expecting to do much physical activity for the day, like hike. I would have been more prepared with my day pack, Clif bars, AND more reliable zapatos.

Breathtaking scenery lakeside....... I mean the actual nature, not the young handsome devil sitting on the picnic table.

Emerald Bay.

Ju-No where Gen-NO-AAAA is? It was cool to wake up to the sunrise coming over the ridge & not so cool hearing duck hunters fire off their shot guns at the flocks of ducks that waddled in the meadow near the hot springs.

The second day, I decided to get my rip & shred on, so I joined my brother & his friends up at  Heavenly Mountain Resort. That's me in the hyper colored gear behind my brother. I wear bright clothes just in case I get lost & the rescue crew can spot me in my 80s inspired getup.

View from the California side terrain, Gunbarrel Express.