Come take a walk with me...

Want to go on a walk with us?

One of the things I've been enjoying since not working full time, is the extra time to take Bentley on walks. We get out a couple of times a day and go down to a beautiful field that is at the end of our block. It is a nice excuse to get myself out of the house and walking 30-45 min   2x a day, and I don't think that Bentley minds it either!

You still keeping up with us?

It is so great to have the field so close, this way we don't need to pack him up and drive across town to the dog park. You can sort of see the houses at the edge of the field, we live just down a couple of houses.

It is such a great place that B can just run around as much as he wants...

Jump as high as he can...

and stop and smell the flowers,

So there is your Bentley fix for the day. He's as cute and ornery as ever.

How to build a fence

As our little puppy grows bigger, more curious, and social we decided we needed to fence in our back yard to keep our little guy on our property and not running around visiting all our neighbors. (our neighbors do actually like Bentley as he is such a cutie and likes to run up to them and say "hi" if we neglect to put him on his chain when he is outside) Its been a fun project for the most part (at least on my end, but I haven't had the hard work of digging holes, filling them back again, and doing all the figuring to make the fence work!) and we've had some nice days to work on it. So here is my photo tutorial - or maybe more like a photo journal of our fence adventure

Step 1

Buy a boat load of wood

Step 2

This was one of my favorite steps because I could actually do it! Spray the bottom of the posts with black rubber concoction to seal the wood against rotting. Bryce was given this pick up from a friend who didnt have any use or space for it, and it has proved to be quite handy in this adventure, here it is used as a stand, painting surface.

Step 3

Dig a whole lot of really big holes.

And stick your wife down in it to show just how deep they are

Step 4

When you run into annoying things like scoria rock and big tree roots, pull out the man tool and hammer your way through them.

Step 5

Have a photo shoot with your adorable little, but not so little, puppy. This is an important step because it was a) keeps the puppy happy and not barking and whining that he is not getting enough attention, and b) keeps the wife happy and not pestering the hard working husband who is trying to dig holes!

Step 6

While digging holes and not quite sure if they are deep enough or in the right place be sure to always consult your supervisor and get his approval!

Step 7

Always keep said supervisor happy by letting him sit in his favorite vehicle. Bentely absolutely loves going for car rides! Yesterday Bryce and I were doing a few errands around town and brought Bentley with us and we couldn't get him out of the car, which is not an unusual thing. I have had quite the humerous and frustrating time pulling/yanking/dragging him out of vehicles if he doesn't feel like he has had a long enough ride! Anyways, he didn't want to get out of the car so we left a door open and shut the garage door and just let him stay in there for a few minutes as we went inside and changed to get back to the fence. When we got back into the garage Bentley was still sitting in the car happy as could be , not barking or freaking out that we weren't within 2 feet of him as he usually does, but just sititng there enjoying "his car" It was hysterical, especially if you've witnessed what he is like if one of us leaves the house without him!

Step 8

When you get tired of digging through roots, old fence posts that were cemented in place, and get to the easy holes, rent a two man fence post digger and invite a friend over to help. I did help on one hole to say that I did help dig a hole, but that was enough for me and Bryce as I wasn't quite strong enough to be of much help.

Step 9

When the posts are up, standing straight, and tamped in as much as you can, you get to the much more fun and easy job of putting the 2 x 4's up.

Step 10

Line up the pickets so you can get a feel for what it is going to look like when you finally get finished!

Step 11

(You don't really need to take your dog for another drive, but I just like the picture!)

To be continued as we finish up the fence

The ups and downs of a month

Bryce brought to my attention the other day how different life has become this last month. There has been a lot of fun things that have happened and some not so fun ones too.

We got our cute little puppy (who now has doubled in weight and is getting so big!) We almost lost our cute little puppy. 2 weeks after we got him he came down with Parvovirus the same virus that killed our Remy. We brought him into the vet immediately when he started showing signs and that we were told saved his life. Well that and the fact that he is the most ornery dog you've ever met. The vet told me on several occasions when I called to check on him that he was just "madder than a wet hen" at being in isolation. He was so mad that we left him all alone he was going to make sure that he got better just so he could let us know what he thought of us during his three days in the isolation chamber! We were so happy when he came home, and now that he is better he's learned so many new tricks. Like, its really fun to take the end of toilet paper and run around with it, also there is a lot of fun things in garbage cans that are easy to destroy. And he is also big enough to jump onto furniture now, oofta this guy takes a lot of watching and remembering that he is just a puppy. The good news is that he can now sleep through the night. Technically... but he doesn't like that one bit either.

                                        

                       

  I love how well these pictures show how differently we interact with our little one. Cracks me up

Another new thing is that I started a new job as a teller at a bank. I haven't quite figured out how i feel about it yet. Its nice to be doing something outside the house and be earning money again. However I am really missing being able to get the house things done during the day before B comes home, and I really miss having the time to cook good meals. The people I work with are an interesting bunch. It is rare when something comes out of their mouths that is in a positive tone, and not just bashing other people. Its been a real struggle to keep a positive attitude and be a good example for them when I feel myself so easily falling into the trap of gossiping about other people and just complaining about rules, supervisors...

But I think the best new change in the past month is that I am getting a new brother. Liv and Greg got engaged this past week and I am so happy for them. They'll be getting married in China this spring sometime. Its weird to think about the fact that I wont even meet him until they've been married for several months, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Thats a little bit of what we've been up to, who knows what God has in store for us in the next few months. I'm hoping that He wants Bentley to sleep more at night, but we'll see

Krista's Wonderful Time at Bethany and Bryce's House.

1.  I love meeting Bentley again. He is not exactly as timid and shy as he was the first time we met. He is wild and playful.  He loves to chew on slippers and fingers and his chew toys. He does get very cute and cuddly if he's tired and he fell asleep in my lap several times.

2. I wake up in the morning and walk up to Bethany's cereal cupboard. I open it and here's what I find: Captain Crunch, Apple Jacks, and Cocoa Puffs. Is that amazing or what. My favorite cereals in one cupbord with out any other healthy cereals. I love it! Breakfast is good here.

3. Bethany's cereal bowls are ginormous!

4.  Another season of The Cosby Show for me to watch. It's one of my favorite shows to watch and I now have a whole season to watch. I can sit back with my Captain Crunch and Mt. Dew (which is always in supply here!) and watch some episodes of the best humor on TV.

5.  The Black Bottom cake we are going to have after supper will be a highlight. Chocolate cake with creamcheese and a pudding layer. Delicious! Happy Birthday Daniel!

6. The massage chair downstairs. I love those things!. They're so cool..

Well, thats all I can think of now, but I'm afraid it doesn't show the amount of fun-ness I'm having. I better get back to hugging the puppy and watching Monk.

Allow me to introduce Bentley

I know that the title may look a little familiar as it was pretty much the same as my last one, but since then we've said goodbye to Remington and have welcomed Bentley

Remy, was unfortunately very sick with the Parvovirus when we got him. After a few days we realized that what we thought were symptoms of just adjusting to a new life, were really symptoms of something way worse. We brought him to the vet where our fears were confirmed. Parvo is pretty much a death sentance for puppies, and he only made it one more day before he passed away. We loved the time we had with our perfect little puppy and were heartbroken when he died.

After about a month or so we decided that we wanted to find another little puppy. We found Bently, a 8 week old labradoodle. Or a lab crossed with a poodle as Bryce would say (apparently that sounds more manly!) He is a cutie and a crazy puppy rolled into one.

Last Saturday Bryce got up early to let Bentley out of his kennel and this is what I came up to see. Just a nice lazy Saturday morning of naps and video games.

His favorite place to sleep was right under our coffee table on the ledge below. He just lays there spread eagle and is the cutest thing ever. We had to take it off now so he can't scratch it all up. But I find this picture just hysterical!

We've had a major breakthough with him. For the last two nights he has gone (well we had to shove him in) into his kennel and just went to sleep without howling and whining for hours!! We were so happy to get a little extra sleep the last few nights. He still has quite a bit of seperation anxiety, but we're hopeful that we will eventually win that battle too.

Allow me to introduce Remington

So we finally found a great puppy that we got to take home with us. As I type this he's laying on my lap, with a  ball right in front of his nose, but he wants to be right here with me.

This is Remington, affectionately called Remy

Yes I am that big of a fan of Remington Steele, that I would want to name our puppy after him

He is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever/German Shepherd Cross, so he is going to be a big boy when he grows up. The humane society is guessing that he is about 4 months. Thankfully he is getting used to walking down the stairs because he is a lot of puppy to carry down to go outside.

He is such a cute puppy, but doesn't act like a puppy at all. Maybe once a day I can get him to chase a ball, for about one minute then he is looking for a lap to lay in again.

While we're loving having such a good puppy that doesn't get into mischief, it will be fun to see him get used to a new house and schedule and become a playful little guy.

On a completely unrelated note, another great gift that my husband got for me are our amazing new coffee/end tables that are filling up our living room and making it look one step closer to a real live house

Just to give you a glimpse of how much snow that western ND got over Christmas, this picture is out my front window at the neighbors house

Some good things about ND

This weekend Bryce and I went out to a national park about an hour away from our house. I was reminded that there are, despite my denials and clinging to my MN status, some good things about ND.

# 1 This guy, who takes me on adventures and is just incredible.

# 2 Beautiful scenery ( you may have to drive back into the central time zone to get there, but it does exsist!)

#3 I found TREES!!!! That alone made my day!

#4 Buffalo. When we were driving into the park I said that was one thing I really wanted to see again, and they were out in abundance. This guy was right on the trail we were on.

#5 Plenty of places for boys who like to climb things to go crazy

We started out on a nice easy nature trail, but soon ended up finding our own way. Way down at the bottom of all  the trees is where our trail was, we just took the more adventurous way throughout the park,

On top of one of the buttes it was just like you were in another world. All you saw was the crunchy rock you were on, the sides just dropped off. We started wondering what would happen if we encountered another buffalo, not a fun thought when your 100 feet from the ground and there is just no where to go but down.

Mapping out our descent

I was pretty proud of myself for making it down from there

We started up by the large rock on the left

Just loving life and the adventures we get to go on together!