Meet The Newest Member of Our Family. . . And Her Brother

Last December, Matt and I had a small lapse in reasonable judgement. We decided we wanted to get the boys a puppy. We looked and looked, and we decided on a labradoodle. Then we went and looked at dogs. Luckily we brought my parents with us. My dad, in a nice "not really trying to get in your business" kind of way, told us that we had lost our minds, and that we were stupid to get a dog in the middle of December, and that Labradoodles were just mutts with an expensive price tag. (You see, my dad. . . he never really says what he thinks, it has always been a problem with him!) So we waited. And waited. And waited. But, because we like being pecked to death with questions from our children. . . we told them that we were going to get them a puppy. So the great puppy search began. Everyday for weeks Hyatt would bring us pictures of a different breed. He would research them and print pictures, and tell us that this was the dog for him. Then I would find something wrong with the breed, and crush his hopes and dreams over and over again. It became a ritual. Then my dad called us one day and told us he had found the dog for us. A hunting dog, of course. Not some wimpy sissy dog, like a labradoodle, but a rugged "boys dog" that will bring pheasants back to you after you shoot them out of the sky with your shot gun.
"A cocker spaniel" my dad said over the phone.
"A what?" I said.
"You mean to tell me that you want me to get the same dog as Oprah freakin' Winfrey? "
"Yep"

"Well, that's rugged." I thought.
"But, not just any Cocker Spaniel, a Field Cocker, they are totally different" He said. " They will hunt all day AND make the perfect pet, and I have found the best breeder in the United States and he will have a pup to you by June."
"JUNE!" I said. "It's only January, and I am already undergoing a slow form of torture with questions about WHEN, WHEN, WHEN!"
But, it was done. So the wait began. Hyatt marked off the days in his calendar. He talked about it with all his friends, and anyone else who would listen. The twins thought up names, and played make-believe in the little dog crate we had in the garage.We read all the books, watched all the videos. Googled images of Field Cocker's until the keyboard wore out. Then June finally came. 2 puppies in that litter.
Both males.
So we went on waiting.
This time the date was August. The week school starts, we told the boys. Well, that week came and it went. The poor kids couldn't take it anymore. It was like moving the date of Christmas, or changing the finish line at a marathon. But, last week, the day finally arrived. The boys all loaded in Grandma and Grandpa's car and left school early to make the trip to the airport to get the dog. There were pictures taken, hugs and kisses for the dog, even some welcome home posters made. They brought the dog home and loved it for 3 whole hours. . . right up until I walked in, took one look at the dog, and told them it was the
WRONG DOG.
"Not our dog" I said, "Not the dog from the pictures, not the dog we were promised, and look a little closer here, NOT EVEN A FEMALE!" (Because I am wildly outnumbered here, this was an important detail. I was not about to get a male dog, do you think I am crazy? )
So, upon further inspection( and a priceless look of embarrassment on my dad's face for not even noticing) it was discovered that our dog had been switched at the airport, and sent to Georgia. We had a dog alright, but it was our dogs brother.

I thought my kids were going to die.

They cried and they moaned, and they bitterly wrapped their little "Christmas present" back up, and took him back to the airport. So, we began the waiting game again. Luckily we only had to wait one day. Back to the airport, new posters, new pictures. New Dog. And now we have our dog. The right dog. The perfect dog. The dog we have been waiting for all year.
And. . . she was worth the wait!


Sky Blue Sage
"SAGE"

She only chews things that she can get her mouth around, so that's only EVERYTHING. Including Griffin. Griff is my new best friend, he wants me to hold him all day long.He dreams of being be taller. He eats lunch ON the table now, not at the table. He follows me where ever I go, looking over his shoulder all the while. He has a love- hate relationship with the dog. He is not sure she was worth the wait. But as for the rest of us, we love her, and want her to stay.

Footnote: In fairness to my dad, he clearly would have noticed that this was the wrong dog if he hadn't be swept up in the emotion of three little boys jumping for joy about a new dog. I don't even think he got a chance to look at the dog, because the boys were mauling him. So Dad, you know I am going to hassle you about this forever, but let it be said, that it really would have happened to anyone, and we love you for finding us the perfect dog.

Now will you help us train her?
Please?

This is her brother.
Brady insisted we call him "Kevin".
I'm not sure why, but it may be because he recently was subjected to a screening of the movie
"Footloose"
Anyway, we liked Kevin, but he was not nearly as cute, and we were happy to trade.

First Day of School

Here they are. Ready to go. Like most mom's, I both love and hate this day. I miss them so much when they are gone, but it helps me appreciate how much I love the chaos and confusion of four rowdy boys in the house.
This year they all got a candy bar poster from their Grandma and Grandpa. So cute! No one wants to eat the candy because the poster is too cool. I am sure they will cave soon. Thanks Pat and Duke!

Look at Brady's face! Do you think he likes it?

New Teachers

Brady and Coleman started Spanish Immersion this year. They are so excited about it. Soon they will be getting in on Matt and Hyatt's secret conversation's. Check out their teacher! Cole had a big smile on his face when he got a look at her. I wonder why?

Okay, so I know this is a horrible picture, apparently I don't know how to use my camera, but I had to throw it in because you can see how much taller Hyatt is than his teacher. It is so funny! I'm not sure how much she likes it though!

Boys of Summer

I do this every year. I try to squeeze every last fun thing I can think of into the last two weeks of summer. Call it a panic attack if you must, but I just can't help myself. These next few pictures are some of the highlights of the craziness. Matt and I took Hyatt to his first concert. Kenny Chesney. He loved it! Matt, of course, hooked us up with super good seats so he is totally ruined now, and thinks all concerts are like this, but it was so fun we couldn't resist. We will make him sit in the nose bleeds for the John Hiatt concert in October, that will straighten him out. I think the drunk girls in cowboy hats freaked him out a little, but he put on a brave face.

I took the boys back to Montana for one more week of fun. This is Brady and Coleman at our favorite ice cream shop, we sent this picture to Matt to rub it in that we were eating huckleberry ice cream with out him. Not nice, I know.

This is my cute 11 year old, on Hebgen Lake again. Deep thoughts running through that head. (Actually it was just REALLY early in the morning, and he was still a little out of it).

We took several more jet skiing trips. We are trying to find the best place to go. On this trip we found the WORST place to go. Utah Lake. Worst place, hands down. (It makes me so mad too, because it could be such a beautiful place, but this is not the place for my environmentalist rant. Where is the place for that by the way, because I feel one coming on? ) The sunset was pretty though. Griff was being carried off by the giant sized mosquitoes, so I couldn't take many pictures.

We spent several days at our nice neighbor's pool. The water slide is better than any water park around, and it is so gorgeous! It was so nice of them to let us swim so much!

We made the obligatory trip to Lagoon. I didn't even bring a camera this time, but I did snap a couple of pictures of Griff on the kiddie rides for the first time.

He loved the elephants. He loved riding them all by his big self while all of us stood outside and made goofy faces at him and waved wildly. I don't know which was more fun, the ride, or seeing us act like idiots.

Another Day In Paradise

Just another day in Paradise. Paradise, Utah that is. My Dad and I took the boys up for one last day of fishing before school started. I am sure there will actually be more days of fishing after school gets going, but we will have to sluff then, so I won't be able to post about it, lest you all think I am a bad mother. We had a great time. Fish, Dirt, Sunshine, and Fresh Raspberry Shakes from Maddox Drive In.
It's good to be one of these boys.

Trout Hunters.
We are trying to teach the boys how to read the water. It is pretty easy when you can see the fish rising all over the place. Paradise spoils them. We will take them back to Hebgen where they have to work for it, right Dad?

After scoping things out, it's time to get into some fish. Cole started the day off right!

Life is pretty good!

Then Brady hooked one, and we were off and running. At the end of the day, everyone caught fish but me. LOOSER! But, as we say in the Chandler family (especially on days we get skunked) "It's just good to get out!" And it was.

Have you ever heard the expression "Like shooting fish in a barrel." Well, this is what it looks like. The boys found the "barrel" that they keep the fish to stock the streams with, and they thought they had died and gone to heaven. . . until Grandpa told them that those fish were off limits, and they couldn't catch them.

It didn't stop Cole from stripping down just to "get a little closer look" He only picked a couple up dad. Sorry.

This is what the end of the day looks like. Tired and hungry. Nothing that a quick stop to Maddox Drive-In couldn't fix. Great Day!