Happy 1st Birthday!

Today, the pups turn 1.  In honor, here is a bunch of photos showing them from the first night we brought them home at 7 weeks, to them celebrating their first birthday!

The Baz-man

Showing off his roaching skills from an early age

One of our few pics of them together not in a blur of playing

Basil showing off his couture hair-style

Close-up of said hairstyle with a yawn for added cuteness

The first night we brought them home

Basil will use any height he can get to his advantage...including my back

Nero is a dirty fighter

But now it's Basil's turn to sneak up on him

I don't know how Nero is so photogenic!

Nero loves giving kisses

Rowr!

"We really are innocent little angels"

"What?  This laundry isn't for us to play in?  But it's so fun!!"

See any similarity between him and the ornament behind him?

They all know when a present is for them

'How's my hair?"

So happy birthday, boys, we love you!!

Nero showing off his toy-snatching skills.  He lets Basil do all the legwork to get it, and then he just steals it.

Chewing on their birthday toy

Belated Gotcha Day for Chase

A few weeks ago marked two years since we adopted Chase.  I had always wanted a Sheltie, so we contacted the Spokane Sheltie Rescue and got in touch with Pat.  Once she ascertained we would be fine owners for a Sheltie, the process began.  We talked to them for a long time for a 9 year old female Sheltie that the owner had to give up, but that fell through as the owner was not responsive to phone calls from the rescue group.  Then she heard about a 5 year old male Sheltie, who seemed like a better fit for our family.

Looking sheepish in one of his favorite spots

He is a mama's boy

This dog was given to a vet's office in Idaho and the office was simply told to put him down.  Luckily, this vet did not kill dogs simply because they were told, and accepted him to put to rescue.  They did several tests with him, and could not find a mean bone in his body.  They contacted the Sheltie Rescue and we agreed to meet him.

FRISBEE!!!!

And he always carries home his spoil of war

So on a Monday night we headed to the Idaho border and met Chase.  We were warned that like all Shelties, he might be a bit standoffish at first, but that didn't happen.  He took to us right away and we played fetch and rubbed his belly.  That night, we brought him home.  We couldn't have asked for a better dog and we are so happy he came in our life.

He even lets us do this...briefly

He does sometime wonder why we made him a big brother to twin terrors

"Take it, I dare you, young grasshopper"

Let the Games Begin!

This past weekend, Justin and I decided to take the day off together and go to the Spokane Highland Games.  It is rare that we get a Saturday off together, and it evoked some wonderful Scotland memories for us.  We got to see a sheepdog demonstration, which one dog did brilliantly, while the younger border collie had some problems.  We got to the demonstration site early, and while waiting, an older sheep got out of the construction fencing and was running around with the dog chasing it to get it back inside.  As the sheep came barreling towards us, it was easy to see that the wee little sheep could do some damage if it wanted.  Beyond that cute exterior is a solid mass that can hit decent speeds.

The collie waits for the signal to round up the varmints

Said varmints aren't too happy to be at the Games

We saw a British car show, which had fabulous cars and we both liked the Austin-Healeys the best.  They also had dancing and the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers who played a wonderful show.  The best part of the show besides the music and the shade/breeze, was all the young children who decided to try their own Scottish type of dancing for the crowd.  One little blonde girl in pigtails reminded us of our little Basil as all the kids danced together and she just ran around them in circles doing her own thing.

And here is a video if you would like to listen to the music

Our favorite part was of course, the games themselves.  People from mostly Washington, Idaho and Canada competed in four events: the caber toss, weight for height, throwing of the stone and the hammer toss.  We watched the women's and the master's (over age 40) weight for height and the master's caber toss.   The caber toss is what people traditionally think of when they think of Highland Games, but I was enthralled with the weight for height competition.  These people stand underneath a bar that progressively gets higher and attempt to throw a weight over said bar at a standstill.  The women threw a 26 lb weight and got up to 18 feet and the masters threw 52 lb weights and got to 18.5 feet.  The scariest part was when the weight hit the bar and came plummeting back down, sometimes almost hitting the contestant in the head.

The infamous caber toss

Lastly we watched a claymore demonstration as they tried their hardest to speak over the noise of the pipe bands and they fenced with a claymore versus a dirk.   We got a demonstration of Hollywood stage fighting as well as they showed how angles play a big part in stage fighting.

A fellow watcher in full regalia 

The Spokane Games had a photo contest this year, and we entered a few of our Scotland photos.  One of them (which I decided to put in only last minute) got third place in the people category.  Here it is... Nessie attacks!!!

Nessie Attacks!

This is one we entered that disappeared.  Maybe it won, maybe it didn't.  Who will know?

This is one of the Faerie Glen that didn't win anything but got a lot of compliments from the people who were working the Games.