Bravo Dog Training: Back From Christmas Holiday!

I hope everyone had as wonderful and magical a Christmas as we did. As previously mentioned, we packed all our gifts and trudged off to Maine (via airplane, but still a long trip!). The dogs stayed home and were kept company by Amber of Hot Diggity Dog Walking and Pet Sitting. They seem to have enjoyed their pampering, and it was great knowing that they were being so well cared for.

Timber and Pistol got into one little scuffle (as our bickering boys sometimes do), but it was reported to me quickly and we avoided any repeat conflicts. Amber even managed to keep my basil plant happy, which is pretty impressive - that plant drinks enough water each day to fill a swimming pool! We returned home late last night (so late that it was technically this morning!) to a great note filling us in on how everyone was doing. Thanks for taking such good care of our family, Amber!

While in Maine we enjoyed a wonderful visit with my sister and brother-in-law, my grandmother and my parents. We awoke Christmas morning to bulging stockings, an obscene pile of gifts under the tree, and one very excited 4-year-old son. We were also blessed with a beautiful snowstorm, starting Christmas morning and dumping over 4 ideal-for-sledding inches of snow. Ethan got good use out of new winter boots and snow pants, and we all enjoyed our first snow in nearly two years.

This week will consist of playing with many new toys (mostly Ethan, but I'll admit I'm excited about my gifts too!), a trip to the vet for Timber (who is drinking and peeing enough to indicate a significant problem) and my pre-op appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. Next week is my hip surgery - January 4th to be exact. My mother arrives on Sunday to help take care of me and the family. Someone has to vacuum up all the dog hair around here if I can't get up to do it!

No great dog pictures, but I thought I'd share some of our trip to Maine: