School

Merrick has such a blast at school and loves all her teachers so much. (We do too!) We really are so lucky to have found such an amazing place for her to learn and grow, and to have had so many great people in her life. Hooray for The Carriage House! Shout out to Missy, Natalie, and Jolene!

Sweet backyard!

Foxy coming to see Merrick at the back door, and fun in the teepee about a 10 minute hike from the apartment. We can't believe she will be 2 soon!

Swiper

The top picture he is looking at Merrick through the glass, someone must be feeding him, because he walks right up to us. The other picture is of him taunting Rikta. Merrick thinks he comes to see her, she runs up to the glass with her stuffed fox and talks to him. Who needs the zoo?

Fall fun

Merrick and I went to the Denver Aquarium last week and had so much fun. She loved the bubble machine by the ticket window. It was hard to even get her inside, but she really loved the otters, sea turtles and sharks. Rikta and her have really bonded in the past couple of weeks, and we have a fox that comes to see her on the back patio. Here he is stealing her toys. Just like Swiper!

We have been hitting every park around before its too cold to do so, winter will be here soon!This little truck was at a church playground and it was a big hit. A new word pops up everyday, and she has started to repeat things we say without us asking. I think I left the construction crew just in time! "Oh man!" and "Oh dude!" are some new favorites. Soon I will post some video from our dance parties, she has some great moves!

Pool day

We spent a day down in Denver over the weekend and hit the pool before it closed for the summer. Merrick went under a few times, she is not so sure about that yet. Hopefully next year we can get her to jump off the diving board. Or, maybe off of a boat! Things are good, winding down a little after a couple weeks of stress. She is such a good little girl.

WE ARE GOOD!!!

Just got off the phone with Jay, and Rikta does not have lymphoma! We go in tomorrow to try and figure out what it is, but this is amazing news! Merrick and I went bumper boating this morning, then to out to our favorite restaurant, we are breathing a sigh of relief, and looking forward to moving on with our little family. Thanks for thinking of us! (I know Circe isn't ready for her to be up there yet...she is loving her alone time!)

Hanging in there..

Just when we thought we were getting there, Rikta started to show some symptoms of a potentially fatal problem. We get results by the end of the week. Please keep us in thoughts and prayers. I don't want Merrick (or us!) to lose another great friend. Not this soon. Here they are at the lake, loving it.

More from Sunday..

Testing out her winter coat, early on Sunday.

Our beloved Circe

We lost an important part of our family yesterday, and our hearts are shattered. I didn't think my little girl would have to know death so soon. We can barely hold it together, but we are doing our best for both Merrick and Rikta. Our lives were so filled with Circe, it is hard to imagine life without her. We have never grieved like this, and if you aren't a dog person, it may be hard to understand, but this is so real, and so painful. My little girl kept asking for her last night, so we got her a special book about dog heaven and told her where Circe went, and that she could wave to her in the sky, and to hear her sweet little voice say "c-c, home" breaks my heart in two, because I want her home too. She said her first sentence yesterday, she said "I miss c-c." I hope this gets easier, right now I can't imagine it, or see an end. That dog journeyed with me through SO MUCH, what a privilege to have had her in my life for so long. She left us on her own terms, and so happy from her early morning swim, with two of her greatest friends in life. The top two pictures were taken on Sunday, on our last family hike together. What a beauty. What a life.

SNOW!!

Well, turns out she is just like us, we went up to Loveland pass today to check out the snow, and Merrick didn't want to leave! She was so excited! Some nice lady took our picture together, so I finally got our family shot, minus the doggies. We even got her to say "mountains."

August snow!

It snowed in August. My first year here it snowed 8 inches on July 4th, and it never gets old. I'm hoping someday it has the same effect on Merrick, but if not, that is o.k. too. I took her out in between the monsoon rain showers to get some shots, and she was not happy. She sat in the mud and waited for me to come get her.

Cold and rainy fun days...

The days are definately getting colder and shorter up here. Merrick has been having a ball going on big hikes with the dogs. She is really into running now and getting as dirty as she can. Sounds a lot like me!