Ode to Alaine

Two days in a row! Didn't think I had anything to share today, but as I was looking at all of the beautiful pictures my lovely daughter has taken for/of us (the dogs especially!) I realized that I've not given her the credit she deserves! Pretty much every photo on this blog, my facebook, and even "my" Flickr sites were taken by my girl. We call her the official photographer of Thunderfeet Kennel and Sleds! Not that we do not have our own camera's...I just never remember to a) take mine along or b) even if I DO remember, I forget to take pics and then there is c) Alaine has a gift that neither Ted nor I do. She has a good eye for composing and color, shadows, etc. The truth is that she is a MUCH better photographer than we are, and we LOVE her photos! So this is a tribute to my wonderful, talented daughter, who provides our family with interesting pictures and videos...even though I wish she'd learn to "gauze" over any photos of me so all of my warts and wrinkles won't be plastered across the 'net, and put into family photo albums! (Sigh) Goodbye to having one chin, cheekbones, and smooth skin....Funny, I don't FEEL as old as I look. Must be something wrong with the new-fangled digital cameras everyone is using??? Yea...that's it! Next year is the big 6-0! (ugh...now that is starting to sound old!) Geesh!

Chase gets a kiss

Well, the mosquitoes are out in full force, the dogs are all blowing their coats, and the world is green once again! Wish I could say I love summer, but that would be a lie...anyway, it is just a season to get through until FALL!! (The BEST time of year, next to Winter.)

The puppies are all growing, and sooooo adorable...Alaine says they are the cutest puppies ever.

We get to keep the two (YES!!! Ted said we can have 2 puppies...he wants one for his team. NICE, huh??) puppies from this weekend on. They'll be 7 weeks old, and Penny has already weaned them. Tara will be picking up her 2, and Jill is getting a male. They will all be good dogs, I predict...(somewhat biased, yes.) They should match up nicely with Fiona/Kirov's offspring.

Ted is busy getting ready for the end of the school year, and also with the projects going on around here. The drain field failed, so he is fixing that, and we have the garden to plant too.

Mike and Jon will be coming for the weekend. It is Jon's birthday on Sunday. Alaine and the boys will be coming up for Saturday to help us celebrate. It should be a beautiful day...those boys do love to spend time together. When my Aunt Edith would come to our house in Rockford, we had so much fun playing with the cousins. They were "city kids" then, and we were the country cousins...but we all got along, and played tag, jumped off the barn, swam in the creek, and rode the horses and our mexican burro Jeff until it was time for dinner. Mom and Edith would make us grilled cheese sandwiches with Velvetta cheese and the bread my mom made. There were over 10 kids to feed! Delicious! Sometimes, mom would make fudge and popcorn to have around the campfires my dad built. We didn't have the electronic stuff kids have today, but we spent so much time outside we probably wouldn't have played with it anyway. A good night was chasing and catching a bottle full of fireflies, and listening to the spring peepers singing as we lay in the grass gazing at the stars and talking about how small we were compared to the whole Universe. Ahh....yup..those were the " good ol days"!

Of course, that was before I discovered THE Winter sport...and Siberian Huskies. How my life has changed!