Favorites Friday, Dog Party

I had grand plans for having a fun fourth birthday party for our little pup Max this year. We celebrated big on his first birthday but then one kid came, and then another and the poor pup became third fiddle.

I was determined that this year would be the year to do another party.

A bunch of dogs all romping around the yard is tons of fun and it's a great excuse to hang out with their owners over great food and cocktails.

So I sent out invites and everything. See?


Well, his birthday weekend just so happened to fall on the only weekend we had open and was the weekend my wonderful husband wanted to send me on a girls trip.

So, I chose to be selfish and cancel the party.

In hopes of ever getting to this party again this year, here's my inspiration board. If not, well, the 5th birthday's a big deal right?

Happy (much belated) 4th birthday to the craziest poodle around!


{1: tutorial for quilted scottie pillows, could be great party favors or an activity for each guest to choose pre-cut fabric and take home to do, 2: dog toy ice lick, would keep the dogs entertained and hydrated on warm summer days, 3: balls, bones, and leashes oh my!, 4: doggie bags to send treats home in, 5: dog bowl platter could hold all sorts of yummy food, 6: great silhouette party invites, 7: the center of attention can't go without a party outfit, 8: plush bone party favors, 9: gather friends and celebrate all your dogs' special day}

Just Head East

Saturday we jumped into the car, wanting adventure, and decided to head east. In 4 years of living here, we've never been further than 20 minutes east. I know right!
So, with no plan and a vague direction of where we were going, we just drove. It was gorgeous! It was countryside we'd never seen and it was all stunningly beautiful. Fall colors were everywhere, with a light dusting of snow as a reminder of what's to come. We ended up stopping (little off roading not passed up) for a while at the Painted Hills.

We'd packed a picnic and took a hike up to a great view point to see more.

Tayden discovered rocks. Had the time of his life with those. Putting them in his mouth, banging them on cups, trying to give them to Max...he's such a boy!

Anyway, we were just reminded of this beautiful place we live and are excited to explore more east this summer for camping.

Golden Grahams

We had our wonderful friends the Grahams come up for a long weekend visit along with their pup Tag. Max didn't know what to do seeing as how Tag is literally 6 times bigger than him, but he sure gave it the old college try! They were hilarious to watch. Tater loved it too.

We basically just hung out most of the time, went house shopping and driving all around exploring but Saturday we ventured to Big Lake in search of snow. Alas, we found none, but had fun at the lake anyway.

We showed them the head of the Metolious also.

If Zach decides to get out of the Coast Guard come July, we're hoping they'll be our latest recruits to beautiful Central Oregon!
Here's to hoping!!

Man We Love Central Oregon!

We hiked out to Steelhead Falls today.


It was a great hike, about a mile round trip, with Tayden in tow and Max on a leash.


We enjoyed a picnic under a shade tree while we watched kids cliff jumping into the river below.
We felt old.

Instead of dwelling on it, we just soaked in the gorgeous surroundings that are in our backyard!

You have GOT to be kidding me!

You leave a dog for a minute...and this is what you find:

It's a Dog-Eat-Cake World

Maximus is no longer a puppy~he turned One yesterday! To celebrate this special day, we had 6 of his best friends over (he was the only boy, sure knows how to pick friends huh!) for a party. There was a cake for the dogs, adult libations, and party hats galore.



The dogs ran around and played for a solid 4 hours. Needless to say, Max is tuckered out today. Maybe we should have dog parties more often...

It MUST be a Good Day

You know when you feel like you've been in hibernation for the past 6 months because you live in a place that has cold winters? And when the first day of warmth and sunshine comes there is nothing more you'd rather do than to get out and enjoy that sun! Well, when you need to have a garage sale instead so you don't actually get to go have fun, you take the next opportunity, right? Well, that was to be today. The weather forecast said it would be sunny and 70 today, just like yesterday, and so it was decided we were going to go somewhere fun to enjoy it.
We went to church with Rich's sister, brought the dogs and a picnic with us, and were headed to Sparks Lake to sit out, enjoy our food and the warmth while the dogs played. It started out as planned, until after church when we headed out to the lake only to find 1/2 hr. later down the road that the road was closed!! So, we had nothing left to do but turn around and try to find something on the side of the road that looked promising. An hour and 1/2 later, we found an area by the river only for clouds to roll in and the wind to pick up. Well, at least Flat Evan and the dogs had a blast!!
(In all honesty, it was a beautiful drive, good time together and great to be outside again!)

Tongs and a Rubber Glove

Four days of following Maximus around the house after having eaten a nylon sock, convinced that by now he had to have digested it, we found it in his kennel this morning...whole.
Yeah. That.