Let there be PUPPIES!

We have some exciting news... Rockie is now the proud mother of THREE!!  We are pleased to report that she successfully delivered her pups yesterday and everyone is healthy (and seemingly happy).  Unforunately we don't have any pictures of the little ones yet...

We decided it would be best if Rockie stayed at Jim's house for a little while due to the cold weather and her not-so-good history of traveling.  I want to make sure that we clarify that we are taking full responsibility for our new puppies.  We're a little limited on the amount of care we can provide in our small house within city limits so we're lucky that Jim has been so great about helping out.

I recently posted a question about caring for new pups on an online question board and was pretty much attacked by a slew of crazies that assumed I abuse my dog and am not caring for her because she lives outside.  So not true.  She has a nice underground dog house at Jim's (or igloo like I like to call it) fully equipped with a heat lamp for this time of year! As far as outside pets go she is living the dream right now!!  She also has an insulated dog house within our garage at home but we wanted to be sure the new puppies had an even cozier home while they are so small and fragile.

Of course, we're fully aware of the current issue with pet over-population and we're not proud to be counted as part of the problem.  That being said, what's done is done and we realize that our dear Rockie needs to be spayed... pronto.  We're on it and we've done the research to pin point the appropriate time period for a new mama to be fixed.   We're on a mission to make sure our new little beauties stay healthy, are properly weaned and safely placed in a loving home... Please let us know if you or a friend/family member would like to adopt a new pet!  :)

6 Christmases

No, we're not kidding.  We managed to cram six Christmas celebrations into a 3 day period this year! Lucky for us it wasn't TOO much like the "Four Christmases" movie (ha ha!).  We are lucky because our families have different Christmas traditions and we're able to attend all of them without having to choose between them. 

My family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve and Kurt's family goes the traditional route with Christmas morning.  As of now, Kurt & I are pretty flexible about starting our own traditions so we kicked off the Christmas festivities with our own gift exchange extravaganza on Wednesday night.  It was really fun!  Although Kurt was a big slacker at wrapping gifts he did a really nice job picking out things that I would like!! I'm impressed (brownie points!).   =D

See that stack of boxes swaddled in a blue blanket?
Yeah, that's Kurt's idea of "wrapping presents". ha!

His favorite gift -- HDflip video camera!

 In an effort to beat the snow storm we both took off work on Thursday to head back to WL (very good choice because once Friday rolled around we got dumped on all day).  We enjoyed Christmas with Kurt's mom on Christmas Eve morning, followed by the Stucker family get-together.  Then it was time for the BEST meal of the year...shish-ka-bobs at my Mom & Dad's house!  YUM!  This is our tradition.... making shish-ka-bobs, playing games, going to church & opening gifts on Xmas Eve. :)  It was a fun night (although Kurt barely stayed awake during church)!!

The first couple Christmases knocked the Collins kids out!

Yum, shish-ka-bobs!

at the Kelly Christmas!

We spent Christmas day with the Simons - first with Kurt's immediate family at his Dad's and then with the whole clan at his Grandparents house.  It's always fun to be surrounded by family, plus with all the little kids right now there is tons of entertainment to keep us laughing. :)

Kurt & his youngest nephew, Truvell. SUCH a cutie!!

Desi & Drake playing with Pita.

Nice shirt!!

Marley & Me - of course, when she smiled so perfectly I didn't look at the camera!

With my future sister-in-laws! :) YAY!

Last but not least we ventured to Holiday Lake to enjoy some Christmas fun with the Westra family (my mom's side).  We (continued to) munch on goodies all day, do a little gambling and swap some presents.  Yes... I said gambling.  My Grandma & Grandpa always have little packages of quarters ready for each of us so we can play a few rounds of LCR.  I've never won.... but it sure is fun!  I think this is the first year that Matt hasn't taken home the winnings!!  ha!

All the cousins at Grandma & Grandpa Westra's!

Overall we had a wonderful holiday.  We're so thankful we were able to spend so much time with our loved ones. Plus, it's not so bad going back to work when you have new outfits to wear (LOL)!

Fur Babies

We got a little surprise this weekend...

When we go back to WL we've gotten into the habit of bringing both our dogs (which is an annoying hassle but obviously necessary).  Pita travels really well, stick his kennel in the back seat and he'll snooze the whole way there but traveling with Rockie has always been, well... a little rocky.  I don't think she's ever made it the entire drive without getting sick at least once (yet, Kurt is convinced that "she loves car rides"... LOL).  Anyways, the pups get to stay at Jim's house (Kurt's dad) that way Rockie can hang out outside with her mom and Pita can roam the house.  As we dropped them off on Friday Kurt reminded his dad to tie Rockie up so she doesn't wander around and get knocked up... Jim took one look at her and said "She's already pregnant". 

*GASP*  I guess that's what we get for not getting her fixed quick enough!  We did some thinking and remembered that Rockie was roaming the countryside on Halloween night (she ended up joining us at the bonfire at Kurt's grandparents down the road) which would mean she's due right around New Years Eve.

I know what you're thinking... how did we not notice, right?!  Well Rockie has filled out a lot lately and we've noticed that... her fur thickened up for the winter (this is her first winter with us) and Kurt starting feeding her more to fatten her up for the cold weather.  We've joked a couple times that she looked pretty fat and might be pregnant but now there's no question.... Nipples don't lie.

On that note... lets take a look at how cute Rockie was as a puppy! 

Rockie - a couple weeks old

Rockie - a couple months old

Rockie - about 2 years old (this summer)

Although this will be a handful for a while it will be kind of fun to have a puppy or two around... BUT we won't be keeping them.  If you or anyone you know would like a puppy (for FREE) please let us know!!  :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS --- 5 more days!

PS.  Watch the Sing Off tonight on NBC, it's our guilty pleasure show for the holiday season and it's sooooooooooo good!!

'Tis the Season!

We're gearing up for Christmas and loving every minute of it.  The house is decorated, the presents wrapped (well, mine are -- Kurt has yet to do his shopping) and the Christmas carol station is now the default.  Unfortunately due to last weekend's blizzard the church service was canceled so we're missing out on a very important (the most important actually) part of Christmas. Not to worry though, we know what this holiday is all about. :)

The week before last they had a great sermon at our church, it was all about Christmas trees and what they mean to us and how they can also be tied back to the Christmas story.  The message inspired us to take a closer look at our Christmas tree and examine what each of the ornaments mean to us... a simple and perfect display of the seasons of our lives!  Last year Kurt started a tradition of making me an ornament each year -- that one always makes me smile.  This year my mom gifted us an ornament that looks like a giant diamond ring to signify the year we got engaged... it's so much fun to imagine what our tree will look like in the years to come as we add ornaments for each season of our life together!  :) Here's our tree this year... pretty!

Of course I have to do a little re-cap of my recent birthday, too!  I enjoyed a day off work and my mom came up to spend the day with me!  We had a great time shopping and Emilee even joined us for lunch.  Then Kurt & I went out for margaritas and to a movie!!  We saw "Due Date" .... we don't recommend it, it's a renter. =P  It was a nice calm and fun way to turn 24.  ....Oh, and my family gave me a new camera which I was really hoping for!! It's nice to have a quality camera because I'm kind of obessed with taking pictures... haha!  Here's a few of our testers from my b-day!!

 

 Thanks for making my FAVORITE cake, Mom!  Yummm!

15 days until Christmas.... let the countdown begin!!! :)

In the Hood

I must have jinxed our luck in that recent post because we got a little taste of Waterloo's dark side this past weekend. Nothing too bad but Kurt's car was broken into on Friday night -- evidentally they were going for his stereo but must have been scared off in the process (way to go Rockie!!) because after breaking the dash out they left the stereo there! It must have went down while we were at our friends' playing games because anytime someone gets near our house the dogs usually go bonkers.  Anyways, when I shared this lovely news with my Mom she said "I guess that's what you get for living in the hood!".  LOL Although she was kidding it was true to the situation.

Other than that we've been laying low this week - renting movies, cleaning house and trying to kick this nasty bug we both managed to catch.  Oh and it's my birthday week, too!  I always like to celebrate special days but it gets tough when you work full time.  Last year my boss gifted us with a free day off to be used on our birthdays (it was a Xmas gift) so I'm excited to spend the day with my Mom and Emilee shopping and hanging out.  Unfortunately Kurt has to work so we'll have to celebrate in the evening as well!  Yum, dinner and drinks are always a great way to spend a b-day (hopefully we're feeling better!). 

I'll have to admit, turning 24 isn't too exciting. I've had a bad run with birthdays the last couple of years so I'm hoping this one is enjoyable.  Last year we got pounded with the blizzard of the decade and I was literally snowed in.  The year before that I had mono and was under doctor's orders not to drink any alcohol and to get as much sleep as possible... needless to say we didn't celebrate too much but I was lucky enough to be surrounded by friends and awesome roomies!!  I'm thinking next year will be a good year to GO BIG -- 25 is a big one.  This year, I'm just happy to have a relaxing date night with my fiance....after all 24 is the age we'll both be when we tie the knot this summer and I think that's pretty special all on it's own. <3