The joys of having a dog

We have been having so much fun with Oliver. He has brought a lot of joy to our home and definitely keeps us entertained with his curious and playful personality. Here is Oliver attacking Dave while I was trying to give him a back massage on the floor. Then, Oliver took an interest in our beverages.

The new addition!

So, Dave and I have been talking about getting a dog for a few months now. We both love animals and really wanted a dog to go hiking with. The problem is that we have a small backyard and travel quite a bit. Our compromise was to get a small dog that we could take with us. We will get our big dog later on in life =) Oliver is 13.5 lbs terrier mix. We got him from the humane society, which is always a bit of a gamble. We really were blessed in this game of luck. We couldn't ask for a better dog. He is really mellow (unlike hyper Kuyper). He loves to play, but prefers cuddling up with anyone and everyone on the sofa. We took him for his first road trip this past weekend and he was SUCH a trooper. He bonded with my family really fast and didn't want to leave. He slept in the car either on my lap or on the back seat on a blanket and never barked or whimpered the entire time. He has yet to go to the bathroom in the house. He trains easily and we've already got him obeying commands and potty trained. We couldn't be more excited for this little addition to our family. Enjoy the pictures of Oliver!!

Weekend with the Inlaws

We spent Dave's three day weekend to head down to Santa Ynez to spend some time with the folks. It was an awesome trip. The highlight of the trip was Gary teaching me how to plow the field. He even let me wear the sacred John Deere hat, to which he referred to as Joan Deere. We played cards, looked at old pictures and just spent time hanging out. It poured rain the day we left, but our time indoors was cozy and warm. It was such a recharge getting out of the valley into the beautiful hills. Thanks Gary and Judy for an incredible weekend. Oh, and we did some wine tasting a few times along the way =)

Snowshoeing in Lassen

On New Years Eve, Dave, Bill, Cassie and I make the trek up to Lassen for some winter fun. The weather was less than desirable (ran/snow mix), but the bonding was fantastic. After our hike, we did some sledding on a near by hill. Dave and Bill kept challenging each other on who could get the most air........figures.....boys will be boys. We finished up our time with some hot cocoa at the lodge, a slushy drive home, and board games and mimosas to toast in the new year.

Flag/Mud Football

It is a Lane family tradition to bust out the old sweat bands, stretch out the muscles, and head out to Bille Park for a holiday game of flag football. The teams were divided, the game faces were on and the competition was fierce. I vote Cassie MVP for her stellar kicking abilities and Eirik MVP for catching 2 touchdown passes even with his eye depth perception problem. I look forward to taking you all on next year!

Our First Christmas

The plan was to snow shoe up into the mountains, find the perfect Christmas tree, chop it down, and bring it back to the house for decorating. We ended up buying one next to Food Maxx.......apparently Fresno doesn't allow anyone to chop down trees anywhere in the foothills or national parks.

We still enjoyed the festivities of decorating our first tree together. We gave each other ornaments, a tradition we decided to start together. Our stocking are hung, a fire is crackling, and our first Christmas together couldn't be better.

A Minnesota Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Minnesota was a blast! Spending time with Matt and Alicia and the boys was such a treat. We started the day off by cooking up some eggs and pancakes on HuHot's giant grill, then played a thanksgiving day game of soccer, and topped it off by sitting down to a delicious meal that evening. It was great to be with family.