~ The Healds ~: August 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

August is almost over

Well August has flown by, as did the rest of the summer! Our last couple weeks have been filled with many different things. I went on an RV trip with my women's softball team (this was our 2nd annual trip). As usual we had a blast! The weather was much better than last year, I guess it helps going in Aug. as opposed to Sept. :) Our new puppy Tuck has kept us on our toes. He's getting into more of a routine and is sleeping about 6 hrs. straight during the night...finally! This has been serious parenting practice. He is currently teething and wants to chew on EVERYTHING (including us!), so we are using different techniques to help encourage chewing on only his toys.

Josh has been back at school 2 weeks. His school year has gone smoothly so far. He just began coaching Cross Country last week, which will occupy his time after school for the next 8 weeks. I start back to school next Tues. With our late start this school year I've had an incredibly long summer! This has been my first year not setting up a new classroom....I can't tell you how good it feels to not have to upack boxes and paper walls!!!! I've been spending a little time here and there organizing and labeling cabinets & reorganizing my classroom library....whew! What a task!

This weekend we're traveling (with Tuck) to Josh's parents in Carson City. On Sat. we'll go to the Rib Cookoff in Reno. We went last year and had a great time. Along with the cookoff, we're going to take their boat out on Sunday. Perfect last weekend before school starts! My 10 year reunion comes up the following weekend. I'm excited, yet stressed about it. Planning your reunion takes away that carefree feeling of just going and not worrying about anything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly! Below are a few pics from the past few weeks.

Hanging out with Brynn and Jamie on our last trip to Fortuna

Making Popcorn for girls movie night "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 1" (we wanted to watch it again before seeing the sequel in the theater)

Jenn and Lindsay's housewarming party

Ian and Josh inspecting the barrel they are about to turn into a homemade rib cooker

Preparing the ribs

Cooking

Leah meets Tuck :)

Tuck exhausted

Look at those fangs!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

New Addition to our Family.....Meet Tuck!

Last Tuesday we brought home a new addition to our family. We've been waiting patiently for Tuck since he was born on June 24th. We were fortunate enough to recieve one of the puppies from Duke's litter (Duke is my sister Nicole and her boyfriend Sean's Doberman Pinscher.) He is such a sweet puppy! We immediately fell in love with his sweet disposition. He loves to run around in his new front yard, play with his toys, atempt to chew everything in sight :) snuggle up with us on the couch and basically be wherever we are. Our kitties weren't quite sure what to think of him at first, but have adjusted well in the past week to their new brother. Check out his big paws! Dad is 90 lbs so we know we're going to have a big boy. :) Can't wait for everyone to meet him!

First day we picked him up..... 6 weeks old, 13 lbs. 9 oz

Meeting his dad (Duke) for the first time

With Auntie Nicole

Zonked Out!

We love him!!!

He loves his toys

Check out their matching collars

How can you say no to that face?!?!

He is the spitting image of his dad

Passed out on the car ride home from Humboldt

Getting comfy in his new bed

Snuggled up with his stuffed animals from Auntie Nicole

First bath at home....he did so well!......no splashing or whining (we're hoping he'll be a water dog!)

Passed out on the couch with dad

Exploring his new front yard

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Ramona and Andy's Annual 1st Sat. of Aug Party

Once again Ramona and Andy outdid themselves with their Annual 1st Sat. of Aug. party. This year along with the great food, drinks, tons of games (for adults and kids), cotton candy/snowcone and popcorn makers, and bonfire, they hired a cover band. Their newly landscaped property looked beautiful! We had such a fun time. Of course the night wouldn't have been complete without the tractor ride from Ramona's brother-in-law. :)

A round of croquet

Ian and Sydney playing on the grass

With Ian's proud parents Deb and Scott

Bill, Molly and Ryan

dinner time

water balloon toss, Michelle and I were partners....we made it pretty far!

With Samara, Michelle and Ramona

Time for a scenic ride around the property

Dancing to the band

Ha ha very funny girls!

That's more like it :)

Fair Day

Every year we always pick at least one day to go to the Sonoma County Fair. Josh and the boys of course bet on the ponies, afterwards Josh and I love walking through all the fair exhibits. This year a man entered a 9 foot tall toothpick scuplture titled "Rolling Through The Bay." It's of San Francisco's tourist attractions (the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street and the Ferry Building). It was pretty amazing. Apparently he has spent over 3,000 hours over the span of 38 years working on it!!! It is made solely with toothpicks and Elmers glue.

At the race track

Kara and I ready to leave the races and wander around the fair a bit

I love dill pickles, but this is a bit large

Crazy toothpick sculpture

Friday, August 1, 2008

Annual Union Valley Family Camping Trip

We got back this past Monday from our annual family camping trip to Union Valley (one of our favorite camping locations!). This year along with our boat and Jill and Randy's Sea Doos, we had my inlaws new boat. Josh and I had a great time wakeboarding and wakesurfing on their boat for the first time. Our days were filled with horseshoe tournaments, frisbee golf games, sunbathing, playing around on the Sea Doos and of course taking the boats out on the lake. Three of the five nights we did big group dinners. Ian and Josh did an awesome job cooking delicious dinners for over 20 of us. The evenings consisted of laughs around the campfire, smores (of course!), guitar playing, singing and endless rounds of "Categories" and "The Name Game". This year a bear decided to visit our campsite during the day! (it didn't help that we left him a few snacks on the table while out on the boats). He was scared off by nearby campers, but chose to visit us again at 5:00 am that morning! Fortunately Kara, Kiri and Justin are experts when it comes to scaring bears away.....Josh and I didn't wake up until we heard them yelling and making a ton of noise :) Apparently we're not light sleepers! The pics below were taken by both Ian and myself. Union Valley is so gorgeous!

Early morning picture