Our New Baby

Some of you may be wondering where you have been to miss a new baby in our house. Thankfully I didn't have to carry this bundle of energy for 9 months or 1 hour. We would like to introduce to you:

Diesel Miller

Born September 8, 2009

Adopted November 13, 2009

He is the prettiest shade of darker golden. Jeff and I have been talking about getting a puppy for some time. However we were thinking that Spring would be good given the fact that we have to potty train him. We knew that we wanted a male and that it would be named Diesel from Thomas the Train. We also knew that we wanted a Golden Retriever with a darker golden or red color. Thursday my mom said that she would get me a puppy for my birthday coming up. I told her that I needed to talk to Jeff. We decided to go for it. So Friday my mom and I picked him up in Nampa. He came from a litter from Paul Idaho. The lady had 2 litters born around the same time and she herself had a baby the day after Diesels litter was born. She needed to find for these puppies soon and was offering them at an awesome reduced price given their lineage. So she took the one litter to her mom's house in Nampa and still has the other. Diesel was the last puppy to be claimed. I told them what I was looking for and he fit the bill perfectly. He is exactly what we wanted with the perfect personality. He is pretty chill and calm and very interested in being with his people.

His tail speeds up a few notched when Gunnar is around. Gunnar isn't the nicest but he is learning that being mean will not be tolerated. He quickly learned that all of his things need to be put away and shut in his room. He is doing really well at that. Gunnar also loves it that the two dogs match. Their colors are extremely similar. He does look like a little mini kaika with longer fur.

Gunnar is trying really hard to help out with puppy chores. On his own, the first night, he took the lid to the small garbage can where we keep big dog food, scooped some food into and brought it into the house for Diesel. Diesel loved it and it was quite funny looking.


His first walk was fun. He loved trying to keep up with Kaika, which he couldn't. Half way through he had to be carried. He wouldn't move another inch. He did SO well on a leash for the first time. It was amazing. He walks along easily, doesn't really put up a fight.Today I took him to the pet store for a couple of things. He did awesome. Sat by me when I stopped to look at something. I am so excited to see his personality more as he grows.

Jeff and Gunnar picked up a super cheap small dog bed at Harbor Freight Saturday for $5. Jeff said Diesel instantly layed down on it and knew it was his. Kaika also thought that she could fit. I don't think so.


We are so excited to have this little guy with us. Work yes but a man's best friend, right? I totally understand that they grow into dogs but I can honestly say that I have always thought that full grown goldens are some of the prettiest dogs from puppy to adulthood. Not to mention they are one of the very best family dogs with awesome temperaments.

With lots of this...and lots of patience, we will have raised an awesome dog.

We love our sweet Diesel and believe me you will be seeing many more pictures of him.

Zeitgeist Half Marathon

Before all of you think that I am the one running the half marathon...keep dreaming. Like no way. Not in a million years. I am more of a sprinter type girl, or at least used to be. Last Saturday, Jeff ran his first ever, and I have a feeling not his last, half marathon. He was pumped and excited and ready to go. We go there early for packet pickup and realized that it was a georgous day. Great day for a run. There were a lot of people out for this. It was funny because the 10 or so portapotties were sporting looooong lines when the race started. Thankfully the race starts when you cross the starting line and the thing on your shoes starts keeping track of your time.



Gunnar and I decided to kill time and meet Jeff and mile 11. While we waited we played in weeds in a field. In the middle of that field, Gunnar informed me that he needed to go the bathroom, not just #1. So that was his first experience pooing in nature.


Jeff finished strong. He completed the half marathon in 2:17:23. That is awesome. We left about an hour later and people were still finishing. Jeff said that there were a lot of walkers. I told him that if I ever ran something like that, I would make sure that I could at least run most of it. I would definately finish running unlike those that walked the last few feet across the finish line.


I am so proud of Jeff. Something that I wouldn't do but this is totally his think. Gunnar and I had a blast cheering on all of the other runners. Watching their different running styles was quite interesting too.
Jeff hopes to do the Sawtooth Relay next year. He needs to get a team together of several people. Each person runs 2 5-mile runs. Sounds like tons of fun near Sun Valley. Are you interested or know someone that might. Let us know!

Back in the Groove

It has been quite a while since I have really done a shopping trip at Albertsons. It has been a while since they have at a great sale that I was really interested in. Twice the Value (doubler) coupons came out Sunday. I finally got caught up on getting them all cut and set out today to use the doubles. All 12 of them. Gunnar and I had a game plan.

I ended up paying $3.96 for all of this! I was stoked and ready for the next sale. Things are starting to heat up at the stores now that the holidays are approaching. I've rerad over and over again that sales get really good around Thanksgiving and I think that is about right.

I was able to get all of the popcorn for FREE, all 8 of them. The cookie dough was also FREE. The walnuts were $.50 each. Nuts are sooo spendy in general so that was awesome. The veggies were $.30 each. So most of the overall total was tax.

Total overall cost would have been: $56.80

Mr. Potato Head Anyone?

This year my entire family (at least I hope so. I haven't talked to my parents and Brent and Noelle about it) are providing Christmas for a family through the C.A.T.C.H. program of Canyon County. The program strives to help 8 homeless families per year find a home to live in and then help them with many other things to get on their feet. Last week I was paying my water bill online and decided to read the city newsletter and there was the information to get involved. As a family, we have always done something like this every year. My mom has always been the one to find the family. I am so excited about this. Anyway, we haven't gotten the information yet, but I figured my chances were pretty high that there would be little kids in the house so I went for this deal.


Fred Meyer was having BOGO on Mr. Potato Heads. When I got there, they had three and they were all the same. I figured that I could donate the other or give it to Gunnar for Christmas. This guy goes in the tub too. The best part was the 3 coupons I had. I was able to get both of these for $6.49. That makes them $3.12 each! Is that not cheap and awesome. Mindy is going to see if she can find different ones at another Fred Meyer. They are selling pretty quickly with this deal posted in blogland.

Owl City

Do you like the new music on the blog? The song Fireflies has been playing on the radio lately and I love the words of it but at the time I had no idea what the title of it was or the name of the group was. With a lot of keyword searches, I finally figured it out. Introducing Owl City. I love it! I looked up a bunch of their songs on playlist and loved them. So different, with words you can understand, innocent and catchy. I set out to buy their CD yesterday. It was $10 at Walmart, last one, and is played constantly in the car. Gunnar loves it. I love it. I hope you do too.

Purple People Eater

Gunnar was absolutely excited for this year. We had his costume months ago and he talked about it seriously for about a month straight. The day finally came and for him, it was never going to be dark. Finally the time arrived and we headed out. Gunnar was a purple dragon. He likes to tell people it is like the dragon on Shrek (that is a girl dragon, don't tell him that). Our ward did not have a trunk or treat and boy am I glad that they did not. This was WAY better. It reminded me of the days when I went and such a thing did not exist. It was fun to run from house to house and get to know our neighborhood better. Every year I buy regular sized candy bars. We left without a single trick or treater our way. It also doesn't help that we were literally the only house lit up on our half of the long street. Now I have lots of candy. Anyway, the old fashion way is the only way in my book. It was fun to see Gunnar do his thing and the happy people handing out the candy. One house had popcorn balls, these gummy sticks, small candies and then regular sized candies for the moms/dads. Now that was awesome!

Jeff dressed up in his getup too which Gunnar was so happy about. Last year at the ward trunk or treat, nobody recognized him in it. Too funny.

I loved the round belly on this costume. So did Gunnar. He told more than one house that he had a silly belly and showed them. Many people thought he was a dinosaur at first until Gunnar pointed out the wings.

We went to many ward members along the way and many others as well. I loved going to the sweet older ladies homes where they had candy laid out on a silver tray. Most of the time the people would let Gunnar pick what he wanted. He also figured as long as the tray was in front of him, he would simply grab more. We had to stop him and quickly caught on to his tricks for the night. We had fun going to the Relief Society presidency members houses that I work with. Carol bought him regular sized M&M's which he was happy about. Next was the Mayes. Supposedly brother Mayes dresses up as Billy Bob with a firepit out front playing cajun music and blowing an airhorn. Their street gets TONS of trick or treaters and we missed all of the fun. Instead they invited us in for pumpkin bars and milk and great conversation. It was really fun. Gunnar helped their daughter in law open the door for trick or treaters. We had a really fun few minutes visiting them. We ended up not going to anymore of the houses on their street and headed to my parents.


They end up getting more trick or treaters than we do and they live in the country on a dirt road. I have somehow got to get more trick or treaters to my house next year. Just one would be nice.

Heidi/Ren and Brent/Noelle went to their wards trunk or treat, so they dressed up. Everyone was an Orioles fan except for Noelle. She was the Paperbag Princess. Supposedly it is a childrens book that she loves but none of us have heard of it. She looked great regardless. She did mention that another little girl at the trunk or treat was the same character.

Gunnar and Auntie No No organized the candy by color. He was so incredibly generous and would share anything that you wanted. He has also rationed it which I am completely surprised about. He is not gorging like I thought he would. He is probably so proud of it, he wants it to last. He did have to work for this.

Something that I did learn, traditional trick or treating yields WAY BETTER candy!! We mainly got chocolate. The trunk or treat last year brought lots of sugary stuff and little candy. Surprisingly he did not get a single sucker this year. Last year he got lots.

I am already looking forward to next year. Three year olds make halloween so magical and fun and halloween is by far not my favorite. He was so fun to be with. Right after Carol's house as we ran to another, Gunnar told me "mom, my tummy loves halloween!". He got excited about the life sized witches on porches, strobelights making it hard to see, lit up pumpkins, other trick or treaters, scary masks greeting us at the doors. He loved it all. He told me that trick or treating was his favorite thing about Halloween last night and I don't even think he was refering to the candy.
I am off to eat a candy bar!

Kaika the Dog

Ever since our sweet Rusty died this spring, Gunnar has latched on to Kaika...the one that never really liked him. We usually hear growls from her every day and crazy things coming from Gunnar. She tolerates in so incredibly well. I think she actually, secretly likes him. Gunnar wants her in the house all of the time because, "she is my friend best, mom." Kaika I think likes the one dog life. She got a new bed shortly after Rusty died. She gets to go to grandma and grandpas because she actually gets along with other dogs and we feel bad for leaving her home. She goes on quite a few walks. After the week long greiving she went through, she adjusted quite nicely. She adjusted enough to let Gunnar enjoy a show on her.