Long weeks are always better with some puppy love, and a gift................

Last weekend we had family visiting from Minnesota.  Our darling great nieces and their parents of course.  Little Buddy had a wonderful time with them and asks about them everyday.  They arrived on Friday evening and left on Tuesday.  We did not have the best weather but it was warm enough for shorts and light weight jackets, which seemed much better than their below freezing temps at home.  Our great nephew also came to stay with his Grandmother, my SIL, so the boys took him out to celebrate his 21st birthday.  Well Mr. 20 had to stay home because he is not yet 21.  Still we had the whole extended family over for dinner to celebrate.  We had a visit to the park, lots of playtime, and puppy duty of course, it was a BUSY weekend.

The boys are getting bigger and are starting to listen a wee bit more.  We are understanding the command, sit, and most of the time, stay, but sometimes they are just so excited by life and are wagging their tails so much they simply can't listen.

I tried a photo shoot outside this morning and they did pretty good.  Hank is weighing in at about 20 pounds, and Bear around 16 1/2.   You can see how much bigger Hank is in the photos.  He is bigger yet lets his brother chase him and bite as they wrestle.  They are really so adorable to watch.  Bear can only handle so much playtime before he needs a cuddle.  He is very much the baby even though they are from the same litter.  Bear is thin, but the Vet is not worried, some dogs are just smaller and thinner.  He has food available all day long and Hank is not pushing him away, so I guess he will eat when he needs to.  Our Max was the runt, he did not eat much the first 6 weeks we had him.  I had to take him into the vet's office once a week until he really started to gain weight.  He ended up a very healthy 95 pounds so maybe I should stop worrying.

We have been keeping them close to home, just walking around our house when we are outside, but today I decided to try a longer walk.  We made it 1/2 mile and they did very good.  Yes they were distracted and tried to go in opposite directions a few times but overall it went well.   We will gradually move to longer walks in hopes it tires them out a bit.  They have a lot of energy!

This week I was the lucky winner of a giveaway from Vera.  She is the incredible knitter, who makes things I could only dream of.  Thank you so much Vera for picking my name.  I can't wait to dive into this gorgeous book.  The book takes a look at the great lakes region of Michigan, where I grew up.  I can't wait to see all the beautiful areas that will remind me of my childhood.  All the places I have been to and had hoped to see someday.  This will be a perfect way to relax after an incredibly busy week at work.  Thank you again Vera.  Please pop by Vera's blog and say hi for me, you'll be glad you did. 

I'll leave you with this photo.  It reminds me of a heart.  These boys usually sleep while touching each other in some way.  They are so darling.  Hope you all have a great weekend.