Rub a dub dub, Lab in a tub!

Keely Girl is such a water dog - from the first time she swam in a lake she loved it and we have such a hard time getting her out of (or keep her away from) water anytime she sees it. In the summer we have a little wading pool in the backyard for her to splash and play in on days we don't make it down to the lake, but in winter she misses her water.

I was taking a bubble bath the other night in our jet tub and she was sitting outside the tub whining at me as a soaked. Once I was done and the bubbles were gone, Tyge and I had the brilliant idea to throw her in since she seemed to want to so badly! Tyge picked her up and put her in there along with her Kong toy and she splashed around for awhile and had a great time! We didn't get this on video but she'd stick her head all the way underwater and blow bubbles with her nose, silly girl. This video doesn't fully show the fun she had, but I can't believe we didn't think to do this sooner. She LOVED it, so we'll definitely let her play in the tub again until summer comes! :)

Easy Egg Bake & Weekend Recap

Wow this weekend, and last WEEK, flew by! I can't believe I haven't blogged since Tuesday - oops! I have some ideas of posts to write and kept meaning to do it all week so I hope to get them out this week. Anyway, work has been too busy lately for me to blog over lunch and our weeknight schedules have been to busy for me to do it then, but thankfully I have a little downtime now. Aaaahhhh, Sunday evenings are my favorite. I'm sitting here in my cozy Christmas PJ's with just the glow of the tree, watching my lab play with the ornaments with her nose, sipping hot cocoa, and blogging a bit before Dexter comes on. Love.

I may have encouraged her just a bit. And the shooting noise you may hear in the background is Tyge playing Call of Duty in the basement - don't worry! :)

Anyway, I had a good weekend! Friday night was shockingly a quiet night in - no plans! I managed to get all 80+ Christmas cards stuffed, addressed, sealed, and ready to mail - so glad to have that done! Check one thing off the goal list (cause I'm not doing super at the rest haha). I also cleaned the house a bit for my ladies brunch the next day before heading to bed a bit early, as Tyge is starting to get sick. :-/ 

On Saturday I had Betsy, Maggie, Michelle, and Lori over for a ladies Christmas brunch. I love this group of ladies and I love how we all came to be friends! Betsy is my best friend (Hardcore BFF to be exact) of 26 years and the other ladies were her college roommates and friends. She introduced me to them and they just "accepted" me into their little circle and I couldn't be more grateful! I just love the time I get to spend with them - it is always so uplifting and FUN, and at the same time they challenge me to be a better wife and person.

I love these women! Pic from summer 2010 - we forgot to take a pic this weekend!

We all contributed to the brunch and the spread was amaaazing - egg bake (I made my go-to easy and healthy version below), bacon, fruit, homemade blueberry scones, homemade granola bars, juice and coffee. We enjoyed eating together around the table and just laughing and having great conversation. We also did a small gift exchange and I got a yummy new pine candle and festive red sparkly nail polish.

The spread!

Easy Veggie Egg bake

Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 potato
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 green onions, chopped (dark parts only)
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• goat cheese
• salt
• pepper
• oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and slice potato using a mandolin slicer. Layer slices in a 9x13 inch glass pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15 minutes until edges start to brown. Decrease oven heat to 375 degrees.
3. While potatoes are baking, chop veggies and set aside. When potatoes come out of oven, layer raw veggies on top of potato layer and salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a medium mixing bowl mix eggs and milk with salt, pepper and oregano to taste. Pour egg mixture over veggies and shake pan a bit to spread the mixture around.
5. If desired, sprinkle goat cheese (I did) or other shredded cheese to taste.
6. Bake uncovered at 375 for 35 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean.

Easy, healthy, and delicious!

After the ladies left early afternoon, I fed Tyge some leftovers (he vacated while the ladies were over), cleaned up a bit, then got busy wrapping presents! Keely tried to help, which was distracting, albeit cute.

I recommend this pink paper here, Mom. It smells nice.

I got everything done and under the tree and made myself a quick dinner (chicken taco leftovers from Tyge's birthday dinner evening with friends!) as Tyge had left for an evening with some guy friends. At the last minute, my mom got her and me tickets for the evening to the VocalEssence Welcome Christmas concert in Stillwater. She came over and we drove to the church where they were performing - downtown Stillwater is so cute this time of year! The show was amazing - I forgot just how much I enjoy good choral music. It was mostly Christmas carols sung in French, and the choir and orchestra were so good. We had front row seats which was something I'd never done - such a treat to be that close! The highlight of the show was a female and boy soprano duet as Mary and Jesus - very moving and the boy's voice was seriously like an angel. After the concert, my mom and I had a quick bite and glass of wine at Luna Rossa in Stillwater and got to catch up a bit, which was nice.

Today Tyge and I went to church then had a meeting for our "mystery March trip" (that I promise to blog about this week). It went a little later than expected so I dropped him off at home before making my Sunday Costco run - poor guy is starting to get sick and when he gets it, he gets it bad. We relaxed for a few hours this afternoon/evening and are about to watch Dexter and Homeland before bed. I have a busy week coming up with work and fun Christmas social activities, so I better rest up! Hope everyone else had a nice weekend, too!

Keely is 2!

Keely is 2 years old today - it's her Golden Birthday! She got a special treat this morning (two of her regular biscuits with peanut butter in between), lots of snuggles, and a few extra frisbee throws. She doesn't quite get the concept of birthdays but hopefully she'll feel extra loved today!

Waiting oh so patiently for her treat, what a good girl...

Though she's a bit bigger now, that adorable face hasn't changed much!

This is the picture from the breeder that made me fall in love - we weren't planning on getting a puppy until that spring (because potty training in winter is no fun) but as soon as I saw this pic, I was sold. Who wouldn't be?!

I am so glad we "caved" and bought the puppy because I can't imagine any other dog fitting into our family better than Keely. She has brought Tyge and I so much joy in the two years we've had her and I am so thankful she's a part of our family!

We love you Keely girl!

Labrashark!

Duuuh duh....Duuuuh duh...Duuuh duh....look out! It's Labrashark!

Miss Keely is thrilled with her Halloween costume this year (as most dogs in costume are)! When she was little we referred to her as the "labrashark" because her puppy teeth were so sharp and she would chew on anything she could get those teeth on - see?

Lookit how stinkin' cute she was as a puppy!!!

This costume was perfect for her! Behold, the Labrashark:

Help me - I'm being eaten by a shark!

Aren't you even a little bit concerned about this situation, Mom?

I am! Get this thing off me!

No, seriously. Get it off and stop taking pictures.

Fine, I will take matters into my own hands. Er, mouth.

Okay fine, one last picture...only cause I look so cute.

Okay, we're done now, ya hear?!

Thanks to Keely for being such a good girl during our little photo shoot. She makes the cutest shark I've ever seen, and she doesn't even actually bite anymore! :)

THE Opener

Wow, this week has flown by! I have started this post many times as the content took place LAST weekend, but it's been a busy week...

Anyway, most everyone in my life knows that the third weekend of every October, I head to the Peterson family farm in Salem, SD for Pheasant Hunting Opener! It's a tradition that started with Grandpa Garry and the brothers, and ever since Aunt Cathy and Uncle Steve had the farm (as long as I can remember!) us grandkids have gone out to hunt. I remember walking through the fields as a young girl, tromping behind my dad yelling "up bird" while eating sunflower seeds. As I said in a previous post, it's not so much the hunting as it is the family get together and repeat of yearly traditions that I enjoy.

Of the 12 cousins, five of us are girls and we all started out walking with the group when we were young. Of us five, I was the only one who went through gun safety and got a licence as soon as I was old enough (age 12). I remember going to Fleet Farm with my dad and proudly picking out a youth model Remington 20 gauge pump - my first gun! I've hunted every single year since then (and now use Grandpa's old 12 gauge Remington automatic) and though I may not be a particularly great shot, I love every minute of being in the fields as one of the guys.

When I met Tyge I remember him being so impressed that I was a hunter and thought he was going to die when I took him to the farm for the first year. He fit right in and my cousins treated him like one of the family - it was awesome! From our first year hunting together (2007):

I've always been the only girl who hunts with the crew and am proud to represent! See group shot from 2008:

Last year was one of my favorite years because we had Keely girl and it was so fun to watch her hunt 'em up. She had an impressive water retrieve during one of the first passes and I was such a proud pet parent! Here's her and me with my dad in 2010:

This year however, I decided not to hunt with the guys. When we found out we were pregnant, we would have been almost 10 weeks at the opener, and planned to tell my family then. At the time, I made the decision to not hunt and to stay in the farmhouse with the ladies. Even after the miscarriage, I still decided not to hunt for a few reasons - mainly because I still wanted to stay in the farmhouse and chat with the ladies, I wanted to spend more time with Grandpa, and it's over $100 for an out of state licence - not worth the one day for me...

We got to Sioux Falls late on Friday night and started the weekend off in typical Garry fashion, at McNally's Irish Pub! It was so cool to walk in the door and see an huge table of Garrys - almost everyone was there! We shared a few drinks, many laughs, and told stories well into the night. Saturday, Tyge woke up and went to breakfast early with the hunters and I rode out to the farm with the ladies. It was so good to see everyone and get lots of love, support, and hugs. When the guys came in for the midday break, we stuffed ourselves with Cathy's famous brisket and Grandma's famous pie (yes, I had 2 slices) before they headed out again for the afternoon hunt.

The 2011 group - minus me, as wasn't there yet for picture time :(

 The farm house - so many of my memories are made here!

One of Uncle Steve's many farm machines - John Deere!

One of my favorite parts of hunting weekend - sitting in the machine shed for round 2 of beef brisket and pie after a long day's hunt, retelling the day's stories while having many laughs. And cold Bud Light, of course. :)

My two favorite hunters

Our family!

We spent the night at the farm and on Sunday Tyge hunted a different area of land while I spent the day back in Sioux Falls. I started by having lunch with Grandpa in the cafeteria where he lives. We had such an enjoyable two hour lunch and talked about everything and anything. I was asking how he was doing, if it was getting any easier living without Grandma, and he really put it into perspective by saying, "I have a choice in the matter - I can either be bitter and feel sorry for myself, or I can realize that I still have 5 kids, 12 grandkids and a handful of great grandkids to be thankful for and to live for". A wise man, indeed. We headed up to the apartment, which is still beautifully decorated by Grandma, and reminisced a little more. I could tell he was getting ready for a nap, so I took off and spent the rest of the day with one of my cousins wives and their kids. It was so fun "job shadowing" her as she called it, and I had a blast catching up with her and playing with her kiddos. Tyge came home from the hunt on Sunday (they limited out!) and I drove the exhausted hunters home.

I'll end with the below picture - at the end of the hunting day on Saturday, Aunt Cathy pointed out this gorgeous sunset and noted that it was from Grandma Garry who was smiling down on all us. It will be three years in November since she passed and I still miss her ever day, especially during hunting opener.

(I added the text and plan to send a print to Cathy as a thank you!)

Boating in October?

I love being spontaneous and with our busy schedule, Tyge and I don't get the chance to very often. I was leaving the house on Saturday morning for my hair cut and color appointment (done by the fabulous Katrina at Cole's Salon who also happens to be one of my best friends so catching up with her was nice as well!) and couldn't believe how nice it was outside! Once I got back home, our Saturday plans consisted of a to-do list a mile long, and hopefully that Saturday night date. Well, I called Tyge from the road remarking how nice it was outside and could we perhaps scrap the to-do list and take the boat out on the river instead? We hit many of the area lakes over the summer but never went out on any rivers, and Saturday was probably one of the last nice days of the year we could do that! Tyge happily agreed and had the boat all ready by the time I got home.

We took the scenic route into Stillwater and the leaves were absolutely beautiful! We easily found the public launch on the St. Croix and away we went. We headed away from Stillwater and slowly cruised down the river, gawking at the leaves and snapping some pictures.

Amazing fall colors - these pictures don't do it justice!

Keely girl loves the boat

My handsome (and goofy) driver :)

Halfway down our river ride, we found a little island where we docked the boat and let Keely swim. She LOVES fetching sticks and could have stayed in the water for hours. Luckily it was so warm out, we didn't mind!

Again, again!

Some cool action shots Tyge got - Running...

Galloping...

Leaping...

Sploosh - I'm in!

What a happy water dog!

The view from the island was also gorgeous

Cool bridge nearby

And then Keely spotted a mud puddle on the other side of the island - see the intrigue in her eyes?

Mud is as much fun as water!

Silly, dirty lab

Pretty girl

Another nice view from the island

 

A tank top in October - unheard of!

One last shot from the boat before we head back to shore

 

It was such an enjoyable, easy day out on the water that turned into a fantastic date for Tyge and me. I am so blessed to have a spontaneous husband who was willing to put off chores to have a little fun! I can't say for sure (if this weather keeps us anyway!) but I think this was our last day on the water for the year, and the memories of it will last me through the long winter to come.

Thank you God for warm and crisp fall weather, for all of your natural creation and it's beauty, for my incredible husband, my silly lab, and for a free Saturday in which to enjoy it all!