New look

I thought it was time for a new look... now that Willow is a wild woman, I figured we should change the picture too :)

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
~Gail Sheehy

We officially love Flagstaff!

Last weekend, Tommy, Barley, and I piled into the ol' Camry and trucked up to Flagstaff.  We went to a bluegrass festival, camped, climbed, drank good coffee and hung out with friends.  I completed a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course in Flagstaff a few weeks prior, so we met up with some of my friends from the course.  It was perfect weather, though it was getting pretty cold at night.

The first night, we pulled into a recreation area north of Phoenix. Barley was really excited... so we didn't get much sleep in our 2 person tent with him.  He tossed and kicked all night.  The next day, we finished the drive to Flagstaff, took Barley to the dog park and then dropped him off at a doggie daycare so we could attend the bluegrass festival - Pickin in the Pines.  Afterward, he was exhausted and we slept really well that night.

The next day with went climbing at The Pit.  The rock was limestone and very different from what we were used to, but it was really fun to climb on! It had pockets in it, as you can see in the pictures.

                           Tommy climbing "Popeye"

                              Barley was so tired!                            

         
                                                        I'm trying to clip my chalk bag to Heather's harness :)

Enjoying the view

Our last day, we spent time in town and has some yummy coffee.  Flagstaff has a really great coffee shop scene.  Plus, there's some good food to accompany it too!  

So, after the trip, Tommy and I decided we will definitely be back soon! Especially before it gets too cold :) I think we'll probably have a summer home there in the future (a campsite...).

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."

~William Wordsworth

35mm Film

I don't know if everyone knows this, but Tommy received an award for Most Dedicated Photography Student in high school :) Kat gave him her vintage Nikon SLR and he has begun using his talents again! Here are the results:

 

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.  ~Eudora Welty

Climbing

We have been doing quite a bit of outdoor climbing recently! Here are some pics:

 

 

 

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." 
— Maya Angelou

Snuggles

Baxter is very snuggly!

 The day I picked him up from the pound, he climbed on my back and fell asleep :)

He has a thing for chests :)

And shoulders...

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Nap time

He just loves to snuggle!

True Brothers

Here's an adorable video of Baxter trying to climb on top of Barley :) Barley is very sweet with him. He licks him like a mama dog would clean her puppies. They are true brothers :)

Baxter!

In May, we adopted our little kitten Baxter. He was 6 weeks old and weighed 1.5 lbs, and he was not afraid of our 80 lb Barley! :) He we very sick too! He had an upper respiratory infection, giardia, and something else... So he was sneezing and snotting everywhere and had a lot of trouble breathing.  There was a time when the vet told us that we just have to get him to eat or he wouldn't make it... It was so sad to see such a small thing suffering! We did everything he could and eventually he started getting better :)

Apparently, when cats eat medicine that tastes horrible, their mouth foams! It was both sad and hilarious :)

 He was so small! And Barley was very patient with him :)

When he was sick, we would steam up the bathroom for him to help him breath.

Brothers... spooning!