Urgent Update!

As you know, with Mom's so-called "job" (it sounds like a lot of tapping away on a computer keyboard to me...), we have been limited to posting once a week, if we're lucky.  But I have had to steal Mom's laptop for a few moments to post some Important News!

Actually, it's not so important to me, but Abby thinks it is important, and I've got to humor the Hippobottomus once in a while...

Abby turns 3 (yes, THREE!) tomorrow!

I can't believe it! This cute little fluffy puppy (at 8 weeks here) is going to be three years old!  Time flies when you're bitey-ing one another!

Here is my ample-bottomed sister at 1 year, already a full-size doggie...

And at two years, faking dignity...

And here she is, just a few weeks ago, proving that while physically she might be 3 years old tomorrow, she's still about 7 months old, mentally!

Me? I'm just a happy doggie.  Abby is seriously goofy...

So Happy Birthday in advance to my ample-bottomed sister!  No doubt she will be forced to endure the dreaded birthday hat this weekend, and Mom will bake some sort of doggie birthday cake, of which we will both partake!  We'll keep you posted!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the almost-birthday-girl Hippobottomus

Happy Almost Birthday to Me!!!

Yes, it's true, it's my birthday on Sunday!!! I'm going to be 3 years old, and I'm sure Mom's got all sorts of exciting things planned. Like trying to get me to wear the silly birthday hat that she's tried to get me to wear on my last two birthdays.

My first birthday...

Note my wild enthusiasm...

We move on to my second birthday....


I sulked enough that I convinced Dad to convince Mom to not try to put that hat on me...

If my dear sister Abby REALLY wanted to give me a good birthday present, she'd pull the hat off the shelf where it's stored and eat it. I'm just saying....

So, I've got my paws crossed that Mom doesn't attempt anything silly like trying to put that hat on me. Besides, I've got much more exciting plans, like testing out this 'lawn' Mom has been working so hard on.

I'd like to get in a little frisbee time...


And putting the smackdown on my sister


Yep. Good times! And with luck, there will be No Silly Hats involved. I'm giving Mom the evil eye as this is being typed. NO SILLY HATS! Well, unless there are copious amounts of treats involved, and then I might consider, possibly, maybe, allowing another attempt at the silly hat.... But they'd better be GOOD treats. Like cheese. And turkey hotdogs. And steak bits. I'll keep you posted.

Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona (the birthday girl) and Abby the Hippobottomus

My sister is an 'adult' (yeah....right...)

While my bloggie is often focused on, well, me (it's my bloggie, after all) today I would like to focus on the Hippobottomus ah, my dear little sister.

Why, you ask, am I being so generous? Well, because one year ago today a goofball the likes of which the world has not seen since the untimely demise of John Belushi my dear little sister was unleashed on the world was born.

Yes, it's true, Abby is a year old. Which, if you read some books about dogs, means she's an adult.

Uh-huh.

An adult.

Yeah.

Seriously. Look at this face. Does this look like an adult to you?

I mean, really. An adult?

I don't think so.

Sure, she kind of looks more like a dog than she used to...

Here she is now:

And yeah, she is more of a real dog than she was here:


But seriously. She's a goofball.

And a bit of a lard butt big-boned girl.

She might, just possibly, be a wee bit bigger than I am. Just a wee bit. But I can still take her!

Even if she's getting a little tougher to take down...

But she can put up a good fight with the frisbee.

And even though she's "big-boned" she's good for a few zoomies...


So, I guess we should keep her.

After all, she does have such pretty teeth.

Heehee.

Okay, all kidding aside...

Happy birthday, Abby! And I love you like a sister (oh yeah, you ARE my sister), even if you are still going to be a puppy-brain when you're 15. Because I'm not buying this whole thing about you being an "adult". I mean, you wouldn't even wear the party hat for long enough to get a photo.... No matter how old you get, you'll always be my little sister!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the (adult?!?) Hippobottomus

PeeEss: Yes, that is still the same frisbee, although Mom says she occasionally hears little tearing noises.

The Almost-Birthday Girl

So, guess what?!?

Tomorrow (Saturday) is my birthday!!! I'll be two whole years old! Two? When did that happen? Last time I checked, I was still a young pup.

Oh. Wait. You say I am a young pup, still? Okay. I can live with that.

At least Mom isn't going to try to stick a party hat on my head, like she did last year.

It didn't work out very well, I might add..

And thank heavens she's not going to get me a birthday cake. (This one looked pretty, but, uh, it sort of tasted like dirt. And while my mutant puppy sister might like eating rocks, I'm not so keen on the dirt-flavored thing...)

It was a nice idea, but, well, the execution part didn't work out so well. Here I am, passing judgment on the cake...


I actually preferred this cake much more....

It pretty much tasted like my 'real' birthday cake, but this one had a squeaker in it...

And I did get some pretty good loot last year.

Mom is saying something about me going 'swimming' tomorrow. I don't know about this swimming thing... I think Mom is feeling optimistic after my foray into the water a month ago

I did make an additional foray into the water today, so Mom thinks I'm ready to "make the leap" so to speak. Uh. Yeah. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I'm going to get some pre-celebration beauty rest so I'm at my best for whatever Mom has (or doesn't have) planned!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, the Almost Birthday Girl (and Abby the Mutant Puppy)

Update on Many Things

Note from Mom: Thanks very much to everyone for all the kind words about TaiChi. At her age, and certainly with all her age-related health issues, we knew she wasn’t going to live forever, although 19 is about as close to forever as a miniature poodle can get. And truthfully, passing in her sleep was the kindest thing she could have done for me; she hated the car and the vet's office, and I am certain that she wanted to spare me the pain of having to make a hard decision about her. As for the statement about me only knowing her for 6 years, I should clarify; my husband knew her from a young dog, but I didn’t meet my husband until slightly over 6 years ago, and thus TaiChi didn’t come into my life until 6 years ago. Although as soon as she met me, she saw “SUCKER” tattooed on my forehead, and glommed on to me as the provider of treats and belly rubs. I joke that I married my husband for his dogs, but as much as I joke about it, I pretty much mean it regarding TaiChi! ;-) I think that as soon as TaiChi and I met it was love at first sight for both of us, and we adopted each other almost immediately. Looking back, I can’t imagine life without having had TaiChi in it. She was, and will always be my little girl. So thank you again for all the kind words; if I know TaiChi, she is bouncing around, having tracked down her brothers that had gone before her, and has them whipped back into shape (as I’m sure Ben and Billy were wreaking all kinds of havoc across The Bridge)!

***

Abby and I second Mom’s words; TaiChi was a great little big sister, and I will miss her always, and will never forget the lessons she taught me about respecting my elders.

That said, Mom and Dad have done their very best to keep us busy. When we were here in the fall, we found this really cool trail called the JEM trail that goes along the Virgin River for a while, and then goes for miles and miles and miles. Abby is new to this whole hiking thing, but has taken to it like a pro; I finally have a great hiking buddy!


We have been doing variations of this trail pretty much every day (it’s close, and it goes forever) since we’ve been here. Except for yesterday, when it rained, and we stayed inside and watched it rain.

Mom, enjoying a good rain.

And we played bitey-face.


Or tail, or something.


In other news, Mom had her birthday this last weekend, and Abby and I inspected the cake to make sure that it wasn’t poisonous.

(Well, it would have been to us, but Mom didn’t let us eat any. It didn’t seem to kill Mom, so I guess it wasn’t poisonous! She was going to try to hide her age, but *sheesh* Mom, if you didn't want people to know how old you are, you shouldn't have bought ginormous candles!)

Abby gave Mom a kiss for luck!

Happy Birthday, Mom! (Even if you are on your way to becoming old!)


Today we went on a 5.5 mile hike, and we were all pretty worn out afterward!

(Yes, the Little Monster made it all 5.5 miles, but she’s been sleeping pretty much since we got home! I think Mom and Dad need to take her on longer and longer hikes so she doesn’t have extra energy at the end of the day. Because her excess energy always seems to transfer into bitey-face. And I have to hide behind the chairs to get away from the beast!)


Mom promises to take the camera on tomorrow’s hike, and hopefully she’ll get some good hiking pictures (although she’s saying something about how it’s harder to get pictures when one hand is full with Abby’s leash…). Hmmm..

Thanks again, everyone.

*kissey face*
-Fiona

My Birthday Weekend - an Update

Just a quick update from Party Central.

After my Mom decided that we should have a Birthday Weekend, our first activity was a nap. Naps are good. Naps with Mom are even better!


Then, after the nap, we went on a hike.


Then, after the hike, Mom told me that a box arrive. A box For Meeee!


Of course, I had to investigate it immediately!
Do I look upside down to you there?!?

TaiChi and I investigated the contents, and found they met our approval.

These are Quite Yummy! Mom says that there are other 'things' for us, but she hasn't elaborated yet.

BTW, there have been some experiments with the Party Hat and the Tiara. So far? I'm not super excited about having things on my head, so Mom and Dad have had to ambush me.
Very sneaky of them...

TaiChi, however, has had no issues with the Tiara (I think it's because she's been certain of her status as Queen for the last 17 years....)

And Bufus? Well, he's been Very Tolerant. He doesn't like the Party Hat, but if this isn't proof of his love for Mom and Dad, then I don't know what is!

Does that look like a Happy Cat to you? Yeah, I didn't think so, either....

More later. Mom is mentioning something about pressies!

*kissey face*
-Fiona the Birthday Girl