Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas (and/or Happy Holidays) Everyone!

All of my Christmas presents are up at the House Without Wheels because Mom didn't want to have too much stuff to pack in the car for the drive home, other than TaiChi, Bufus and myself.

So.... I have spent the holiday in most engaging pursuits. (Well, okay, one pursuit. I just pursued it a lot of times!)



I LOVE Christmas football!!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

Heehee. Rather than Mom making me wear the silly Santa hat, I made her wear it!!! And whew! I'm worn out from this football stuff. Nap time!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, Wide Receiver-in-Training

Snow!

Now I know that Mom and Dad came to Southern Utah to get away from 'mud season' before the ski season starts in earnest. (Ski resorts are open back home, but the conditions aren't optimal yet.) But.... We had a Big Storm come through here.

At first it just looked like it was going to rain/sleet. BORING!

(This was taken out the front door; these are our neighbors.)

But then it turned to snow, and was much more interesting!

So I got Mom to take me outside. But it is tough to do snow zoomies on a leash.

Not that I didn't try, mind you!


Then Mom complained that I was trying to pull her arm out of its socket or something to that effect, so I had to stop. But... she did take me out later and threw (if you can call it that... no offense Mom, but you throw like a girl) the football for me, so I got to zoom around in the snow with no leash on. But she didn't get any pictures because she was attempting to throw the ball and keep an eye on me while Dad stayed warm and dry in the House With Wheels.

Anyhoo... Here's a final snow shot. (For now; Mom and Dad are talking about driving into Zion National Park and getting pictures of the snow up there.)

Happy snow days!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

If it's Saturday, it must be FOOTBALL!!!

Mom has been a little under the weather (don't worry, from the way she snores at night, I think it is just a cold and she's taking all sorts of stuff for it, so I am sure she will be better soon), so I haven't been hiking as much, but I have been playing football with Dad every day.

You'll want to click on these pictures to biggify them to get the whole experience!

I know I'm far away in this one, but I wanted you to see the play area I've got, as well as the backdrop; biggify and you'll see my intensity as I cut off the ball.

Now, half the fun of playing football is not giving the ball back to Dad after I bring it to him.

It allows me to practice my ballet moves.

It also allows me to fly.

Yep. Fly!

Because I am The Amazing Flying Fiona! (Again, biggify for best results!)

All fours off the ground, flying after the ball!

I find that levitating down onto the ball is a very useful technique for stopping it.


Of course, focus on the initial throw is also a key to my success. (What success? Uh. Not losing the football under the picnic tables....)


As is a good launch...


Heehee. I SO love this game!
Happy Football Saturday!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Wordless Wednesday: All the Good Things In Life

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Wordless Wednesday: I Had The Park All To Myself!

*kissey face
-Fiona

Weekend update, and a little rebellion...

*Heavy sigh* I was a Bad Dog today. I'll get to it in a minute. But Mom says if I behave tomorrow I can redeem myself.

First, the weekend. Hmm.. Let’s see. On Saturday we woke up to a rainy cold day, and so Mom and Dad decided that this was the perfect morning to catch up on a little sleepy time.

Here I am, trying to curl up into A Very Little Ball. Mom says I get extra points for tucking my nose in to my paws.

Me and TaiChi, snoozling together.

In the afternoon, it stopped raining, and Mom and Dad decided to go on a bye-sickle ride. From what Mom says, it was Very Windy and Cool. Dad had a fine time, but Mom was struggling in the wind and came home Very Tired. So Tired that she made soup for dinner, and was in bed by 9:30.

Of course, Mom and Dad both went to bed early on Saturday because they had another car race on Sunday. TaiChi and Bufus and I stayed at home - it was a local race, and Dad didn't want to drive The House With Wheels down for a one-day, close-to-home event. It worked out okay because Uncle Larry came over a couple of times so TaiChi and I could go outside. And TaiChi is on some meds for her eye that makes her all sleepy (even sleepier than usual!), so she wanted to stay home and sleep on the Big Dog Bed. As an aside, I don't know what the official diagnosis is for her eye - Mom says the doctor didn't mention 'irisitis' but Mom also asked to vet to speak in English rather than vet-ese, so the vet might not have mentioned the actual disease name. Regardless of what it is called, they think they can cure it. So she will just keep her pirate hat for dress-up time. However, even when this is all better she still won't be able to drive. So I have told Mom to stock up on Frosty Paws!

So, Mom and Dad got up Super Early and drove to Salt Lake where they met Uncle Charlie and family, and everyone (well, except their daughter, who has her own little cart) drove The Big Yellow Car. Because Uncle Charlie and Aunt Linda are Very Fast drivers, the idea was that Dad would drive with Uncle Charlie and Mom would drive with Aunt Linda. And apparently Dad did Very Well, while Mom did pretty okay (but she hit a lot of cones....). We are working on getting some pictures, but this is all we have so far.

Dad in the Big Yellow Car.

Mom and Dad apparently had Lots Of Fun, and Learned A Lot, so they considered it a Very Successful Day.

So, now on to my disgrace. *sigh*

Mom and Dad took me to The Park today, and it started off fine. Much chasing of the football:

And then, well, and then I got a little, ah, distracted...

I decided that the little kid playing in the sandbox was Far More Interesting than returning the football to Dad in a timely manner. And when I went to visit the little kid a second time? Mom and Dad decided that if I couldn't do what I was told (i.e. bring the football back to Dad without running over to the sandbox) then it was time to Go Home.

*sigh*

Here Dad is telling me that I am a Bad Dog. *sigh*

So I am in disgrace until I can prove to them that I really CAN behave at The Park.

I will be a Good Dog in the future. I promise. It would just be A Lot easier if there weren't So Many Interesting Things Going On at The Park!

Note from Fi's Mom: She's still learning; we're a little disappointed because it looked like she was making good progress on running free in the park, but she's still got puppy-itis, and so we'll work with her to stop this running off thing. The good thing was that when I went over to the sandbox, and told her to go back to her father, she did go running back to him. So there is hope! ;-) And it's not like we're going to send her to bed without her supper!

*kissey face*

-Fiona the Disgraced....

UPDATE - Okay, so I am out of the dog house, so to speak. Mom and I had a good play session in the backyard (even though Mom can't through a football To Save Her Life!!! *ahem), and I was on my Very Best Behavior. And I've been sucking up to Dad all day, so I have been forgiven! ;-)

And even though we don't have any pictures of Mom in the Big Yellow Car from yesterday (we're getting some, we just don't have them yet..), here's a picture of her from last weekend in Idaho, before the car broke... Just so you don't think Mom sits on the sidelines...

And yes, I think that IS a cone under the car...

Not-exactly-Wordless Wednesday

I know it's Wordless Wednesday, but I've got to break the rules today. Because I had a Very Exciting Day today!!!!

Mom and Dad took me to The Park. Usually we only go to the park if it is free of other dogs (Mom says it's because I'm a spaz.... Thanks, Mom...). And today they thought the park was empty of other dogs, but as soon as Dad threw my new football toy (which is The Best Toy EVER!) this black Lab came dashing up and chasing my football. My Football!

At first her Mom and my Mom and Dad tried to keep us apart, but when they saw we were just involved in a friendly game of chase, they decided to let us play. And Molly was all into my football. BTW, Mom didn't bring the camera, so she had to use her phone....


Waiting for Dad to throw it...

I was faster, but I'd let her get the ball, because I'm nice that way.

And then we had a nice friendly game of bitey-face/chase.

Then Molly decided that she was hot and so she went into the stream to cool off. I wasn't Super Convinced about the merits of the stream. Notice Molly cooling her belly in the water... Again sorry for the quality of the pictures. Even in this economy it's hard to get good help!


And then we spent more time running around chasing the football.

But when Molly went over to the playground and the sandbox where her family (including little kids) were, Mom and Dad decided that having me both wet and sandy wasn't their idea of a good time. Did they ask me?!? NO, I tell you. And I was getting a little hot.

So I went back to where we had water, and I drank and cooled down for a bit before we headed home.


I hope I see Molly again - it was REALLY fun playing with her - it's the first time that Mom and Dad have let me really play with another dog. And it was Super Fun!!!

And now I'm tired and must nap, because this chasing and playing bitey-face is Very Hard Work.

*kissey face*
-Fiona