It's Hot up in Here!

The last few days have been miserably hot! It's even been hard on the dogs. I put Butters outside for about half an hour the on Saturday and heard him yelping at the door. I left him out because there was plenty of shade and water, but he was so persistent that I finally decided to bring him inside. Nathan and I did what we call Puppy chat, which is ichat with Butters, since he hasn't met him in person, and the whole time Butters was panting like crazy. Even when he fell asleep about 10 minutes later he was panting in his sleep. Poor little guy. I guess you have to be a little careful with puppies in the heat. Needless to say, we've all been trying to find ways to keep cool, but it seems like Butters has got it all figured out.

Even Ulee, who doesn't like being inside with the puppy, came inside to beat the heat.

Butters started by trying out the air conditioning vents.

Pretty Successful!

But finally settled on the cool marble hearth.

Fetch, Kind of

The first few days

Having Butters as an addition to our family has been nothing but fun. He is the sweetest little guy anyone could ever meet! He's energetic, cuddly, playful and even brave. Ulee hasn't completely warmed up to Butters and little guy has been barked at and snapped at several times. Butters, however, remains unfazed by any of Ulee's grumpiness and continues to follow him everywhere and try and get him to play. As with any baby thing, the lack of sleep is a little challenging but he's so sweet I don't even care that I have to get up with him every two to three hours. On a side note, he is doing incredibly well as far as housebreaking! He still cries a little at night, but barely any and he goes straight out to the grass when he has to get it done. I'm so proud of that little guy and so happy Nathan and I now have him in our family. I know he's always going to be a great companion!

Playtime

Butters!

Today mom and I picked up the newest member of Nathan and my family, Butters! He's a six and a half week old yellow lab. Nathan and I have wanted a dog since before we were married and the time has finally come! We have orders (Washington State, hooray!) and that means a somewhat permanent location. Nathan will be in sub school for the next two months in CT while I stay in CA with my parents. Deciding it would ease the pain of separation and that Santa Rosa would be a good place to train a puppy, we decided to get one today. We found the ad for his litter online and as luck would have it, today was the day the puppies were ready,today is my first day without Nathan, and today is the day I was driving back from LA which drive crossed the path of where the puppies were from, Modesto. All in all, it was pretty perfect.
Once we got to the puppies, it was pretty obvious which one was mean for Nathan and me. I stepped into the kennel, and butters looked at me from the corner, peed and then climbed on my lap and started kissing my face. It was love at first sight. Since then he's been nothing but the sweetest. After trying to chew everything he shouldn't in the car he fell asleep on the floor, then he woke up and played on my lap where he once again fell asleep for the rest of the 2 and 1/2 hour drive from Modesto to Santa Rosa. Once at home he quickly started exploring. He was particularly fond of an overgrown rosemary bush outside the garage, both to climb in and to eat. Whenever he got scared, like when our 110 lb. yellow lab Ulee met him or when his metal name tag clinked his water bowl, he backed as fast as he could all the way under my car and stayed until he could see Dad or me to whom he quickly ran. He even went to sleep in his crate without any yelping...so far. I'm so excited to have Butters in our life and am especially excited for Nathan to meet him!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our second anniversary! It's wonderful to think that we've been married for two whole years. In some ways our wedding seems like yesterday, but when I think back on everything that has happened in the past two years it seems crazy that it's only been two years. I'm just so thankful that we're still happy and our love is still strong. Sorry to gush a little bit, but I love Nathan so much and every day he surprises me with how amazingly sweet, smart and handsome he is. I'm also so thankful that he's willing to put up with me no matter how many Amanda meltdowns I might have and no matter what trials we might face. After two years of marriage I'm looking forward to many happy anniversary's to come. I love you Sweetheart!
For our anniversary we went to Disneyland yesterday and will be going two more days next week and then tonight we went to a fun and more importantly, a delicious restaurant called the Orange County Mining Co. While fancy restaurants with dress codes and dance floors are fun, we're definitely more into the laid back with great food scene which is exactly what this was. Now we're back at the hotel and are going to relax for a while and maybe hit the hot tub later, who knows? Anyway, here are some pics of our anniversary dinner tonight, Disneyland yesterday, and a picture of my two favorite guys.

My three sister in laws and a super scared nephew on big thunder mountain

The whole Voelker clan

It's hard to tell from the picture the extent of my soaking, but this is us after a head to toe drenching from splash mountain

Ulee and Nathan

Back on the West Coast!

It's official! I'm out of the east and back to the west. Everything seems a little bit better in CA. The people, the weather, the food, even the diet coke. I guess I've just been permanently homesick since college and now that there are no plans to go back to the east coast anytime soon, my mind, body and soul seem a little bit less torn. Nathan and I have been in the greater LA area for the past week and are headed up to Santa Rosa tomorrow. The trip has been pretty great! While any time you're on vacation brings some stresses, it's all worth it. We've gotten to spend tons of time with the nieces and nephews, who are about the cutest things ever, go to the temple and eat Jack in the Box tacos (Nathan's one requirement for this entire trip). Nathan still doesn't have orders for where we'll be after September, but at least I know for the next few months I'm going to be right here, living it up in CA.