Baby Shower

Dave and I drove to Utah over the weekend for my Baby Shower. We had a great time, the shower was a lot of fun. We played a few fun games, including the baby poop game. Always a winner and a nose turner. There was a ton of great food, and friends! Thank you to my Mom and Sister for putting together a great shower, and thanks to everyone who attended. I hope to have some fun pictures soon to post! We are only a few short months away from Bailey's arrival and we are getting over anxious for her to get here. Thanks again to everyone!

Baby Bailian Emma Sandoval

Well its been a long time since I have posted anything to our blog. Since our Trip to Flaming Gorge we have discovered that we have a baby on the way. We are expecting a baby girl in April. We have decided on the name of Bailian Emma Sandoval, Bailey for short. We are both very excited for our new arrival and have been working effortlessly to get her nursery ready and preparing for our first child. Excitement levels are running high through our families and we have received so much support. We appreciate all of you for helping us make this a great experience.

Flaming Gorge Family Camping Trip

We took a family camping trip to Flaming Gorge UT the last weekend in August. Even though it was still very hot while we were there, we all had a great time. My parents brought their boat, we had a blast on the water tube and the wake board. We were celebrating my sisters up coming trip to Spain, as she will be going off for her study aboard experience. I do have to say, I feel my age after camping and sleeping on the ground for two nights. How did we ever sleep on the floor every weekend when we were young? Great time however all around!!

Grand Teton and Yellowstone Weekend Adventure

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Yellowstone. There is something to be said for those who adventure out with 4 dogs in tow. We are either really patient or completely nuts. HAHA, actually for as long as we spent in the car driving around and sight seeing they were all very good. It does help that they had the entire back of the RX with blankets and foam padding to ride on. Nothing beats riding in style. I do have to say, we have learning a few things from this trip. One being, you can only trust a dog for so long not to follow his nose. We happened to buy some really great buffalo jerky early in the day on Saturday. Well we made a stop at about 3pm to take some pictures, left the dogs in the car for less than 7 minutes. We come back to No JERKY and Mata trying his hardest to get into the chocolate covered grahm crackers. I guess there is a reason we call him "the nose".

Grand Teton and Yellowstone Weekend Adventure

So this weekend we decided to drive and spend some time in The Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. What a great weekend, not only was it a FREE weekend to visit, but it also turned out to be a lot of fun. We took off late Friday Night, and arrived in camp in Grand Tetons National Park around 2am. At about 8am we started out and ventured through both parks. What a fun day. We saw everything, Geysers and hot springs and a petrified tree. We also saw Bison, Elk, and a GRIZZLY Bear! The weather was great for most of the trip, we did get some rain late Saturday night, but by that point we had seen almost everything we wanted to see. If you have never been to these two great national treasures, you should get out there and see them.

Landscaping Project

Well we finally put the finishing touches on our Backyard Landscaping project. We added 3 different types of shrubs to the back flower bed. Makes all the difference in the world back there! Now we can sit back and enjoy the backyard as the summer passes on through! I am glad we are done, what a lot of work!

Let the Landscaping Begin

Dave and I started our Backyard Landscaping project last weekend. Its gone well so far, we took this weekend off to recover. We were both still slightly sore and exhausted from the effort. Here are our plans, in the backyard we have a flower bed that outlines the entire fence. So we decided that we would put some stone edging all the way around the rock flower bed to give the yard some curve, design and structure. So we measured the yard and decided we needed about 575 stones to complete our project. So Saturday, Home Depot delivered 4 pallets of stone edging to the house. Well needless to say, 4 pallets is a LOT of stone. 4600 LBS to be exact, now you understand why we needed a full week to recover! Whether rain or shine we were getting this project finished, so about 5pm on Sunday night, the rain finally broke through. We had most of the edging wall completed, with the expection of a few feet. This we completed later in the week. We also planted a Weeping Cherry Tree in the front yard and a Kwanzan Cherry Tree in the back yard. Now all we have left is to plant the shrubs and flowers in the newly structured flower beds and one more big tree for the main part of the backyard. We are hoping the weather clears up next weekend so we can take a trip to the nursery. I have attached a few pictures of our brick wall in the back yard for everyone to see our progress. More pictures to come as we progress with the project! Hopefully our bodies hold out so we can actually enjoy the backyard this summer!

Online Ebay Store!!

As many of you know, Dave has been searching high and low for new employement. With our struggling economy, he took a big step and has started his own business. He just recently opened his own store, Jeronimo Outfitters on Ebay. Please take a look at his site, he has a variety of outdoor and camping equipment as well as items for the hunting enthusiasts. We both want to thank all our friends and family for all your support during these tough times! I have listed the link to his site below, and you will also be able to access it from the left side of the main page of our blog.

Love to all!
Kipling and Dave

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Jeronimo-Outfitters

With the addition of our new puppy, Mata we now have two PINS. They have become the best of friends. They play non stop, sleep together, and cause trouble together! I think the addition of our new family member has been a great thing for all of us!

I just wanted to give everyone an update on our new adventure. As you all know, we had to make the hardest decision of our lives this past September with Sasha. Since then the guilt of that decision and the emptiness left in our hearts has dwindled a little but nothing will ever replace her. Due to that emptiness we found ourselves exploring the possibility of bringing a puppy into our lives and hearts. We searched numerous rescue websites and did countless hours of research for the best breed possible for our situation and our doggie pack. In the end, we still migrated to the Min Pin. They are small breed, with big dog attitude. If you have met Austin, you know what I am talking about.

Through the International Min Pin Rescue Association we find a 9 month old male Min Pin name Chip. He was an owner abandon, who was left in a Dog Shelters Over-Night Drop Box. We fell in love with this little guys eyes and story and thought we might give him a chance at a new life in our home.

Well little Chip, now renamed Mata which means Gift from God. However he seems to like us to say his name twice, so MATA MATA it is, a name so nice you say it twice. He is living up to the Min Pin Breed as we find ourselves with a very Hyper and Mischievous little guy. Since coming to the rescue a few weeks ago, he has been in 4 foster homes. So potty training is our number one priority along with table, couch and leash manners. Some unique characteristics is defiantly his incorrectly docked tail, it is too long and curls up towards the sky. He also has unevenly cropped ears; whoever did the cropping was not a professional. One ear curves in, one ear curves out!

We introduced the pack to Mata one by one, which worked out great. Austin took to him right away, and instantly had a new playmate. We then introduced Jinko, he was a little unsure at first thing started playing with him as well. We then introduced Uno; she sniffed and ultimately didn’t seem too interested. Then we put them all together out in the yard, on man it was a boy play date all the way, with Uno laying calmly watching the craziness unfold.

Today has been a very busy day with the addition of the new puppy but has settled in nicely with the pack and is trying to figure out where his space is in the house. We are setting up a crate for him in hopes he will find it comforting and his own space. So our one week trial starts before the adoption would finalize. We will keep you up to date as we progress through the week; I have also included a few pictures we took this afternoon!

I know you must think we are nuts!

Beware of Styrofoam Cups

I am sure all of you are aware that certain places still use styrofoam cups for drinks. This is not a good idea for two reasons. First they are not environmentally friendly, and secondly they are prone to puncture! This is a bad combination if you happen to be in your vehicle when the cup puncturing takes place. David and I had just visited one of our favorite Chicken places and ordered a couple of drinks to go. I was driving and Dave proceeded to insert the straws in our drinks. The next thing I know Coke is squirting all over me and the car. In his shock he tries to plug the massive hole the straw has creating in the side of the cup. When that doesn't work a look of pure panic crosses his face, as we are in my car. Finally through all my laughter I manage to get the window down so we can get the coke hemorrhaging cup out the window. At this point I can barely see through my tears to drive and park the car. I do finally manage to pull over and we start to mop up the full cup of coke. Unfortunatley the Resturant only gave us 2 napkins, so we are left with a full front seat covered in sticky coke and a long 5 minute drive back home. So beware, styrofoam cups lead to sticky cup catastrophes.

Our little niece is growing up way to quickly. I visited this past weekend and all she did was run. She does not walk anywhere, she has to run. So funny watching her padded little bum wiggle when she gets going to fast. She is pure entertainment!

Here are some pictures from our Wedding. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

The Birthday Girls! We spent the first weekend of November in Utah to attend Tahlen and Kya's birthday party. What a great time! Tahlen turned 1 years old, while Kya is quickly becoming a young lady. She is now 5 years old. How time flies while you watch the kids grow up! MORE CAKE!!!!

Happy Halloween!! Its Austin, the Great Pumpkin!! I am pretty sure he was ready to bite me!

Happy Halloween!! Here are our pumpkins for this year, 2008! They turned out pretty good, and they look great with candles in them at night! Kudos to whoever came up with Carving Pumpkins!!

Here we are at the highest point on the Trail Ridge Rock in the National Park. This is the Alpine Tundra, where a sign posted said, that any plant destroyed by people off the path, would take over 1000 years to re-grow. It is an amazing sight to see at the top of the mountain!

Here we are in the Rocky Mountain National Park - October 19th. The day could not have been better, but at 12,183 feet in the air, its a little chilly. We spent the entire day winding around the park with the dogs and seeing some amazing views. On our way home we drove through, WinterPark, and the Arapaho National Forest.

Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado October 19, 2008.

Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado October 19, 2008. We traveled to the Park on Sunday and it was beautiful. The leaves are changing and the day could not have been better.

Here we are listening to our Dolphins sing to us. They also danced for us as well. Overall the experience was well worth it!

Here is our last trick with our Dolphins. This is called the "pull". You sit in the water with both hands stretched out to your sides and both dolphins swim up on each side of you, and you grab a hold of each fin and away you go. We took a fun, fast ride around the cove. We might look terrified, but just the opposite. We were going so fast, it was hard to keep the water out of your mouth!

Here we with our Dolphins, doing the Foot Push! You lay flat on your belly in the water with your arms straight out in front of you, your feet flexed behind you. All of a sudden both Dolphins hit the back at your feet at the same time. As you lift your arms out of the water, the Dolphins force your body up and out of the water as well. This was awesome. The sheer force and strength, not to mention the coordination it takes to perform this trick is amazing. We felt like we were walking on water!

Now it was our turn to give our dolphins a Kiss.

Here is David with the Sting Ray "Angie". We were both able to get inside the cove and hold the sting ray. To my surprise she was very heavy. I would estimate he weight to be about 50lbs. The pictures do not really do this amazing animal justice. They are absolutely amazing up close. The trick here was, to keep massaging her under belly. She loved it!!

Here we are at Dolphin Cove with our Dolphins! By far the most exhilarating experience we have ever had. The Dolphins are just amazing creatures and even more so up close. Our Dolphins were named Mitch and Skye. You can pick Skye out of the picture with David easily, because her entire belly is a light shade of pink. Mitch is the Dolphin with Kipling. This is the "Kissing" portion of our experience.

Here we are, right before the storm. Then at dinner at the 4C's Restaurant. This was an Italian restaurant right on the beach. We had some pretty good wine, and some good pasta while it poured rain!

Here we are on the beach, with our personal Jamaican photographer. We took these pictures literally, 5 minutes before a huge storm hit the island. It rained for about 45 minutes and the sky gave us a magnificent light show!