Spring is Here!

Spring has arrived once again. Just when we thought all the trees were dead for sure, they've sprouted beautiful green leaves and promising buds. The tulips, iris, and daffodils are in full bloom, and we're really enjoying all the color. Mom and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather by spending most of our days outside playing in the dirt, on the playground, and biking. I've even helped Mom grill up some pretty tasty vittles for dinner. We have a brand new fence and many changes are happening in the back yard. Mom and Dad did away with the 2nd and final koi pond--it was just too tempting for me to throw things in and possibly jump in if I got the opportunity. Plus, we need to make room--I've heard whispers about a possible sandbox for my birthday in May! We've also been very busy preparing for Relay for Life on April 28-29. Today was the big bake sale. Our home was the drop off for all the goodies since Mom worked the first shift. It was sooooo hard to keep my paws off all the treats--you've never seen so many cookies, brownies, muffins, breads, and bars in your life! We even had a breakfast taco assembly team at our house all of yesterday morning making Uncle Fred's famous breakfast tacos--100 of them! They were the first to sell, and we're thinking of doubling the recipe next time to 200. . . the sale was a success, generating over $550! I've attached some pics of our 2nd annual trip to the Arboretum. What beautiful flowers! I wore Mom out as she chased me all day "tiptoeing through the tulips"--literally. I loved getting to pet and brush the animals at the petting zoo, although Mom had to cut my time there short when she caught me picking up goat poop--hey, it looked pretty interesting. Anyway, the theme for the Spring/Summer months there is "Flower Power". Check out the VW's covered in flowers--it was cool, dude. Enjoy the pictures.

Flower Power

Mommy and Me at the Arboretum

Visit from Missouri

PaPa and Grandma came to visit me this past weekend. The sleigh pulled in on Thursday afternoon filled with Christmas gifts! We had never celebrated with them over the holidays, so it was Christmas in February. I pulled in quite a hall with new trucks, a ship, a puppy, and Eddie from the Little People. On Saturday, we headed South for my cousin Adam's wedding. I even got to wear my suit! I had lots of fun playing with all my cousins, some of whom I'd never met. We got back on Sunday afternoon so we could get ready for a Valentine's party. Grandma helped Mom make lots of heart shaped cookies so my friends and I could have fun decorating them at our party. I've included some pictures from all the events for your enjoyment. Don't I look smashing in my suit!

Christmas in February

PaPa and Grandma

Fun with Cousins

Emma, Macie, and Josh

Adam's Wedding

Dapper Jack!

Valentines Party

Cookie Decorating

My Georgia Peaches

We visited my favorite Georgia Peaches this past weekend, Sarah and Hannah. It was lots of fun catching up. I did some swingin' with Hannah and some wrestlin' with Sarah. Aunt Jenn kept us fed with some good southern cookin' and Uncle Jas took us to the Airforce Museum--Wow! Their home is beautiful, and all is very well with the Arnolds of Georgia. Can't wait to see them again. Enjoy the photos of my precious cousins.

The Arnold Gang

Fun times

My Cousins

The Girls

The Holidays at a glance

Happy 2007! It's been a while since I've written, so I thought I'd bring you up to date with the start of the new year. We rang in the new year at my buddy Justin's house. His parents threw a party, and believe it or not, I stayed up until the ball dropped! I played with my friends, ate good food, and my parents played a music trivia game with their friends. Dad dominated the game, of course. Don't ever challenge him to a game of trivia--he's the whiz.

The holidays were really crazy around here. Mom and I just returned from Woodville. We have been there for the past 2 weeks helping take care of Grandmother. The big C returned, and she had to have major surgery the week before Christmas. In fact, we spent Christmas day at M D Anderson hospital! We really took over that place. There were just a few patients on her floor, and even though I wasn't supposed to, the nurses let me hang out in the hospital room. We made quite an impression on the folks working that day--like when my Uncle Jay raced my cousins and me around the nursing station in a wheel chair! The nurses said they looked away more than a few times! Don't worry, we made up for it by singing carols to everyone on the way out. Grandmother is progressing very well, and the surgery went better than expected. She is recouping at home awaiting her treatment plan. I had lots of practice singing carols from our Moms Club Christmas party. It was hosted at our house, and we had about 40 folks in attendance--wild! Mom and Dad made chili and everyone brought a tasty treat to share. The kids made ornaments out on the deck to take to the folks at the assisted living center. We headed over there after we ate and sang carols to them. They seemed to really enjoy seeing all of us.

I have more pictures of Christmas day but had to download them on Grandmother's computer and forgot to burn them to disc. I'll have to post those after we go back for our next visit. I have also included some pictures of my new chair, my first haircut, our night hosting the coop, and our beautifully lit home. Hope Santa was as good to you as he was to me! Enjoy the pics.

New Chair, Coop, and Lights

The House

First Haircut

Cleaning me up!

Christmas Party

Making ornaments

Visit with Santa

Well folks, I just didn't enjoy visiting with Santa this year--in fact, it was a down right horrific expereience for me--quite different from my experience last year. Here are both photos for comparison.

Santa 05 vs 06

Happy and Unhappy Jack!

And the Festivities Continue . . .

Good times this week! First, my friends and I got together for a cookie decorating party. I did a lot more eating than decorating as you can see in the pictures. It was messy, sweet, and yummy and I had lots of fun. My favorite new word now is cookie and I walk around the house all day yelling COOKIE and looking for where Mom hid the cookies. I would eat them all day if she'd let me. Wednesday night we picked out our tree. We didn't get to saw one down this year since I was sick the day we were supposed to do that. We just went to a little local place to pick one out. It was still fun because they had lots of neat things for the kids to see and play on. Hope you're trimming your tree too. Love you, Jack

Oh Christmas Tree,

Oh Christmas Tree!

Cookie Decorating

Yummy!