Time for me to get to work!

Merry

Christmas

Grandma!

NW2 Pics

A few of my favorite shots from the NW2 trial.

Cookie mom, found it. 

 Is it here?

Merry Christmas

Christmas eve we enjoyed at home.  We wrapped presents, made some crafts, went out and watched a movie and took in a pretty weak light display at the local park.  In the interest of saving time Christmas morning we let Nadin open her gifts before bed.

 Christmas we joined my family at Grandma and Grandpa's for eating and present opening.  And some family photo taking.  Nadin got a ton of wonderful things from all our friends and family and thinks Christmas is pretty awesome.

Today it was off to KC to eat pizza, visit and exchange gifts with Jerry's family.  Tomorrow we finally get to rest!  We have decided to spend next Christmas at the beach.  Legend thinks this is a fantastic idea.

Future Tiger

While in Columbia we spent Saturday afternoon giving Nadin an unofficial and obviously completely unbiased tour of the MU campus.  Because she is so smart, she loved it and and is convinced she wants to come back here for college.  We are so proud. And I played around with some of the photos I took because I wanted to do something besides nature and animals for a change.  Although, there is at least one dog picture in here.

Unstoppable

We headed to Columbia this weekend for Legend to compete in the NW2 trial. I promised myself I wouldn't care if she passed or failed because she has already earned 5 titles this year and has a 100% pass rate.

So I was pretty calm going in. My goal was to have fun, trust my dog and remember to say finish! First up was vehicles (4 cars, 2 hides) and then direct to exteriors (good sized area with concrete and grass, 1 hide). She rocked both of these and I went back to the car feeling like we already had a successful day. 

Next up was two interior rooms-one hide in the first and two in the second. She was a little slower here but still got each one with tons of time left. So now we had just one hide to get in containers!  I was a little nervous now because we were so close and also because this was our first time competing in containers with something other than boxes and also with distractors. I didn't need to worry-she powered it out in 9 seconds like there was never a doubt about which one it was. 

So there it was-with the ink still drying on her NW1, she now had an NW2! Plus we had fun and I remembered to say finish!

And that's not all! She also earned a pronounced score in vehicles and exteriors and was fast enough for 2nd place in vehicles and second place in containers. And finally, with a time of 2:39 she placed 2nd overall of 18 qualifiers! She actually had a faster time today than she did in her NW1 test. 

I'm super proud of how she did today and she had a bit of a fan club going with a couple people asking who her breeder was/where she came from. But of course I then got to tell them she came from a rescue-they can go adopt their very own "legend."

This makes six nosework titles this year, with 22 perfect searches (23 if you count the second interior room today) and her 50th lifetime title. I think she was aptly named. 

Coming soon-more about the rest of our Columbia trip!

Random cat post

Sundae enjoys this ergonomic scratching post.

 It's very soothing.

And, more Christmas

Saturday was Silver Dollar City day for the exchange kids.  Everyone had a good time-we had unbelievably nice weather and a good time was had by all.  They got to ride a lot of rides and eat a funnel cake.  So clearly a success.

Christmas continues

A few weeks ago we had an ornament making party.  Another idea I saw on facebook or somewhere-but unlike last year's colored ice marbles-this was more of a success!

We melted crayons in clear glass ornaments.

 The actual making of the ornaments is not too messy-mostly the prep.  I did put a sheet down where we were actually melting in case any dripped out.  Or in case they got dropped and broke.  Which happened twice-both mine.

I got the iridescent balls on accident-but they did add a nice effect.  

 

 Choosing the best colors!

 Kennedy had to take a puppy break partway through.

 Even Jerry just got in on the action.

 Looking good!