The story of Comet

Monday, October 24, 2011


Comet 8 1/2 weeks. Her ears weren't sticking up yet.
Max learned how to draw pictures over the summer. He started drawing pictures of us and then he moved onto drawings of a dog who he named Comet. He just kept talking about this dog Comet who would be his "doggy friend". After going to many rescues and having no luck we ended up finding a backyard breeder who had just had their first litter of white german shepherd puppies. We drove two hours to Sacramento to "look" at the puppies and of course walked away with Comet.
After a few days of getting her, her ears perked up. Here she is trying to sleep with her "littermates".
There were two puppies left and the kids were running around and playing with them. Max came to me and whispered in my ear that one of them had given him a hug and that he wanted to take that one home. So we did! I held the puppy in my arms as we drove home and we shared our first bonding experience when she became car sick and threw up on me. Not very fun then but funny now :).
Still small enough to sit with us on our laps. On our way to Target and Petco for socialization.
Since then life has been amusing, hectic and frustrating at times. Its hard to raise two small kids with a puppy around. Now that I have the hang of it I like it. You know how when you have a newborn your life revolves around their nap schedule, well for me it kind of revolves around Comet's play schedule. Whats great about it is that I get plenty of excercise. I have a companion with me when we take the kids to the park and that when she is tired she is a cute cuddle bug. Whats not so great about it is when she doesn't get enough exercise she gets bored and she chews up our shoes, clothes, trash, door mat, dead grasshoppers, hands, toes and basically anything that will fit in her mouth.  But she keeps my life interesting and I have met a ton of people because of her. We have a doggy playgroup we go to every night. We have made friends with other herding dogs and go on trails. We had the chance to meet an Irish fellow who let Comet become familiar with horses and let Max sit on this beautiful horse. It was awesome. The kids are learning (slowly) to care for something. We teach them to think of her feelings and wants and to be gentle and loving. We have been to some beautiful places because of her. Rodeo Beach is a dog beach, Indian Valley Trail is for hikers, mountain bikers, dog people, and horse back riding. We love Comet and are so happy to have her in our lives. I never would have thought that I would love a dog like I love Comet. I actually wish the kids weren't around sometimes just so I could explore some more advance hikes and do other cool activities like flyball, agility...even just to watch her do what she was bred to do: herd sheep.

At Rodeo Beach. Comet loves to help the kids dig in the sand.

The only time Comet can run alongside Max. Other times she tries to herd him.
Indian Valley Trail is really close to our house and Comet LOVES this place.
I have recently started letting Comet off the leash at the park when no one else is around. She likes to think she is one of the kids by climbing up the playground :)
Max and Comet exploring in the woods.
Comet has been on the trail with horses before but she has never met one until now.
Max meeting the horse.
As Max was being placed on the horse he started to become scared but we encouraged him anyway and then he loved being on the horse.

The beautiful horse named Dodge.

A trip to the Oakland Temple

Tuesday, October 18, 2011



Its been a long time since my last post. Here's a brief summary: We moved to Novato, Ca which is in the north bay part of San Francisco. Its about 20 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge. At first we were excited to be in our new area and its totally beautiful up here. We have made some great friends too.
Well its been a rough few weeks for me lately. Its been a long time since I've been nostalgic about my family. I just wish my mom were alive and that my sister were here with me. Sometimes I just feel really alone and that I don't have anyone to share my feelings with. I love my grandmother and am very close to her but I don't want to worry a 99yr. old with my problems. I think about the times I would have wished to have my mom with me like when I was getting married and when I had my kids. Those are moments I'll always wonder what it would have been like with my mom around.
Not having a husband around doesn't help either haha. I think thats the main culprit for my "lonely" feelings. We hardly ever have dinner together, he has only one day off a week. His hours are crazy, I'm talking from 5 am to 9 pm. Next month his schedule gets crazier because aside from his working hours he is on call everyday of the month except for two days. This schedule drives me insane! I can't plan for anything. No time for myself, can't take any classes, can't have any cool family outings because he might get called in or he does get called in and our plans are cancelled.
On top of that I think my kids have been picking up on all these stress vibes because they are irritable and edgy.
So with all this I decided to take the three of us to our stake's Temple Day. It was the best thing I could do for myself. They had activities for the kids and a devotional. I was able to do a session and some other stuff which was cool. A friend of mine received her endownments that day and that was inspiring and uplifting. I left feeling refreshed and renewed.

I love these two little monkeys!
Bridge! They get so excited about bridges, I guess because we're always crossing one bridge or another.
I told them "Beautiful smiles! We're at the temple." This is Max's version of a smile.