Cricket learned a new trick - playing dead. She spends much of her day snuggled up stairs in the warmth of all of our machines learning through osmosis. 

Even though Lola is around, the kitties still run this house. Here's the man snuggled up in his bed.  

Lola has quickly learned what beer o'clock is! Smart!! 

Lola now gets to play with her neighbor Shelby. Shelby is teaching Lola who's boss.  

Annie also showed Lola how to have a bit of fun in the sprinklers - Lola was suspicious - maybe next time she will dive in.  

July 20, 2005 - Our neighbor, Cathy and her dog Annie have signed up to help Lola learn the ropes. Cathy trains dogs as a hobby and our first lesson is to walk on the leash and sit before crossing the street. The first day was a success - she is a smarty pants! 

Happy Birthday to Lisa!!! This photo was snapped at Heather's big Gala event in Billings in February. Lisa snagged the winterland decoration - which obviously makes for a great photo prop. Here's to Lisa having a FABULOUS birthday!! We can't wait to see you in August!  

Lol loves her Aunt Amy, and Aunt Amy loves Lola - now she is after Uncle Josh's heart. She has a cute little belly of freckles (taking after her mom and dad) and quite a face. Amy brought over some fun toys (Pink Chew Ball and a Tugging Frisbee) and Lola is in heaven.  

We are taking advantage of our clean slate and starting Lola's training early. Learning to walk on a leash is hard! We have had 3 walks so far and this morning we went for 3 miles (good job for tiny legs). When we returned Lola retired into her bed for a nap. She is doing very well on the leash and loves to meet other dogs as we are out and about. Yes, we are quite the rave with a little puppy around.  

Say hello to Lola! On Saturday we picked up our newest member of the family - Lola is 9 weeks old and if FULL OF ENERGY. We are doing a slow introduction to the cats - but so far only a few hisses. Here is an action shot of the little devil showing her tiny teeth - which are quite sharp - we are overwhelming her with chew toys.  

Awaken

Tonight, Mark and I went to meet up with Chris and Jonathan at Awaken's headquarters - they are doing an amazing job!! Afterwards we had a lovely dinner at California Cafe - a very delicious destination hidden near the stanford barn. Jonathan and I tried out some Bing Cherry Martini's and Chris and Mark tasted some wine flights.  

Man, that Young Fenstermacher is smart. Already reading the gritty post-war books and discussing revolutions in journalism. We had the long awaited "bring your hubby to book club" book club. Good choice of books Tom. We learned who is pro-death penalty and who is not. 

an old Kintana reunion at the Tied house... it's an increasingly rare event to get three old Kintana Education team members in the same place at the same time these days... 

Pearly Whites

Mark and I are in Mountain View this week for work - and I arrived to see Jeremy's new smile (sans braces!). It funny, after a week at work, nobody noticed that the braces were off. I am used to Scott not recognizing changes (if you tell him 3 times before you get a haircut, he usually remembers) but the rest of the org didn't notice either. Even Jeremy's Avatar is happy to have the braces removed...
So hear's to Jeremy's new smile!

Introducing Little Lola - Well Mark and I have decided to expand our family to include a new puppy. Lola (formerly named Triumph) is a Jack Russell Terrier - she is the runt of her litter, but she doesn't believe she is smaller than the rest. She is staying with her brothers and sisters while we are in California for the week and will be coming home to meet her big brother and sassy sis on Saturday. We have purchased lots of baby toys and baby gates for the new pup and are looking forward to puppy kindergarten. We are taking her on a trial to make sure the kitties accept the new bundle of joy - but are positive that Lola will steal their hearts (just like she did with ours).  

One of the great statistics about boulder is that on average people work out 26 minutes each day. I don't know if its true. I think people may use the statistic to be able to purchase all of the �necessary� gear for each activity. Mark has fallen into the trap - fortunately for me, I am also benefiting from this new addiction. Yesterday I received these new Keen sandals (mark got a pair for himself) - they are definitely stylish, but where does mark think I am going to need performance sandal? Now I am starting to wonder if Greg D is rubbing off on him.

Anyway they are extremely comfortable and pretty cool looking, so no complaining here.
 

Mark and I have tried a few entry way rugs with little success. We decided to give theInterface Flor System a try. These are carpet tiles that have a low stick backing - which means they don't harm your floors but they stay in place. The tiles are pretty inexpensive and come in all textures and sizes - this is called house pet (more industrial) and the colors are Gerbil and Turtle (Don't they realize that turtles aren't burnt sienna color). After one day we are still happy with our purchase.  

Posing for photos.... I love group photos... what do you think Mark is thinking? hmmm...  

Crystal, Tom, Fiona and my parents helped us celebrate the 4th - we hung out on our patio, had dinner, played trivia and the boys even tested out type of gin (Tom thought shooting it was better than tasting it :) We had a fantastic holiday.  

Happy 4th of July!! Baby Fiona was our independence day decoration in her red, white and blue! :)