The Inside Tour of the Juneau Vander Naald Estate :)

Here is some video footage of a little tour of our home in all its glory.  We love it and hope you get to see it in-person sooner than later.  Hopefully by then we'll actually have fresh paint and pictures on the walls, ha!

Enjoy :)

Weekend Clean-Up

This weekend Brian spent a lot of time in the yard raking & picking-up leaves, cleaning out the gutters, clearing out old boards, etc.  

Another clean-up task set before us on Sunday morning was a big pile of bear scat on the sidewalk in front of our neighbor's house.  Brian did his good deed by cleaning it up for Rosanne :)

Maude: Juvi Fish Butt

Today is Maude's 3-month birthday, and marks the start of what the books call her Juvenile period of development.  Evidently she's going to start being more independent and "bratty" (the book's word, not mine).  After giving her fish oil on her food to help prevent itchy skin, her butt also happens to now smells like fish.  So, we're playfully calling her "juvi-fish-butt"  :)

Here are a few snapshots of a week in the life of Maude:

Hmmm….something tells me it might be time for a bigger dog bed.  

Maude got a little ear shave at the vet yesterday after getting bit by a bigger, older Chocolate Lab.  Brian took her to our friend's house and our friend's roommate's dog, Gus, is a great dog, but a little uneasy around puppies.  They were playing fine for a while and then Gus snapped and chomped down her Maude's ear.  The vet said one of the punctures is just a millimeter away from a "gusher" spot, which would have just been a lot messier. Her little wounds are fine and she's now on antibiotics (again) to prevent infection.  (Floppy ears are prone to getting infected, we hear.)

Maude went for her first hike on Perseverence Trail today!

Maude thinks walks in Alaska are fun.

Halloween, Juneau-style

Our neighborhood is called The Flats and Halloween is a really big deal in it.  One house nearby counted 472 kids that came to their door for trick-or-treat.  We think we gave out around 400 pieces of candy (and that was mostly one piece per kid).  Our doorbell was ringing constantly and it was a ton of fun!  Kids got candy and adults got jello shots (if they wanted).

Here are some shots of our decorated house, done by our old landlord Mike and his kids.

Mike and his kids

Some neighbor kids and the jello-shot eating mama nearby :)

Maude slept almost the entire time.  She was wiped out after a big day of playing with her mama all afternoon.  She assumed the sleeping position either on the couch or under a table all night.  Everyone commented on how good she was being - ha!  

In addition to the hundreds of trick-or-treaters, we also had a big party of our own!  There were probably 30-40 people in our house, eating, drinking, and hanging out in some pretty fun costumes.

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Brian and Matt, weightlifting buddies and for tonight, "Hans and Franz"

I dressed up as a gravid uterus and this is my midwife friend, Meredith.

Thank goodness she was there.

Creepiest. Birth. Ever.   Fun times!! 

Happy Belated Halloween from Juneau!

Just Take a Guess What This Post is About!

Yes, it's true - we had our friend who dabbles in photography take some family photos for us in our front yard. :)  At the rate Maude is growing we won't be able to pick her up easily for too much longer, and we wanted to be sure to capture glimpses of our "pack" with her as a puppy!  

This is Dr. Vic making sure Maude's ticker is working well, which it is!  He is our home-visit vet and we love him, as does Maude :)

Juneau Cross Fit

In addition to ogling over Maude, another recent addiction is Cross Fit!

My "coach" at Juneau Cross Fit took this recording of me on Monday to help me with my form.  This is just a mini-glimpse into a couple of the weightlifting exercises.

I have been doing Cross Fit regularly since September and have loved it.  (We even bought a beater car for me to drive to the gym because the mileage on the truck would have made Brian sick to his stomach!)  

What I love most about Cross Fit is that no workout is ever the same and they're definitely not boring...or easy!  

Fall snapshots of little "Maudie"

Maude is getting bigger and bigger every day and we continue to love every ounce of her immensely!

Maude, 10 1/2 weeks

Cardboard is fun to chew!

I miss Brian so much, I will nestle with his boots and let my ear rest where his shin has been.

Wanna play yet??

Here I come!

Are you ready?

Watch out!

 

Now Maude goes into her kennel without any prompting at all!  She seems to enjoy it as her little "alone time hide-away".