Weekend & Holiday Wrap-Up!

(I may be long winded on this one...)

Good morning everyone! We hope that you had a great 3 day holiday weekend with friends and family. We sure did!

Friday night we decided to go to the football game in the town we live in. It was their first home game ever, since they did not have a complete field with stands for fans to sit in. Since it was their first home game, it was kind of a big deal complete with tailgating and fireworks at the end of the game. It was fun to see all the school spirit alive in our small town. Unfortunately, the football team was not very good so the game was not all that entertaining. Stephen and I actually left a little bit after half time because we were worried about how Louie would react to the fireworks going off. As it turns out, he handled it pretty well! Granted, he did shake the entire time they were being shot off, but he calmed down quickly afterwards. It also turned out that we could see them from our living room windows, so it was great to be home! :)

Saturday it was HOT here! Stephen and his Dad did some yard work in the morning, ripping out more yucca plants and getting the flower bed ready to plant our fall bulbs! Louie was my shadow around the house all morning and even helped me make some chicken salad for lunch. I decided to try and give him a treat and it went so well! In the last week he has been eating his doggy treats if we put them in with his food, but he had never, ever eaten anything out of our hands-which is a HUGE sign of trust. Wouldn't you know that he ate some canned chicken right out of my hand without giving it a second thought. He also gobbled up a couple tiny pieces of cheddar cheese. I was so excited and happy about this breakthrough...he trusts me!!! He also snuck some BBQ potato chips off my plate at lunch when I turned around for a second...I may have created a monster. Woops! Saturday afternoon we headed to Stephen's parents house to watch the Gator football game. We do not have cable at home so we were very thankful that his parents let us borrow their cable and TV for the evening. They had a wedding to attend, so we took Louie and his kennel to their house. We left him alone for a couple hours while we ran to Hobby Lobby and did some grocery shopping. I am always nervous to go home after we leave him in the kennel because I am afraid he will be mad at us or scared, but on Saturday he was happy as a clam with his tail wagging 90 miles a minute. He occupied his time while we were gone by pulling two beach towels that we had set his kennel on top of inside his kennel. That's right, he pulled 2 full size beach towels into his kennel through the tiny wire holes. Oh boy!

So this day marked Louie's first car trip other than when be brought him home. He was so funny and curious about everything:

"I'm gonna take over and drive, okay dad? "

The game was fun to watch and I really enjoyed seeing the Gator's new head coach, Muschamp getting fired up on the sidelines. Florida stomped Florida Atlantic University (which is where I considered transferring to a couple years ago) and ended the game 41-3, Florida. As always, it is great to be a FLORIDA GATOR! :)

Sunday morning we barely made it to church on time, and again it was my fault. I got busy in the kitchen and ended up making homemade ranch dip and snickerdoodle cookies for a family BBQ we were having in the afternoon. We did make it in before the preaching started though! Stephen's family came over after church and we had a great time together eating yummy food, watching movies the girls picked out (Toy Story 3, and Shrek 3), playing corn hole and eating some more. Louie was great even with all the people in our house and the loud commotion. We did put him in his kennel while we ate and we did not hear a peep out of him! Praise the Lord that he is liking his kennel nowadays! The weather was lovely in the afternoon and the temperature dropped as the sun went down...we had to go inside and get jackets/blankets even!

 

Louie liked licking things as I put them in the dishwasher while baking. He was always right there to help me in the kitchen! :)

Just some of the yummy food we had on Sunday!

 

Snug as a bug outside watching the corn hole festivities.

We started Monday off with morning cuddles, which I love! Louie was so cute and content snuggled up in our soft bed sheets!

We spent the morning being lazy and relaxing before I took on some baking. I wanted to attempt to make bread at home for the first time and yesterday was a great opportunity because I had several hours to spend. I knew that I needed to have lots of time for the bread to rise and bake, so it was perfect! I used a recipe for Hearty Sweet Potato & Thyme bread and I have to say it was pretty yummy! I will share the recipe later this week hopefully. I really liked the way the house smelled! Since this was my first attempt at homemade bread, I was pretty excited about how pretty it was! Granted the first loaf that I braided left a lot to be desired...the second one was beautiful! AND, it looks remarkably similar to the one in the picture on the recipe print out. I'd say we did a pretty good job!

 

In the afternoon, Stephen did a little bit more yard work while Louie and I hung out in the backyard reading and soaking up the sun. This dog has a hard life, let me tell 'ya! After his previous living conditions he totally deserves to be spoiled and lazy in my opinion! We decided to go for a walk in the early evening, making this Louie's first walk off of our property. Remember, almost 3 weeks ago he had never been on a leash before so he has come a long way already! He walked great for us on our 14 block walk downtown. I did carry him a little bit while we walked on Main St. because the cars were faster (read: louder) and there were other people walking that startled him a little bit. He did such a good job walking and we were so proud of him! Another 1st for our fur-baby in one weekend!

Family photo before our first walk as a family of 3! You know I have to document these things...

Just one shot of our downtown main street. Tri-Oaks Realty was our realtor and site of our closing!

After our walk we all took showers, even Louie and then settled in for a dinner of homemade bread and tomato soup. I finished making some cheesecake pops that I had started earlier in the day, and again Louie was my shadow in the kitchen. I personally think I have the cutest kitchen assistant around!

I have not eaten any of these yet, but if they are yummy I will be posting this recipe too!

I think the walk wore out our little man because we went into his kennel all on his own on Monday night. I went to check on his and found this:

And that folks is how we ended our super 3 day weekend! Praise the Lord that holidays come every so often and just when I seem to need a break from the daily grind! And also praise him for the consequential 4 day work week. Woohoo!