Toby's 12th Birthday Party/Hound-O-Ween!

We decided to combine Toby's 12th birthday party with Hound-O-Ween this year. It was a small event with Toby's best buddies, both human and dog. We started out indoors and needless to say, I must break down and buy a backdrop! Pictures were less than desirable with all our basement stuff everywhere. But ya gotta work with whatcha got! Toby wasn't the happiest of campers but he did as he was told and needed biscuits for payment!

Also in the basement were Shannon and Reuben. Shannon put a hat on Reuben's head, but he tried to eat it (and succeeded in downing a few feathers), hence no hat for Reuben. But, Shannon was a good sport and wore the hat!

Next up were Veronica and Juniper. They are great subjects because Juniper gets lots of practice posing for oodles of photos.

Then we headed outdoors and the woodshed made a much better backdrop. Toby was tough to corral, but he posed for a couple of photos. This is the best one.

Shannon was very animated, although Reuben wasn't too sure he liked the photo session. He would rather have been running around the yard.

Veronica was able to get Juniper to be cute as a button, although Juniper would much rather have been chasing Reuben all over the yard!

Of course, we also had treats for both humans and pups! Shannon baked banana-blueberry pup muffins, while Veronica gave Toby some of his favorite pup cookies! I made a pineapple carrot cake for the humans.

The pups just couldn't get enough of the treats! Juniper and Reuben convinced Shannon that they absolutely must have a pup muffin or they would starve!!!

Who can resist these three hoodlums? They have been scamming each human for more treaties.

WE ARE STARVING! We haven't had a treat in like 5 minutes! What gives?

Toby gets an extra cookie because he is the birthday boy. Happy Birthday, Toby!

Our last visit with Dennis

Sigh...Dennis has osteosarcoma and will be euthanized sometime this week. We are heartbroken... So, today we went to see him for the last time as I wanted to shoot some photos of Veronica and Dennis together. I just haven't done that enough over the years.

Dennis seemed to enjoy all the love and attention he received, and he has the best Mom in the world.

He was a handful for Veronica from when she first adopted him, and now, 7 years later, he is quite the marshmallow. He was worth every minute of time she had to spend getting him to this place of calm and love.

Everybody who meets Dennis loves him to the max and Veronica is lucky to have a dog with such a beautiful soul. I have always loved Dennis' smile.

Veronica's heart is shattered knowing that Dennis will be crossing the bridge soon. There will be an emptiness in all our hearts when we meet again as Dennis was a great friend to us and to Toby.

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Oh, to remember him as a young 3 years and 7 month old pup. Veronica adopted him on March 9, 2016.

Drew was the first one of the Bowdoin Greyhound Gang to meet Dennis on March 13, 2016. They became fast friends.

Toby and Dennis became best buddies. This is one of my favorite photos of them. They would hang out and follow each other around the yard. Two big boys!

Lady Flame thought that Dennis was one handsome dude. She took to him immediately and they would run and play hard!

And, Dennis has always been my special boyfriend! We grew to love each other over the years. He filled my heart with joy. We are going to miss you, Dennis...There is a special place in all our hearts for you.

The joy of meeting our great-nephew Isaac!

We had the joy of meeting our great-nephew Isaac today! We have been looking forward to this moment for the last 23 months-) The pandemic spoiled one of our chances by ruining our April vacation. So, we had exactly one hour to enjoy this little bundle of energy!

Isaac burst out of the car running! He had been cooped up for almost 2 hours.

He spotted our dug well cover and wanted to stand up high on the "tower." 

So, we took the opportunity to take a few family photos! Fun!!!

Then, Drew thought it was a good time to go to the fenced-in backyard so that Isaac could meet Toby.

I think this may have been the first time in his life that Isaac had been around such a big dog.

It didn't take long for Isaac to become great buddies with Toby. Toby gave Isaac a thorough sniff test and proceeded to lick his face.

Then, Toby taught Isaac how to drink from a dog bowl! Ha Ha!

Isaac was fascinated by the water drinking process. Luckily, Kelli stopped Isaac before he took a sip as well.

Then, it was all about the bonding of boy and dog.

This is my favorite photo from this series. Isaac was so gentle with Toby and they had a good lie down together.

Toby certainly seemed very happy to be with his new buddy as he's always enjoyed being around children.

Isaac kept voicing the desire to "ride" Toby as if he were a horse;-)

Toby decided to show Isaac how to dig a hole with speed and efficiency. After which Isaac decided to cover Toby with sand.

Here is one more of my favorite photos showing the joy that Toby had from hanging out with his new buddies. This is Toby's big smile that he gives to his favorite people!

Then, Isaac found the need to rake the yard. Too bad Drew had already raked it yesterday! We might have to hire Isaac to help out the next time he visits.

Finally, it was time to walk over to Caesar Pond so that Isaac could get some much needed play in the water.

The pond is so pretty during every season of the year. Hopefully, Isaac can come back to spend some quality time with us so that we can go boating when he is a bit older.

Isaac found a stick as soon as he hit the trail and used it to splash in the water.

Once must always carry a big stick when out for a walk. Isaac is so cute!

Christmas Get-Together with Veronica and Dennis

Veronica and Dennis came over for an afternoon of food, presents, and "The Princess Bride" movie. Veronica always brings the best treaties!

We have both lost our female dogs recently (Bettina died in November and Lady Flame died in July), and we share our pain from this loss. At least we still have our boys!

Toby waits patiently for more treats. He loves when we have company!

Dennis says, "Mom...you told me to lay down, now where's my treat!" Poor Dennis misses Bettina so much that he has become a munchie monster when it comes to food;-) He is such a sweet gentleman of a pup. The boys got along very well.

Veronica took this photos of us while watching the movie.

And here is the swag we got! This picture frame is for a photo of Lady Flame, which we have yet to print. Our pretty girl needs to be adored daily and it will probably be placed on the kitchen counter.

And, we also got this cool tea bag/credit card/flash drive/anything-we-want holder. Many thanks, Veronica, for joining us for a fun afternoon. We absolutely have to make an effort to get together more often like we used to do! You are a source of joy in our lives and we are so thankful that you are part of our extended family...

Papermill Trail Walk

We just cannot get enough of the autumn colors, so we took a nice walk along the Androscoggin River portion of the Papermill Trail today.

This has always been a favorite location of ours for photographing the dogs, and today did not disappoint!

Our goal was to walk to our favorite chunk of granite on the shoreline of the Androscoggin River. As you can see, the colors were stunning and my two guys were handsome as could be!

We stopped at a nice bench to rest our legs for a few minutes before heading back.

Whereupon Toby and Drew went walkin' down the line!

And, here is a portrait of our super sweet, big yellow dog! He had a blast and was a very happy pup;-)