Meet Chubbs..our houseguest for a day!

She was a stray that we took in over night while our neighbor hung signs to find the owner! Kirk misses Chubbs!



Here are some pictures of Kirk's first encounter with snow:



Look a the ears! He's thinking, "I'm not sure I like this!"

Time To Decorate...

Caleb and I have been busy buying things for our house. Here are some preliminary pictures:

Crystal and Lee are getting married!

Here's their engagement/Christmas picture:

Happy 2006!!

Ingredients for a classic "Maryland-Style" New Year's Party:

- Banging Pots and Pans (or some other loud noise maker)
- Silly Hats and Decorations
- Lots of Food
- Confetti (Dawn, remember 9th grade? We bought that EXPENSIVE confetti with Rachael and Loria. We had two little tiny bags of it. The clock struck 12am. I was in charge of opening the bags. I broke the first one and it went all over the ground. Then, like an idiot, you all told me to open the 2nd bag. Yup...that one also went all over the ground. But, we sure had fun picking it up off the ground and then throwing it up in the air!)
- Cute dogs
- Great Friends

Enjoy the Pics! We had a blast with Loria and Brad (from California), Paulie, Joe and Christina (from Maryland), Lee, Dave, Sarah, and Carson. And the hats never ran out!

The Happy Hosts!

The Winner of "The Couple That Had the Longest Drive Home" (Loria and Brad)

Top: Caleb and Lee/ Joe and Christina

Bottom: Paulie and The New Year's Babes/ Sarah and Dave

DAWN!!!

Here's a picture from when Dawn came to visit me!!! She's back on the East Coast now....that makes me VERY happy!

I LOVE NEW YEARS!!

Loria and Brad and Paulie are going to be here soon! I can't wait! They already got lost because they took VA-40 instead of NC-40, but, now that Brad has a hold of the map, I think they will make it alright. More to come...pictures from the party will be posted!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Caleb looked like Frankenstien this Christmas...hence, you won't see a lot of pictures. He managed to get slugged at our indoor soccer game two Thursdays ago and needed 18 stitches in his lip. Then, one week later, he broke his finger while chasing and catching someone with drugs. He promised me that he will not go to the hospital again for at least two weeks. Let's see if it can happen!

Home for the Holidays!

Caleb, Kirk, and I hit the road for Maryland for a pre-holiday visit. We stayed in Baltimore for a couple days and then went to York, PA to see his relatives. Here are some pictures from our trip. Kirk saw his FIRST snow! As usual, his face reads "I'm not sure I'm going to like this" in the pictures below. But, he soon "warmed" up to it...hehe.




Also, this was the last time I would see my childhood dog named Jessie. She died about a week later. Here are some pictures of her when we saw her last. Can you believe that I bought her from the PennySaver for only $15. Wow! I have an "I'm getting old" story.


This is a picture of Jessie Benke Thompkins. January 1993 - December 2005.


Here's all three dogs waiting for their holidays treats. They know that Santa is on the other side of the door. They can smell the goodies waiting for them!


This is my mom, stepfather, and their other dog Sandy Peanut-Lopez Thompkins.

Help, fellow boggers!

Maybe I'm just impatient, but can anyone tell me how to post this picture to my profile? It keeps saying that the maximum size if 50 or 70 something or others. Thanks for any advice you have!!

Trees + Mountains + Arguello's = A GREAT TIME!

We got our Christmas tree in the mountains this year. We met up with Paul's whole family (about 10 people) and headed to the North Carolina Mountains. We had so much fun! When we got home, we met up with Joe and Christina and they helped up set the tree up.

All the trees were on the side of this mountain. You got to walk all around, pick one out, and have the man cut it down with a chainsaw, then wrap it up tight and stick it on top of your car. The trees were color coded with ribbons. I swear, the little tree man said the red ribbons were only 7-8 feet tall. (By the way, your sense of height is completely off when standing on a mountain surrounded by trees. "Sure! It'll fit in the living room" HA!) When we got home, it was a little tall. We have 9+ foot ceilings! After a little cutting, the tree fit!

It's been TOO long!

The last time I wrote on my blog, my parents were coming to town. If I had ANY readers at all, they have all certainly abandoned my blog. I apologize for such a long delay. To make up for it, I am going to put pictures up! I don't know about you, but I love to see blogs with pictures!

Well, my mom, stepfather, brother, grandmother and their dogs came to visit. We had a lot of fun!!!





Kirk was very possessive of his bone (can you tell?)! We're a little afraid that he might be spoiled. (No, Adrienne, really? He only sleeps in your bed, gets the best seat on the couch, and goes everywhere with you!)

Kirk is getting a real dog bed for Christmas. You might wonder why he doesn't have one of his own now. When he was a little puppy, he had a bed and then "went" all over it. After "it" dried, he destroyed it. He thought that his bed was either a giant stuffed animal or a place that he had to dig through. If you ask Katie, she will attest to his "psycho" digging fits on his bed.

We want Kirk to start feeling a little more like a dog and not a human. The first step is a bed all for himself. (How many of you think he will go to bed in his bed and miraculously appear on ours....either by him jumping up in the middle of the night or me picking him up putting him there?)

Week-end Open House

This week-end, my mom, stepfather, brother, grandmom, and kirk's aunt Sandy are all coming to my Open House. Actually, the house is only open to them. But, I get to show it off! I can't wait. Pictures will come!

Things I've Learned While Living In My House

1) Every Saturday Night, we will hear the sounds of high-powered rifles. This is "OK". It is not the neighbors, it is the Turkey Shoot around the corner!

2) We have Black Widow Spiders that live under the rocks around our house. This is bad. It's better if I don't know about these things.

3) Kirk barks at EVERYTHING. We really need to get blinds so he can't see the neighbors.

4) Our houses are so close together...you have to make sure that the neighbor is NOT watering the lawn while your windows are open. Many things were ruined!

5) Grills are great! If you can't grill it, you shouldn't eat it!

6) When you open the windows, don't forget to turn off the heat (That one's for Caleb!)

7) Block parties are fun! Neighbors are nice! The home owner's association meeting will be long (kind of like old RA/RD meetings).

8) My husband is a thief (But I won't tell you why!)

9) My BJ's is better than your food store any old day!

10) It's so quiet in my house...I can hear Kirk breathing when he is UNDER the bed! Maybe he had a cold!

More Helpers!

Thank You All For Your Help!

Thank you Thank you!!