The Year 2010

Since I haven't updated our blog since January, I think maybe it is time to let you all know what has all gone on this year so far. Well, at least the vacations we have been on :) Nothing much has changed around here. Zoey and Molly are about the same, still have a little puppy in them both. They are well behaved, but for some reason took a liking to our bed spreads. We have gone through 3 bed spreads this year....we decided to wait until winter to buy a new one hoping they have grown out of this obsession.

I finally, after 9 months, have come to an end with my problem tooth. Last October I had a filling done on a molar. In January it started bothering me and the dentist thought maybe the filling didn't set right so he redid the filling at no cost. Didn't help, felt the same. I couldn't chew on the side of my mouth at all. After the failed filling we did a porcelain filling thinking it would fill a crack if present. Didn't help, felt the same still couldn't chew. I saw a specialist, it was indeed a cracked tooth and probably needed a root canal. After months of dealing with this, 2 weeks ago I finally had a root canal and a crown put on it and for the first time this year I can chew on that side of my mouth. I'm cured! Wish I would have just gotten the root canal done right away.

In February we went to Arizona for a week with the Speer's and stayed in a rental house. Then in July we went on the De Jong camp out for a long weekend in Coralville, IA which was also a lot of fun. T.J. and I had fun painting the camper before we left....I don't have a picture of it but my mom does. Looks brand new! Then, just last week, August 21-27 T.J. and I flew to California to visit Rocky De Jager. Rocky played football with T.J. @ Northwestern and was also an usher in our wedding. It was nice to take a trip just the two of us. He runs a Dairy with his family there. I have added pictures from all of these vacations! there is a lot of them:)

T.J. is still staying busy at the bank and is coaching Jr. Football again this fall. He was in a golf league all summer which he enjoyed. T.J. and I were both in a sand volleyball league all summer too which was a lot of fun. That is pretty much our year so far in a nut shell. Enjoy the pictures!

De Jong Camp out 2010

De Jong Family 2010
Kade loved the carousel
Kade and Caleb playing
T.J. and I gave Kade a bubble blower for his birthday and he thought it

was so funny to blow the bubbles at his face
He also enjoyed blowing the bubbles at peoples feet :)

California 2010

T.J. and Rocky in the rental car
This is a place at Pebble Beach called "Bird Rock" because of all the birds and sea lions and seals that hang out here all the time. Look closely it is covered with sea lions and seals.
The Golden Gate Bridge
Who's footprint in who's?
We took a ride on the Rocket Boat in San Fransisco
The baseball stadium view from the rocket boat
We ate at Bubba Gump for lunch in San Fransisco

The crab legs were delicious!
Alcatraz
Pier 39 in San Fransisco where all the sea lions and seals hang out
Yosemite National Park
A seal basking in the sun in Pebble Beach
Waterfall in Yosemite
T.J. and I climbed up some rocks and took this picture at Lover's Point
We went to Monterey, CA for a day and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
we watched this seal jump out of the water and land on the rock

Arizona 2010
The house we stayed in - kitchen

Living room

stairway - 2 bedrooms upstairs, 1 down and 3 bathrooms

T.J. and Scott playing pool. The back yard was fenced in

and had a private pool and hot tub which was nice to have

Miss Ava's first Valentines Day
We climbed Pinnacle Peak one day- great work out!

Hot air balloon ride!

Staying Warm

Hello!

I hope you are all staying warm as the weather once again is acting up. At the rate its going we will have snow around until July! I have the day off today and don't plan on going out to do anything except getting a few groceries and luckily thats just down the road.

Zoey is lonely today as Molly is at the vet, she got spayed this morning. I called to see how she was and they said the surgery went very well and she was busy sleeping it off. She also got a microchip put in like Zoey so if we ever lose her she can be identified and brought back home. Hopefully that won't happen though. She will stay there overnight so they can monitor her for infection and what not so it will be a little weird around here until tomorrow.

(I promise I'll have children someday and talk about them as much as I talk about my dogs now) :)

Just wanted to share a few pictures with everyone from the holidays...enjoy and stay warm!

Good Morning!

I hope you all have been enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having lately. I'm updating via email because the last time I attempted to add pictures to the blog it did not work.

As many of you know T.J. and I got another dog, her name is Molly. Molly is a Labradoodle just like Zoey and they love to play. I wasn't sure at first when T.J. sent me a picture of Molly on my cell phone and below it wrote "Can we get her?" My initial reaction was NO absolutely not! I don't want to got through the potty training, kenneling, getting up in the middle of the night to let her out etc all over again. Zoey had just gotten to the point where we did not kennel her up anymore when we left just let her run the house. Well, after a couple of days of convincing and finding out T.J. had been watching her add on keloland.com since she was born in June I gave in and said OK. We got molly on Sept. 13 and she was 14 weeks old at that time. We got her from South Dakota Labradoodles in Stratford (by Aberdeen), the breeder also raises horses. She told us she was basically potty trained and kennel trained already so that was a plus.....we thought. After about 2 weeks Molly was still having accidents and we found out she had a bladder infection, put her on antibiotics and she never had an accident again. I'm convinced she was potty trained already, the infection just didn't allow her to hold it and caused urgency and made her feel like she always had to go. All of my anxiety and doubts about getting another dog are long gone because it is so much fun. It's true what they say about having 2 dogs, the little one learns from the older one. For the first 3 weeks until we were sure Molly was potty trained she slept in the kennel and we did have to get up and let her out a few times during the night but every since she started sleeping in our room with us and Zoey they both sleep through the entire night. They wear each other out. Zoey is currently 45 lbs and 21-22 inches at the shoulders and Molly is 35 lbs and just a little shorter than Zoey. The breeder we got Molly from said their labradoodles typically get 60-70 lbs and around 27 inches at the shoulders! Sounds like Molly will be bigger than Zoey!

T.J. is done coaching JR football for the year and stays busy at work. His shoulder is feeling great and he has permission to golf in February when we go to Arizona with the Speer family! He is very excited for that, as am I. We are going to stay in a house Scottsdale, AZ for a week with Stan, Nancy, Scott, Lindsay and little Miss Ava. He has full range of motion and best of all NO PAIN!

Since T.J.'s surgery, for the past 10 weeks or so, we decided to buckle down and start eating healthier because our eating habits were a definite reflection of the numbers on the scale. We have been watching what we eat and counting calories (never thought I would stick with it that long) and staying away from the "crap" we typically eat. T.J. has lost 35 pounds! He looks great and feels great! I have not lost 35 pounds but am almost to my goal of 20 lbs. The website we use is called myfitnesspal.com. It's Free!

I have been staying busy with work also. We have not seen much of the H1N1 admitted to my floor but I'm sure the ER has seen their fair share. On my days off I usually have some homework to do :p I am currently taking a general Chemistry class online and I do not like it. I love the flexibility of taking classes online but teaching myself chemistry....Ugh. I have to take Organic Chemistry next semester so I'll just have to get over it I guess.

I hope this email finds you all healthy and happy! I am working Thanksgiving so I won't be around but I'll be shopping on black Friday so I'll see some of you then! Enjoy the Pics of Zoey and Molly:)

T.J. & Lisa

Miss Molly

Molly and Zoey in bed

Molly

Molly (left) and Zoey (right)

We are crazy

Introducing our newest addition.................Molly. She is a 15 week old Labradoodle.

Today we were up before the sun so we could make it to the hospital by 5:30 am. T.J. had shoulder surgery this morning to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Dr. Looby did the surgery and talked with me afterwards. Dr. said he repaired the torn labrum no problem and besides that his shoulder looked great. T.J. is resting in his recliner with an ice pack machine thing and a sling to keep his shoulder immobilized and I'm standing by to be his personal nurse.

The last week of July we went on the annual De Jong campout. This year we went to a campground in Ankeny, IA by Saylorville Lake. Mom and Dad did a great job of fixing up the camper we stayed in. It was a fun and relaxing weekend.

The next two weekends after the De Jong campout we went and stayed in a condo at Okoboji with the Speer side. That also was fun and relaxing. The girls did some laying out and shopping while the boys played golf and we all did a little boating.

Enjoy the pictures!

Our cute little camper. Thanks mom and dad!

Playing some Phase 10
By the dam at the lake
TJ and Davis playing bean bags

Kade man smiling at Uncle TJ at the restraunt

"ooooo" Kade liked the noise my bottle of ibuprophen made (no worries it was child proof)

"Hello?"
Kade giggling! He is so funny
Kade man just making noises :)

De Jong family picture

Ava Claire at Okoboji, got her to smile a little :)

Ava trying her hardest to make noises
the Speer kids