this Christmas

John and I just kept it simple this year on Christmas. Didn't really go anywhere, and didn't really have anyone  over. Just the two of us, with the dogs and the cat, at home, chillin'.

We had good food and beverages, of course.

And the dogs really liked their Christmas treats, too!





And yes my dogs make funny faces when they take their treats.

Hope everyone's having a wonderful holiday season!

doggie play date with schnitzel

Shaun and Daena brought Schnitzel to visit us and our dogs yesterday.

Schnitzel is a hyper, happy, and polite dog. I was glad our dogs were nice playing with him!


Schnitzel.

Shaun and Daena, with a-gui.

Yama says, "gimme the ball. pleeeease."

And I took a little video of them playing:



Everyone had a good time! We should totally have more of these play dates!

nuki is 12

Nuki.

Nuki is "unofficially" 12 today. We adopted him 10 years ago at the Spring Super Adoption. He was listed as 2 years old at the time. We figured we would make May his birth month.

Happy happy birthday Nuki!

And as of May 2011, Yama is 6 1/2 and a-gui is 1 1/2.



Yama.


a-gui.

a-gui wears a t-shirt

"Huh?!"


"Oh well."

I was cooking and a-gui came by my leg, and he kept wiggling and moving next to me. I looked down and saw he was wearing a t-shirt from Best Friends.

He looks pretty cute in the shirt but he didn't seem to enjoy wearing anything, so John helped taking it off pretty soon.

At least he wore the t-shirt long enough for me to snap a couple photos of him in the t-shirt. :D

a-gui's first birthday

a-gui turned a year old on the 5th!

OK it was probably not really his birthday, but when we adopted him on November 5th last year, he was about two months old, so we decided his birthday should have been September 5th.



I happened to have made the ribbon rose cake for my decorating class, so we pretended it was his birthday cake and tried to have him pose with it.

After a few attempts I had to put the cake right next to him before I could snap a better shot of both the cake and him. a-gui just had to take a little bite on the cake... hence the above picture! :D

I love a-gui!

forage and a-gui

It was my birthday yesterday, and for that John made a reservation at Forage!


It was a wonderful dinner. I shall blog about it later on. Chef/owner Viet Pham was phenomenal!

John and I had their tasting menu. It was so good.


My wonderful friends gave me nice presents and loves! This painting of A-gui is from Daena.

It was a lovely birthday. Thanks everyone!

behind the slightly-open kitchen door

John bought a dog nail filing trimmer and we used it on Nuki the other night.

Of course there were quite some treats (dehydrated duck tendor strips,) and me singing (!) to Nuki involved for him to lie down and stay almost still as requested by us.

I must say the nail trimmer worked quite well. At least we didn't have to worry about clipping the dogs' nail and accidentally draw a bit of their blood.

While we were trimming Nuki's nails in the kitchen, Yama and a-gui were asked to stay out of the area.

But they really wanted to come into the kitchen to see what's going on.


Yama said, "Please let me in, pleeeeeese!"


"No?"


"But I really want to see Nuki right now! Can my head fit through this?"


And a-gui said, "Oh oh oh allow me. I'm only about half your size. I may be able to go right through."

It'll be nice if they still want to come and stay in the kitchen when it's their turn to have their nails trimmed.

what has a-gui been doing?

"What has a-gui been doing?" you ask.

Some of you know a couple weeks ago he had a small puncture wound on his head that eventually made the left side of his head/face HUGE. The wound had been cured and he is all good now.

Then one night we found he might have a "cherry eye." I almost passed out when I saw him that night. John helped massage around his eyes, it went away, and we think he is OK.

Other than these couple of not-so-happy events, a-gui has been growing, playing (by himself, or with Nuki and Yama,) and being happy.

He also really likes to help around the caffe.


He likes to check out all the shelves, especially those behind cupboard doors.

He runs and sits down in front of any cupboard we open, and observes whatever was going on.


He also helps monitor John's espresso-machinese-cleaning and filter-changing process.


And most of the time he offers moral support (while lying down comfortably) when we are making coffee.

a-gui has been busy, you see.

holiday greenies

Part of the big box of Christmas presents for our pets from Joyce's sister Irene was two boxes of Greenies! One for small dogs and the other for big dogs.

I gave the box for small dogs to Joyce when Torsion was returned to her. Torsion is the only small dog after all!

I didn't open the box for big dogs until New Year's Day, and gave them to Nuki, Yama, and a-gui as a Happy New Year treat.


Keen-y on the Greenie!


"Umm... are you sure this is safe to eat?"


"Oh! A new treat! lick lick lick. nom nom nom."

The dogs loved the presents! Thanks again to Irene and Michael!

a-gui and torsion

After staying with us for about 6 months, Torsion is now home with his mom!

Almost two months ago we brought a-gui home. He was a tiny little guy, and quickly became friends with Torsion. I have been "documenting" how fast a-gui grows, and I have a few pictures of him and Torsion together to show how rapidly(!) a-gui is growing.


This was taken about a week after a-gui came to our home.

a-gui was about 3 months old, and not much "longer" than Torsion, but slightly taller.


This was taken about a month after a-gui came to our home.

a-gui was about 4 months old, and starting to show his long(er) legs.


This was taken about 10 days ago, where a-gui had been with us about a month and a half.

See how big a-gui has gotton?!

He officially doubled in size (weighted around Christmas) in less than two months!

I love puppies, and I love a-gui, even if he's going to grow into a giant, giant dog.

a-gui and the christmas tree

caffe d'bolla's Annual Angel Tree for Homeless Pets is up!

When a-gui came to the store with us this morning I tried to take a few pictures of him with the tree.


This was the only pic where a-gui sat (almost) still in front of the tree.


Most of the time he just wanted to push the ornaments with his nose, or bite them.


John tried to "guide" him to look at the camera with treats, but all I could take were fuzzy pictures.

I'll try again in a couple of days.

It's been about a month since we got a-gui, and yes, he has been growing quite a bit.

sadface and madelines

Long story short: I cleaned up a spilled latte on the floor and twisted my lower back.

Hence the sad face.


Both John and a-gui made sad faces for the camera.

I stayed at home yesterday because I couldn't move very well, and it looks like I'm going to do the same today. I can still make yummy drinks, but it'll probably take a lot of time for me to get around and make stuff. John's been working very hard at the caffe all by himself. I say you go and see him, get a drink, and keep him company.

On a happier note, not too long after I twisted my lower back, I was only slightly feeling the pain and awkwardness, and I tried to cheer myself up... I baked my first batch of madeleines!


They all had the little "bump" and all!

I might have filled each of the shells of the pan a bit too full, but I was happy there were "bumps" on my first madeleines.

Will stay at home for another day and get better.

ropey

a-gui has a toy that we call "Ropey."

Since we try to socialize a-gui as much as possible, we bring him to the caffe and hang out with us and our friends when we can.

And Ropey comes with a-gui all the time right now.


a-gui and Ropey.


"I've got you, Ropey!"


Mmmmm... Ropey legs. num num num.

a year

Naicha!

It's been a year! Not much has changed, but I guess you probably have heard there's a lovely little guy in the household:


A-Gui runnin'. I think Yama is chasing after him.

He likes running and playing, and chewing on lots of things... just like you!


Yama and Nuki are teaching A-Gui how to play!


and there's a friend Torsion visiting.

And you know it, the kitties are being kitties!

We love you!

something new and furry

What can it be?


Huh?!


It's a puppy!

We adopted him from the Salt Lake County Animal Services. He was carefully chosen for our family!



His name is A-Gui (pronounced "ahh-guay) and he is about 3 months old. He is a Chow Chow mix (possibly Shepard). He's a happy and mellow guy... sort of like Nuki! We know he is a great addition to our "pack."

His favorite thing to do so far since he came to our family (11/05/09) has been to follow us around, and walk under, or snuggle by Nuki's belly. He also really likes to take naps on Nuki's foot.



I love A-Gui!