Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Maya's Cross-Country Christmas, Callie's Gig at Grandma's and Destinee's Vacation...

Man has Destinee had an easy life since the beginning of December! Finals kicked in and Christmas took us away from home so I think she was only 'worked' a couple times all month! (there were more visits with treats though!) She'll go back to working semi-hard once we return home. And - Dave continued to spoil us by getting me new stirrups and stirrup leathers for Christmas! I'm itching to try them out, just as I'm sure she's itching to move on to learning new things! Repetition gets boring fast!


Grandma offered to watch Callie while we're gone, so I'm sure she's enjoying the basement apartment that she gets there as long as she helps Grandpa keep the shelves dusted. =)

Maya has had the most eventful month (comparatively!). Her stocking was full of amazing toys - including a kong ball that we filled with peanut butter (entertainment for a looong time). The best reaction by far though was to her new bone. Since we don't let Maya outside with bones she resorted to hiding her bone under the tree! She pranced around the house and then casually went to the window behind the tree, looked out, stretched behind some presents and miraculously appeared without a bone! Later there was another ssstttrrreeech behind the tree and voila! The bone appeared in her mouth! She had us tricked for sure! *wink*

We drove up to Wensleydale Farms for Christmas which meant over a day of being able to rough house with the boys and run like crazy before the extended family came up. Then, there was all the kids to follow and lick! Daniel began the day begging to have Maya removed from the house, but by lunch he was chasing her around trying to 'fight' her. The two girls followed Seamus singing a theme song they created just for him - I'm not sure but I think he looked more 'super' than ever before. By the end of the day the kids were exhausted, Seamus was burrowing his head behind my mom looking for a place to hide and Maya was crashing quickly. All evidence of a great day at the farm!

The next day brought a 12 hour car ride out to Pennsylvania to visit the Heaths. Maya started the ride in her spot behind the passenger seat but once semi's started to appear, she quickly became distraught. A little before Chicago, we moved her to the area by my feet where she sought comfort and love while battling the drooling and shaking that accompanied the presence of semi-trucks.
A more pathetic creature it would be hard to find! Thankfully, Chicago came to an end and with it came the low traffic and almost non-existence of semis. Maya curled up at Dave's feet while I drove and she slept Indiana and then most of Ohio away. Towards the end of the trip, Maya discovered another monster of the road - rumble strips! They appeared before an exit toll to tell drivers to slow down and again on a curvy road. Those sent her flying into my lap and attempting to crush me with her frantic movements. Thankfully, Dave bested the monsters and we made it safely to his parent's.

Mom let us borrow the pop up kennel for our time in PA, which is great! It's a little less inescapable though.... Maya discovered how to get out of it sometime last night and Dave woke up to a puppy nudging at his legs. I knew there was a reason we switched sides of the bed last night! =) Today the boys played football while Maya ran in circles trying to wear herself out. This face explains all her pent up energy!
Then Maya became all time defense in the football game and even though sometimes she'd join the offense's huddles, she never told the defense what play was about to occur. 


I'm sure you agree, her defensive prowess is what prevented this catch.



Overall, she's having a great time and is resting up for the next round of football!