Happy Holidays!

We're finally back from our Christmas trip north. I'm adding some pictures without any explanations because there's no time right now.

Merry Christmas!

Some of Melissa's 300+ cookies ... we were up until almost 5am the Friday before we left. Needless to say we were late getting on the road Saturday.

JMac's new 'rappin' cookie jar. Don't ask!

Uncle Kent personalizing Beckhams crate ... looks fantastic! Thanks very much buddy!

Uncle Greg trying one of Beckhams treats ... not the 'Turkey & Cranberry' taste he was expecting:

My father-in-law's new puppies!

Deep fried Turkey with Melissa's Dad ... this was heading out the door with them, so we only got a sniff.

JMac & BMac comparing mohawks.

Christmas at Gramma's ... Aside from a really ugly shirt - not a bad picture!

Shooting some bottle caps:

B's first Christmas was a BIG ONE! ...care of Uncle Greg:

Happy 30th Birthday MMac!

Welcome to the beginning of the end. Glad I'm not alone anymore.

Just remember, 40 is just around the corner!


(Cake looks pretty gross eh? Care of GOOGLE IMAGES, so you don't really have to have any of it.)

Mmmm ... COOKIES!

"Take the parchment paper..."

"Wait, the WHAT?"

"The PARCHMENT PAPER."

"Why don't you just say WAX paper?!"

"Well, because it's NOT."

"It looks like wax paper ... how am I suppose to know this stuff?!?!"

Anyway, Melissa was up to no good yesterday afternoon baking well over 100 cookies. I didn't realize this, but in some cultures the term CHRISTMAS is synonymous with FAT CITY.

You can't eat just one ... they're awesome babe! Can I have the key for the rest?

Leash Free

Sunday was such a nice day, we brought Beckham to the LEASH FREE for the first time. Unfortunately we're still working on the TRUST factor, so he was the only dog actually on a leash. As far as I could tell, no other dog was making fun of him. My DOGLISH knowledge is still quite limited though.

The amount of dogs roaming free was almost overwhelming but there was absolutely no aggression whatsoever. The majority of the dogs were much larger than B, but were very friendly and gentle with him.

He almost got eaten, playfully of course, by 5 month old Cinder - a Great Dane. Age wise, they're the same. Size, well, there's a slight difference there.

It was a blast for all of us. I can't wait until he can actually go SANS LEASH!

MMac & Jacqui's Christmas Party

Always cleverly disguised as a Christmas party, MMac's BIRTHDAY PARTY is always something to look forward to at this time of year.


Saturday night Melissa and I called my Old Man for some doggie sitting duties while we headed down town for a night of finger food, cocktails, and lots of laughs.

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Cherry Eye?

Well the weekend got of to a bit of a scary start with Beckham. Melissa called me at work freaking out Friday evening saying that B had a very large lump on his eyeball. Immediately we made an emergency phone call to his vet (whom provided us with his personal after hours number for situations like this). Well, he was off duty.

Our next move was to call friends for some advice and they suggested we look up a 24 hour animal hospital in our area (I had no idea these existed). After calling around, Melissa got an appointment and I raced home from work and we shuttled him over to the Royal York Animal Hospital (http://www.ryah.ca). From the very start they were fantastic.

Once the doctor looked at him he confirmed that Beckham had CHERRY EYE and it wasn't really that big of a deal.

The medical term for 'cherry eye' is nictitans gland prolapse, or prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid. Unlike people, dogs have a 'third eyelid' that contains a tear gland and is located in the corner of each eye. Under normal circumstances, this gland is not visible and aids in the production of tears. For some reason, which is not completely understood, the gland of the third eyelid prolapses or comes out of its normal position and swells creating the condition known as cherry eye.

Very quickly he corrected the problem and explained the condition to us. Needless to say, we were extremely relieved. We were very happy with the treatment we all received and will likely be using them in the future for his regular vet visits.

Whew! Thanks Deb, LA & Darrin for all the help!!

Christmas Countdown

Snoozin'

Here's a shot of BMac snoozin on the couch this morning. He was getting rested up for week 3 of his puppy school.

Santa Came Early!

We've just upgraded from a 27" Sony standard TV to a 51" HDTV. High Definition is a thing of beauty! My XBox 360 looks AMAZING on this bad boy.

We've been busy with Beckham since he's started his 'puppy school' a week ago. He's in a class with 9 other dogs and they're basically training us to train them. I thought it would be a bit of a drag going there for 7 weeks but it's really something to look forward to. The class is fun and informative and the 'teacher' is great.

After just one class and less than 24 hours later, he's already doing his SIT, lay DOWN, and STAND by hand movements alone.

As expected, week 2 brought on a whole new level of difficulty but he's a very quick learner so there's no frustration level whatsoever. I'm amazed at just how clever he is ... perhaps I didn't give him enough credit.

A few weeks back Melissa and I headed out to Darrin & Lori-Ann's for a night of UFC, BBQ ribs, and LA's patented home made baked 'goods'. Everything turned out perfect - the food was brilliant as usual and the UFC event didn't disappoint.

Next time you guys are coming here now that we have a real TV. I'll also cook you some of my favorite seafood: sprats & sardines!!! Gourmet!