My Buddy Wilbur

This is my best buddy Wilbur the Basset Hound. Wilbur lives near my house and we love to play together.

The first time I met Wilbur I gave him lots of kisses. Look at how small I was in this picture!

Here I am peeking over the top of Wilbur's back...

Come on Wilbur, play with me!

Wilbur is a real champ when it comes to giving his mom the "please may I have a treat?" face.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if Wilbur is happy or sad. I think he was happy in this picture... what do you think? Happy or sad?

Oh, in case you were wondering... Wilbur's humongous ears are incredibly soft. (I like to bite them!) I hope you enjoyed meeting Wilbur!

Please Mom?

Can I play outside just a little bit longer?

My Cousin Pele

My mom got an email this morning from her brother in Texas. He wanted to tell her about my cousin Pele graduating from Obedience School! Pele is the handsome black lab on the left side of the picture... the cute fluffy pup on the right side of the picture is his girlfriend Rooney. I don't know who the nice lady is... it must be Rooney's mom! My mommy's brother says that Pele will begin Phase 2 of his training at the end of the month. If he can complete Phase 2 then he'll go on to Phase 3. After Phase 3 he can take a state certification test so that he can become a full-fledged service dog! How exciting is that? (I know the pictures are grainy but that's how my mom got them in her email... sorry!)

What's really neat about this story is that Pele was found on the streets of New Orleans by my mom's niece (Shannon). Shannon managed to track down Pele's owner and his owner told Shannon that he didn't want Pele anymore. He asked Shannon if she wanted to keep Pele... if she didn't take Pele then Pele would have to go to the animal shelter. Shannon agreed to take Pele but there was one problem. Shannon is a college student and between classes and work she didn't have much time to spend with Pele. So she did what any college student would do... she called her mom and dad for advice. Shannon's mom and dad agreed to foster Pele until Shannon graduates in May. Pele made the trip from New Orleans to Texas during Spring Break of last year and he immediately made himself at home with Shannon's mom and dad. Here's a picture of Pele with my mom's brother.

We think it's pretty amazing that Pele went from wandering around the streets of New Orleans to starting a new life as a service dog. Congratulations Pele!

Love, Your Cousin Trooper

Snowshoe Adventure ~ January 6, 2009

Yesterday my dad brought home these big ol' clown shoes. He says they're not clown shoes... they're snow shoes. Can you see the spikes on the bottom of the shoes? The spikes make it easier for my dad to walk on the ice and snow. (You can click on the photos to make them bigger.)

Here's my dad practicing his snowshoeing in the backyard. (I think this means we're going to go hiking soon!) I discovered a really fun way to annoy my dad... if I step on the back of his snowshoe it causes him to fall down! I thought it was funny but my dad wasn't laughing. He's such a stick-in-the-mud sometimes.

This morning my dad and I drove out to one of our favorite hiking spots so he could try out his snowshoes. Here I am looking at all of the places I'll get to explore!

Oh boy, we found a stream! Now I can get a drink of water...

Hey dad! The bank of the stream is kind of steep... I don't want to fall in!

I carefully crept down to the stream and got a nice drink of water. Brrrr... the water was cold!

My dad and I stopped for a short rest before heading home. I hope we can go hiking again next week! Love, Trooper

Trooper's Smilebox!

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My little pup is growing up!

As we begin a new year I thought it would be fun to show you how much Trooper has grown over the past few months. I took this picture on the day we brought him home when he was only twelve weeks old.

Here's Trooper at ten months old.

It's hard to believe that he was ever this small!

Now he weighs 60 lbs. and he's still growing!

Trooper was four months old in this picture.

My big handsome boy...

More proof that my Mommy has way too much time on her hands...

My mom and dad had to go to a place called the D-M-V a few days ago so my dad could renew his driver's license. I don't know what D-M-V stands for but I think it must be like the V-E-T because my mom and dad sure dread going there. My mom says that when you go to the D-M-V, they make you fill out a bunch of forms and then you have to stand in a long line for what seems like hours. When you get to the front of the line they take a horrible, scary picture of you... (trust me, my mom's driver's license picture made my ears stick straight up in the air and they haven't come down yet!) Here's a fake "barking license" that my mom made up for me... I think someone needs to tell my mommy to get a life!


After my mom and dad left the D-M-V, they went to one of my mom's favorite stores TAR-JAY! My mom bought this squeaky lobster for me. She also thought it would be HILARIOUS to put it on my head and take a picture of me. (NOT funny mom! Grrr!)


Hey Mom! Put down the camera and save me from this ferocious lobster!!!

My dad says that the claws are his favorite part of the lobster. I don't know why... if you ask me they're kind of chewy!

Nom, nom, nom... I think I've finally wrestled the lobster into submission...

You're safe Mommy... I chewed off the lobster's claw. He can't pinch you now!