Beatrice's 3rd Bday and Kelli's 3rd Gotcha Day

Funny that Beatrice's 3rd Birthday, and Kelli's 3rd Gotcha Day happen to be the same day. So of course, they got extra goodies with their dinner.
Nom Nom Nom. They made quick work of it.
After dinner flossing with an elk antler.
Then some relaxing on the couch with a full belly.
Kelli says Roaching is her favorite position.

Beatrice says, let me show you how to do it. Tripaw Style.

Stanley Turns 14

Despite a few recent health scares, Stanley has managed to reach his 14th birthday. 
He no longer stands at his bowl to eat. We feed him wherever he is laying down. Usually in our bed. And though a bit wobbly, he can still go out to the yard by himself. He is still a Master Roacher. Beatrice is doing her impression.
On a sad note, on the same day as Stan's bday, Lynne let Dip go. She was only a few months younger than Stan. I will miss hearing about her ruling with an Iron Paw.

Kelli Sharing Her Bed

Kelli is a bit of a bed hog. This is how she sees herself. Whole bed to herself.
But sometimes, you have to learn to share. Stella doesn't take up much space.
Working her way up to Diego, the Whippet.
Graduated with Sassy.

Easter Parade

It was a drizzly day, but we took the girls to the Easter Parade on Monument Ave. We left Stan at home, as he wouldn't have been able to walk for that long.
As soon as we got there, Jenny met some of her hairier cousins.
There were all variety of dogs dressed up for the parade.
The Ms. Preteen pageant winner was handing out biscuits to all the doggies.
Little kids couldn't help but want to pet the girls.
Meeting their first greyhound on our way to the James River Greyhound tent. 
Jenny introduces herself to a Great Dane.
People seemed to love taking pics of them themselves with the girls.
We finally reached the JRG tent. Tired, but ready for some meetin' and greetin'.
Ok, enough of that. Stinkeye translates to: Daddy, I'm ready to go home now. 
Relaxing on the deck after a fun day out. 

Beatrice's First Snow

As many of you know, we had a crazy snow storm this past weekend. We were well stocked with food and drink (people and dogs), so we just hunkered down and caught up on the DVR.
I also had to make sure the bird feeders were full. I was refilling 2-3x a day.

Can you see the cardinal in the Holly tree?

Oh, there he is.

Beatrice wasn't sure what the snow was. But she wasn't afraid to find out.

The others weren't so interested. I'm just gonna go potty right here. That's ok, right? 

What is the sound of One Paw Running?

Every greyhound running has the crazy face at some point. 

Throwing the bunny around got her to do some zoomies.

She has a bouncy running style, and was chest deep in certain parts of the yard. Greyhounds have very flexible backs.

As they were going back in, something caught the girls' attentions. Kelli has her ears back, Bea has her ears forward, and Abby has her ears up.

P.S. I haven't been blogging or reading/commenting on other people's blogs. I will try and be better about both.

Jenny Turns Lucky 13

A couple of weeks ago, Jenny celebrated her 13th birthday. It was like most other days for her, except for a more lavish dinner.

Pre-dinner, she rested up for the big meal. Love her cute Frontal ETS.
I decided to smoke a chicken And grill steaks this time. Turf and Turf. The kids were more than happy to chow down on the combo. Actually, I'm not sure that any of them really chewed.
Post-meal, Jenny had to sleep it off next to the fireplace. 
She's a Sweet Ol' Lady.

Farewell Parker, Hello Beatrice

Not the best way to return to the blogosphere after a little hiatus.

It is odd to follow up a Sweet 16 post with sad news. We let Parker go the other weekend. Right after his birthday, his kidneys started to fail. We were able to have his kidneys flushed once, and that gave us an extra 6 weeks or so. We appreciated every extra day we had with him. 

Kris had gotten him when he was just 8 weeks old. And he lived a long and healthy life. We couldn’t ask for more. It is weird not having a non-greyhound around. 

Parker was such a good boy.  He could curl up into a little ball when he wanted to.

He was our original guard dog. Always looking for something to bark at.

He had an underbite and bowed legs, and that made him all the cuter.

He loved playing in the snow, and it made for such contrasty pictures against his black coat.

Whenever we went on road trips, the greys were relegated to the back, but Parker always got to sit up in front in the passenger seat lap, and had a great view.

He did everything with us. We never left him out of greyhound events. Whether is was just our guys, like this trip to Asheville. He was always the most energetic out of the bunch. Sadly, only Stanley is still with us from this picture.

Or Christmas parades.

Or St. Patrick's Day parades.

And always a gracious host, and willing to share his house with others. 

Stand tall Parker.

Hope you're catching some rays.

And playing Bitey Face with Jaime.

Say Hi to Stella, for us. 

Run Free, sweet little Parker Dog.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I'd like to introduce the newest member of the family. Miss Beatrice. I'm glad she was able to overlap, and meet Parker.  She retired before she was two years old. From a track injury that required amputation of a front leg.

It didn't take her long to figure out the bed was a great place for hoarding toys.

And in the spirit of Parker, she likes to lay on the deck and watch for things to bark at. Luckily, there are only three houses past our's, so not much traffic.

She likes to lay with her one front leg like this.

As a youngster, she has loads of energy, so we took her on walks to wear her out. Jenny could keep up on the walks. But Bea recovered by the time she got back home. 

She did not try her doggie paddle skills at the river.

When she is still being busy after everyone else has settled down for a nap, putting her in my lap seems to calm her down. Hence her nickname, Busy Bea. 

As you can see, she fits right in at our house.