Our New Baby

We have a new baby in our house now. He was born July 3, 2012. Rachel was celebrating her 10th birthday and Philip and I finally decided to give in for her desire for a puppy. Rachel and I had seen a cute very black schnauzer at PetSmart the other week and so I thought I would just see how much the going rate for one was on line. I looked and thought no we really did not need one. I even looked at some schnauzer rescue sights and told Philip I had looked but again I thought no it will not happen. Then one day Philip called and said "I found one at a good price" and I said "What?" not knowing he was looking on line and then he told me a dog. We had decided not to tell Rachel and just go look at them and surprise her if we came home with one. As all things worked out she ended up going with us and we came home with Max. He came to live with us on September 22.

Rachel looking at Max and his brother and sister. Still not knowing we were buying one.  We had to ask her if she wanted one. Of course she said "Yes"

The white one is the female and the other two are the males. They were all cute but Philip and Rachel picked Max.

Max trying out his new bed. We know he will grow into it real fast.

Max and Daddy bonding already. He likes to follow Philip the most so far.

Our neighbors have four older dogs that are bigger then Max and he already likes to play with them and have fun.

Max sleeping funny in his new bed. He is very close to housebroken already. He is starting to try to chew things but not bad. He is a cutie. 

August Update

Grandma, Grandpa and Rachel at her breakfast out before school starts. We started this tradition the first year Rachel went to school and have kept this up. It celebrates the beginning of school. She likes it because she can invite who she wants and she decides where we go. This year it was Golden Coral since they have a chocolate fountain.

My grown up girl on her first day of fifth grade.

Our first home football game. We are still undefeated at this point. Go SJCA!

Another first day of school picture.

Vegas Trip

A few weeks after our cruise Aunt Kathy and Aunt Lizzie wanted Rachel to come visit in Las Vegas so Rachel and I flew out to visit for a week.

One place we always enjoy visiting is the Belligeo hotel. We love to see the flower gardens and the dancing water out front. The bees are made out of flowers. They were huge!

This frog was pretty cool. Lizzie said she thought of Mike because he did not like frogs. I forgot that at the time.The lady bugs had a sign saying that each one had over 400 carnations. I am glad I don't pay the bill to have all the creations made. 

Kathy took a picture of Rachel, Lizzie and I in the gardens.(Notice how tall Rachel is getting)

This was so cool. If you look at the little black dot on the screen, that is a man changing light bulbs. This made people stop and stare as he did his job. At times it looked like he was going to be eaten by the big clown fish that was on the screen. We later noticed a man across the street with a computer and telescope telling the guy changing the bulbs which ones needed to be changed.

The fourth of July was Lizzie's birthday so we went to the Stratosphere for lunch. This was cool because the dining room turns while you eat and you get to see Las Vegas from "The Top of the World".

I never thought I would be able to get use to few trees and little grass but this is what we saw each morning from Kathy and Paul's house. I may get use to this mountain area. They are pretty different times of the day.

Saturday we went out to breakfast and this is what Rachel's looked like. Afterwards we went and had pedicures. Rachel is showing me her  BRIGHT orange polish. ( I think it glowed in the dark). No not really but it was very bright!

Canada Pictures

Our Last Port Was Victoria, Canada

We had not been to Canada as a family. This was Rachel's first time ever there so she was excited to visit another new country.

This was a very pretty flower  we saw everywhere. I don't know for sure what it is called.

Any of you who know me know I have had two schnauzers in my life time so of course I was on the look out for one to give some loving to.

Philip and I had a good time walking the streets and looking at the different styles of houses. Rachel had fun looking at all the dogs along  the way.

One of the tour buses we saw along the way. This was our shortest stops but we still had a great time.Then we headed home.

Alaska Part 1

I just noticed that I had gotten Alaska Part one ready but never posted it. What a goof up I am. Sorry this should have been the first post. I hope you still enjoy the pictures.

Here we are at our first dinner on the boat. It is always fun to see how each boat is laid out and find the places you want to go the first day.

One of many snow covered mountains we would see. This cruise we saw more land while on the boat then we have on any other cruise. I was amazed at how green everything was . I was told that is because the snow is beginning  to melt and of course that waters everything. I was told this is the best time of the year to go to Alaska.

Seeing nature was the best part of the cruise. Seeing the snow and the mountains.

This is one of many glaziers we saw from the boat. It was neat to see how blue they looked. I never heard what caused that.

I love this picture because it shows the size of some of the glaziers compared to the boat in the foreground.

Our ship in dock at Skagway, Alaska. This was our first stop.

We went on a train ride up into the mountains and then came down and did some mining for gold. This was an area were gold was found years ago. No one struck it rich. Lizzie and Rachel working hard to find their gold flakes.

I thought this was neat. It was used to keep the railways clear of snow. You would definitely need that in the winter. It was very pretty here but I wouldn't want to live here in the winter. Talk about cabin fever.

Alaska 3

We found these cute. Puffins are the bird pictured and this was a real cute way to tell people no smoking in the ladies restroom. 

You have to look close to see Rachel's face in this picture of the duck we rode around town and then into the water.

These houses and businesses are on stilts so they do not flood when the water below rises. Pretty smart idea!

One of many, many eagles we saw on our travels.

The "duck" in which we traveled through town.

Mom and Dad Hoyt relaxing before dinner.

Rachel with Grandma and Grandpa.

Our wonderful wait staff. They were awesome!!!

Wow! 20 Years

This was July 18,1992

We look so young in that picture. It is hard to believe that Philip and I are celebrating 20 years married today. Time flies when you are having fun. Believe me that is not to say that it has been all fun. It has been work but it has been so worth it. I have been thinking of all God's blessings over those years. We have been blessed with Rachel, good health, a roof over our heads, and food on our table. God has helped us through 7 moves,  relatives passing away, 1 surgery, the birth of Rachel, finding good bible churches each move, providing jobs for each of us and many other things that would take me pages to lists. God has blessed me so much with a God honoring man to share my life. What more could I ask for?

 This is us now

Thank you God for all your blessing and I am praying we will spend many, many more years together!