Flutes

These are flutes in the Coconino Sandstone in our Off Leash Canyon.  They make great water holes for the dogs to get a drink from.  These pics are from a hike Astro and I went on in October. 

Astro was ready to go!

This tree fell sometime during the summer and makes for a grand new log walk.  So you all know, Astro eats as much as he would like.  He's just in his skinny teenage stage, please don't report me to the authorities.  ;-) 

Admiring the fall colors.

UnPack Hike

Astro and I went on a hike with our Pack Dog group late this summer and I'm just now posting the pictures.  Oops.  I still haven't had Astro do much hiking with a pack, so this was an unpack hike for him.  All the other dogs were so jealous.  ;-)

Our hike was on Labor Day weekend and took us up part of Mormon Mountain.  Astro actually stayed on leash for most of the hike, but he did get to go free for a while in the middle and he had a great time.  For some reason people always seem to stop and watch our group as we go by, I can't imagine why.  ;-)

You can see our group has quite an assortment of dogs that go along.  Kenda, the Bearded Collie on the left, actually got a long skinny stick/splinter under skin on her leg sometime that weekend.  It wasn't discovered until about a week later though when she started limping.  Her mom thought it was a muscle problem and found it while giving her a massage.  Luckily that's the most serious injury any of the dogs have ever had on our hikes.

This is the grand view out towards Mormon Lake.  This is all covered in snow now.  Oh, how we wish it was still summer.

Pablo in a Box

Shutterfly

Puter playing in the paper last Christmas.

 A couple weeks ago I read this post over at Tales and Tails about Christmas cards.  It's about Shutterfly's Holiday cards and an opportunity to get 25 free cards.  I'm not really a Christmas card sending type of person.  I am usually not that organized and motivated to send out cards.  But, even before I read the post I had decided that I wanted send out picture cards this year and was wondering how I would go about doing it.  I always love getting cards from my friends and family, and I really like all of the photo cards I get of friends with their furry family members.  So why shouldn't I send out one too?  I think part of the reason I wanted to send out cards this year is because it was a very hard year almost losing Zephyr.  I know there are still challenges ahead for Zephyr and me, but I am so very thankful that he is here and doing so well.  

I can't wait to see the boys tearing up paper again this year.

So, we are giving it a try.  :-)  Actually, one of the reasons I wanted to take Zephyr and Astro on our Sunday Trip was to try and get a picture for a card.  I think I was successful, I certainly made them pose enough, but I'm not sharing the photo yet.  :-) 

Shutterfly has tons of cards to choose from.  It's going to be hard to decide on a design, but I think I want one that can have a few pictures on it.  They also have gifts and I have always wanted a picture mug so I might have to get one of those too.  For a person who has thousands of pictures and a blog full of pictures I'm a little embarrassed that I haven't done this yet.  Thanks to Tales and Tails for letting us know about this and to Shutterfly for letting us in on the promotion!

If you want to give the Shutterfly promotion a try here is the link  to register. 

Sunday Trip

The Sunday after Astro and I hiked I took both boys back out to the fall colors.  It was a big day for Zephyr, we went on a few short walks, they posed for many pictures, and we were out for most of the day. 

Zephyr was really happy to be out and was full of energy.  They broke out in this type of wrestling many times.  I just have to keep the leashes out of the way.  Zephyr's skin is really thin and it gets scraped, cut, and bruised easily because of his treatment.  And, it takes longer to heal, so I don't let him get too rowdy.

I got good news last week.  Zephyr's liver function has improved.  It's not normal yet, but he's still taking a small amount of phenobarbital.  He should be off it by Friday and that will continue to help his liver.  The neurologist also gave the okay to reduce his procarbazine (chemo med.) to every other day.  That should help his liver too.  It will also start bringing his immune system back to normal.  I just hope it doesn't also bring the encephalitis back.  His white blood cell count was a little lower which is probably due to the procarbazine.  That should improve as he goes to every other day.  She told me to take it easy with him and not over do it though.  As a result Zephyr (and all the others) has had to have fresh cooked beef added to his meals.  Poor puppy.  ;-)

I was brave and let them both off leash at the same time and let them run.  They were really good, no crazy zooming.  I let them run into the trees in the distance and then called them back a couple times.

The highest peak in the back is Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in Arizona.  The high point on the Bear Jaw - Abeneau hike is below Humphrey's to the left in the canyon.

We also walked a little on the Arizona trail.  It's a trail that goes throughout Arizona. 

It was so nice to be out with both Zephyr and Astro for the day.  It's been so long and he was so happy.  We stayed off the popular trails and had some nice quiet walks.

While I was trying to get timed photos Zephyr decided to lay down an roll in the grass.  Happy boy!

Astro joined him.

This is the best that I got for a family portrait.  I'm sure Zephyr and Astro think I'm nuts.