I officially love Texas

Texas is so fun because it has these things called ranches. We got to go to one this past weekend and it was WONDERFUL! I didn't know what I was in store for when we drove in the car to the "ranch" but when we got to the gate, I couldn't contain myself, and I jumped out the 1/2 open window, circumnavigated the car two times and jumped back in the 1/2 open window. When Mom finally got the gate open, we drove for a little while and I was so excited becuase there was so much to explore. When we finally stopped, I busted out of the car and ran around the big grassy area as long as I could. Then I saw my friend Dave and ran some more. Laz and I got to explore and play with our tennis ball. Dad took us down to the Blanco river and I was the first in! It was pretty shallow where I was and I splashed around. Lazie swam too. Then we got to play some more and eat bites of steak from Dad under the table. I did get a little startled at these flying light things - mom and dad called fireflys. I barked at some kyakers and then we all watched a movie. I snuggled with my new friend Dave and snored during the movie. I LOVE TEXAS!

Moses

I love chicken

Hi - Lazie here. I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell everyone how much I love chicken. I think I get it from my human dad because he loves chicken too. One night he cooked this huge plate of chicken. I was so excited. I couldn't figure out why we weren't eating it though... hmm... instead mom and dad took these pictures. One is of Moses who laid down as flat as he could to get a piece of chicken (he likes it too). Dad cut of the chicken and put it into a big bowl and he made some soup. I LOVE CHICKEN SOUP! I love the chicken, the noodles, and the broth. In the picture, you can see my new silver rabies tag. I had such a good time at the vet when I got my updated vaccinations.

I have been enjoying our morning walks a lot lately. More people have been out lately, and I love seeing Jennifer, Ed (who once thought my name was Lucifer), Ellen and Jack, and even my friend Jim from Gruene UMC stopped to say hi in his red pick-up. I have so many friends in the neighborhood. I wish I could go to the HOA meeting tonight, but Mom said that dogs couldn't come.

Your pal,

Laz

More Pawverbs

We had Pawverbs last night, (now on Wednesday at 7:00pm) and we snapped a few pictures. The first is Topo and Jason
The second and third are me with treats and sitting dogs...

We all had a good time. We love our dogs so much!

Julie

10 People who Should be Fired

Every once in a while, I feel the need to rant. So here is a top 10 list of people I feel should be fired for complete incompetence.

10. Matt Lauer, NBC Today Show, the dumbest pompous ass on television
9. Mike D'Antoni, Coach for the Phoenix Suns, While I am very glad the Spurs beat the Suns in the 2007 playoffs, this guy got so badly out coached it was painful. The Suns had more depth, more talent, and the home court advantage, but he refused to take any blame. Rather he whined about foul calls and the officiating. You can't trust a guy with a mustache like that.
8. Hillary Clinton, Senator from NY, leave it to New Yorkers to elect this weasel who will say anything to get elected. Just say you screwed up for voting for the Iraq War and blame yourself for being an idiot. A person with a backbone would resign, but she is running now for higher office?
7. Steve Javie, NBA Referee, this guy loses control of almost every game he calls and once called a technical foul on the Washington Bullets announcers.
6. Bill O'Reilly, Fox News, a complete liar who desires to scare and threaten people rather than explain what good is happening. Everyone who disagrees with neo-conservative rhetoric is not a terrorist!
5. Sheriff Ralph Lopez, Bexar County Texas, the sheriff's department continually screws up traffic flow into Spurs games and he has sought advice from Joe Arpaio who is a crazy law enforcement official in Phoenix-- enough said.
4. Pat O'Brien, The Insider, I have to see this ugly stiff every time I fall asleep with the TV on and wake to his annoying voice shouting about Paris Hilton or Tom Cruise. How can he survive that phone message?
3. Bob Costas, "Sports" Dope on NBC, he is the most pompous ass on sports programming. He thinks he knows everything about baseball but only knows crap about New York teams that no one outside the tri-state area cares about. He ruins every broadcast with his tight head shots and lackluster commentary.
2. Devon Hansen, Department of Geography Univ. of North Dakota, she is hopefully the most unprofessional and incompetent person I ever have to work with.
1. George W. Bush, President of the USA, where to begin> oil profits for his buddies, the Iraq War, mishandling response to terrorism, growing gap between rich and poor, and increasing environmental degradation. Bush couldn't find a clue with a telescope. He is simply the pretty boy numb nuts Cheney and the neo-conservatives hide behind in their sinister plot to spread evil and unfettered capitalism around the world. He will go down as the worst president in American history.

Kevin

Taco Cabana - my new favorite place

Sunday, Kevin took me to Taco Cabana to eat for Mother's Day. I had chicken flautas (all white meat) and they were WONDERFUL! We went there again to day for lunch and this time I had the roterisserie chicken with tortillas. Again, it was Fabulous! Kevin has enjoyed a Cabanarita each time we have gone and also liked the chicken and beef fajitas. YUMMY! Therefore, Taco Cabana is my new favorite place.

Sincerely,
Julie

Happy Mother's Day

We had a wonderful Mother's Day here in New Braunfels. Lazarus took me to Dairy Queen for Mother's Day. I had a chocolate dipped strawberry blizzard. Kevin had a vanilla cone and Laz and Moses had a Strawberry Sundae with whipped cream and nuts. A good time was had by all! Moses replaced a piece of clothing he ruined earlier for Mother's Day, so I was very happy about that as well.

On Friday night we had a great time at the Spur's game! It was exciting and we even spotted Eva Longoria.

Julie

Mosi, the Spurs Fan

Moses can be so silly. Even though he really has little interest in watching sports (he prefers his perch and watching for people, deer, etc) he has Spurs fever. After Kelly and Dad went to Game 5 when the Spurs eliminated the Nuggets, Dad gave Mom the silver and black pom-pom they gave him as he entered the arena. Mom was happy with it, and she put it on the kitchen shelf. The next day, Moses had gotten to it and began systematically chewing the plastic off of the pom-pom. Dad found him before the toy was destroyed, but this picture shows the guilty party. Speaking of party, my birthday is coming up in a little more than 2 months!

Your pal,

Laz

Rangers defeat the Blue Jays

Julie and I drove to Arlington, Texas yesterday to watch the game between the Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays. We had a great time at the game, and had excellent seats along the first base line. Julie gave the 1st base umpire a hard time a few times and heckled Brad Wilkerson who stinks, and I was able to take a few pictures of the Rangers dugout and important Ranger players and manager Ron Washington who we both admire. One of the best parts of the game was at the end, they announced that ALL FANS were able to run the bases after the crowd dispersed. Julie showed off her jets as she nearly took out a stooge posing at home plate, and I was able to pass slower traffic running the bases the proper way in the shape of bananas. Sarah came over in the afternoon to let the boys out, and we got home in the evening. The Rangers won the game 3-2 on Michael Young's 8th inning home run and Aki Otsuka came in for the 9th inning to close it out. Julie also wanted me to mention that she picked both Rangers who homered in the game (Young and Texiera) in our "picks to click" as we drove up I-35.
The photos show: Sammy Sosa in the dugout, Frank Thomas (Toronto) on 1st base after a single chatting with Mark Texeira, and manager Ron Washington on the mound making a pitching change.

New phone and holder

I am so excited because Dad has two new chew toys. One is a flippy thing that Mom's voice sometimes comes out of. The other one smells like a cow and attaches to his belt. He is super protective of them, but I keep vigilant watch on them to see if they are within paw or tooth reach.
A lot of people have been saying that I am growing up lately. I think my obedience training has been kicking in. I pull less on walks and have been taking fewer galloping tours of the neighborhood. I've even been giving up toys and frisbees when Dad and Mom say "off."
I just love that the weather is getting warmer. I know that I was born in Minnesota, but I love Texas! Laz tells me about the snow sometimes, but I really can't remember it. Well, I better wrap this up... so have a great week, and I will share Lazie and my favorite way to beat the heat-- eat plenty of ICE CREAM!!!

Mosi

Baseball Season

One of our joys is being able to watch baseball games on our new TV. I recently ordered the MLB Extra Innings package which allows us to watch games that are "out of market" so we can keep up with other teams. Julie keeps tabs on the Oakland A's, and I usually keep tuned into Orioles, Nationals, and Padres games. Laz and Moses like the package too because it means that Dad is home more and available for scratches and hugs. Here are some photos from last night as we watched the Orioles play the Detroit Tigers.

Kevin

Lazaurs Wins the Grand Prize

On Saturday, the City of New Braunfels had a Doggie Dip day where dogs were allowed in the Spring Fed pool at Landa Park. It is my estimation that this was DOG HEAVEN for the dogs who attended. Lazarus spent 99% of his time swimming and Moses swam about half of the time while running at large the other half. Needless to say, both boys had a WONDERFUL time at the event. A special thank you to the City of New Braunfels Park Department for putting it on.

The big news from the Doggie Dip day was that Lazarus won grand prize at the Trick Contest. He showed off his sit, shake, high five, stay, come, heel and sit all without a treat! He was so happy to show everyone all the things he could do, he won everyone there over. What a sweetheart. Moses also participated with his sit and shake. He did a very good job as well, but Lazarus won the GRAND PRIZE and got a bag full of doggie goodies. We are so proud of him!

Other notable events were Lazie swimming over to the platform in the middle of the pool (farther than any other dog), Moses stealing a very little pair of shorts that ironically had some treats in the pocket (Approx 2T in size). Moses stealing a stuffed animal from an infant and Lazie showing off his jumping/diving skills in the pool. A good time was had by all!

I ATE DAD's PHONE!!!

It was so good and chewy. I sank my incisors right into the fun plastic part. I thought maybe if I chewed hard enough, Dad would talk to me! Also tasty, was Dad's fun cowhide toy that wrapped around the phone and hanged off his belt. I don't know why he wanted to wear a chew toy on his belt, but he finally took it off and I found it and ate it!

Proudly,

Moses

Trip to AAG Conference

We spent a few days in San Francisco to attend the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting where Kevin presented in two different sessions. It was a short trip and we stayed in the evenings with Sean and Tracey who live near Golden Gate Park. It was great to see them, and to be in a place where I fit in better, ideologically speaking.

The conference was a success and session attendees noted that Kevin's session regarding technology in Urban Geography was the most useful session they had been to in years. He was also able to speak about the Neo-liberal city in his paper session along with 9 other presenters in a special organized session.

We skipped out on the conference to do a few fun things like eat in Chinatown, go to the beach at Ocean Beach (the end of the Judah line near Tracey and Sean's place) and catch a San Francisco Giant's game (the one of three where Barry Bonds didn't hit a homerun). We FROZE at the game and I think my North Dakota tolerance for cold is wearing off.

We were happy to get back to Lazarus, Moses and Sarah though and get back to the normal routine.

Julie

Crossroads Americana Party

On Sunday, KNBT 92.1 (Radio New Braunfels) held a free concert in Landa Park. Julie, Sarah, the Boys, and I decided to go because it was a perfect day and Two Tons of Steel was slated to perform. The park was very crowded, so we parked at the Panther Canyon Trailhead and walked down the Canyon to the pavillion. Laz and Mosi were very excited and it took them about an hour to calm down. We were so proud of Lazie though because he usually does not like amplified music at all. The concert was fun, but the best thing was when they drew the grand prize which was a free trip to Puerto Vallarta. They announced the winner at it was "Julie Romig of New Braunfels!" She claims that she will take me, but nevertheless I am excited for her. Julie works next to Ascot Travel and entered seven times. She can tell you more details, but we are off to California tomorrow for a conference. The Boys will be at home with Sarah. We are hoping for the best...

The pictures are:
Two Tons of Steel performing
Julie and Sarah at the concert
Moses eyeing the food of Mr. Jackson who he met and befriended at the concert. (mainly because of his cheese he shared with him and Laz.)

Kevin

More Play at Red Bud Isle

After the Dog Walk and the great Chinese food lunch, Mom and Dad took us to Red Bud Isle! I love it because I can act pretty wild and I don't get in trouble! I played with a bulldog mix pretty rough and wore myself out. Laz was busy swimming and playing fetch, but it was a bit too cold for me to swim very much. I preferred to root around in all the paths and run. You can tell who was wet in the pictures! Anyway, Saturday was such an amazing day, and the best part was Sarah came late in the day! I love having company at our house. It is just another couple pair of hands to pet me and love me! Also, I hope that you notice my new Hot Pink collar that I picked out myself. My coolness transcends basic stereotypes!

Mosi