Introducing...

...Winston Gidley! Our newest family member. He is big & black. Weighs about 60 pounds and loves licking faces (especially little chubby ones right at his level). You guessed it...we got a dog!

We adopted him from a friend who adopted him from the pound. Feels like we've stepped up the fun and excitement around our house a notch. Silas, in particular, enjoys his new companion. He loves 'throwing' the ball for Winston.Or sometimes just handing the ball to Winston (who plays along and still 'fetches' it for Silas).Silas also really likes Winston's tail. We're working on the concept of 'gentle'.
Or just chillin' together. (OK-to be honest-the sitting still part doesn't actually happen very often. At least not for Silas.) And just when I think about mentioning that Silas seems to be slimming down a little bit (I actually had to tighten the adjustable waist on a pair of pants...that's never happened before!), I see a picture like this. And I realize that those 'bull-dog cheeks' and the double chin are still large and in charge!

Snow & Sunshine

Happy New Year! We had a fun, snow-filled holiday season. In Michigan with Matt's family, Silas got his first sled ride with his cousin Morgan as the seat belt and Dad as the muscle. Luckily, he liked it. Check-out the "before" picture:

The then the "after" picture:

I was holding my camera the whole time and could've taken a photo of Silas with his face stuck in the snow bank, but I was so shocked to see him like that, it took me a moment to recover. Understandably, he didn't know what to make of it at first but ended up not crying and wanting to get right back on that sled. I was so impressed!

You can watch the second face plant for yourself:

I imagine Silas thinking "Wow - snow is cool! (Even though I can't hardly move or touch it unless Dad sticks my face in it.)"

Now back in AZ, we got to enjoy snow in the White Mountains to ring in the New Year. The funny thing is that the Michigan snow was so light and fluffy we weren't able to make a snowman (and we didn't have enough time to go skiing). The AZ snow, on the other hand, had melted & refroze so it was very hard and crusty around the cabin. (Fortunately - there were no AZ face plants!) But we did get some good skiing in and Silas got some quality time at the Sunrise childcare center.

The neighbors had a dog that we enjoyed playing with. I think I can safely say 2 out of 3 Gidleys are ready for a new poochie...

And, finally, back to the nice, warm Phoenix sunshine. I thought I'd feature this photo of one of my favorite gifts (I know, I'm weird...but I get excited about colorful new cloth diapers drying on my new rectractable clothes line!).
Silas still loves rocks. He started out mostly sucking on them but has now diversified into filling the wheelbarrow with them. The water was a bonus compliments of our lovely winter rains. This was so cute I just had to capture the moment.

Watch the video