Remmy's Vet Visit

Well, I think we can finally join the club of those who have spent a god awful amount of money at the vet! It's good to know there are other people out there who can share the pain (Jonathan and Anna, Mike and Nicole and Alyssa and Chris). The past three vet visits for the dogs' annual exam, the vet has recommended that Remmy have his teeth cleaned. This past spring we noticed a lump on Remmy's neck. So at their annual visit, the vet checked it out and did a quick biopsy. Fortunately, it was just a sebaceous cyst...nothing to get worked up or worried about. However, with that said, the vet said if it didn't go away or get smaller they could remove it. (Hence the word "could" I wish we would have known it was more of an option, rather than a necessity). She made it sound like it would be a quick and simple procedure though. And once again she recommended Remmy have his teeth cleaned.

So, being the good dog owners that we are, we made the appointment for his teeth to get cleaned and to have his lump removed at the same time since he had to be put under anyway. We got a quote for the teeth cleaning (which quotes are never accurate....you get nickeled and dimed every way you can and they never include all of the optional costs in the quote anyway...like the $70 blood draw to make sure your dog is healthy enough to go under anesthesia....the "optional costs" that if you love and care for your dog you'll do without thinking twice....aren't really optional). I also made the mistake of not getting a quote on the removal of the lump. But to give myself credit the vet did make it sound like it would be a little incision to suck out the juice and then he'd be done with. It would be an easy operation since he was already under.

We are now $600 in, two vet visits in the past 3 days, antibiotics, rimadly, cortizone cream and Remmy has an 1 1/2 inch incision on his neck, a 4x4 inch square shaved on the top of his neck, wiry stitches and a 2x3 rectangular patch shaved on his leg where his IV went. He is taking 3 1/2 pills a day for inflammation and to nip the infection. And while he seems pretty normal, we have to keep him and Rio from playing to avoid breaking open the incision. He also shouldn't roll, scratch or shake....but he is a dog and does all three of those on a daily basis. His collar gets in the way and his shaved skin is irritating so we're applying cortizone cream. Aside from all of those details, Remmy's doing well and has very clean, white teeth, but needs supervision to keep him from scratching open the incision and licking his leg raw (needless to say the house is clean, the lawn is cut, all of the laundry is done and I'm all caught up on my blog, AND I am beginning to go stir crazy). Supplying we don't have to go to the vet for any more unforeseen reasons, we will go back in a couple of weeks to get the stitches removed.

I will keep you posted!

Baby Kingston Arrived--7/12/11

Baby Kingston arrived early. Zac and I were up in Challis, I didn't have great cell phone reception so I just turned my phone off and checked it every couple of days. One day we got back from being on the river and I had a message from Mom....Baby Time! How exciting! Kingston James Leatham arrived on July 12, 2011, (which also happens to be Kellen Moore's birthday). While Kingston will never quite understand who Kellen Moore is/was, his Auntie Em is pretty excited for him! You never know, maybe Kingston will follow in Kellen's shoes and be an incredibly smart guy and an incredibly great quarterback!

Zac and I didn't get to visit Kingston in the hospital, but we did go straight over to Jonathan and Anna's the day we got back. He's a cute little guy...super precious and almost makes me wish for my own! Some day....

Jonathan and Anna seemed to be doing well and are smitten with their new bundle of joy!



Mommy and Kingston



Daddy and Kingston

Auntie Em and Uncle Zac with Kingston

Challis--Summer 2011--Annual Salmon Fishing

We headed up to Challis in the middle of July for our annual salmon fishing! Unfortunately, no one caught any salmon, but of course we had a great time! We went for daily walks/runs, did some hiking, yard games and relaxed the days we weren't on the river fishing.



Our family of four!

Pretty view of a waterfall going over Trail Creek.

Sherry, Em and Chels

Brotherly love...Zac and Jesse hanging out by the fire!

Kyle, Kip and Zac...on the river!

I'm holding on for dear life before heading into the "gorge," life jacket on, butterflies in my stomach! I survived the gorge two times! The second time was a little scarier for me. The water had gone down some, which meant the "waves" were a little bigger and on the last section Kip had an "oar blow out," which meant that we went right through the middle, rather than staying on the side! It was scary for me! But I survived to blog it!

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a good story to tell...remember last year, Kip tried sinking the boat before we even got in. This year there's yet another good story and it doesn't involve hooking, landing or eating an amazingly huge salmon. We stopped at Colston to see Roger, Jerry, Kyle, Debbie and Randy and to see how they were doing and whether or not they had had any luck. Good thing we stopped (or maybe it wasn't), a huge thunderstorm came through with a lot of rain an even some marble sized hail. I don't know exactly what happened to explain it correctly, but what I do know is that Roger said something like "who's boat is that floating by?" And the next thing I remember is Kip running down the bank and everyone jumping in vehicles to go down river. Yes, Kip Fry, amazing fishing guide, helplessly watched as his boat went floating down the river without anyone in it! So, Kip, calm as can be, jumped in his dad's boat with a motor and cruised down the river until he caught up to his boat. Eventually, he was able to get both boats to the bank, Roger loaded up his boat and Jesse, Zac and I jumped in the boat with Kip and continued our float like nothing had even happened. Once it was all said and done with, it made for a great conversation an some good laughs. It was also pretty comical to see all of the passerby's stop along the highway and watch the boat floating down the river personless!

Luckily, just as everything turned out fine when Kip tried sinking his boat, everything turned out okay this time around also! It's turning out to be an annual pattern of a "good story to tell" each salmon fishing trip. I'm scared to find out what next summer will bring!

The calm before the storm....who knew what the day's floating trip had in store for us that day!

Beautiful view of the White Clouds hiking up Slate Creek.

Sherry, Zac and Emily hiking up Slate Creek. Unfortunately, we never made it to the lake we were aimlessly wandering for or the "Great Wall of China," but it was a beautiful day for a beautiful hike with beautiful views.

Most nights we found ourselves enjoying a beer or two, (red beer for me) while playing frisbee golf, croquet, trying to catch water balloons and listening to stories told by Kip Fry. A few nights after the sun went down, we had a fire and roasted marshmallows for smores and enjoyed some biscuits with honey. One night someone had the wonderful idea of launching water balloons straight up into the air for fun, hoping the water balloon didn't land straight on your head. It should be noted, it was dark so even if you tried to look up and follow the balloon, you couldn't see it, so instead you stood the chance of the balloon landing straight on your face. I had a lucky shot of straight up and straight down into the fire pit, all the while Sherry and Debbie were roasting bread. A plume of smoke and steam filled the air and the fire was nearly put out, but when it all settled, Sherry and Debbie were still cooking their bread.

Overall, it was a great trip. We had some great walks and hikes, beautiful weather, some amazing thunderstorms, good fishing stories, and as always great company!

Horse Races

For Anna's birthday she wanted to go to the horse races at Les Bois Park. Since they finally came back to Boise a group of us went to help Anna celebrate her special day. It was a great time! I learned a little about betting, although I already forgot what I learned, but...I do know that Wednesday night's is Ladies Night, which meant the girls got in for free and strawberry margaritas were only three bucks. It was pretty cheap entertainment! I didn't ever bet, but Zac did. I'm not sure if he came out in the negative or positive. I'm sure I would have heard if he won money, right! I just liked reading the horses names and I picked who I wanted to win based on the jockey's colors and the horse's name. Good strategy, huh! Afterwards we went across the street to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake. It was a fun night....thanks for inviting us Anna. We look forward to next summer!

Bry sure knows how to pose for the camera! I wonder what time she got to bed that night after an ice cream sandwich and a good sized piece of ice cream cake!

Anna, Jonathan, Zac, Emily, Mom, Bry and Monica. Cam, Rob and Zayden missed out on the fun. Anna's parents, Joel, Alyssa and Chris were also there to celebrate!