MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

me and asa and mama wanna wish each and every one of ya'll a super merry christmas!!  thankies so very very much for all of your totally awesome cards and pressies!  we are filled with the amazements over your big hearts and are way thankful for your friendships!  we have totally loved sharin' 2010 with you, and we look forward to many more mega adventures in 2011!

miss jazzi's christmas pressie exchange!

miss jazzi and her mama hosted a totally awesome christmas pressie exchange this year!  before i get forgetful like, i wanted to woof a big thankies to them for their super duper organizin' and coordinatin' skills!  this was such a way funsies event!

okie dokie, so me 'n asa entered the multiple doggie category, and mango 'n dexter drew our names.  we were totally full of the excitements when our mail lady brought their pressie to our house last week!  mama was a meanie and made us wait a few days to open our pressie, but i guess i shouldn't complain too much cuz i'm hearin' that some of ya'll have to wait until christmas to open your pressies?!  egads! 

anywho, here's me 'n asa workin' our way into the pressie goodness!  look at me all blurry like cuz i'm so speedy gonzales with the box openin'.  actually, mama just isn't the bestest with action shots.  heehee.

rippin' the box open!

JACKPOT!

now here we are posin' like a big 'n happy family!  this picture is so full of win!!

we got this really spiffy card displayin' mango 'n dexter's uber agilities!  it came with two magnets from mango minster 2010 and even some of mango's business cards!!

the mango -- he's THAT famous!!

then we got some of these plumpkin 'n naner treatsies!  mango woofed that he hadn't gotten to sample these treatsies yet.  well, i sure hope he gets to sample them soon cuz they are totally nommy!!  they are like little flower shaped cookies of fruity deliciousness, with a pleasin' crunch and a hint of the cinammons!  mmmmmmm!!

next came not one, but two stuffies!  woohoo!  we got a little snowman dude with a hat and a santa dude with rope arms and leggies!  both stuffies have squeakers, too!  i decided that i liked the snowman dude the bestest, and asa decided that she liked the santa dude the bestest....with a little help from me...heehee...

but asa, i like the snowman dude the bestest, remember?

you snooze you loose!!  muahahaha!!

asa poutin' for a gazillionth of a second over losin' the snowman dude.

now we are all happy 'n stuff playin' with our favoritest new stuffies! 

oh, mango 'n dexter -- i thought ya'll would approve of the work we did modifyin' the snowman dude.  we posed for a group head shot.  teehee.

last but not leastest, mango 'n dexter even included a nice pressie for my mama!  look at this festive christmas baggie they sent!  isn't it just perfect for carryin' pressies (for me 'n asa) or groceries (also for me 'n asa) around?

thankies bunches 'n tons, mango 'n dexter!!  me and asa and mama loved our pressies!!

gettin' my shopping groove on!

mr. frankie came up with this really spiffy shop 'til you drop idea where you paw a post about what your hoomans want for christmas.  so i've been doin' some crazy go nuts covert ops stuff to try and figure out what my mama is wantin' for christmas.  see, she likes to get on the compy and look at thingies that she is full of the wishes for.  i decided to get crafty like and set up a secret snoopervising zone to check thingies out.  this was the setup:

you can't even see me, can you?  i'm hidin' behind the plant in my mama and daddy's office!  my furs totally blended in with the green leafies...it was almost as if i had the invisiblenesses like a superhero!  teehee.  anywho, i collected a bunch of infos on christmas pressies for mama while she was surfin' the interwebs. 

now let me just woof that if somebuddy was like, "hey booker man!  what do you want for christmas??"  i'd totally be like, "i could go for 50 gazillion little smokeys or even an all-you-can-nom steak buffet!"  with my mama, though, you gotta remember two thingies.  first like, i love her and all, but she's kinda sorta square.  second like, she's sooooo miss cleany mccleanifson.  that's why the number one thingie on my mama's christmas wish list is a vacuum.  i'm way not kidding.  and not just any vacuum, but a fancy schmancy oreck vacuum.  this one to be exact:

apparently, everythingie was all hunky dory with just asa since she doesn't have very many furs, but when i came into the pack, mama had a nervous breakdown over the amount of furs i was distributing.  well, i happen to think that a fur covered home is a nicely lived in home.  my mama has other wack-a-doodle ideas, though, and now she's willin' to spend mega green papers for a vacuum that could basically suck up any doggie's furs within ten miles of our house.

fortunately, the rest of the thingies that mama wants for christmas are pretty much normal!  she would be most full of the excitements to receive one of those scarf thingies that the hoomans like to wear with their outfits.  (i think she's tryin' to get some fashionosity goin'.)  she's a big fan of gray and green and blue, so either of these would be grrreat:

then she would also like a new roul'pat!  she uses these silicone mat thingies to roll out cookie dough or fondant for cakes or pie crusts.  look at how super hooge this one is...it's like 2 feet by 3 feet!  mama could roll out stuff 'til the cows come home.  teehee. 

okie dokie, i better go now cuz i gotta find daddy and asa so we can start shoppin' for mama!!

pssst! miss honeybuzz!

miss honeybuzz,

i can't comment on your bloggie posts for some reason...blogger won't let me!  boohoo!  is anybuddy else havin' the same problem??

*woof*
the booker man

happy happy thanksgiving!!

it's not too late to join in the funsies!  clicky for more infos!

gobble gobble, everybuddy!!
i hope ya'll are havin' a totally spiffy thanksgiving with your family 'n friendz!  i also hope you are enjoyin' lots of mega tasty foodables...you know, like turkey, stuffin', mashed taters, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, and pumpkin pie!  oh, and does anybuddy else have those little teeny sweet 'n salty pickles for appetizers?  i think they are called baby gherkins or somethingie like that.  (gherkins...teehee...that word totally gives me the giggles every time i woof it!)  anywho, so not only are we celebratin' thanksgiving and being full of the appreciations for the blessings in our lives, but it's also a celebration for miss minna's gotcha day!  happy happy gotcha day, miss minna!!  wooohoooo! 
now most of ya'll know that miss minna came up with the funsiest idea, but in case anybuddy's got giblets in their ears and didn't hear, today is the day to share your "story of me"  -- how you found your forevarrr home and stuff!  then we can all read each others' stories while we are oinkin' out on thanksgiving foodables and watchin' football!
okie dokie, here's the part where i let you know that i am cheatin' a teeny tiny bit.  me and asa and mama just had an interview thingie with coffee with a canine, and mama told how me and asa were adopted.  i am just gonna post what she said again if that's a-okay.  i know it's kinda lazy like, but thingies have been pretty crazy go nuts at our house lately!  so if you haven't read me and asa's adoption stories yet, here's what my mama has to say!

my husband and i had always wanted a dog. as soon as we got married and had settled in our home, we started looking around at various local rescue groups and also on petfinder.com.  since we were not experienced with raising a dog, we were searching for an older, medium-sized dog that was already house trained and that knew basic commands. we first found asa on petfinder. she was a year-and-a-half old and was being fostered by a local rescue group after being removed from an abusive home in which she was left to starve. my husband and i went to meet her and were drawn in by her beautiful gold eyes. she was a sweet girl, but very tentative and nervous. she was frightened of cars, loud noises, tall men...you name it! we left from that first meeting feeling a connection with asa, but we weren't sure if we were the right people for asa since we didn't know much about working with an abused dog. my husband and i thought about it for several days and did some research. then we arranged a second meeting with asa. by then, we were completely smitten and knew we couldn't leave without bringing her home with us. that was may 2004. 

several years later, my husband and i decided that a companion would be good for asa, so we talked about adopting an easy going, male dog. we were thinking a labrador or golden retriever. a few days before christmas in 2008, we had driven to walmart to pick up some last minute items. in the parking lot, we noticed a man with a beautiful yellow labrador and a laundry basket filled with 5 labrador puppies. the man was trying to find homes for the accidental litter of puppies. we spoke with the man for awhile and then looked at all the puppies. one of the puppies was determined to climb out of the basket into my arms.  i picked that little guy up, told him his name was booker, and the rest is history!

here are some of me and asa's gotcha day pictures, too!

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me and asa and mama will be takin' a little breakie from bloggin' during the holiday season.  mama gets reaaaaally busy with bakin' from now until the new year, and you just might have guessed that me 'n asa are her #1 taste testers.  we will be pretty busy samplin' treatsies and given out the approvals.  heehee.  anywho, we will still do a few posts and will be readin' bloggies, but we definitely won't be able to comment as much. 
we'll be 100% back in action in january, okie dokie?

fridays with asa: coffee with a canine

greetings, my fellow comrades!

alas, blogger is pitching a wee tantrum at the moment, and therefore, this shall be a terse post.  i simply wanted to inform you that my mom, booker, and i are featured today on coffee with a canine if you find yourself searching for an enjoyable read.
good day!

addendum: i send a plethora of gentle bisous to you, cher brodie.

wordless wednesday: my friendz wall is gettin' bigger!

thankies for sendin' me your pictures!

kinda wordy wednesday: a totally tasty review!

a few weeks ago, the super nice hoomans over at pet botanics sent me 'n asa a bark mail wantin' to know if we'd like to sample their new omega treats.  i could hardly believe my peepers and had to read the bark mail again.  they wanted to send me 'n asa free treatsies to eat?  jackpot!!
so the mail lady brought our special package of treatsies last thursday, but mama wanted to save them for my saturday birthday celebration.  me 'n asa had to wait two whole days for samplin'.  it was torture!
when we were in the car drivin' up to table rock state park, mama whipped out the bag of pet botanics omega treats for distractional purposes.  we got the salmon flavor, but there are also tuna, duck, and chicken flavors available.

good stuff 'n thingies are inside this baggie!

mama was happy cuz the treatsies are made with super good ingredients and have no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, or icky by-products in them.  also, they are totally low-cal, so me 'n asa can enjoy snackin' but still stay fit 'n trim.
here's a close up of one of the omega treats.  it's like a teeny tiny sammie layered with salmon, cod, and sweet potato goodness!

dear little salmon sammie, where have you been all my life?!

here was our reaction to mama openin' the baggie and pullin' out a treat:

GIVE US THE TREATS!!!

the treats smelled d-i-v-i-n-e!  mama thought they were a little too fishy smellin', but when she saw how much me 'n asa were totally into them, she didn't care!  we gobbled them up in a gazillionth of a second cuz they were uber delish!!

oh yummy yummers!!!

these are quite delectable!

mama loves that the pet botanics omega treats are so good for us.  she says they are also a grrreat size for trainin' treats.  you can even break one in half for a smaller trainin' treat if you want.  (but i ask you -- why would you want to make it smaller?!  heehee.)  based on our reaction to the treats, mama thinks that they are going to be very good at holding our attentions. 
long story short, we give the pet botanics omega treats two paws up, and we will definitely be buyin' more when our sample baggie is gone!!

today is my 2nd birthday!!

i'm so so full of the excitements cuz i'm 2 years old today!!  

pretty please ignore the stoopid pink pawty hat.

yuppers, i'm happy happy joy joy that it's my totally special day and also that i'm officially not a puppy anymore!  remember how tucker was woofin' that it takes hooge doggies a longer time to grow up?  well, mama said that was true for me, too.  so fiiiiinally, i am a grown up 'n manly labradude!!   

now i gotta be honest like...i cheated a teeny tiny bit cuz i actually celebrated my birthday on saturday.  i have a super good reason, though!  see, mama had asked me what i wanted to do for my birthday, and i decided that i wanted to go on a mega hike with swimmies.  we couldn't really do that today since mama and daddy are lame-o and have to work.  but enough about that...let's woof about saturday! 

bright 'n early on saturday morning, me and asa and mama and daddy got the car all loaded up and drove for 50 gazillion hours to a far away land called table rock state park.  

ROAD TRIP!

View Larger Map

there are bunches 'n tons of trails at table rock state park.  we all looked at the map and thought the table rock trail looked interesting.  this is what the map informational said: 

"the table rock trail is a 3.6 mile, highly strenuous, out-and-back hike...ascending 2000 feet to the summit of the imposing granite dome, table rock mountain (3157 feet).  the trail ascends steeply through an open forest strewn with boulders. along the way, you will see vegetation typical of the southern appalachians: dominant oak and hickory trees with scattered pines and hemlock. as you might guess, the strenuous hike offers the reward of spectacular views from the summit."  

mama was a smidge worried, though, because she wasn't sure if me and asa could handle the strenuosity, but we convinced her that we were totally pro!  so we got strapped in our harnesses, and off we went!

goin' up!

me and daddy on one of the super hooge rocks!

mama and asa wanted to climb the rock, too.

stoppin' to take a peek cuz we're almost to the top!

the view from the top!

isn't it pretty like?

mama was all panic-y that she was gonna fall off the cliff.  BOL!

we enjoyed the view at the top while mama and daddy ate their super delish PB&J's.  they did share some snidbits with me and asa.  mama also gave us some special way yummy treatsies that i will woof about in my next post.  teehee.  unfortunately, we didn't get to sample some of the steamy hot cocoa that daddy had made in the thermos.  boohoo.

then we hiked back down to the beginning of the trail, and boy howdy, were my muscles all rubbery by then!  it's a good thingie we were headin' to the creek for some swimmies!

 

asa wouldn't come in the waters and play with me.  she kept woofin' that it was too cold.  whatevs!  i got out anyways and sat with her on the bench so i could dry off my furs.

oh, and you know what happened next?  i saw the head park ranger dude!!  i begged mama and daddy to let me go meet him, and they said yes!  i ran over to mr. head park ranger dude, but then all of the sudden, i got filled with the nervosity cuz he was so important like in his super fancy uniform and hooge hat.  i wanted to make sure i was all full of the manners, so i did the bestest down-stay evarrr! 

i couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration!  i had so much funsies!  i was so super pooped that i slept in the car all the way home!!

totally important PSA!

THE BOOKER MAN WANTS YOU TO GO VOTE!

happy halloweeny!!

(almost) wordless wednesday: in honor of my friend miss abbey

http://centralbarkdesigns.blogspot.com/

miss abbey, run free at the bridge and nom on bacon 'til your tummy is super full!  i know you will be watchin' over your mama from above until the two of you are reunited some day.