A new addition to the Gilmore household

No, we are not having a baby...unless you count one adorable four-legged, furry pup as a baby! :-)

Meet Sumara (pronounced SUM- ARE- UH). She is a 15 week old BullMastiff pup, weighing in at a whopping 29 pounds. They think she'll get to be about 130 at her largest. Many are asking how AJ (7 pounds) is taking to her and they are getting along quite well. He doesn't like when she drinks out of her bowl but other than that...they are the cutest together. Many are also asking about her name...well, we named her after a lion who lives in the Out of Africa park in Arizona. We fell in love with the name and later learned the meaning fit her well. It means "Guardian" or "Protected by God". She somehow thinks I am the pack leader so she will sit nicely for me and "kennel up" when I ask her to. We are working on chewing but there hasn't been any damage yet. We are also working on house breaking...*sigh*

Arizona 2009

We just returned from Arizona where the weather was 106 degrees and sunny. If you ever plan to go to Arizona, don't wear a tank top in 104 degree weather if you are going to be outside all day. Also, don't wear coconut body spray outside...the bugs like it. :-) Here are a few pics...Enjoy!

Kevin and Chris hanging out in the saloon:



Steph hanging out in the saloon:



Kev, Steph and Chris at the safari in 104 degree temps...Steph getting sunburn:



Someone jumped the fence and got a real good picture of the giraffe...it's not who you think! ;-)

Ready for vacation...

Kevin and I are getting ready for vacation. I am taking him to Arizona for a week...I secretly want him to fall in love with the beauty of Arizona and want to move there. :-) I don't think he'll enjoy the 100 degree weather as much as I will but we'll still have fun. Here are a few pics from one of my trips to Arizona...

Stolen...

Why is it that when one bad thing happens, it is usually followed by more bad things? Last night, I got home from work as usual and ran into the house to change my clothes before heading off to the gym. I opened the front door to find Kevin cleaning up a giant mess...AJ had puked in the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom and he had it on his paws. :-( So, I decided to clean the house and take care of AJ. I got up this morning to go to work and realized I left my purse in my car...no big deal...until I go to my car and realize my purse was gone. Not knowing what to do, I burst into tears and called 911. The officer arrived within 15 minutes and was very understanding. He offered to drive around and see if he saw my purse dumped anywhere but if the thief knew anything about purses, I doubt he would dump a Dooney & Burke purse with a Coach wallet and Sunglasses. It makes me sick to think someone stole my purse out of my driveway in my locked car but in the end, it is all just material things. No one was hurt and that's really the positive side. This situation couldn't have been handled better without the help of my loving husband who stayed home to drive me around (since I have no license), the understanding officer, the worker at the MVA who didn't hassle me for not having any identification, the friendly staff at the library and a few good friends who were willing to make some phone calls for me at 6:30 in the morning.

A weekend project and AJ update...

We spent the weekend working on a fantastic deal we found at a local antique store. For a total of about $25 (including the chair) we turned this wonderful antique into a useful kitchen stool/chair.

Here is the before picture...notice the lovely blue peeling paint and the sparkles on the vinyl...SWEET!



Here is the after picture...a nice green to match the kitchen and new white vinyl.



Here is a picture of Kevin holding AJ before our visit to the vet. If you never been to Gambrills Veterinary Center on Route 3; I highly recommend it. Very clean and the staff is nice. So AJ has a collapsed trachea, spots on his liver (we are waiting for the test results but the doc thinks is it bile sludge) and an enlarged heart which we need to see a cardiologist for. The meds for the collapsed trachea could be dangerous with an enlarged heart so we'll have to see the cardiologist for a confirmation before moving forward. *sigh* My poor little guy...

Double Ear Infection

Here is what a puppy with a double ear infection looks like. :-(

New do'

I walked into the salon yesterday and told my lady "Cut it! I am so tired of it" and she was shocked but excited. I decided that when I had enough to donate to Locks of Love, I would go for it. I think God blessed me with quick growing, thick hair so I can continue to donate it to a little girl battling cancer. This is now my second donation and I can't imagine not donating it. So here is the before...



Here is 10.5 inches later...