RIVER KING COLBY

My dog of 7 years had cancer. It recently got the best of him so I had to make the tough decision to put him to sleep.
They say that dogs take after their owners and I'm telling you I met my match with this one! He was the most stubborn, best dog I've ever had. Here are a few highlights.



Here's the day we brought him home. I hid him in my apt. that did not allow pets for 2 mos. during pharmacy school. He was hard to hide because he barked when I left!
Luckily, the neighbors grew to love him.


Birdy and Colby lived together in Dallas. Can you tell Birdy is cussing us in the Christmas picture? They were best friends and partners in crime. Sometimes I would come home and think OH MY! There was quite the mess and I still have the chewed up "To Kill a Mockingbird" in my book shelf.
One of the worst days of my life was when they both ran out the back door during the first winter snow and I could not get them back. Several hours later Birdy returned, but we couldn't find Colby. Courtney and Carrie put up great signs with his picture on it and the next day a lady called us saying she took him to a shelter. I picked him up from stall 17! He had kennel cough so Dr. Moon called him in some antibiotics.
It was a great day when we found him!

That goof ball could still fit all 75 LBS into this tub! We upgraded him to a kiddie pool and he would still climb in here.

This was Colby's most favorite place to be! He loved long car rides.

It took Riley a little while to get used to Colby kisses.



I have to laugh when I think of things people used to say about Colby. When we lived in Dallas my cousin Carrie told him that for a house dog he sure did look and act like he was raised on a farm. It was true too and in true Colby fashion, he preferred that nasty Pedigree to Iams anyday!
My dad was so excited to have a lab in the family so they could go hunting. The first time he took Colby to a pond he put his front paw in and turned around and walked out. My dad was convinced that I had ruined a perfectly good hunting dog.
We wouldn't have him any other way.
I'll miss him!
Thank you to Dr. Moon in Ozark for all of his assistance.

A familiar face on C -span

How weird is it that I was flipping though channels Sunday night and randomly saw Ross being interviewed on C-span?
You can see the interview at www.c-span.org
Click on Iraq and look for the title "On patrol in Iraq with convoy security escort"
You might have to download real player from the C-span home page.
VERY COOL!

Merry Christmas to All, and to all a good year!

We've had a great 5 days of Christmas Celebrations!

We caught up with friends and family from out of town, fed the Brashears' mules some peppermints in Altus, deocorated gingerbread cookies and cupcake trains, exchanged gifts, opened gifts, and ATE LOTS! Here are some highlights.

A cookie decorating astronaut (you don't see that everyday)

(Riley, Do-Dad, and the Mules) Getting Peppermints for the mules

Riley and his cousin Scott playing Tech Deck

The annual pickle gift! Each year whoever finds the pickle ornament on the tree gets a special gift. This year..wait every year..Scott finds the pickle so he got 2 tickets to the Basketball game this Sat. He had to draw a name to find out who got to go with him. He drew Grandaddy's name, but when we looked at the tags they all said "grandaddy"...hmmmm. I wonder who was in charge of that. :)

Riley loves his cars!

Chef Scott, Aunt Tracy, me and Riley decorating trains.

Riley thought the decorations were better suited in his mouth so he had a hard time decorating his train.



Cousin Ella and Riley at Ross's Grandparent's house. We haven't seen her since last Christmas, but she greeted us at the door and they were instant buddies. They were too cute playing together. I heard Riley say "my turn" more than once.
We need to get together more often!

(we have some work to do here!) Riley got some great gifts and he enjoyed playing with them all!

Captain Hook is scary!

Tonight we went to see Peter Pan at the Walton Arts Center. Riley gave a hearty YAAAY and a great round of applause for the Indians and Pirates. Personally, I thought they were a little creepy or scary and preferred the flying Peter Pan scenes.
It was cold and we are both a little under the weather, but he had a good time.
The big M&M in the entrance way was a super hit! He made a dead sprint towards it and wanted to see it again during the second half of the program. He was yelling "Mama, M&M!" or "Mama, wash hands" (anything he could think of to get back out there). I told him if he didn't quit then Captain Hook would hear him and come sit by him. (It worked!) What a mean mom!

You better not pout

Santa is so happy to have a screaming kid on his lap! We were going to try and visit him again this weekend, but there is snow in the forecast so we'll see. This might be the Santa picture for this year.

sweet dreams

It has been a big week in the Brashears' household. Riley has been sleeping in his big bed without tears (it may be a different story later and it might be me in tears when he figures out he can get out of bed at 3am. We made our big purchase Saturday and then did some shopping at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade Mall. We hoped to get a good picture with Santa (didn't happen).
It was quite the project and it took four wonderful grandparents with all hands on deck. Do-dad was probably wishing it was different hands since the Moncrief's aren't known for being craftsmen, but we got it done!! WAHOO!!Thanks to Dodo for picking it out for us. We love it!!!Do-dad says Riley is going to fall out of his bed...more than once and he's going to be A-OK everytime so we are holding him to that :)
(no, i'm not making up these beloved grandparent names)
I forgot to mention that it's actually bunk beds, but we are keeping them seperate for now. I kept the crib bumper on for his transition because he sleeps in the corner of his crib up against it.

Christmas card photo shoot

I think they both have had enough!

Locked out!

I finally started a blog! I've had so much fun reading other peoples' that I decided (with some friends) to give it a shot. It's about time...I'll try to keep it updated every week so check it often.

My first entry doesn't have any pictures, but it still makes for a good story. I took the trash out last night and noticed the dead bolt was locked when I returned..with Riley inside. He was figuring out that I couldn't get in and he couldn't get out so there was panic.

I quickly realized that I was half dressed, no shoes, and wet hair so going to a neighbor's house would be awkward for everyone. I checked a window (broke a screen in the process) and tried to get Riley to come over there thinking I could teach him how to unlock it.

By this time, he is really screaming and not leaving the back door so I'm thinking of which window to break.

He started turning the door knob so I began yelling at him to move the top one, jiggle the other one...whatever i can think of to teach a 2 year old to unlock the door (something I'm going to regret later I'm sure). The deadbolts in our house are hard to lock so it must have been caught just enough, but I'm glad to report that he was able to let me back in just in time! WHEW!

YES, there is a key in my car now!