Wow!! What a day!

So much excitement in the last 24 hours!! Where do I begin?  I pretty much had to drag poor Blake out the door Thursday morning because I was so anxious to leave.  As soon as we had loaded my bags, his couple of bags, his bike, and all of the raw food into the car, we were off.  This was the first time that we had traveled this far together.  It was so nice to spend a very long day on the road together.  We chose to drive south to Raton, NM.  This was my first time in New Mexico and I got to see some inactive volcanos.  Cool stuff!!

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting (and counting down miles on Garmin), we pulled into Tulsa.  I told Blake that I couldn't breathe as we drove into my neighborhood.  I nearly jumped out of the car before he could put it into park because my dad was standing in the driveway with Mr. Jade.  I just melted.  I couldn't believe how loving and sweet this baby boy was at our introduction to one another.  We all laughed so much watching Layla and Jade wrestle together in the front yard.  Layla ran towards Blake the moment she saw him.  Layla LOVES Blake (sometimes I think more than me;)).

I have been up since 6 am and have not slowed down until just recently.  This morning, I took the Goldens to the vet.  The techs and staff just ate Jade up.  I cannot believe that he now weighs 18.7 pounds at 11 weeks old!  I will have a big boy on my hands and I am so excited about it!  Next on our list of things to do was find a new collar for Jade because he has grown out of the one Marcy and Gayle gave him before he left Gayle's house.  I took the Goldens to Blake's house to introduce my baby boy to his mother and Blake's Chihuahua, Tiffy.  Blake's mother adores him and Tiffy.... not so much.  She was quick to let Jade know that unlike most of the world, she does not think he is the cutest thing on the planet.  We took Jade and Layla to Blue Moon for lunch (veggie burgers for the win!).  I joked to Blake that taking Jade out is almost like taking a new baby out.  We had pretty much cleaned the floor of the patio.  You start to notice all of the fallen straw wrappers, Splenda packets, and napkins when you have a puppy with you!  Jade attracted quite a bit of attention.  We could not leave without stopping at every table on the patio since we chose to sit at the far corner.  Blake and I bathed both dogs after lunch.

It makes me smile so much to have two Goldens again.  Losing Aubrie at the end of last August just broke my heart (and my family's heart and Layla's as well).  Layla has that sparkle in her eyes that I haven't seen since we lost Aubrie.  She just adores this boy so much.  She is patient with him beyond belief and knows just when he needs a correction.  Jade could not ask for a better sister and best friend. I cannot wait to watch him grow up with her.  I want to capture and remember all of the precious moments.  I glanced back in my car on the way to Blake's house and Jade and Layla were both asleep snuggled up next to each other.  Time is the only thing I have against me.  These precious moments come and go so quickly and I want to hold onto them all!

I worked with Layla a little bit this afternoon.  We did some wrap work and worked different crosses throwing in threadles.  This girl is amazing.  I cannot believe I can leave for 3 months and come back to a dog so willing to work for me and so very precise.  She has always been a beautiful jumper and doesn't seem to suffer very much in that regard from my extended absences.  Lucky for her, we are never leaving each other again!  This evening, Lay and I did some heel work.  We also worked some start line stays and recalls.

I worked with Jade as well.  He knows sit already and rings the bell very well before going outside.  I taught him to target my hand in about 5 minutes.  I am working on name recognition since he does not seem to know his name at all.  I am anxious to work recalls and attention work tomorrow.

I will take both dogs to the dog club tomorrow for a fun day of training.  I'm so excited to start Layla's running contacts tomorrow.  We played around with them a little bit over spring break and we had a blast!!  Well, I'm exhausted and I have to get up early again.  Going to go charge cameras for tomorrow and get to bed!