It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The stocking were hung at the fireplace with care...



David (My Brother) Testing his manliness as he stands on a pond that has been frozen over.

No Ducks In Flagstaff

Finals finished, Soldier's training was shaping up nicely, and my brother came to visit. WE WERE READY FOR OUR FIRST DUCK HUNT ON SAT. We went out scouting FRI morning only to find that all the roads to the lakes in town had been shut down to motorized vehicles. So unless we wanted to walk uphill in the snow for 9 miles (both ways of course), we were out of luck. Oh well, I think that all this snow came as a surprise to most Flagstaffians, and I have heard that this is going to be the first white Christmas is 3 or 4 years. We are so excited. Here is a funny Far Side that my brother showed me. You have to look closely to get it.

More Snow!

We got about 4 feet of snow in total here! Snowbowl opened up, and Soldier's backyard is a winter wonderland!

My pathophysiology teacher gave us an interesting current article to read on tattooing.

A couple of NAU undergrad students are researching "tattoo inks to determine if any inks pose health threats in the form of heavy metals or other dangerous chemicals." I quote one of the students. "I don't think anyone is aware that the FDA doesn't regulate the tattoo process. The inks in tatoos are subject to regulation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as cosmetics, but the FDA does NOT regulate tattoo ink for injection, nort does it regulate tattooing itself." The article continues by saying, "...the various inks do not have to have ingredients listed. So far they have found that some inks have as many as 14 elements in them, with some instances of lead. But just how much of these elements exist in the inks has yet to be measured. Gathering quantitative data is the next step." Here's a link to the article if you want to read it in its entirety.
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/3_17_05/tatoo.htm

Since this research has surfaced, other "reports have surfaced indicating that tattoo ink can cause adverse effects in wearers, such as allergic reactions, burning sensations during MRI scans, and the migrationof tattoo ink into different areas of the body, including the lungs." That quote was from:
http://health.excite.com/article/id/524476.html

Our First Flagstaff Snow

Jacob & Sunny's Documentary On Snow

Getting Soldier Ready For His First Duck Hunt Next Weekend

Soldier Learning For The First Time That Snow Can Get Into Your Eyes

Furry Sunny, Furry Soldier

Jacob And Soldier


Soldier Chillin By His Warm, Cozy Doghouse

A Fun Filled Weekend!

We hiked Mt. Humphrey with our friends Brian and Joy on Sat. Brian is in my PT program, and Joy works with Sunny in the Radiology dept. at Flagstaff Medical Center. It was a PERFECT day for a hike and a picnic, and we had a great time!

Sunny Soldier and I at 11,700 ft. elevation...Soldier was looking a little dizzy. I guess that answers the question "Do dogs get altitude sickness." No, I'm just kidding. Soldier was a trooper!

Soldier will be turning 8 months this week. What a mangy looking BEAST


With all the work gone into the dog house, I wanted the paint to look nice so we primered it first to ensure that the paint will last a very long time. Once this project is done. I'm retiring from dog house building!

I really like the paint color that Sunny chose for us. It is called Smouldering Red. It sounds tough. We have one more coat to lay down so the paint should look even richer than in the picture (a little poetic rhyming, is that allowed in blogs?)

I've never laid shingles before, but there is quite an art to it. Luckily the packaging described the step by step "git er done" technique. Still a work in progress.

New Doghouse Pics

Here is mine and Sunny's Halloween costumes for this year. Doesn't the "Queen Bee" look cute?

Here is the latest development on the dog house. It's coming along! The left side of the roof has tar paper stapled down. The asphalt shingles will lay on top. I got an open case of shingles from Lumberman's warehouse that would have normally cost $50 for a grand total of $7. I got the tar paper for free from the scrap bin at HomeCo. The only thing I had to pay full price for was the metal flashing that goes around the outside lip of the roof to keep rain off. All said and done, the roof alone will weigh about 100 pounds.

Here is the underside view of the removeable roof. I added the 2 x 4's as support to the eaves of the roof because when I first picked it up, the roof split right down the middle. Yowsers! Hopefully, it's solid now.

Here is the last wall I insulated. The toughest as well, due to the angled cuts for the gabled roof. Sunny said it had to have a pitched roof, so that is what I did. I ended up using 40 feet of R11 insulation on this doghouse. That's the same stuff you would use in a regular house. It is rated down to 0 degrees F. That should keep Soldier toasty warm during the chilly Flagstaff months.

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew!

With the weather cooling off, I mentioned to Sunny that we should get a warm dog house for Soldier. Sunny had other plans for us though. Her heart was set on building him a dog house! "Well," I thought. "That shouldn't be too tough. A month later, I'm still working on it (Granted I've only had the weekends). Soldier had better like his house or we might have to get a new dog. Once it's finished though, it should be toasty warm. There will be insulation that's good down to 0 degrees F in all four walls, the roof, and the floor. I told Sunny that I wanted to build it big enough that if ever I get in trouble with her, I can sleep in the dog house. Here's some recent pics!


The roof is built to be removeable which will make it lighter and less awkward to move, and it will be easier to clean out!

Here has been Soldier's temporary sleeping quarters. Right next to our bed. Spoiled right? He loves it!

Me, ready for a night of sushi, and a movie!

Mormons involvment with Hurricane Katrina!

Here is a quote from the documentary about Mormons that was aired on PBS. This is a quote from a Louisiana resident, James Madison, who had suffered from the hurricane Katrina disaster:

“We were hearing stories on the radio of troops coming in. Helicopters were flying over. We even heard the president was flying over in a big helicopter, looking at us. But nobody was there on the ground with us except for the Mormons in their yellow T-shirts who showed up to help us clean up. And they didn't just come in to hand us a piece of food, a piece of bread or something, and say, ‘Here's something to eat,’ you know, ‘while you're working.’ They actually got down and cleaned and worked.”

SOURCE: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/script2.html

Attention K-mart Shoppers!

I've been a bit busy with school, so unfortunately, blogging has suffered. Anyway. School is going great. The teachers are awesome, Sunny is loving her job at FMC, and Soldier is still as spoiled as always. His picture just got posted up on the website of the hunting club group we joined. Here's the link:
http://www.copperstate.homestead.com/Calendar.html
Hope all is well!
Jacob

Sunny amidst the Wild Flowers...

The blog has been sleeping and now must be awakened with pictures of Sunny taken in a field just down the street from our house. These wild sunflowers are all over Flagstaff. Nature at it's best! I should have been a photographer. I just love this stuff!

First Intro To Live Birds

Last Saturday, I bought 3 live pigeons from another member of the Copper State Hunting Retriever Club who traps them to train his own dogs. We tied the wings together on the pigeons so that they couldn't fly off and then let Soldier chase them around. It was hilarious. Here are some pictures of the "chase" and I will try to see if I can upload the actual video that we took later. Enjoy

The Starting Block

The Dash

Alert Mode (The Point)

The Retrieve

Soldier At 17 weeks old

Don't be decieved by that cute puppy face. Soldier has moved into the teenager phase and is being quite a handful. Still he is very calm compared to what I've seen in most labs. And he is smart as a tack! He is 17 weeks old today, and weighs 35 lbs. He has been gaining 3 lbs. per week so I figure that by the time he is 6 months old, he will be pushing 60+ lbs. Whew...

Another great Superbowl Commmercial!!!

This has always been a favorite of mine...And this is why I'm not a cat person:)

Variation From TRUE commercial...

This one is for the mothers watching the superbowl...

OLD SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS!!!

So I was entertaining myself last night watching old Superbowl commercials on YouTube. Here's one of my favorites:

OLD SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS!!!

Flute Beatboxer

Dude (That's the only word I know how to use to describe this video). Check it out!

More Duck Hunting NEWS!

So, When we got Soldier as a pup, I decided that it would be fun to train him to do what our forefathers originally bred him to do: HUNT! Labrador Retrievers were and still are used as water dogs to retrieve waterfowl that has been shot down. I have NEVER done any hunting before, and I feel like my manliness has suffered somewhat. So I have been reading and talking to people (trying to get plugged in to the social pipeline). Soldier's retrieving skills are coming right along, and for Father's Day, Sunny gave me some money to put towards a shotgun. Here is a picture of the one I am currently eyeing. Any thoughts fellow bloggers...

Soldier's Dad- What A Stud!

This is a picture of Soldier's Dad. He turns 2 years old in August, and is already dominating in the Show ring! Who knows, maybe Soldier will follow in his dads footsteps!

Flagstaff Fresh Air

Sunny and I are loving Flagstaff. The air feels fresh, at night the temp drops to about 60 degrees, we have a backyard for the dog, and lots more room in the house. We have a neighbor couple that are about our age and seem really fun, and we have a 30 acre park across the street from our house. I don't think I'm going to ever want to live anywhere else!
I took these pictures of Soldier on the urban trail behind the park. I call it Pride Rock, because it looks just like the scene from Lion King.
Last but not least, my cute wife. I have a cute wife, a dog, a beautiful city to live in. All i need is about a dozen little Jacobs running around, and I will be living the GREAT AMERICAN DREAM!

Sunny's Graduation

Sunny graduated from her professional program last month and just got a job working at Flagstaff Medical Center. She is thrilled to be finally working in her field and she is doing great! That is Sunny's mon and Dad (Jan and Dave) in the picture.
Sunny helped us to find her during the graduation ceremony by puffy painting a large sun on the top of her cap in glow-in-the-dark paint.
Sunny gets a little wasted on a Shirley Temple after a long night of partying and fun!