Paris Reclassified

We took our "Irish Setter mix" to the vet and we came home with a Golden Retriever mix. Paris has officially been reclassified as a Golden by her doctor, which confirms everyone's suspicions. Paris's vet visit went well. Other than ear infections in both ears, she has a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, the vet also told us that she might be older than 7. Without actual birth records it's difficult to know for sure. Hopefully Casper didn't have his heart set on a younger dog.

Paris: An oldie but goodie!

Paris- 7 yr old Irish Setter mix; a "dog you never see at a shelter"

We had no idea reading the webnews on a Friday night would change our lives so much. After Jacob discovered a "dog you never see at a shelter" we decided to visit the shelter and take a look. In part, we were hoping she would not live up to her personals ad but we quickly discovered she was the "elegant, warm-hearted, well-mannered, red-headed lady," the ad described. We introduced her to Casper and since no one had any objections, we believed she was exactly what we had been looking for and decided to bring her home. Little did we know, her desire to chase and torment cats is much stronger than we anticipated.

Our first night together was rough. Chloe and Paris were fine sniffing each other until Paris opened her mouth. After Chloe saw Paris's teeth, she freaked out and has taken residence under the bed. Chloe only comes out from under the bed for a few minutes at a time to eat, drink, and well, you know. Crystal spent the evening twitching her tail and glaring at Paris from the other side of the pet gate. Sometimes Paris ignored the glares but other times, she barked out her feelings. Casper didn't understand why he was stuck sleeping in the living room with "the foreigner" who didn't respect the cats. Casper and Paris barked periodically throughout the night and Casper tried to tear down the gate. We prayed everytime we heard the gate rattle and we were afraid of what we would find when we opened the bedroom door in the morning.

What did I get myself into? She doesn't even know how to share a backseat!

Fortunately, the house is still standing and Paris and Casper seem to still be getting along. We're optimistic that this will work out but we'll see how it goes.

Day 2: Family Day in Connecticut

Thursday began with daily mass. This is not something Jacob and I normally do and at first we were hesitant to attend because we had hoped to sleep in that morning. However, we are both thankful that M&M encouraged us to attend mass because it started our day off on a positive note (and mass was only 30 min. long). After mass, 13 of us (Michelle, Manuel, Mary, Stan, Danielle, Stanley, Emily, Abby, my mom, my grandma, Brittany, Jacob, and I) headed for New Haven for a scavenger hunt inside the Knights of Columbus museum. After the scavenger hunt we had several delicious pizzas at Bar. The pizza crust was thin and crispy and the toppings were mouthwatering (i.e., nice and greasy). Yep, we even tried mashed potato and bacon pizza, which was good but confusing for our mouths. Ultimately, our favorites were the cheese and the pepperoni pizzas.

After our pizza lunch we headed back to Trumbull to decorate Mary and Stan's backyard for the reception. The rain never let up and after a few hours of wrapping tulle around the tent posts we headed back inside drenched with water. I know this in probably difficult for our San Antonian friends to comprehend since we're in a drought so to put it into some perspective, we were wearing rain coats, rain shoes, jeans, sweatshirts, and carrying umbrellas, and still our jeans were soaked up to our knees. It felt as though we had gone to Schlitterbahn with our winter clothes on.

Day 1: Heading East for Manuel & Michelle's (M&M's) Wedding

On Jun 17' 09, we boarded a plane and headed for LaGuardia, NY. Since we don't travel much, we arrived at the airport so early that we were the 1st people in line and we waited 1 1/2 hrs before the check in counter even opened.


Manuel and Michelle immediately greeted us upon our arrival at LaGuardia, NY. From there we headed to CT in Michelle's mom's minivan. During the drive, we celebrated M&M's upcoming wedding with sparkling grape juice.

After checking into the Hilton Garden Inn in Shelton, CT, we headed over to Mary and Stan's house (Michelle's mom and stepdad). Michelle's family greeted us with open arms and made us a spectacular dinner! The dinner consisted of a salad, chicken tarragon on garlic toast topped with gravy, pork tenderloin, rice, and steamed broccoli. For dessert we enjoyed carrot cake and tiramisu. We felt as though we had just dined at a 5-star restaurant! We can definitely see why Tommy (Michelle's brother) is pursuing a career as a chef.

Monica's b-day

On May 24th, we celebrated Monica's b-day at Maggiano's where I attempted to eat a HUGE bowl of pasta that lasted for 2 additional days!

Monica


Jacob & Me


Matthew, Jacob's mom, & Jacob's dad

Beto & Monica

Monica blowing out her candles (Beto gave her a delicious Tres Leches cake & Maggiano's gave her a plate of refreshing lemon cookies)