"O Holy Night indeed"... but only with this song.

You should listen to this song. It will make you feel real good inside.

Clicky clicky click.

Enjoy

Congrats to the new McDonald Family!

Monica (Trevor's sister) and her husband Austin welcomed baby Marshall Austin McDonald last night! From what I hear he is 8 pounds and 11 ounces, 19 inches long with a little red hair fuzz. We're so happy for you guys! You're going to be the best parents!!

Of Chihuahua and Deer

Let's talk about chihuahua and deer. I feel the need to post this because A. It's a great insight to Michelle's mind and B. I want to know if any of you think the same way as me.

Trevor and I were driving along through the Tetons one day, looking for a good place to fish. We drove for quite a while, down dirt roads and up highways... all over the place. At one point we were pretty well off the beaten path, without another car or road in sight. As I was gazing out the window I saw something amid the greenery... "Oh," I thought to myself "That's kind of a cute chihuahua."
We continue driving.
"Hm, that was a little big for a chihuahua."
We keep driving.
And then BAM! Reason finally catches up with my thought process.
"HEY! There was a deer back there!!"
"Really?" said Trevor.
We backed up and sure enough, there was a deer hidden up to it's neck in bushes and undergrowth. A doe. A female deer.
By now, I'm laughing hysterically at myself, and I tell Trevor how I initially thought it was a chihuahua. He thinks I'm crazy.

So, here is the question folks: from far away, in a moving car, and from the neck up, do you think a doe looks like a chihuahua? In case you haven't seen any deer lately, I'll throw in some pictures I found on google image.

Memories

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.
It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Welcome the newest Butchart!

We would like to welcome the newest member of the Butchart family, Blake Butchart!



Blake is a 3 (or so) year old Black Lab that weighs (despite his papers claiming "20 lbs) probably at least 60 pounds. He's already house, crate, and behaviorally trained, and does well with cats. The Humane Society that we adopted him from said that someone abandoned him in Beaver Dick park. He really is a very smart dog, it took him about 2 minutes to figure out how to work the latch on the gate so that he can get out. It's okay though, we have a running line to tie him to while we're gone during the day until we fix the fence. He's had his shots (even the boosters) and has been neutered, so we don't even have to worry about that. All in all, he's pretty much the perfect first dog for us, I think.

Here are some terrible pictures of us with him this morning. Trevor looks like he has dirt on his upper lip, but he just hasn't shaved in a while.





If you're wondering about Piper, well, there's been some "sibling" rivalry, but I think she's getting over it. I expect that in a week or so, they'll be fine with each other. No Dad, Blake is not going to eat her, and when you come to visit this weekend, I don't want to see you encouraging him :)

You may also be wondering why ended up with a lab when we were so close to getting an Alaskan Malamute. When we went to the Malamute rescue on Saturday, all of the dogs had pretty bad behavioral problems... namely, cat eating problems. This would not sit well in our home. Plus, a lot of people were interested in the Mals, and the adoption process was much more arduous. So we happened to stop by Petco on our way home, met Blake, and fell in love.

Have an opinon? Of course you do! Use it here!

Trevor and I have been thinking about getting a dog. Yes, we already have a cat, yes we know our house isn't THAT big, and yes, we realize the winters here are enough to kill the abominable snowman. We are past the point of whether or not to get a dog, and on to the point of what kind of dog we should get.

My top two breed choices are schnauzer and alaskan malamute. "What??" I hear you saying, "Those two types of dogs are not similar at all!!" I know. So I will explain my reasoning to you:





Exibit A: Cute schnauzer puppy and slightly funny looking but still cute adult schnauzer.

I like the idea of getting a schnauzer or mini schnauzer because they are really smart dogs (really, have you ever seen one showing off? Way smart), and they don't shed very much (a definite plus during the winter when we would be sharing the house with him and Piper). However, while schnauzers are loyal to their owners, they don't like strangers.





Exibit B: ADORABLE fluffy malamute puppies and equally adorable and fluffy adult malamute.

Alaskan malamutes have (obviously) very thick fur and enjoy the cold and the snow. This would be important considering that we probably wouldn't a malamute int he house very often considering the size. However, if we did choose to let a malamute in the house, I have heard that they're very delicate aroudn furniture. Malamutes need lots of exercise, and it would give Trevor and I another reason to exercise more often than we do now. Malamutes don't really bark, they make Chewbacca noises and are friendly to pretty much everyone. However, they don't always get along with other small animals... like siamese cats names Piper.





Exibit C: Classic loveable lab puppies and classic loveable adult lab.

Trevor likes labradors, and they come in a variety of colors to match the decor. Labs are very smart dogs, and easier to train than others. They are family friendly, and have a fairly easy time getting along with children. Their coat doesn't take much to keep groomed, so that's a plus. However, labradors are big. And we couldn't leave one in the garage or outside during the winter. They are also very energetic, leaving the relationship to furniture (that it would match, of course) in question.

So those are the top three choices, I think. We are currently accepting opinons on reccomeneded breeds of dogs (these three in particular, but if there's another that we haven't thought of, tell us). We know you have opinons. Most of you are related to us, don't try to pretend that you don't want to share it.

Thanks guys!! By the way, you know I was joking about matching a labrador's fur to our decor, right?

A trip to California and the 4th of July

So a week ago I accompanied my mom to California! It was a great trip, but like always, I forgot to take pictures most of the time. But here's one of Charlotte with her cute dogs, Twinkie and Kilala (Andon was asleep)



And here's a random picture of Trevor being cute out by his garden.



And, of course, we had Independence Day! We stayed at home and lit off fireworks with a couple of our neighbors. Here's a video of a fountain in case you miss the fireworks already :)