Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

2013 has been a year filled with highs and lows for our family. There have been frustrations and disappointments, of course.. but they have been far, far out-weighed by the good. In addition to a lot of really wonderful time with my family and friends, I can look at this list and see proof of forward motion, of goals met or —more importantly— actively in progress. Some of the major events of the year included:

• Created a new logo for Campbell's Brittanys (www.campbellsbrittanys.com) website featuring Odin and Loki and our new soup can logo 
• Celebrated Odin turning 5 and Loki turning 3
• Odin won his third Best of Breed show win with his awesome handler, Terri Erickson
• Celebrated Loki finishing 2012 as the number 3 derby dog (field class in Field Trials) for the Northwest Field Trial Council
• Loki earned his first broke dog field trial placement in a open gun dog stake with 14 other dogs entered
• After a year of showing at various shows throughout Washington, Oregon, California, and Utah, Loki earned his show championship and now is CH. Lacey Mtn's B Campbell Little Jester, JH
• Ben and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary
• Ben and I checked off another travel destination on our list with a short getaway to Costa Rica

We hope you all had a wonderful 2013 and wish you a fabulous 2014!

Happy 3rd Birthday Loki!

Happy third Birthday to our sweet Little Dude, Loki! little boy you're one! No longer really a puppy, I take a moment to remember you as you were. You were fuzzy and sweet, and fit right on my lap where you would not leave. You cried for your First Mom, but have since learned she never really left you, only brought you to my care. You snuck under fences and stuck your face in my camera lens, making it nigh impossible for me to get a decent shot of anyone. From the first you insisted on keeping up with the big dogs, short legs never held you back. They still don't. You've done a great job showing people size does not dictate speed or ability, you defy both gravity and ride the wind. There was a day you were never called "Stinker", but you earned it and continue to earn it so I think the nickname is here to stay. But it doesn't take away one ounce of your joy, the love you express or the sweetness you show in quieter moments. Happy Birthday Melanie.

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 has been another good one for us! Surrounded by my family this morning for breakfast and presents and a visit with Ben's family and extended relatives this evening made for and long but good day filled with family.

Picture Perfect

Our little family!

Chirstmas Spirit

We're getting into the Christmas spirit around here as we settle into what will be a 1.5 week vacation for Ben and a week vacation for me and complete our final Christmas preparations. My parents will be coming over for our annual Christmas Day celebration and Ben's Aunt and Uncle are even in town this year from Pennsylvania this year.  The stocking are hung, the presents are wrapped, we're all anxiously awaiting Christmas to be here...

33rd Birthday Celebration

I celebrated my 33rd birthday this past Monday with a low key day since it was a work day. I was greeted by treats from my co-workers including a bottle of Prosecco and a flowering Christmas cactus for my office. My friend Breanna treated me to lunch at one of my favorite spots, El Pariso complete with singing and sombrero wearing. Ben surprised me with a lovely bouquet of roses which he had delivered to my office. After work, we headed out for a nice Italian dinner and then home for some relaxing with Odin and Loki who  I was also treated to a lovely bunch of lilies at home. 

Providence Festival of Trees

This year I had the opportunity to attend Providence Hospital's Festival of Trees on behalf of my company since we were the media sponsor. The week- long event raises funds for Providence Children’s Services so that they can provide children in Snohomish County with life-changing therapy and services at the Children’s Center at Providence Regional, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. The big event of the week was the Gala auction and dinner which gave all of that attended the ability to dress up and open our wallets in support of a good cause and helped them raise more than $670,000. It was great being able to participate in these events and I look forward to doing it again and being a part of supporting their cause and spend an evening with co-workers and my boss outside of the office.

Halloween 2013

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween! 

Otoberfest 2013

This weekend we headed up to Leavenworth with Tracy to celebrate Oktoberfest. In true German style, Leavenworth was decked out for the event complete with a parade, beer gardens, traditional German music and of course brats.

We arrived just in time for the parade through downtown Leavenworth which started off the afternoon's festivities along with the keg tapping ceremony. After an initial round of celebrating we decided to head over to the mini golf course to try our skills at 18 holes. While none of us are golfers it was a fun few hours of goofing around.

After our golfing adventure we headed back to the beer gardens for more beer, food and of course people watching while listening to German music. A few brats, German pretzels and lots of good beer later we can successful say we enjoyed Oktoberfest 2013.

Living Pure Vida!

While the weather has been gorgeous here in Seattle, we decided to take a quick week long vacation to an even warmer climate south of the boarder, Cost Rica. We had been looking online and found an all-inclusive deal that we couldn't pass up so we headed to Jaco, Costa Rica for a week where the temps were in the upper 90's with chances for thunderstorms daily.

We stayed at a great resort called Morgan's Cove Resort and Casino which was located about a 10 minute walk from the downtown of Jaco and included pools, bars with all the umbrella drinks you could handle and of course beach front access. Jaco is a really laid back surfers community located about an 1.5 hour drive from San Jose and consists of a long street with lots of little shops selling surfing gear to souvenirs and interesting little restaurants. We did find a KFC, Quizno's, Subway and Pizza Hut but no Starbucks or McDonalds.

Highlights from our week include going ziplinging through the rain forest, riding ATVs, going white water rafting on class iii rapids due to the rain, hiking through the rain forest, taking a day boat ride to Tortuga Island to see the turtles, snorkeling and of course lounging by the pool.

We're definitely looking forward to going back for another trip and seeing what the rest of Costa Rica has in store.

11 Years

Saturday we celebrated our 11th anniversary! Time has certainly flown by this past year with all of our work, doggie and personal commitment so it was nice to have a nice evening to spend time together. We celebrated this year with a relaxing dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Taphouse in Bellevue with beers and good food.

We've shared our fair share of ups and downs over the last 11 years and here's looking forward to many more wonderful years to come!

Jam Time

It's beginning to be jam time again around our house since our rhubarb plants and other fruit plants are all in bloom and heavy with fruit. This meant that while the weather has been in the upper 70's , low 80's it was time to make the first batch of jam for this summer.

This time I tried Cherry Rhubarb which is a spin on a tired and very yummy strawberry rhubarb recipe that I have made in the past. If the remnants in the pan taste as good as the final jam, then were going to be having yummy toast with jam.

New Champion

A couple of weeks ago we sent Loki to So. Jordan, Utah with his awesome handler Terri Erickson to attempt to win the last  needed major to finish his AKC show championship as majors were becoming far and few between locally. The gamble paid off and we have a new champion here at Campbell's Brittanys!

Loki finished his championship with 22 points and 2 major wins. Congrats to Team Terri and Loki!

New Champion- CH. Lacey Mtn's B Campbell Little Jester, JH "Loki"

Running with the Big Boys

Last weekend we headed over to Madras, Oregon for the Oregon Brittany Club's field trial where Ben ran Odin in Open Gun Dog and Amateur Gun Dog and our trainer Chris ran Loki in Open Gun Dog and Open Limited Gun Dog.

It ended up being a good weekend for Loki as he ran big like usually and ended up with his first adult placement as he took 3rd place out of 13 entries in Open Gun Dog. Here's looking to more placements and eventually a win with the big boys.

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a Happy Easter from our favorite little "bunnies" Odin and Loki!

Number 3

2012 was another stellar year for Lacey Mtn's B Campbell Little Jester, JH "Loki". We learned last weekend that he finished third for the Northwest Derby Dog of the Year for 2012! Loki is trained and handled in the field by his trainer Chris Tewes of Double Gun Ranch in Eagle Creek, OR.

Congrats to Team Loki on a great year and here's hoping 2013 is even better!

Mr. O's Birthday!

Today our lovable but spirited Odin turns 5 years old. We can't believe he's been in our life for 5 years now! Happy Birthday Mr. O. We look forward to celebrating many more with you by our side.

Best of Breed #3

This weekend we headed to the Seattle Kennel Club show with Odin and once again it was his time to shine at Sunday's show where he went Best of Breed for win #3 ad more points towards his Grand Championship title.

Congrats Terri and Odin on a job well done!

"Amaluna" by Cirque du Soleil

Saturday we headed to one of my favorite events to see when it comes to town- Cirque du Solei. As usual Amaluna did not disappoint in putting on a great showing of acrobatics and a great storyline.

Amaluna is a show about a mysterious island governed by goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon. The queen, Prospera, directs her daughter's coming-of-age ceremony in a rite that honours femininity, renewal, rebirth, and balance -- marking the passage of these insights and values from one generation to the next.

In the wake of a storm caused by Prospera, a group of young men lands on the island, triggering an epic and emotional story of love between Prospera's daughter and her brave suitor. Their love is put to the test as the couple must face demanding trials and overcome daunting setbacks before they can achieve mutual trust, faith, and harmony.

While we couldn't take pictures under the big top I did find a couple online. If you get a chance to see this show I would highly recommend it.

Calendar Dogs

 

Looks like Odin and Loki are making their debut as calendar models...they are the faces of October in the new 2013 Oregon Brittany Club calendar :)

A Major Win

Last weekend Loki headed down to sunny and warm Palm Springs, CA with Terri for the Kennel Club of Palm Springs round of dog shows. Friday was the Sporting Dog Show which featured all of the breeds that fall under the "Sporting" classification. These breeds include Brittany's, Pointers, German Shorthair Pointers and others. Loki ended up taking not only Winners Dog (WD) but he went Best of Winners (BOW) for another 2 points towards his championship.

Sunday was the important show day since he currently only needs two major wins (wins worth 3 points or more) to finish his championship and their was a major opportunity in females which meant he would have to win not only Winners Dog but go Best of Winners to pick up the major and the needed 3 points. Good luck was on our side as Team Terri and Loki pulled off a win for Loki's first major win.

Congrats to Terri and Loki on a  great weekend in Palm Springs and bringing home 5 points and a major!

Soup's Ready

As you all know we have been marketing Campbell's Brittanys actively over the last two years to promote our Brittanys Odin and Loki and their successes in the show ring and field to promote them for breeding purposes. Well for the new year I thought it was time that they had a new look and finally a logo that could be used on their website and possibly even a shirt for us to wear at events. After playing around with the design here is the final product.