Friday, January 19, 2007

Hallelujah!!!!!!!

Fizz is in Florida.

That may not sound like such a big deal but trust me, it's been a difficult week.

When Fizz's new mom Maria got back into the country after being gone for the holidays, we started making arrangements for her to come pick him up. The original plan was that she'd fly in, pick him up and take him back in the cabin, just the way Echo and Nina got to Texas. But at 12 weeks of age he was over the in-cabin weight limit of 15 pounds.

So we figured Maria could fly in and take him back in cargo as an "accompanied pet". But as it turns out that was a very expensive plan. If he had to fly as cargo anyway, it would be several hundred dollars less for him to fly by himself. So we began researching flights.

*Nothing* flies from Colorado to Jacksonville non-stop. And I've never known anyone who has been able to fly a dog out of Colorado Springs. So we tentatively planned on a flight from Denver to Atlanta, change planes, then Atlanta to Jacksonville. He was going to go tomorrow.

Then on a whim I checked the Delta flight schedules and discovered that Delta actually flies out of Colorado Springs to Atlanta! Yeah! No two our trip to the Denver airport! No $30 in tolls! And he could leave sooner (today) and actually get there with a shorter flight. Reservations were made for a 7 am flight.

What I did not take into consideration was the weather. It has to be at least 20 degrees for a dog to board a plane. And when the Delta people helped me make the reservation I don't think they realized that our weather here in Colorado can easily have a 30+ degree difference in temperature during the day. Just because it's was supposed to be close to 40 degrees during the day does NOT mean it would be more than 20 degrees at 7 am when the flight was scheduled to take off. It was in fact 14 degrees at 7 am. In fact, I don't think we've had a single day inthe last month when it was over 20 degrees at 7 am.

So that flight was canceled and reservations were made for a flight leaving at 2:37. Only the plane didn't get in until 2:45 and didn't take off until 3:08. Meaning the 50 minutes that Fizz had to change planes in Cincinnati (instead of Atlanta) was now only 20 minutes. YIKES!!!

I shouldn't have been worried. Poor Fizz (and everyone else going from Cincinnati to Jacksonville on flight 4564) sat on the runway for 2 HOURS AND 8 MINUTES while they waited for a flight attendent to show up. Care to guess how many calls I made to Cincinnati during those 2 hours and 8 minutes?

Poor Maria had already left for the airport before the flight was delayed so she got to spend two hours waiting anxiously ... she was at the airport before Fizz even left Cincinnati!

So hear we are with Fizz scheduled to arrive at 11:45. Jacksonville Air Cargo closes at midnight. Care to guess how may more phone calls I made????

Finally, FINALLY the plane lands. At this point things go lightning fast. Maria had Fizz in her hands less than 15 minutes after the flight landed. Sometimes it can take as long as an hour. I guess all those phone calls paid off :)

Maria thinks Fizz was worth the wait :)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

A Letter From Casper!

Hi Everyone

It’s me, Casper! I’ve been having SO much fun since I got to my new home in Nevada. Why just today it really snowed hard and my daddy took me outside to play in it. We sure had fun and I didn’t want to come back inside, but Dad didn’t want me to get too cold so he made me come inside. Dad was kind of shaking and looked sorta blue? He kept jumping around and yelling, go pee, go pee go pee. Does anyone know what that means ?? Anyway, I sure had fun running and digging and making the snow turn yellow!


I sure like my big brother Neko. He’s soooo cool ! He let’s me chew on his head and ears, and sometimes I sneak up on him and grab him from behind and do this funny little dance? This really drives my daddy crazy ,but I think it’s FUN !

Oh !! I also have a little sister called Erin. She lives upstairs and won’t come down when I’m awake. I don’t get it ! My new Mommie, Becky says she’s just shy, whatever that means… Here’s a picture of me and my big brother Neko and Daddy.


Here’s a picture of me and Neko! I sure like my big Brother !


Here I am with my favorite TOY !

Daddy says it’s a SQUIRREL ! He says I’m a natural born “SQUIRREL DOG” . He says it “ runs in the family ”. I don’t know what that means ,but I sure love my squirrel !!!


Ok, I gotta now… Now Daddy is jumping around and yelling ,don’t pee, don’t pee ,don’t pee. Oh boy! We’re going outside to play in the SNOW again! My daddy’s so funny!!!!

Bye bye, now. CASPER

Thursday, January 04, 2007

A Letter From Nina

Happy New Year Mommies Kelly and Anne!

I have been having a great time in my new home in Houston. I’ve met so many interesting people already! And lots of dogs around our neighborhood too. My new mom Mary has two cats too!! I like to bark at them but I don’t get too close because once I got swatted…..


I’ve seen Echo three times already—we romp and play every time.


The other day we took a trip to see where Mom works.


Here’s me with my boy Michael in Mom’s office:


And then we went to our vet’s office just to meet everyone!


Oh, and I loooooove my crate too!


Mom’s really good about feeding me when I’m hungry, but sometimes she’s just not fast enough!


At the end of the day, I’m exhausted…..


I miss you and Kelly and all my relatives—but don’t worry, I’m having a great time and I’ll write lots!!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Look What WE Can Do!!!!!

Winter can do stairs. Lots of them!


And what's this that Ryan is doing?


Is she standing on her front feet like a Circus dog?

Is she break dancing?

No, she was caught by camera in mid leap as she escapes from the exercise pen! For the fifteenth time in 30 minutes!

The pen is now 36 inches tall instead of 18 inches....

Tomorrow.... a Letter From Nina.....

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

10 Weeks.

Oh my, has it REALLY been 10 weeks?



Meanwhile....


Echo and "his boy":


More Echo:


Echo and Nina:


Finley and his "brother":


Winter in the snow (Can I come in?):



Kelly's Kids

Don't forget, ALL the pictures from the past 10 weeks are posted in Kelly's Kids - A Gallery of Puppies.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

And Then There Were Two.

Only Fizz and Ryan remain here at WhiteStar. Finley left yesterday morning and Winter left early yesterday evening. Here are their Going Home stories....


Finley Goes Home!


After the excitement that surrounded the departure of Casper, Nina and Echo I was worried what might happen when Gary and his daughter Laura came to pick up Finley.


But other than getting up at 5 am to make the trip, missing a turn about a half hour from my house and getting a little lost, it all went smoothly!


The trip home was uneventful. Yay!!


I had an update from Gary this morning.... Finley slept thru the night quietly after being completely worn out by his new best friend and big brother who happens to be a Corgi!

Gary promises more pictures soon, but in the meantime, one last picture of Finley before he left...



Winter Goes Home

Brie arrived yesterday afternoon to pick up Winter. He is her graduation present to herself and his arrival has been much anticipated!


Winter will have two new brothers and a sister at his new home... it's an interspecies family as they are all cats. In fact I think almost all these puppies have gone to homes with kitties!


Brie reports Winter's first night at home was not quite as peaceful as Finley's....

Fizz goes home in a few weeks. In the meantime, I'll keep the Kelly-Cam up so that his new mom Maria can keep an eye on him!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

9. Weeks. Old.

Casper (Green Boy) left Thursday.

Nina (Yellow Girl) and Echo (Black Boy)left Saturday.

Finley (Purple Boy) and Winter (Orange Boy) left today. More on their departures in the next post. Before they left we did the regular "birthday portraits"...






And YES, I do cry when they leave. Except for Casper. Not that I didn't miss him.. it's just that I was so excited for John and Becky to have FINALLY made it and to FINALLY see their puppy and hold him... that I just couldn't be sad at all. But I cried for Nina and Echo. And for Finley and Winter.