And it's a GIRL!

So we finally took the plunge and added an addition to our little family. In May we got our sweet little Chocolate lab puppy Lucy.

This is like the first week
we got her, this is her protesting
going down the stairs!

We just love her so much. She is seriously a hand full. Living on the 3rd floor in Phoenix Arizona in the middle of Summer was not ideal for potty training. On any given day we would take between 20-25 trips outside daily. Take into account the 3 sets of stairs and the 100+ degree weather and you have a very tired mom and dad :) Joel and I have really enjoyed having someone else around to look at though and Joel has done such a good job training her. She knows quite a few tricks but at the same time she is very naughty and definitely "does what she wants." She gets in trouble quite a bit and spends a lot of time in "puppy time out". She must like it though because she just doesn't learn. We sure love her. Here are a couple pictures of our sweet Lucy Lou!

Adorable in every way!!

Caught in my purse yet again...
this literally happens on a daily basis!

She's getting bigger!
 She loves playing in her swimming pool :)

Grand Canyon here we come!

While living in Arizona we have been blessed to make so many new fun friends and this weekend we were lucky enough to go on a road trip to the Grand Canyon with two of them; Bridget and Taylor!

Funny story about how we all became friends so I will share. Taylor and Joel met at work and bonding over their crazy love for sports, naturally they became friends. Well, when we realized that Taylor and his girlfriend lived in the same apartment complex as us we had them over for dinner. At dinner I met Taylor's girlfriend Bridget and found out she was also a teacher, and that we both shared a love for children so as you can see this was a friendship made in heaven. We have really enjoyed their company and the many dinner dates and road trips spent with them :)

Okay enough about that back to our Grand Canyon adventure...
We decided that since we finally had a moment to breathe with school being out that we should take Lucy to see the Grand Canyon... she has been dying to see it for weeks :) So we got up Saturday morning, left at like 6:00 am and drove up to the Grand Canyon National Park. When we arrived we set up our camp site. As much as I love camping (no sarcasm here, surprisingly) we have not yet invested in any camping gear so we had to borrow from Joel's sister. We were reassured several times that this camping gear had just recently been used by them and that everything would work perfectly....

 

Well as this picture clearly illustrates, the tent and air mattress were not made for each other. The tent was just right for Joel and I but when you add a crazed puppy to the mix you end up sleeping with your knees touching your chin. It was great fun as you can see!  

Overall we had a very fun trip, we hiked around the rim of the canyon. Lucy tried to be a trooper but all the walking combined with the heat made for one pooped puppy. At one point Joel had to empty out the backpack and put Lucy in it and carry her. She absolutely hated it and didn't last long, which is why there is not a picture. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip:

Making breakfast on the BBQ

Grand Canyon Sunset was absolutely beautiful!