Happy Birthday Daddy!

 

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to the bestest Daddy in the whole world.

Happy Birthday to you!

As you might have guessed December is a busy month around here. Not only is it Christmas, both Mama AND Daddy have birthdays! Today, we are combining Nature Friday AND Daddy's birthday with a look back at all the fun we've had together!

Of course, the bestest times have been traveling in ArCe!

We've explored remote places like Ute Lake in Eastern New Mexico

We've been to cool natural landmarks like Monument Valley

....and let's not forget the Squirrelly Grand Canyon 

Road tripping  is always fun with Daddy. especially when we find pretty views (this is North Clear Creek Falls, near Creede, CO).

Most of all, we are so very thankful to Daddy for always being ready to take us places we have never been before. 

So join us today in wishing our most Pawtastic Daddy the bestest birthday a guy could have!

(and we're not just saying that because he is in charge of giving us greenies tonight ;-))

We hope all our friends enjoy a bit of Nature this weekend!

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

Thankful for Christmas Decorations - Inside

This week I am going to give you a glimpse of the cute little ornaments we are thankful the pawrents picked up on our travels! 

This ornament is from Carmel, our favorite town in California, by our good friend Laurie!  It is our favorite line from the movie, Elf.

The pawrents picked up this beary cute ornament on our camping trip to Red River this year. 

This Longhorn Snowman is from Red River too. 

The pawrents say are going to try and remember to pick an ornament up from all the places we visit this year...From what we 've overheard the pawrents say, we will have a BUNCH of ornaments to show you next year!

Thank you for stopping by today and a big thank you to Max and Angel Brian for hosting Thankful Thursday every week. It gives us a chance to make sure we pause and think about all the little (and big) things we have to be thankful for every week!

Thank you to Maxwell and Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

Jolly Little Juncos

 

This week, on Backyard Wildlife Weekend, we are getting into the Howliday spirit with a look at some jolly little Juncos! These little feathered friends stay most of the Winter in our backyard along with the House Finches and, for this year at least, the little Yellow Rump Warblers. Enjoy this video TC took of the Juncos playing in our fountain!

What birds are you seeing in your backyard this winter???

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

Travel Tuesday - Pawrents Gone Wild

For Thanksgiving this year, while we stayed home with Nanny J, Mama and Daddy went someplace where Daddy could "relax and unwind". We thought maybe they went someplace where Daddy could take naps and eat treats all day...you know, like we do to relax.

But then I saw THESE pictures (on Mama's phone) of 

them having WAY TOO MUCH fun !!!!

Those are awfully big smiles to have when you left your puppies so far away!

Big crowds and loud music isn't our idea of relaxing, Mama!! 

That doesn't look like a store where you can buy souvenirs for us!

In case you haven't guessed by now, the pawrents took a trip to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. They did say there were lots of treats involved. For instance, they had dinner at the restaurant WAY up at the top of the tower in the picture above.

I bet it was yummy....

They visited the Mob Museum because Mama may be a bit obsessed with the organized crime past of Las Vegas. 

They walked through a few casinos....

...and looked at all the beautiful architecture

...and of course, they stopped by the Conservatory at the Bellagio

(we'll have more on that later)

Although, we are happy they came back refreshed and happy, we can't wait to get back to "family vacations" in ArCe this Spring!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

Howliday Gnomey Aaaws!

So many gnomes....so little time!!

 

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop! 

Sasebo Gardens, A Year of Beauty!

Welcome to Nature Friday, where we get to meet new friends and share a picture or two of what nature looks like around Blogville. Can you believe Mama visited the Sasebo Gardens all throughout 2025 and we didn't get to go with her once? We sure wish they allowed dogs to visit. Anyways, we thought it would be nice to show you the Sasebo Waterfall through out 2025 to show you the subtle changes it goes through during the seasons!

Early February, leftover leaves from 2024 and some ice covering the rocks.

March.

No more ice and the ducks are starting to enjoy the pond.

April brought budding trees

May has the waterfall looking ready for the warmer months

June and

Summer has arrived

July

The Summer months all look about the same at the Sasebo Garden Waterfall, lots of shady green. But there was a lot of color to be found in the garden, here is a little video of June-September colors at Sasebo:

August

September

October.

Things are cooling down and the trees are getting ready for their Autumn display

...and Mama's favorite month at Sasebo, November! The trees are dressed in beautiful reds, golds and oranges to celebrate a beautiful year!

December brings beautiful decorations and colors to Sasebo at night.  Mama and Daddy went to enjoy the "River of Lights" last weekend. The downside of this is the park looks a bit "meh" during the day, so Mama hasn't visited yet. We'll have more on the pretty holiday light show, later in the month.

Thanks for tagging along as we visited the Botanic Garden all year. Sasebo sure looked beautiful in 2025 and I'm sure we'll see more of it in 2026. BUT, we are hoping Mama finds a place to visit monthly next year that includes US pups too!

We hope everyone gets a chance to get out and enjoy some nature this weekend!!

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

Thankful for Howliday Decorations - Outside

 

This time of year, I am thankful for all the fun decorations. This week, I wanted to give a special thank you to Daddy who made the outside festive!

It's hard to get all out friends to stay upright in the windy desert, but Daddy always goes the extra mile to make sure they don't fly away and we, and the neighbors, are very thankful to him for that!

Thank you to Maxwell and Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

Backyard Blackbirds

 

This Winter has brought a BUNCH of blackbirds to our yard. They are loud and eat like little piggies at the bird feeders. Rosy and I like to chase them off, but these thug birds always come back with reinforcements. Mama says most of them are Grackles and some are Red Winged Blackbirds, we think they all should be called "Annoying Birds"! As you might be able to tell, they are not our favorite feathered friends BOL.

Today, for Backyard Wildlife Wednesday, we have some video TC took of these bossy birds taking over the fountain:

Luckily, these loud birdies usually only stay for the Winter and then head to their Summer homes although we hope to chase them away a bit early this year!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop this week!