Daisy the Dog!!!

We are VERY excited to announce that we have a new dog!! We just couldn't stand being without a dog any longer :-) We got Daisy 10 days ago from a local shelter. She is 35 pounds, about 7 months old and some sort of Spaniel mix. (anyone have any ideas on what you think she is??)






The Saturday before Easter, we decided to go look at dogs. We had all been getting increasingly restless for a dog, even after having purchased our substitute pet bird. And Voila!! There she was, just sitting quietly observing us as we walked around the kennels. Katie was very confused about the whole process: Are we getting a dog today? (probably not, we're just looking) Are we getting this dog now? (not sure, we're trying to decide) Are we bringing the dog home today? (no) Is she really our dog? (yes!)

We really were just looking and in particular, we were looking for a small dog - but here we are :-) I think the main problem there is that we're just not small dog people :-) They told us that it would be 2 weeks before we could bring her home - she had to be spayed before we could pick her up - but Monday after we went, they called to say she'd be ready on Thursday! So we went back to see her again on Monday afternoon - just to be sure! Thursday Katie & I took the new collar, leash & cage and went to pick up Daisy.

The 1st weekend was pretty rough, mainly because she was scared of EVERYTHING! The first time I walked her, I literally had to pick her up and carry her across the street. Big fun. I'm sure I made quite a scene carrying this huge dog across the street while also trying to corral a 5 year old! Daisy wouldn't walk through doorways, she wouldn't play with any toys, she wouldn't even go potty most of the 1st day. She was just really really scared. We were really nervous that she wouldn't be able to overcome the fear and be a good dog for our family. (and that we'd have to take her back) She basically was acting like a 15 year old dog - just a big dog lump! It really surprised us because we hadn't seen any signs of fear while she was at the shelter.

But about Tuesday or Wednesday last week, our puppy finally showed up!! I was making the bed and she took off with one of the pillows. Then I could hardly finish because she was trying to bite the sheets, the pillows, pretty much anything she could get her teeth on. Jason was out of town, so I was still nervous that she would still be super scared around him. But she really and truly has relaxed and is enjoying life now! The 1st day or so of Daisy being herself, she hurt Katie by knocking into her or jumping on her. It was a bit tricky to explain that it's actually a good thing that Daisy is doing this because it shows that she is acting like a normal puppy. :-) Not such a popular explanation for Miss Katie!

Daisy is definitely now acting like the silly young pup that she is - here she is trying to get through the gate to follow Katie to the garden :-) No mind that only her head would ever fit through that little hole :-) I really thought she was going to choke herself... but still had to run get the camera to record the silliness :-)





She is a very sweet dog and very calm in general. You can see she is making herself right at home. :-) She has her fair share of really bad habits - pulling your arm off on walks, jumping up on everyone, peeing in the house - habits that seem to be a bit harder to conquer since she is bigger and thus harder to control. But we are trying to practice plenty of patience and have a big order of training tools in to Petsmart for Jason to pick up when he comes to the US on a business trip next week. :-) I'm trying to remember all the helpful hints I learned from taking Rosie through puppy training 2 years ago.

It has truly been a joy to have a dog around again. And the walks haven't even been that bad :-) No, we don't have a yard here - the primary reason that we did not bring our dogs to Spain. We LOVE our dogs, but are also lazy and weren't so keen on the idea of walking our dogs 4 or 5 times a day. But as they say in Spanish - vale la pena - it's worth it! Not having dogs is worse than having to walk them all the time! And I've met all sorts of nice people on my frequent walks - even mostly people who speak English! It has been beautiful weather as well, so it's been great to have an excuse to be outside so much. Yeah for Daisy!!

Easter & a loose tooth

We had a wonderful 2nd Easter in Madrid. I think we didn't even get home from "lunch" after church until 7 PM! :-) It was a bit chilly but we still got to wear our Easter clothes with an extra layer or two.

I observed Lent a bit more this year and it definitely made the celebration of Christ's resurrection even more sweet. On Good Friday, we went to visit a local town near us called Alcala de Henares. It is the birthplace of Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. We really enjoyed seeing the resident storks on top of the buildings in the beautiful central square. (though sadly, I forgot my camera so we have no pictures of these storks!) We also saw several of the floats for the procession that took place later that evening. Each town in Spain holds a procession (parade) on Good Friday with floats representing various parts of the Passion of Christ. We also wandered into a local church in town. It was very moving to see Christ there on the cross on the day we remember His death.

Because this post is mainly to show you Katie pictures :-), I thought I'd include her latest excitement. Katie has her 1st loose tooth! Just a few weeks shy of 5 years after she got this tooth, one of her front bottom teeth is wobbly. She is VERY excited and pretty much tells everyone she sees :-). She can be seen wiggling it often, especially in the car. We'll be sure to keep you posted when the tooth fairy makes his (her?) appearance! We've been told the tooth fairy also comes to Spain, leaving Euros of course! We're not sure what the going rate is for the tooth fairy... guess we'll soon find out! :-)

Semana Santa

The week before Easter is called Semana Santa in Spain. It is probably the biggest holiday week here - along with Christmas and the August vacation time (they are really really serious about their holidays here :-) ) This year, Jason's mom & stepdad, Vicky & Dave, came to see us. Yes, that's right! Vicky is doing very very well and has been given a clear bill of health! The brain tumor is gone and she doesn't even have to go back to that doctor for many years because the surgery was so successful. She has some small side effects from the surgery and tumor, but for the most part, she is totally better and pain free. Even the cancer possibility that was showing up in her blood work is completely gone. It was so wonderful to have them here and have her health be so good. Actually, it was a little hard to believe how scary & sad the last time we were together was in contrast! We are so grateful that God has protected her life & her health and that it is all a memory.

We had a wonderful week with the 2 of them. Katie enjoyed having her Nana & Papa here to play with and they played dogs and ponies for hours :-). Of course we showed them the downtown area and went to Toledo to see the cathedral & shop for a day too. They also got to go to church with us so they could see where we worship & meet some of our new friends.




One day, we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and went down for a picnic in the Parque Retiro. This park is one of our favorite places in Madrid and it was really beautiful with the spring flowers and newly leafing trees. We got to see the Crystal Palace and enjoy an ice cream and a coffee in one of the outdoor cafes. (our favorite people watching place!) Here also is Katie being a statue on an empty statue pedestal :-).

We also took a day trip to Segovia. Last October, when I went to London with my friend Tracy, Jason & Katie had found a really neat place called La Granja that is only 15 minutes from Segovia. We had not had a chance to go back there. So on our way to Segovia, we stopped by. La Granja means the Farm, but it is actually a country palace and gardens, similar to Versailles in France. It is absolutely gorgeous! Since it is farther north than we are, the trees were just barely beginning to leaf out - I think it would be even more gorgeous in a couple of weeks. And we hope to go back sometime to see the fountains in action. Outside the palace, they have these enormous trees, that we found out are actually American redwood trees. So that makes them even cooler :-). We also found an amazing chocoleteria right next to the palace. Hot chocolate here in Spain is so thick your spoon almost stands up straight in it. :-) Super yummy.

Segovia was fabulous as always. We saw the castle and hiked all the way up to see the view of the cathedral and the town. Segovia is over the pass over the Sierra Nevada mountains, the ones we can see from our area. The snow on the mountains was really pretty to see from that side too!

BTW- we figured out that this trip made Jason & Katie's 6th time to go to Segovia. I have been there 4 times. :-) Yes, we like it that much! (not all of those times were with visitors!) This time we found a new fabulous restaurant - yet another reason to go back. So come see us, and we'll take you there too :-)

We had such a good week with Mom & Dave and were so thankful to have so much time to spend together to show them our world!

Spring Break with the Camps!

We have had lots of fun visitors recently here in Madrid. It is such a treat for us to have visitors, and we are so thankful that they are willing to make the long hard trip over here to experience our world with us!

For spring break, Jason's sister Jennifer, and her 2 kids, Candace & Collin, came to see us. (Uncle Bryan had to stay home for work :-( ) Technically it wasn't our spring break, but Katie did have 2 days off that week already (the spring is FULL of holidays here!) and she just stayed home all week to be able to play with her cousins. We had such a good time spending time with them, and Katie loved playing with her cousins! One of the things we miss the most here is extended time with family, so it was so nice to have a whole week to spend together.

We enjoyed showing Madrid to them while they were here. They had never been to a European city before, and Madrid has the typical architecture and feel of the European capitol that it is. It was fun to remember our 1st impressions of Europe and Spain as we watched them experience all the new sights for the 1st time. 2 things that we are really used to that they really noticed are the ever present smoking and graffiti. It was kind of funny to realize that we don't even think twice about either of them now! We went downtown to the Puerta del Sol to see the Bear (left - Katie's 1st up close & personal experience w/ the Bear b/c it's quite high up), to the Plaza Mayor to see that beautiful square (above), and to the Royal Palace.

Jason & Collin got to experience a Spanish "football" game (i.e. soccer) - a first for both of them! Fortunately the good guys won. :-) We also spent a day touring the local grocery store and mall. Not your typical site seeing sites :-), but it was really fun to show them our world! And they enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences in such familiar locations.

We also spent days in both Toledo & Segovia. Somehow I don't have any good pics of Toledo, and I stayed home with a sick tummy while they went to Segovia (i.e. no pics from there either). One of the highlights of the day in Toledo was finding an inexpensive yummy new restaurant near our normal haunts. Jenn, Candace & Collin were all great sports at trying the new Spanish foods :-). (like paella with a whole crab & shrimp in it: shells, eyes and all :-) Should have taken a picture of that, huh?) Another highlight of our time in Toledo came when we were visiting the cathedral. Every cathedral in Europe has a big beautiful pipe organ, but we never get to hear any of them actually playing. We had just commented on how great it would be to hear it when they actually started playing it! There was a field trip of a group of kids there and they were demonstrating the organ for the kids. It was amazing! It really almost brought me to tears to hear the grandeur of that beautiful sound in that grand building!

Jenn said that Segovia was her favorite city. (we agree!) It was also fun because they took the Ave, the high speed train, to Segovia for the first time. Jason said it was a really great experience that cut the normal driving time of an hour in half! They did have an interesting experience on the bus once they got to Segovia. The bus driver kept trying to fit more people on the bus and there was just no room. The people on the bus were even arguing with him that there wasn't any room left, but he was sure they were wrong! Apparently he had not reached the weight limit for the bus, so physical space left or not, there was sure to be more room for more people! I'm not sure how fun that was for them, but at least it's a good story :-)

The last fun thing we did was go up into the mountains. As I've mentioned, the mountains are clearly visible from here, especially in the winter when they have snow on them. They are only about an hour's drive from here. Well, given that Candace & Collin have been born & raised in Texas, they are like us and have not seen snow that often. So we mostly went to find some snow to sled on :-). The temperatures had been in the 70s so I was just not sure if we would find any snow - but you can still see it up on the mountain tops! So we drove up the pass to a nearby ski resort... and just at the summit, we found snow! There were actually patches big enough to sled in! The first picture is Candace sledding on a patch by the road, but then we hiked up a little ways and found a pretty decent hill, demonstrated by Collin in the 2nd pic. It was great! We all ended up pretty wet by the end of it - you would be walking on the snow and then all of a sudden your foot would fall into the snow up to your knee :-) - but it wasn't too bad since it was so warm. It was really funny b/c there were flowers blooming just next to the snow drifts. Maybe this is typical spring, but this Texas girl found it very unusual!! :-) Katie was definitely more interested in picking flowers than in sledding :-)




After a yummy lunch in a restaurant by the ski slope (and yes, the slope was still open!), we found a beautiful path to hike in the woods. It was so beautiful hiking in the mountain meadows & woods, surrounded by the beauty of spring and snow-fed creeks. It was really hard to believe that we were really that close to Madrid!


Katie loves her "big" cousins (they are 15 & 14, compared to her other cousins who are 7 & under) and we so enjoyed spending time with them. They are really nice kids :-). They were so nice to play with Katie and entertain her. And Aunt Jenn spoiled Katie with treats from home and lots of love. We had such a good time!!