Christmas 2009

WOW - there's nothing like a Christmas letter to remind you how crazy your year has been. And this has been an EXCEPTIONALLY crazy year. In fact - I hope we never have a year quite this crazy again (at least medically!). I'll summarize by saying we did more dog seminars this year than the last 5 combined. Probably spent more medically than the last 5 combined. And had at least one other life changing event that doesn't come more than once every 5 years (for us!) :-)

We didn't send an update last year - so here's a few key highlights from 2008 that are integral to understanding our crazy 2009 ;-)

2008 Highlights:
The two highlights of 2008 were the his and hers puppies. I was long overdue for a pup with my main competition dog, Denver, being eight. I knew I wanted a Rottweiler, but I wanted speed and drive for agility. European rotties typically have slighter, more athletic builds, and plenty of 'working' rottweiler lines to choose from, so our search started there. In the end I picked a breeder in Finland whose dogs I fell in love with.

In the meantime, Esteban visited a friend with a litter of BC pups just to "check them out". He swore up and down that he was just helping to socialize the dogs - but in the end - he fell in love with one in particular. I had chosen my breeder - but the pups weren't yet born and there was no guarantee there would be a girl for me - so we had to make the decision independently. Esteban got his BC pup in early June, and a few weeks later, my rottie litter was born with SIX girls - plenty to go around :-)

I actually made a vacation out of it and flew to Finland to pick up my pup. I twisted my mom's arm (you can imagine how much twisting it really took ;-) and she came with me for a few days of puppy time and a week of site-seeing.

And that's how we went from 4 to 6 dogs in the space of a few months.

Read more about Esteban's BC pup, Raph, here.
Read more about my rottie pup, Gitta, here.
Read more about my trip to Finland here.

JANUARY:
The highlight of January was my trip to Austin for the ClickerExpo. Three days of lectures and hands on 'labs' covering the science of operant conditioning (clicker training). Gitta was only 6 months old and came with me as my lab dog. She was a hit being full of puppy exuberance in a 50 lb body.

FEBRUARY:
It can't be called a 'highlight' - but the event that dominated February was Isaac breaking his left arm. It was actually a very low key event. He broke it at school, but used it all day. I couldn't see anything wrong with it and would have assumed it was just sore. But Esteban took one look and said "I think his arm is broken!". WHAT?! Turns out they learn stuff in medical school and residency ;-) An xray at a minor emergency clinic confirmed it and he got a cast the next day.

MARCH:
In March, while his left arm was still in a cast, Isaac broke his right arm. Looking back - it's about 50% surreal and 50% amusing. This was NOT a low key event and involved a call from school (yes it happened at school again), an ambulance ride, and an afternoon spent at Texas Children's Hospital. He spent 3 weeks with both arms in casts. For the first day, he couldn't reach either arm to his mouth to feed himself! But we were able to recast the first arm with more of a bend in the elbow which helped out considerably.

JUNE:
In June, Gitta and I flew to Seattle for FIVE full days of dog training seminars with one of our favorite handlers/presenters, Susan Garrett. We came back exhausted, overwhelmed, excited, and motivated! It's a series of seminars I have been wanting to do for years and it was perfect timing for Gitta since she was old enough to learn alot - but young enough that we could make sure to do things right the first time around!

JULY:
Just a few days after I returned home from Seattle, Esteban and I packed up Denver and Rook and DROVE to Toronto for three MORE days with Susan Garrett along with our two other favorite agility presenters Greg Derrett and Laura Derrett. It seems a little crazy (and maybe it is ;-) but it turned out to be about the same length of time on the road as our yearly drive to Los Angeles. These seminars were focused on advanced agility handling and were absolutely invaluable. It was also nice having a little time to ourselves (Esteban's parents came to Houston to watch Isaac) and with only 2 mature dogs to look after.

A few short weeks after we returned, Esteban competed at the largest local show of the year, the Reliant Show. This show is one of 7 shows that includes two International style runs. The jump heights are different for International competition and the challenges are MUCH different. Esteban applied everything he has just learned and ended up winning BOTH runs with Rook at 26" and thereby getting "High Combined". This earned him an automatic invitation to try out for the 2010 World Team (a team of US dogs and handlers that travels to the FCI Agility World Championships - held in Germany for 2010).

And last but not least - sometime in July we found out that we were pregnant with our second child! We always knew we wanted large spacing between Isaac and #2. At some point in the year, as we realized we were just a year from the end of residency, we started talking about having #2. We decided to tell Isaac right away (he was too old for us to 'talk over his head') which meant we had to tell everyone else right away as well! We are due March 25th, 2010 and Isaac can not wait. He is 100% excited about being a big brother!

AUGUST:
In August, Esteban and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. TEN YEARS! It was also Esteban's parent's 35th wedding anniversary and Esteban's father's 60th birthday that month. So we decided to have our first ever Fernandezlopez Reunion since Linda (Esteban's sister) moved to Washington, DC a few years back. Linda flew down for a week and Esteban's parents drove in from El Paso. We celebrated all three events and took family portraits. It was a really nice, relaxing visit and a tradition we'll have to keep going at least every few years!

SEPTEMBER:
Somehow, completely unexpectedly, we ended up with dog number seven in September. There's a whole blog article explaining the situation, but here's the summary. The new pup is a golden retriever named Lexi (short for Lexington - she was born on the 4th of July). She is from Gaylan's Goldens (Gypsy's breeder) and is a little ball of fire! And I made a pretty sweet deal with Esteban in exchange for agreeing to dog number 7.

OCTOBER:
Isaac turned 5 at the end of October and we decided to throw him a surprise party. It was pretty brilliant - surprise parties are wasted on adults I think. Kids don't read the credit card bills. They don't get annoyed if you haven't mentioned their birthday or discussed party plans. They don't even know precisely what day it is in relation to their birthday! We all had a wonderful time.

NOVEMBER:
We finally got to learn the sex of the baby in November. We took Isaac to the appointment and he was fascinated with the ultrasound machine. The doctor asked him what he wanted and he replied that he wanted a baby sister. She looked at the ultrasound briefly and said "You get your wish!". I think he wants a baby sister because he has a young cousin (1 yr old now) who is a girl and he loves her so much. At any rate - we're excited to have a girl and Isaac can not wait to meet his little baby sister.

And that's our year!

Read more about our entire year here (dog stuff) and here (family stuff) and enjoy these photos from "Best of 2009" album.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays.
Sarah, Esteban, & Isaac
Gypsy, Sammie, Denver, Rook, Raph, Gitta, Lexi & Alli

Christmas 2006

(This letter was sent out in the mail for Christams 2006)

Dear Friends & Family,

Another year gone – amazing! It’s flown by – and yet – I can’t believe that at the beginning of the year, Isaac wasn’t even walking yet. It’s been a busy year for all of us! You’ll find a much better review of the year at http://family.fernandezlopez.org.

Late last year, we added a new addition – actually two. Mai tricked me into taking two kittens who had showed up at her house! We named them Luc and Kate and began looking for new homes for them.

In February, Isaac began walking. Esteban’s parents just happened to be visiting and got to see those first steps. He also started adding sign language signs left and right! He added Thank you and Change in February, and once he learned the ‘game’ of noticing what you were doing with your hands – he started adding signs all the time! Mostly he added animal signs; elephant, monkey, bird, fish. He also added his first non-mom and dad words; cat, doggie, bulgogi (gogi).

The highlight of June was our first trip away from Isaac! Esteban and I took a trip to Las Vegas while Poppi and Lula (my parents) took care of Isaac. It was a spontaneous and must needed break for both of us; and we had a great time. Esteban played on the World Poker Tour – and I officially made the switch from Blackjack to Poker!

I also had quite a few big dog show trips this year. The first of which was over 4th of July. I left Isaac with Esteban (whose parents were also in town to help out) while I took Denver and rook to a USDAA Regional event in Denver, CO. I drove wth a fellow competitor and ended the trip having met some of my goals and missed others. We went with the hopes of earning a bye in the National event (which we weren’t able to do); but we did finish out our requirements for entering the National event without a bye. I sure did miss Isaac.

In July – we lived through Isaac’s obsession with his hat (he wore it in the bathtub) as well as with his Nemo stuffed animal (we spent weeks trying to find extras online and finally found and ordered 3).

Throughout the year, Isaac added so many words and signs I lost track. The signing really was exciting as everyone says. There have been countless times I would have had no idea what Isaac was saying if he hadn’t also signed. It was so exciting that in September, I signed up for an Adult Sign Language class for myself! It was a wonderful experience, and one I am going to continue with the next set of lessons in the Spring.

In October we had a joint bday party with Mariam – who was born on the same day as Isaac. We brought an obscene amount of food, and our own grill, to the park. The weather was beautiful and the company was wonderful. However, as soon as it was over (I’d been planning for weeks), I realized I only had 2 days till I left for the USDAA National in Scottsdale, AZ! Again, it was my, Rook, and Denver plus a fellow competitor and her dog. We had a great drive keeping each other awake with lots of gabbing  Isaac came with me this time! But only as far as El Paso, where he stayed with Esteban’s parents. That was a great trip for all of us. Esteban’s parents got some much deserved alone time with Isaac (Mommy’s can really mess up quality grandparent time!). And I had a great time in Scottsdale. The big surprise was that Rook was the one that really did well! I still think of her as a baby dog; and had no expectations, and therefore no nerves! And she really shown making it from the Quaterfinals to the Semi’s and then running clean in the Semi’s (but not quite fast enough to make the finals). It was a very exciting and motivating trip!

November marked the switch from Nemo obsession to Mater obsession (from the movie cars). Isaac loved the movie and now asks to watch Cars at every opportunity.

In December we had another big dog show trip – this time with Sammie! The AKC hosted the first ever Agility Invitational. This event showcased the top dogs in each breed. Only the top 5 dogs of each breed were invited and that included Sammie. This time, I couldn’t find anyone to share the drive with. So, I packed up Sammie and Isaac and headed out to Long Beach, California all alone! I once again dropped off Isaac in El Paso, en route. Esteban couldn’t take time off from school, so I got to run Sammie again - which is always fun.

And here we are. It’s December and I can’t hardly believe it.. Hopefully your year was as wonderful (but perhaps not as hectic) as ours.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays.
Sarah, Esteban, & Isaac
Gypsy, Sammie, Denver, Rook, Alli & Luc