I never imagined this weekend as a gift, but it truly was. A gift of delightful memories.

This weekend wasn’t just about Thanksgiving, it was about how much could Jason take and still love me? Mom staying with Jason and meeting the girls for the first time. Of course, she fell head over heels in love. And they took to her like stink on a dog because, well….she brought four furry children with her. FOUR.

Two tiny Papillons, Buddy the man, and Little Chevy who weighs an ounce? A Yorkie terror terrier named Lola. Poor thing, she has a disorder that requires medication every six hours to keep her from convulsing scarily. Yikes! And lastly, one FRED, a Shih-tzu boy, the biggest of the bunch, found wandering the highway one evening, that she promptly picked up in the Chuckwagon.

I call her vehicle the Chuckwagon, because it’s like the old commercial where the dogs are chasing the wagon with dog food, except it’s her van. The van stops and the dogs pile in. She takes them ALL home. I am not even kidding. My mom has 23 dogs (yes, she lives in the country).

I think half of them she has been trying to find homes for…for-EVER. But ya know? Her guidelines for a doggy home is VERY strict (which is good). Most don’t qualify, the rest don’t want grown up dogs. Then, MORE dogs come chasing down the Chuckwagon, which isn’t hard to catch. I think she ties meaty lamb chops to her bumper. Kidding! She doesn’t.

In all honesty, she rescues bloodhounds. She is part of an organization that will save a bloodhound (or part bloodhound) before they are euthanized at a shelter. They pick them up, put them in foster care until they can be adopted out. So, some of the dogs are fosters, others followed the Chuckwagon, and the rest happened to be on the right road, on the right day.

Whichever way you want to look at it, if you need a pet, please let me know. It really is a great service they do. They all have their shots and have been fixed. The fact that Mom only brought FOUR, ha, that’s a miracle. Lucky JASON!

Why did she stay at his house and not mine? Well, there was a little incident at my Mom’s house where Buddy the dog decided to get in Salem’s face, all chest bumping, and fake punching. She told him to get lost with her teeth and thirteen stitches later……yeeeeeaah. Not good.

Salem does NOT like little yappy, bossy Buddy dogs. Did I mention Buddy is eleven years old and has no teeth? Oh Salem, you are such a brute. Making her apologize would not have come CLOSE to making up for what happened to the little guy. In her defense, she only put her mouth on him for a second.

So, NO, I would not risk four doggy lives at my place with not only one big dog, but three. Not to mention, I have no extra bed. AND three grown ups share a very tiny bathroom already. One more might just push me over the edge. Ahhh!

Jason’s house it was. Extra bedroom, new mattress, cleaned up toy room, converted to guest bedroom (which Bridget kept asking me if I was going to sleep there). Uhh, no GRANDMA is “Gwanmah seep dere?” Yes, SHE is sleeping there. Isn’t that cool? (nods head, beams a smile) She only thought it was cool because Grandma has presents, and puppies.

Jason has a doggy run in his backyard, and LOTS, and LOTS of tile. Jason, sweetie, I know I can never EVER possibly make up for your most generous hospitality in the whole wide world. Ever to infinity times squared to the tenth power. But pssssst, you totally passed the TEST. Heh! You had no idea right?

Watching the little girls with my Mom and the dogs brought me great joy. Molly and Bridget LOVE the puppies. They love to hold them, pet them, cuddle them, and even drop them. Luckily they are close to the ground. Please don’t tell them they are not “really” puppies, especially old man Buddy. They were in heaven with all the puppy love.

Fred the Shih-tzu is one of my personal favorites. Cutest dog in the world. He is a love. I am not a little dog fan, but I would take him home in a second (Jason says no, hmph!). This weekend we carted around lots of dogs. Moving them back and forth from outside to in (even in the rain, right Jason?). Pictures galore were taken, adorable subjects, equals timeless shots.

Molly and Fred

Molly, Bridget, and Sydney – Can I just say this photo turns me to mush, awh!

Mom and girls walking together.

Then finally, we ended with ICE at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. What a finale! That place was incredible. The decorations, the art, the imagination of it all, just wraps you up, like a living present. Plus the ice slide, a grown up child’s dream – FLYING down the ice – no holds barred – Weeeeeeeee! It was glorious fun. If it wasn’t so crowded, I would have done it over and over til my fingers and nose froze off (totally worth it by the way).

Did I mention it was nine degrees? Before you can go in, they wrap you up in these big blue suits made for Eskimos. I guess they know Texan’s don’t have “real” winter coats, nor do we need them, although some people think we do when it goes from 110 degrees to 60 degrees, phhsss. Either way, we got a nifty warm sleeping bag garmet to wear in the ICE. Awesome.

Without further ado, timeless memories..

Jason, Mom, Me, Sydney, Kyle, Molly, and Bridget in front.

Jason and his two beauties.

Sydney and the girls.

One of my favorites, Bridget and my Mom.

Ice sculptures.

Molly and an ice lamb.

Me and Sydney. I swear that’s a camera bag under my coat, not like one of Mom’s small dogs or something. Heh!

The Grinch and my heart after this weekend.

Sweet timeless memories, I am not worthy.