Feels like Summer....Looks like Fall

On January 17 we sent Ashen to hunting training school. She will be gone for 6-8 weeks and will be missed. While she's learning how to point birds, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and shot trap. We would hate not being able to hit the birds after all of her hard work at school!

It was a great day to get out of the house. I need a little more practice, roughly shooting 50%, while Matt hardly misses! We hope this will be a fun outing in the future as we teach our kids how to shoot. Doesn't hurt to start early! =) Shooter is gun shy so we couldn't take him along, but instead we got him out and played fetch later that day.

Basement

We did complete a few projects in 2013. One in particular was our basement living room. If you don't remember when we started, below are a couple of links that should refresh your memory. Let's just say after 2 years, it was about time!

http://www.lifeinwesternks.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-new-projects.html

http://www.lifeinwesternks.blogspot.com/2012/01/continuing-construction.html

We started using the basement in July and have enjoyed it ever since. The extra space will be great especially when we have a little one crawling around next fall. Matt and I have lived here 4 years and I can definitely say it's starting to feel like HOME!

1+1 = 3

HaPPy HaLloWEeN!

Halloween will be a lot different next year in the Long household. Matt and I are excited to announce that Baby Long will be arriving April 2014!

Ashen

On Wednesday, September 18 our family grew by the size of one puppy. We got Ashen Grey Hunter, a full breed Weimaraner, from a guy in Smith Center, KS. She is currently a little over 9 weeks old and is growing FAST! Not only have we enjoyed having her around, I think I can say Shooter enjoys the company as well. We find them playing together and sometimes we even find them in the same kennel. Probably not Shooter's preference but Ashen seems to squeeze into about anywhere.

On vacation last week, we took both Shooter and Ashen on a 9 hour drive to South Dakota. We were uncertain at first on how the trip would go with a new puppy, but they both did GREAT! It was a great bonding experience for the entire family!