4th of July with Dear Friends

Traditionally, we barbecue on July 4th with our cherished friends and neighbors:  Glenna, Peter, Acacia and Ezra. They have three dogs:  Reuben, Mia and Lizzie. Reuben and Mia are brother and sister bull mastiffs. Reuben weighs over 137 pounds (solid muscle!), Mia weighs about 90 pounds and Lizzie, the pug, weighs maybe 25 pounds. Nickel's first 4th of July holiday began by meeting Reuben, Mia and Lizzie.


Meet Reuben, a giant (literally) sweetheart. He loves to sit in deck chairs so he can observe the goings on in the back yard as well as be close to his peeps.

Nickel meets Reuben nose to nose.

Hi Reuben ... you're kinda big ...

 Struttin' with the BIG dog

Mia readily adopted Nickel. She's a great mom and is entirely willing to do her part in raising this pup.

 Yea! Mia runs really fast

And after all that running, you've just got to cool off. And isn't this the best bird bath ever? It's just the right size!

 Made for me

Well, I splashed out nearly all the water so Peter needs to refill the birdbath.

 Helpin' Uncle Peter

Gulp Gulp Gulp

 Ahhhhhhh ...

 My best friend Acacia

Harry with three tired goldens:  Frankie on the left, Nickel in the middle, Benny to the right. Benny is still doing well, thankfully. In his most recent lung x-ray, the mass was smaller and less opaque so the chemo drug is at least slowing the cancer down. We are grateful.

Family portrait