Bon Jovi

May 26, 2010.  Opening the brand new Meadowlands Stadium...BON JOVI!!  What an awesome show!!  So glad my friend Darcey was able to come up from Florida to go with me.  It was 4 years ago that we saw Bon Jovi at the old Giant Stadium before Darcey moved to Florida so it was wonderful that she was able to join me at the new stadium to see Bon Jovi again.

The old Giant Stadium, half removed.  How sad.  I saw a lot of good concerts and games there.

What timing, the announcement just came out that the new stadium would be home to the 2014 Super Bowl!!  Jon said he was hoping for a Jets / Giants Super Bowl that year.  I still think I'd prefer to sit in my warm home in Feb to watch the game since the new stadium doesn't have a roof.

Darcey and I at our floor seats before the rest of the crowd got there.

First up, Train.

Hey, Soul Sister...

The main event, Bon Jovi!!

Let the show begin!

Jon has such a great smile.

These 80's songs still ROCK!  You Give Love a Bad Name.

Not one of their most famous but one of my favorites...We Got It Goin' On!

Jon and Ritchie

And up close.

All the boys...

Ruby

May 23, 2010.  Here are the latest pictures I received from Karey of puppy Ruby.  These are really great and could be calendar photos!

Ruby on top of the mountain.  What a shot this is!

Ruby showing us that she looks good from every angle...even the rear.

And she's more than just looks, this girl is smart as she's learned to shake.

Love the ears on this one.

Ruby enjoying some time on the couch...

...or perhaps getting ready to pounce.

I'm not sure if she likes bath time or not.  It's hard to tell with that sweet face but I'm guess with the clenched paw it may not be her favorite thing.  I know her mom Sharon prefers to avoid bath time.

She's ready for her close up.

Nationals - Day 6, WCA Specialty

May 21, 2010.  It was the last day at Nationals and it was a hot one.  Sawyer competed in Breed and I was very proud to make the first cut out of a large entry of 38 dogs.  What a trouper he was in the heat and I'm very happy with his performance. 



It was a great week with wonderful dogs, a few new titles, beautiful showing, seeing old friends, and meeting new ones.  But it is nice to be back home.  I know Sharon was very glad to see us and has spent most of the evening playing with Sawyer.

Nationals - Day 5, Maturity

May 20, 2010.  Today was Sawyer's Maturity, Brooke's 2nd attempt at Novice Obedience and Sawyer's move up to Rally Advanced.

Unfortunately we had a conflict and missed Brooke's turn at obedience so didn't even get a chance to try today.  I was very disappointed.  We'll take the lessons we learned from Rose and hopefully apply them to another show soon.

Luckily there was a break in between the Futurity and Maturity so Sawyer and I were able to run down to the Rally ring and compete in Rally Advanced.  He earned a 96, losing 2 points for ticking the jump.  I found out later that we were 1st place in the class!  Nice Rally Advance debut for Sawyer and to place first at a National Specialty was wonderful!

Unfortunately we didn't do as well in the conformation ring.  I think Sawyer looked great and couldn't have asked for more from him. 

In line for our first review.

Waiting for the judge's exam.

Up and Back.

Free stack...Sawyer nailed it!

Going around the ring with the signature tounge out...he inherited this from Dude.

I still think he's a cutie and just love this dog.  He does it all and I'm happy that we added a few more titles to his name his weekend.  I know there are many more in his future.

CH Ashbrooke Quantrels Tom Sawyer Islnd, JH, NSD, RN, RLP, RL1, CD-H, CGC
(breeder owner handled)


And to top off our evening we won the dog coat in the raffle!  I've been looking for a coat for Sawyer and this is perfect for him. 

One more day and then we'll be on our way home.

Nationals - Day 4, WCDCA Specialty

May 19, 2010.  Today was the Weimaraner Club of Washington DC Area Specialty.  We competed in Breed, Obedience and Rally. 

We didn't do anything in the Breed ring but Dude took the first Award of Merit (AOM).  Way to go Dude!!  He is one good looking dog.

Sawyer on the move.

This was Brooke's debut in obedience.  While we did get some wonderful tips from Rose and Brooke significantly improved in just a few days, we did not qualify.  She got up during the long down, but before that she had a qualifying score so I was very proud of her.  I knew the stays would be challenging but we got lots of training ideas from Rose so hopefully we'll be ready for the next time.

Here's a video of her figure 8 and stand for exam.

We ended the day with Rally.  Sawyer had a great run with a score of 97.

He earned his Rally Novice (RN) tile and took 2nd place! 

I ended the day with a little puppy luvin'.  Awwwww!

Nationals - Day 3, Day off

May 18, 2010.  Today was our day off since we didn't have any events today.  I was able to work from the hotel room so I didn't have to waste a vacation day and the dogs rested.

Brooke enjoyed having the whole bed to herself.

Sawyer stretched out and enjoyed his woobie.

They even got some playing time together.

We were able to take advantage of some training time with Rose who is our obedience hero from Canada.  She has a wonderful Weim named Asia (bred by Barb) and has accomplished so much in obedience the stats are staggering.  I think she said she has 40 High in Trials!!  She gave us some wonderful tips and I'm feeling a little more confident about Brooke's debut in AKC obedience tomorrow.

After all that practicing, Sawyer needed a rest before dinner so curled up with my purse.

At dinner Frank discovered his glasses had broken so now he used his monocle to read the menu.  I always have fun with this gang and was glad to spend time with good friends.

Nationals - Day 2, Ratings Test

May 1, 2010.  Sunday Sawyer earned his WCA Novice Shooting Dog title (NSD). He found a bird as soon as we got into the bird field. He's a hunting machine and we can't wait to progress in his training.

Barb was a little slow in drawing her gun but good thing she got the shot off so Hula (another Dude daughter) could earn her NSD title too.

Sunday evening we took Sawyer and Prada out into the fields. Even Prada got into the pointing and Sawyer found a bird. I think there's a hunting title in her future as well.

Prada on point.

Sawyer on point.

The evening brought four wheelin' fun. Barb had a great time on the ATV.

Scott took a whirl around the grounds as well.

Sharon went home with Scott on Sunday night since she wasn't entered in any other events. I'm sure she'll enjoy her week home with dad.

Monday was the Novice Field day seminar and then off to the host hotel in Gettysburg. Saywer and Brooke were pooped by the time we settled in and were very comfortable being hotel dogs for the evening.

Off to Nationals... First up, Hunt Tests

May 15, 2010.  The week of the Weimaraner Club of America Nationals started off at the York Pointer Setter Club with Hunting events. 

Saturday Sharon earned her first Junior Hunter leg.

She had never seen horses before so I'm glad they didn't freak her out since the judges were on horseback.  Both she and Sawyer (the next day) were quite comfortable around them .

Dude also earned his first Junior Hunter leg.

Miss Prada Yada was there, she was cute as ever and had a great time with the birds.  Scott hadn't seen her since she left sand she has grown so much since then.

But she is still rambuncious.  Here she is trying to eat the ex-pen.

Sawyer was catching some shade while the girls, Sharon and Brooke, enjoyed the sun.

Dude is being goofy while mom, Mira looks on.

Brooke was more comfortable waiting in the car than the ex-pens.  I call this one 'Driving Miss Brooke'.

Later in the afternoon we took Sawyer and his grandma, Mira, out in the fields.  He had a great time running around and looking for birds. 

Barb and Frank arrived from Canada on Saturday night. They have two Dude puppies that are just adorable.
Here one of the puppies in enjoying the agility tunnel...well I think he's just enjoying the shade.

Look at this face, so cute!

It's so tempting to steal one, but I had to get in line with all the other people that wanted to steal these cuties!  That was Karin to my right who was trying to take the other puppy.