We have returned! There’s going to be quite a few posts about our trip to Fort Wayne to visit Ross, Liz and Jack; our trip to the Indiana Dunes; Colorado pictures and anything else we’ve forgotten about this fall!
This morning I made cinnamon apple oats for Rod and I using one and a half golden delicious apples, copious amounts of cinnamon and just a regular serving of oats. I topped mine with a little sugar-free maple syrup and he used poplar syrup.
I think Mario really wanted some of our oats! 
Caroline just wanted to get to the park! 
Before heading to the park with the dogs we also started a batch of chili to warm up the cool evening. We use bloody mary mix for the soup base and then we’re going to pair the chili with a nice hearty, multigrain roll. YUM!
When we got back from the park Rod and I started assembling our new bookcase and entry table from IKEA. We decided to go yesterday and finally pick up our first anniversary present to each other - new furniture for the bedroom and a few things for the first floor!
I’m loving the MALM dressing table as our new entry table complete with the clay pot that we won at a silent auction supporting the East 10th Street Children’s Center!
I also love how the EXPEDIT bookcase separates our living room from our dining room much better now - it also gives us SO much storage! Plus we can display some of the unique beer we picked up in Colorado (until we drink it that is)!
Here’s our new bed and nightstands - it’s low enough so that Caroline can jump on the bed plus there’s all kinds of storage in the nightstands!
I hope everyone has been doing well and apologies again for being SO far behind on our blogging! How has everyone been? 
a GREAT BIG BEAR - a way up there! Just kidding - when we went camping we didn’t see any bears.
A few weekends ago we went camping during one of the biggest storms of the summer! It was lots of good conversation and lots of good food. The weather was really hot and really humid but I would recommend Morgan-Monroe State Forest for anyone looking to go camping in Indiana.
A few pictures from our weekend:
Nothing beats bacon, eggs and coffee while camping!
Mario was never that thrilled about the trip and he was a tick magnet!
The Outback ended up looking like it was in a car advertisement!
We were most proud of our fire that we were able to start after the rain!
Morgan-Monroe was a great place to go camping and we had a really relaxing weekend. The trails were great and the only downside was how hot and sticky the weekend was after the storm rolled through Friday night. I can’t wait to go again and take advantage of cooler temperatures!
It’s that time of year again, the time of year that the Harbison Weaver household breaks out the Christmas decorations and goes to Monument Circle for the lighting of the “tree”. I thought I’d share a few pictures from our day:
Our Christmas decor - before going up! Each year we gain a few boxes - I'm glad we have plenty of storage room in our house.
Here's Mario in his Santa Hat while we were putting up the decorations.
The "tree" or the monument all strung with lights and garlands before being lit up.
Mario and I waiting for the tree to light up. I love his sweater - the colors are perfect for him!
Rod and Caroline before the tree was lit. I'm really lucky to have such a handsome husband and a beautiful dog!
The "tree" all lit up on the circle. In the background you can see the IPL building and their recreation of a tree!
Rod and I with the pups at the Circle of Lights! Isn't this such a great family picture? :D
It was a great day with lots of hot chocolate, turkey sandwiches, sweet potato fries and red wine. A great way to kick off our holiday season. How are you starting to celebrate the holiday season?
We kicked off the weekend on Thursday night with grilling out, hanging out with the dogs, taking a long walk and relaxing. It was the perfect start to our 4th of July weekend!
Mario was a little shy still on Thursday!
On Friday we went to Cincinnati to pour beer at the City of Montgomery’s 4th of July Festival. Mario got to meet his Grandma and Grandpa and got a quick sniffing of his cousins before we headed back to Indy. For dinner we grilled pizza, watched the downtown Freedom Blast from our front yard and Rod visited with our neighbors.
Saturday was a big day for Mario - his first vet visit! Everything went well there, and so we dropped him off back at home and ran a few errands. We picked up a new bed for him and put the two of them next to each other.
His is so much bigger than Caroline’s bed, it’s so cute!
We took the pups to Three Dog Bakery and then took them for a stroll up and down Mass Ave. We came back for dinner and the pups seemed exhausted - they were so tired from all the excitement of the 4th and their trip to Three Dog Bakery.
Yesterday after breakfast we walked down to Henry’s on East with the pups and had lunch with John. The dogs were so exhausted after the 3.5 mile walk to Henrys that we were given a perfect chance to brew our Alefest Kolsch kit that we had purchased in April! After brewing Rod cut the grass and we had a great dinner of goose burgers - burgers with bacon and all kinds of yummy spices. We gave the pups a bath (Caroline was quite doggy smelling) which with two dogs is quite the feat! We fed the pups “Pupcakes” from Three Dog Bakery as their reward for being good during their bath and then hung out around the house. It was a very busy, but very relaxing weekend for us and I am happy to say I didn’t stress out about the wedding one bit!
Our “kids” fresh after their bath. Apologies for my hair - I just let it air dry after my shower (after the trip to Henry’s)!
This week will hopefully be pretty slow, with plenty of time to get a few wedding projects wrapped up. We’re hoping to get programs, table numbers and the aisle runner taken care of this week and I have my meeting with the hair stylist on Sunday!
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Of Mr. Mario! I think we’ve decided to call him Mario, short for Mariano, plus he’s starting to recognize the “-io” sound!
This is when I switched to the digital camera from my cell phone.
I think in this one he’s saying, “I’ve got my eye on you!”
He’s not such a fan of the camera, he’ll learn.
You can see his unusual coloring of his nose here, also that darker “line” between his eyes is a small ridge of fur! In this picture he looks like he’s quite grumpy, but he’s really quite shy.
He’s starting to get more comfortable with us, and he went on his first walk through Herron-Morton Place and the Old Northside last night. I think he’ll get even more acclimated as the days go on, but it will be a slow and steady process to get him comfortable with everything.
That’s right kids, the Harbison-Weaver household is growing by one! No we’re not pregnant, we adopted a 2 year old Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix from the Indianapolis Humane Society.
He was previously named Mr. Lemon, but we’re renaming him Mr. Mariano. Right now though, he doesn’t really answer to much of anything!
We had a busy night last night introducing the two dogs, giving Mr. Mari a bath and just seeing how they interact together. He’s fairly potty trained, but we’re dealing with territory issues and that he’s not completely comfortable around the house yet. They did curl up together last night and snuggle so we can see them getting close in the future.
Don’t they look precious together? :) Let’s just hope Mr. Mariano and Caroline can get along!