Fall Post

Hi all,
It is a sad reality that my blog has become a mostly obsolete thing. Most of the people who I know read my blog are also on Facebook, so they see the photos and the this-N-thats of my daily life. Seems a bit redundant to share the same stuff here. Not that Facebook is  anything like what a blog can be, but over time it's  become my primary source of online interaction.

Part of this is because something transpired almost five months ago that left my heart kind of shell-shocked. Since then, I haven't really had many other thoughts I could write about.  I'm not depressed, just kind of numb, like I'm sort of unable to feel things properly. I'm sure it'll pass someday, but for now, I haven't felt much like sharing what's on my mind. Perhaps someday I will.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Thankfully!  Despite my brokey little heart, I've enjoyed doing some fun things. In June, the kids and I spent a wonderful week in NYC and another great week in Vermont.  In July I took Bunch on a trip to Hawaii.  I'd been planning to take Gator, too, but one day a couple weeks before we were planning to leave, he informed me that he didn't want to go on any more trips that summer.  After checking his DNA to verify that he was, indeed, my child, I acquiesced and allowed him to stay home. My worries that he'd change his mind and wish he'd come after we were already gone never transpired, and he enjoyed being a homebody whilst Bunch and I enjoyed visiting the North Shore of Oahu and my sister's family.  Those are comparable, no?!

In August, Gator had his 13th birthday, and I made him a fantastic death Star cake. Every year I think "how am I going to top this next year?" and every year I seem to do okay, coming up with something he loves even more than the previous year… But this seriously might be the end of it, because this cake was seriously so awesome.

It wasn't too sad to say goodbye to my sister in Hawaii, because there was a good chance I was going to see her again this month...and I did!

Her husband is from French Polynesia. Every few years they make the trek back to visit his family in Tahiti and Moorea, and had invited me to join them any time they were there.  So it was just fortunate that it all worked out perfectly, and I was able to spend five days with them this month.

Tahiti and Moorea are surreal!

The first morning after arriving, my sister and I went out on a standup paddleboard and a canoe with her two kids. We were staying at his parent's home, and the ocean is in their back yard. I had my five year old nephew on my canoe, and she had her daughter on the SUP.  We were enjoying the water and the morning when we suddenly saw whale spouts nearby.  It was the most incredible thing! A momma humpback and at least one calf (seemed like there must have been two...but if not, that kid got around!) were hanging out in the ocean out behind the house, and we spent a couple hours with them.  It was so magical! I was super bummed that we didn't have a camera to capture them jumping into the air, looking at us with their big, beautiful eyes, displaying fins and tails, spouting off.  It was otherworldly.  There were people on boats nearby taking pictures. I was definitely jealous.

Photo of me and my nephew and one of our whale
friends from the Tahitian newspaper

Then this week something amazing happened: someone on the boat was connected to the local Tahitian newspaper and did an article about whale watching excursions, and they printed a photo with the story of...you guessed it...ME!

My brother-in-law's family saw it and recognized the paddle board and canoe, and sent us the picture.  I couldn't believe that my wish for a photo was granted in such an unexpected way!

All in all it was an incredible trip. Too many memories to share, but I'll leave you with just a few more photos of this amazing speck of paradise in the vast Pacific Ocean:

Over water bungalows. Quintessential Moorea

My sister and her two adorable kids

View from the house of the ocean out back. My nephew is
dancing on the sand. You can see a whale spouting ...

Scene from Moorea

The beach outside the house

The lunch truck my sisters' sister-in-law owns

Another perfect day comes to an end in Tahiti

View from the flight home of an atoll

Makes Me Smile

These are two of my all-time favorite photos that I've ever taken. Every time I see them, I feel happy. I was in Hawaii a couple years ago, eating my Kua Aina burger at an outdoor table, and this tiny friend joined me. He hung out for well-over an hour, delighting me continuously as he crept around my table and licked the formica.

Sometimes nature just makes me feel joyous. 

A Poem

Gator came home from school with a new homework packet for the coming week (even though there is only one day of school between now and the day it's due because of school vacation. Which I have issues with because it's vacation! In 4th Grade! But I'll spare you my strong stance on the matter.)

Anyway, one of the assignments is that he must write a poem; a line poem to be exact, which is when you take a concept or idea, and write short lines that don't necessarily rhyme about it.

Since I'm going to make my kid do it, I thought I'd put myself through the exercise, you know, out of solidarity. Here goes my attempt:

Fall
Crisp air
Wisps of chimney smoke
Crunching leaves
blazing colors swirling in the wind
Cozy sweaters
Homemade soup
Yellow, brown, orange, red
Cinnamon and nutmeg
Caramel apples
Baking bread
Wrapping up in the Snuggy
Reading a good book.
♥


I guess there are some things I like about fall. (Even if it did snow on the last day of September.)

Grateful For
1) nutritious, hearty foods
2) walks
3) having my kids and Doc with me all weekend long.

And suddenly summer is gone

"
I went for a "last gasp" hike in the canyon by my house yesterday. The colors were brilliant and breathtaking. It was blue skies and 85 degrees....I knew I had to carpe diem.

Last night I was awakened a few times by loud booming thunder. Today the clouds are threatening to encase my head they're so low, and there was snow covering the mountains I hiked in yesterday.

I had to remind myself that it is actually sunny just a few thousand feet up, no matter how dark and stormy it was during my stint driving carpool this morning. And now, it's actually snowing at my house!

These are the times when I just want to make soup and cozy in. Fall is my favorite season to see and taste, but summer is my favorite season to live in. I miss you already summer!.

Time to make my new blog banner. Tomorrow is somehow going to be OCTOBER already.

Scenes from our trip to Yellowstone

We had a glorious time. If you haven't ever been there, put spending a few days in Yellowstone National Park on your Bucket List. You won't regret it.

Grateful for:
1) National Parks
2) The kindness of Cap'n Holman for loaning us his camper
3) A successful family vacation.

Parley's Nature Park II

At the risk of becoming known as the Crazy Creek Woman, I am posting for the second time in less than a week about Parley's Nature Park. Doc and I went back again for a walk on Saturday, and this time I brought the camera so I could capture a little bit of footage and photage. If you ever come for a visit, you can bet we'll be taking a walk to one of my favorite places together....so you may just get to fall in love with Parley's yourself someday.


The waterfall. Ahh, the sound of it!


Doc by the falls.


The peaceful creek




The kids here have made a dirt bike jump park all on their own here. The city had nothing to do with it. I just hope no one gets involved and tries to "regulate" this scene. We should all be able to just LIVE AT OUR OWN RISK.



The elusive voice of Blue.

Wow.

This July will mark the 3 year anniversary of moving to Utah for medical school. Shortly after arriving, I discovered a creek near our home that became my favorite place in the area. There was only one eentsy weensy little problem: all the land along that creek is private property...it's tucked away behind people's homes and yards. There are only a few places you can actually see the creek that don't require trespassing.

As luck would have it, a year after we came, I found out that a friend owned one of the homes, which was vacant at the time, and he said it was fine with him if I visited the creek along his property. So psyched!!!!

I began to visit his patch of creek regularly.It is so gorgeous. I thrilled to the sound of the water, breathed deep, refreshing breaths of the perfect scent, dreamt of building a cozy cottage along it's bank and living there forever. It was one of my few places of peace and serenity.

Then my friend found some renters for the house, and I stopped feeling comfortable hanging out there. It's been about a year since I went there to chillax and enjoy the beauty, sounds, and scents.

So just imagine my extreme surprise when I discovered an even MORE amazing place tonight on a walk with Doc.

I've known about Parley's Historic Nature Park since we came here, but I had ventured only a few feet down into it during the daylight, and a little further in the dark when it was covered with snow this past winter. I was under the impression from a comment made when I first moved in, that since it was a very popular place for dog owners, the trail was a completely disgusting mess of dog poop! That there was so much poop everywhere it made it a really undesirable place to go. You'd be wading through poop if you went down in there.

As it turns out, I harbor a mild aversion to dog poop, and because of this I never ventured into the park. Even though Doc and both kids have been there. They're all big nature-lovers, and I figured they just enjoyed wandering around avoiding the heaping piles of steaming doggie dung. It'd be almost like playing frogger, trying to get through the park without touching the stuff.

Well first of all...no nasty poop everywhere. What was I thinking? Like anyone would ever go there if that were the case. Like I'm not feeling lame about that ridiculous impression right about now. And lamenting all these years of not enjoying this resource in my own neighborhood.

Second, WOW! It's spring, so everything is particularly breathtaking right now. It's all blooming and greening up, and then as you wend your way down into the gulch suddenly you hear it. Water. A swiftly rushing creek of snowmelt cuts through the middle of the park as it hurries on it's way.

NO ONE mentioned the water before. How is that possible?! Don't these people realize how avidly I am drawn to the creeks here? I don't know what it is, but I just LOVE them. I'm enchanted by them. I dream of them. I roll my window down and listen to them whenever I drive by them. I smell them. I don't believe I'll ever tire of the sound of them. I think they're magical.

So Doc and I had the loveliest walk exploring the park together. He's been through there countless times on his runs...but he hadn't been all the places we walked tonight. It was so nice to hike around and see everything coming to life. We followed the river to it's source, and then hiked back up out of the gulch and walked home.

I might just have a new favorite place.

Blessings:

1. Parleys Historic Nature Park
2. A really nice hike with Doc
3. Insight

This Makes Me Happy!

My happy basil plant. I ♥ basil!

Summer Adventure #1: Timponogos Caves

For our first "Mom Camp Adventure" of the summer, the kids and I headed up American Fork Canyon to visit the Timponogos Caves.

I had never been on the road that leads to the caves before. When we set out, things were beautiful. But as we got off the freeway, it started to sprinkle.

"Mommy, what are those drops on the windshield?" my son asked from the back seat.

"Oh, I'm sure it's just a fluke. A few measly drips. Maybe a car passed pulling a boat and it splashed." I replied, hoping to avoid a freakout mood shift.

Then the heavens opened and started to dump. By the time we reached the National Park entrance booth, it was hailing. In June. They said that it was sleeting up at the entrance to the caves.

I decided since we'd come that far that we should just take a lovely, rainy drive through the canyon. When we got to the visitor's center, we got out just to check things out. Gator was pulling to go hiking any way...an unexpected shift. We didn't have any rain gear, and the gift shop had sold 100 rain ponchos in 30 minutes flat...with none left to buy.

We decided to purchase cave tour tickets tickets and then if we didn't make it to the cave for any reason, we'd get a refund.

So we set out. It's a mile and a half hike up the trail, and pretty steep. I expected to make it just a little way before we would turn around due to weather or poor attitudes, but by grace the rain just suddenly stopped as soon as we set out on the trail, and never started up again. The kids had great attitudes, and we had a simply breathtaking trek up the mountain. I am constantly amazed by the beauty of this area where we live. It's astonishing!

Upon reaching the top, we joined right up with a tour guide entering the caves. The tour took an hour, and it was amazing. There are only 2 other cave sites in the world with as many Stalactites and Stalagmites as Timp Caves have. One is in Mexico, and the other in France. It's fantastic.

After the tour, Bunch & Gator interviewed our guide as part of earning their "Junior Ranger" certificates, and then we hiked down. We found out there was a free class going on at 7pm to learn about mining in Utah followed by a panning for gold activity. The kids both wanted to stay, so we did.

Here are pictures from our fun day. In addition to regular trips to the library and other local activities, my goal is to have one fun Mom Camp activity every week with the kids this summer.
It's going to be great! ♥

Flying over the Caribbean Islands In A 9-seater Prop

I'm back! The trip was amazing. I flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, then hopped on a little plane flying low over the turquoise waters of the Caribbean to the island of Tortolla, in the British Virgin Island chain. From Tortolla, I took a ferry to the island Virgin Gorda.

Here are the pics I took sitting in the front right seat of the plane. The pilot sat in the left seat. Such fun! So breathtaking!

Dead Trees

So we went on our litter walk for Earth Day, and while we were out, I decided to take some pictures of the dead trees that have been condemned on the property that's being developed.
Glory Hallelujah they've been born again!

The sunset tonight was breathtaking. Nice benediction for the day.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day isn't something I grew up celebrating. I don't know if it was just us, or if a day hadn't yet be declared in which to honor our beloved earth. I first became aware of Earth Day during our years in graduate school. Prior to that, the closest we got was Arbor Day.

Today we are celebrating the earth by going on a litter walk to pick up trash. There's a lot of it nearby because we live off a busy road, surrounded by restaurants. Before moving here our family would often go on a litter walk and collect trash around the park and the trails around our home. It was much more like an easter egg hunt for the kids back then, because they were smaller, and there was much less trash to be found. We always had a snack or treat to eat when we were done.

Also, I'm going to start documenting a project starting next to our home. A large building which had been the State Board of Realtors home for 35 years, but which they outgrew and sold off to a developer, is about to be torn down. In the 3.3 acre space that we look out at, this developer has convinced the (small number of) local authorities and powers that be, to grant him permission to build eighteen single family dwellings on the space. Currently there is a large parking lot, lots of green and many trees sharing the area with the building.

I am quite annoyed by the whole thing for many reasons. First, I liked the former residents. They were realtors, and they'd stop by during business hours to pass their exams and get supplies etc. It was a great business to have next door. The parking lot was a nice short cut through to the neighborhood we're essentially isolated from on our little horseshoe. We walked through it to visit friends, go to school, church etc.

Second, the building would have made an ideal community center or new library (two things our township is addressing). But the asking price was out of reach for the township, and it went to this developer with deeper pockets.

Third, the developer is going to put a fence up around the premesis, and build this PUD (Planned Urban Development). These PUD homes are to be fairly small, no yard, with only 10 ' of space between homes. There will be a one-way street through the development, and they're gearing the homes towards empty nesters. The price range I've heard is $450+.

Because of complaints and concerns from local area residents about the impact of all this building, the developer agreed to build around the existing healthy trees. They hired a Tree Doctor (I wonder if tree medical school is as intensive as Human Medical School?) to come and assess all the trees there. It was the middle of winter, with no leaves on any of the trees when they had this assessment done, and wouldn't you know it, there happen to be several trees that are dead, which need to be removed. So the took blue paint, and sprayed these trees with the word "DEAD" on the trunks. I thought to myself how it's very convenient that these trees happen to be smack-dab in the middle of where a cash-cow PUD home needs to go. Too convenient. Especially when you look at them now, all covered with green leaves and buds. Looks funny with the word "DEAD" spray painted on the trunks.

Anyway, on earth day 2008, I just wanted to gripe a bit about commercial development that doesn't give any consideration to local communities and the impact and needs of the residents. I admit a lot of my annoyance stems from the proximity of this project to my front door. I don't relish living through the demolition and construction of the 3.3 acres I happen to live next to. The noise, traffic, debris, pollution, increase in strangers hanging out around my home...all of it galls me. I wish we as a community were better at reusing a perfectly fine building for a purpose that it was well-suited to (in this case, a professional office complex, dentist/doctor, library, etc) instead of killing trees and tearing it down to build the thing that will squeeze as much profit out of the space as the developer can get his hands on. It kind of makes me sick.

I'll end with a shout out to trees and good people everywhere by sharing this poem that I love:

Good Timber
by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

Dolphins

When Bunch was 8 months old, poor Doc just *had* to spend a month in Bermuda taking an intensive course on fish at BIOS as part of his graduate school requirement.

We knew he'd miss us just terribly if we didn't go with him. It would be simply unbearable for him to be away from us in such a place. He'd scarce be able to focus on his studies if we weren't there. So, being the loving wife that I am, I decided to make the sacrifice to join him.

I got on the horn looking for a place to stay while he was there, but Bermuda is like every other island...expensive. Doc would be living in a dorm at the research station, which wasn't an option for Bunch and me, but after looking at lodging, I realized that there was no way we could afford to stay in even the cheapest hotel. Not one to give up, I thought "If I could talk to a local resident, maybe they'd know of a place that would be more affordable...even a campground or something"

Since I didn't know anyone there, I turned to the vast network of my church for help. Yes, I called the bishop. He was very nice and after listening to my question, asked if I could call him back the next day. I assumed that he was going to put some information together, maybe phone numbers of some affordable hostel I hadn't found or something.

The next evening when I called, he informed me that a family in the church there had invited us to stay with them. This was completely beyond my expectations. They were terrific. They'd moved to Bermuda from Oklahoma a year or so earlier with their 2 year old son and 14 year old daughter named Tori. Their generosity made it possible for Bunch and I to be on the island, and see Doc whenever he was available. We were so grateful for them!

One day, Doc told me that a classmate of his, who had an interest in marine mammals, had spent a day as a volunteer at Dolphin Quest. You may be familiar with these kinds of operations. Pay $300 for a 40 minute encounter with a dolphin. But his classmate hadn't paid for it. She'd offered her services as a volunteer, and spent an entire day there.

I called them up and said that I'd always been interested in dolphins (which was true), and was in Bermuda "because of the BIOS course on fishes" (which was technically true. I wouldn't have been there if Doc weren't there.) I asked if I could volunteer for a day with them, and they agreed.

Tori was so excited about my big opportunity that I decided to just bring her along with me, in case they'd let her volunteer too. I figured at worst they'd say no and send her home.

We got there the next morning and met the trainers and researchers who work with the dolphins. They told us the rules. Priority One: Under no circumstances were we to make gestures of any kind, or give any commands to the dolphins. If we did, we'd be summarily dismissed, end of story. We promised, and then they set us in front of a truckload of slimy fish that we needed to cut up for the dolphins to eat that day.

Dolphins can eat a LOT of fish!

We happily went through the day, excited to just be there so close to such beautiful animals, making sure not to say or do anything that would interfere and get us booted. When the Dolphin Encounters began, we hung out on the sidelines with the trainers while the tourists lined up for their 40 minutes of interacting with the animals. They stood on platforms submerged 3 feet under water and held hula hoops for the dolphins to jump through. The dolphins squirted, splashed, and kissed them. They did their tricks and dance moves, wowing the crowd. Group by group, the day quickly passed while the dolphins played and worked. Tori and I got to watch every show, and after a while you really start to notice different personality traits of the dolphins. Bailey and Caliban were the names of my personal favorites.

At the end of the day, the tourists were gone, the bay was quiet, and things were winding down for the night. We figured that any moment, they'd tell us it was time for us to leave, when the lead trainer caught us by surprise. "You guys have been great today. Why don't you grab your mask and fins, dive in the lagoon and spend some time with them" he said.

NO WAY!

For the next hour, the fantasy I'd had ever since I read Madeleine L'Engle's A Ring of Endless Light as a young child came true. I held Bailey's fins while she swam me around. The rush of speed was exhilarating! We danced in circles and I had her perform all their tricks I'd seen that day. I held on while she dove down till I couldn't hold my breath any more (which wasn't very far). She gave me "kisses" and I stroked her smooth, soft skin. There's nothing quite like hugging a dolphin you've spent the day with.

Our time finally ended, but the memories are still there. It was one of the most magical days of my life. I ♥ dolphins

KitNapped

As mentioned last week, Nea, who gave birth 13 days ago, took her kitties out of their box, and we didn't know where to find them. Perhaps there were predators out, or too many people visiting, but last week when the kids came home from school, there was only one baby left in their box, and then Nea showed up and hauled that kitten off to their unknown locale. Bunch tried to follow her, but couldn't find her.

So today, I tried to keep a lookout all day because there was snow on the ground and I planned to follow her tracks. All morning there was no sign of her. Finally, once the snow was melted (foiled!), I caught her outside eating. I thought "here's my chance, I'll follow her".

It's like she knew that was my intent. She sort of moseyed around, sniffing every blade and branch, looking back to see if I was there. She'd stop and clean herself and stretch, checking to see if I was still watching her. Finally she meandered into the neighbor across the street's back yard.

This particular neighbor is a self-proclaimed recluse. We lived here for 20 months before I ever saw him, and Nea was the cause of our finally meeting him. A dog was in our front yard growling one night, it sounded almost like a bear. Knowing Nea was outside, I opened the door and saw this big black Lab on our walk, and Nea scrunched up into the "halloween cat" posture hissing at it. "NEO", the owner called out from nearby, and then to me he said "Don't worry, he's all bark, no bite". I told him the cat was named Nea, which I thought was funny.

We introduced ourselves and I found out he was our mystery neighbor. He's fairly young, probably mid twenties, nice looking guy. He doesn't work. I don't know how he supports himself, but he said he never interacts with anyone. I asked what he does, ie: college, work. He said he doesn't really do anything. Curious, I pressed him (is he a lotto winner or something?), and he said he's into online games, such as video or role-playing games, not gambling. After chatting for a few minutes, we parted on friendly terms. I'm glad to finally meet him, and hope we see more of him in the future.

So today, I'm standing in his backyard, waiting to see where Nea would go. She wasn't fooled. After playing this game for nearly 2 hours, with me hunting around and listening, she finally hopped up into one of the boats out there. There are two pretty neglected boats in this yard. I'd already looked around in this boat myself, but couldn't see anywhere that they would be, nor could I hear them.

Nea must have really had to get back to them, either that or she realized I wasn't going to give up (score one for Blue), because she finally cast one last backward glance at me, before slipping through a small hole in the corner under the steering wheel dash and side of the boat, into an unreachable section of the boat. (Score one for Nea.) There is no way anyone would have ever found her hiding spot without witnessing it.

So I know where they are, but we can't see or access them. I guess when they're goodNready they'll come out. Till then, no pictures. Wah!

The missing kitty caper

Word on the street is that Nea took her kitten and fled. Bunch arrived home to find only one remaining kitten in their box, and shortly thereafter she saw Nea hauling that one off too. She tried to follow them, but they disappeared. Likely locale: the neighbors wild, completely neglected back yard, which has an abandoned boat with a couple tarps on it that she'd probably like. Neighbor wasn't home to ask for permission to look around. So at the time of press, the kittens are missing. Sound the Feline Alert!

Saturday v. Monday

Crazy springtime! Saturday I went for a run in a park. Here are scenes from that afternoon:




And here is this morning:

Eyes Wide Shut

They're so adorable!

Pictures of Nea and the baby kitties

I've been working hard to get things organized and ready to upload. Sorry for those of you who felt like it was taking me too long! You're right, but I've had more than blogging on my plate this week.

So first off, here is a photo of Nea with her 4 baby kittens:
She looks tired, but holy cannoli, she just gave birth to 5 kitties (one stillborn). I only gave birth to one baby, and it had me completely undone. She's a sweet new momma.

Here's one of her awake:
It's snowing today. Who'da guessed? I spent hours during yesterday's lovely weather doing yard work in a tee shirt. Anyway, I was concerned about the babies staying warm enough because they're outdoor cats. You may recall that we're just watching Nea for my brother, who couldn't have a pet at his current residence. We're not in the market for a pet, especially a cat, due to my allergies. And even if I did want to bring her inside during the chilly weather (cause I'm not completely cold-hearted), we don't have a litter box. And I'm averse to cats pooping in my house.

So she's outside, in her nice 48 gallon bin with a doorway cut in it so she can get in and out. But it's not all that warm frankly. Then this morning I remembered that we have an electric heating pad...the kind you put on yer achin' back. So I rigged it up to the extension cord and slid it under the puffy pillow that they're on in the box. I turned the heat on to the low setting, and hopefully this will create a cozy, toasty spot for them to pass the time while they get bigger and stronger.

More pictures of the kitties to follow. We just haven't wanted to handle them yet due to their tiny size and age.

springtime is for babies

In Ireland, there were signs of new life everywhere you looked. Flowers just starting to bloom. Baby lambs and calves shadowing their mommies. Grass just starting to green up after the long winter.

I found out last night that I'm going to be an auntie again this fall. Hooray! My brother and sister-in-law produce the most adorable children...I hope they don't stop till they've hit double digits (and I only wish this on them because if anyone could have a big, successful family, it's these two!)

Today, our pet-on-loan, Nea, gave birth to five kittens, one of which was stillborn. I found them when they were still slightly damp and their fur was just starting to fluff up on parts of them. Nea is a sweet little mommy, and the babies are, of course, absolutely adorable. With their tiny squeaky mewing, and their rooting around for food, they're the top attraction at our house right now. Bunch & Gator know not to touch, and are being vigilant about keeping neighbor friends from doing so. They're also giving her space and trying to keep quiet around her.

We fed her a celebratory can of tuna fish, and took a bunch of photos. I'll post them soon.

Here's to all the babies and especially to my expectant friends! I love the wee ones. ♥

Oh it almost seems like yesterday...

...Twenty Years ago.

Today, Doc and I celebrated the 20 year anniversary of our first date. He invited me to the 28th Annual Christmas Around The World show...put on by the International Folk Dance team at our undergraduate university. So, I planned a surprise date for us and got tickets to tonight's show...the 48th annual production. Thanks to the people who made this event possible (Marie, N&S, Dave)...we really appreciated your support. It was a great night.

It snowed a lot today, so I took a picture of our little home, followed by a shot of us at the venue, and finally a self-portrait of us sitting inside before the show.

Funny, neither of us feels like we've aged at ALL. I'm sure that the teenagers in our lives would disagree heartily, but honestly, I don't feel twenty years older than I was when we met.