Kody's Fourth Birthday Continued

We had two days of Parties for Kody's birthday. On Friday he came home from school with his birthday hat on. Isn't it just great how kids "smile" for a picture!

That evening we went out to Noodles and Company in Layton for dinner. The food there is great but I don't think we will go there on a Friday night again. It was busy and they just couldn't keep up with the orders. After a long wait we got to eat and not everything was that warm. Oh well we will learn that Friday is a bad restaurant night!!

Here Kody is taking a Happy Birthday call from one of his many fans!

Shannen and Jessy looking beautiful as always.

Shannen talking to her dad. She looks happy doesn't she! We came home from dinner and had presents for Kody.

He got lots of neat stuff of course. Luckily Shannen got him two cars as that is all he was asking for!! I don't know what he would have thought if he didn't get those. We gave him lots of Power Ranger clothes and toys. He likes to wear his Power Ranger Tshirts all the time and he only had two so now he can go half a week before Darcy has to wash again! He even got Power Ranger undies!!
On Saturday evening we went out to Layton to a skating center for his kids party. There were 12 kids there and a bunch of the moms and dads. The place has a lot of bouncing areas and a Pirate playground area for the little kids and then the games and the roller skating area. As you might guess with all those things going on and lots and lots of kids there was lots and lots of noise!!! All the kids had lots of fun and I know that was all that was important!

Here he is waiting for his friends to come to the party.

Friends eating pizza

More friends eating pizza

Kody eating pizza too.

Kody just being Kody

Jessy and her friend Missy

The Happy Parents

The Dinosaur Cake

Kody blowing out 4 candles

And the fun stuff of opening Presents!!!!

All in all he had a great birthday. I wonder if he will remember any of it when he is in the 30's! I guess it doesn't matter if he remember the birthday he will remember the feeling of his childhood and this has to be a good memory.

Kody Is Four!

Just a couple of pictures from the morning before Kody went to school (with his brownies!)

Signing I Love You!

Showing how old he is.

Ready for school with his " It's my 4th birthday ribbon on.

Thursday in Utah

Today was the first day I spent alone since I got here. Darcy has taken most of the last two days off so we kept busy either shopping or goofing off. So today I was home alone without a car and it rained in the morning. I finished one book the night before and then went ahead and reread it in the morning! It had taken me several weeks to get through it just reading once in awhile and when I finally sat down and read for several hours I found I was really enjoying it so went back and reread it!! Oh what was it you ask? How to be a Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes. Think what it said to me was just get out and look. Enjoy being part of nature.
Well, after I had finished the book I decided to do just that and I got out and had a short walk up the street and into the local cemetery to check out the mountain and see if there were any birds around. Luckily by that time it had stopped raining so I didn't have to get wet!!
The first thing I noticed was all the American Robins. They were everywhere. I think I must have seen at least 30 of them in the very short walk I took.

They sounded like they were laughing at times. I had never heard them sound like that. I haven't been out with that many of them. Normally we get one or two in the yard for maybe a week in February. This year I didn't notice any but I wasn't out in the yard much so I might have missed them.
That is the only bird I got any pictures of but I did see a few more. House Finch, House Sparrow, Scrub Jay, Black Capped Chickadee, Starlings, Downy Woodpecker, and some Bushtits. I think that is it. Not many but lots of fun looking. I took some pictures of the mountain in back of the house. Everyone knows how much I love taking pictures of mountains!!

As you can see the snow is just about gone from area. When I got here on Tuesday there was enough snow on the front lawn to sled down. Today there isn't any left at all! There are just a few patches left here and there. It has been in the upper 50's and mid 60's most days and with the rain last night and this morning it has melted most of the snow. I wonder if they will get anymore of it or if this is it for the season. I guess there is always a chance of a late March snow storm.

If you look across Salt Lake you can see that the mountains on Antelope Island still have lots of snow on them.

After I got home Jessy came home from school and got ready for a birthday party that she went to this evening. I think they were going ice skating but I'm not real sure on that. It might have been roller skating.

She just got home and said she had a great time. I didn't talk to her as it is past her bedtime so she was off to bed right off. I'm sure I will get the update tomorrow morning.

Darcy, Kody and I went over to Darcy's coworkers home for a short visit this evening. Her grandson and his mom are moving to Kingman, Az and he is friends with Kody so we went over so he could say goodbye. Somehow I don't think Kody understood that he was saying goodbye but he had lots of fun playing anyway!
When we got back Kody and Darcy made up his brownies that he is taking in to school to share for his birthday tomorrow. He had lots of fun making those!!

Mixing on his own

Mixing with Mommy

And the all important LICKING THE SPOON!

A Trip to the Gardens With Beverly

On a very windy Friday morning Grandpa, Bev, Tammy and I had a great hike up the hill at the Conejo Botanic Gardens here in Thousand Oaks (click on the title and you will go to the Garden's web site).
It was wonderful weather except for the cool wind. As you tell by what we are wearing it wasn't all that warm for most of the hike. When we got to the other side of the hill the wind died down and we were much, much warmer. It must have been in the 60's.

Here is the Brother & Sister picture. Bev is the baby in the family being 6 years younger than Grandpa.

Beverly is out from New Hampshire visiting for a couple of weeks. It has been great seeing her again and I'm having lots of fun talking to her! I do hope she plans on coming back out next year. Maybe we will be able to give her hot weather next year! Next week should warm up so maybe she will be able to get warm yet.

Grandpa, Bev and Maggie

We were sitting under the arbor that the passion vine is on. Their's is still green so I guess the freeze didn't kill it. I lost all the leaves on mine. I do think the vine is still good and that the leaves will come back. It just doesn't look as good as it did 2 months ago.

Tammy, Bev & Maggie.

Tammy has been out of work for a couple of weeks (I think) with a sore arm. She has been getting PT for it and will be going back next week so she will be able to see how it feels then. We were glad she was able to join us and help with the names of the plants we were looking at!!

Tammy and Bev walking and talking........

A couple of the plants that were in bloom.

Some of the birds we saw: California Towhee, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Western Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch (Tammy spotted) Dark eyed Juno, two Whitetailed Kites chasing two Redtail Hawks out of their area. House Finch, Anna Hummingbird, Bushtits and Crows. That is all I can think of right now. We weren't really doing much birding as we were doing alot more talking than anything else!!

Now We Are Nine!!!!!!!

We now have Nine Grandchildren!!!!

Paul and Julia welcomed Audrey Crane into the world on Sunday February 18, 2007 @ 12:30 pm.

From what we have heard everything went great and mother and baby are healthy and happy. We are so excited and luckily Julia and Paul are sending pictures so we can see how precious she is.

Audrey Crane

Noey and Audrey

Spencer and Audrey

Lila and Audrey

Ginger

It has been years that we have been hearing about this wonder dog Ginger and we finally got to meet her last weekend!! Ginger is Lisa's sister, Janet's dog. She is a little Pomeranian. She seems so little compared to Beardsley!!! I picked her up and all she was was hair!!! She weighs around 7 pounds (which Janet said is a little on the heavy side!) and good old tubby Beardsley must be at least 21 pounds now.

She is so cute and very active!! We were tired just watching her run around. Beardsley tried to play with her but she really didn't want much to do with him so she kept growling to back him off. Of course being male Beardsley didn't really pick up on the hint and kept after her!! You can see her reaction when we first put him down next to her.


I'm quite sure if they were together two or three times they would be fine. It is just getting used to each other that takes time.
We had a great visit with Steve and Lisa and Lisa's Mom and Janet and Ginger. I was so glad to finally met this dog that we have heard sooooo much about. Steve and Lisa have their names on a waiting list at the breeders for a little Black and Tan Pomeranian!! I know Steve likes a Black and Tan but to get a dog to match a drink? Guess it isn't the first time for it to happen!!

Beardsely and Ginger 2-18-2007

Beardsley's Birthday

Beardsley One Year Old

We had a great day on February 10th celebrating his first birthday. We took him over to the Conejo Botanic Garden in the afternoon for a fun filled romp. It was getting a little warm for him so he spent the last part of the walk looking for places to sit in the shade.

Here he is after digging in the damp dirt under the seat. He thought that was great fun.

A couple pictures of the proud "parents" with their little boy. This is at the top of the Gardens.

In the evening we had a little party for him. I looked for a doggy cupcake but couldn't find one so settled on one of his favorite foods, cheese. He got a new little toy, a Mailman that he thought was great.

As you can see he wasn't real happy to wear his Birthday Hat!!


This last picture is of both my men up at the top of the hill with their tongues hanging out!!! Aren't they soooo cute?

Winter in California

As you might know we are having a cold spell here in Southern California. Mind you it is nothing like the rest of the country but for us it is BIG news!! We have had two nights of freezing weather and it has only warmed up to 45 during the day. Oh my that is cold for us!! When Paul went out walking this morning at 5 am it was only 27 degrees. Me, I skipped my morning walk and because there are football games on now I think poor Beardsley is going to have to skip his today too. Sorry Beards.
Yesterday morning I got a couple of pictures of the frozen fountains. They haven't thawed out for two days now.
The timer on the fountain in the backyard was never changed as the days got shorter so it comes on fairly early. Yesterday morning it was still freezing out when it came on so the water was freezing as it was bubbling down the ball on top.

I took the ice out of one of the bird baths to show how deep it had frozen. Beardsley thought it was great!

After a couple of hours of the fountain in the front running the water had drilled holes in the ice where ever it hit the bottom ice. This morning we turned off the fountains as they were so frozen they didn't come on at all. Not enough water could get to the pump!!


I will leave you with one more picture of my very spoiled but very wonderful little boy, Beardsley. As you can see we are letting his fur grow out for the winter. Think he likes it much better this way!

Xmas '06 Pictures

Beardsley looking festive


Jim showing Grandpa how to use Google Earth


Jim trying to avoid getting his picture taken


Tammy and Lisa after dinner


Lisa


Grandpa


Mom and Beardsley

Tuesday Afternoon

So, there I was sitting out back on the patio talking to our new medical insurance company. Beardsley is running around on the grass, the birds are singing and everything was "good". I mean I even had got through to a real live person at the insurance company and she was getting all the things taken care of and giving me all the information I needed!! I mean how great is that!
Then the world shifted. All of a sudden Beardsley started to yelp in pain. I looked over at him and he is on the grass in the middle of the yard with nothing around him but he is yelping in terrible pain!! He kept the yelping up and was in such pain that I had to cut the phone call short. He kept licking his right front paw and I'm holding him, wearing two pairs of reading glasses to see if I can see anything that might be stuck in it, with no luck. I looked around the yard but couldn't find anything that might be the problem either. Then, within 5 minutes he started emptying himself from both ends, getting weak and "depressed" in other words going into shock!! Luckily Paul got home from work right then and we packed him off to the Vets!!
Over an hour, almost $200 and one shaved front paw later we were home again. The Vet shot him full of antihistime and cortisone and fluids which made him look like a camel! He must have been stung by a bee and had a very bad reaction. It could have been a spider but I don't think so as he was in the middle of the yard. He wasn't somewhere a black widow would have been. At least that is my thought. Paul did find a black widow the next day making a web on the front door! That would explain the reaction better but I still think it had to be a bee from where he was when it happened. They do fly around the grass some but I would have thought it was late enough in the day and cool enough that they would have gone home but no, it was still out there ready to pick on a little doggy!! Here it is Friday and he still isn't 100% yet. I just took him on his morning walk and I though I was going to have to carry him home. He has no energy yet. I figure the poison must still be working its way though him, or something like that.
Ah the pleasures of pet ownership!! He does look funny with his shaved paw! He got to sleep with us that night so he thought that was pretty great! He was drugged up so he didn't move around that much. He did wake up and ask to go outside around 4am so I climbed out of bed, turned on the outside light and took him out. He gets a drink out of the fountain and then smells something and goes around to the patio area out of my line of sight. He comes back a few seconds later acting like he found something great and then trots off again. A second later I hear a growl from him and I take off running. He had found a opposum and was thinking about getting up close and personal with him!! I run over pick him up and dump him back in the house. I could see another trip to the vets to stitch him up and that wasn't going to happen!! Tell me again why I though this would be a good idea? Oh that's right, he is such a love!! I guess he is worth it. Okay, I know he is worth it!
This whole thing has me a little worried about what would have happened if I hadn't been home or what might happen if he gets stung when we are traveling and can't get to a Vet for awhile. I was thinking I would just keep the antihistimes with us but this morning I got to wondering if that would work as he would be throwing it up again. Oh me, oh my what's a mother to think?
Well, that is the latest news on the Dog front!!

New Blog

Hello everyone!
I have created a new blog for Lisa and me to post news from down here in SD. This will keep us from flooding this blog with lots of news about our kitchen remodel. :)
The remodel started this week and I've posted a couple of before and after pictures showing the 'demo'. I'll try to get a more detailed post about the process leading up to this point later this week. So go check out: http://steve-and-lisa.blogspot.com/

Spike (and Lisa)

PS Mom, post more dogs pictures and news from up north!
PPS Darcy, when are you creating your Wearings in Utah blog?