It's becoming a tradition! FiFi got the ball rolling, and by afternoon we had a small party of family committed to a sledding party on Monday night at our house. We had a splendid time!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
The Annual Christmas Marathon
Christmas with Adam's side of the family, Tuesday, December 20th:
Adam was able to take most of the week before Christmas off, but there was lots on the agenda! We started our Christmas marathon at Steve and Patty's. Patty had made gingerbread loaf houses for each family to make, then we opened gifts and had lasagna and pizza. We didn't stay too late so that we could get home to check on our sick puppy.
Steve and Patty have a few "pet" squirrels. Soren was able to feed one by hand two different times!
Synnove and Soren's creation
Soren got another Candyland game to add to his collection as a gift. It seemed like he and the cousins enjoyed playing together!
Annual Camp 18 dinner and Christmas with My side of the family, Thursday, Dec. 22nd:
Grandma Barb joined us this year because she decided to go to Leavenworth, WA with a friend for Christmas this year. This was the first year EVER to not have Christmas Day at Grandma Barb's house.
Back from dinner to open gifts at my parent's house
Soren got a voice changer from Uncle Henry...here he is with the "old man" voice...ha ha!
Synnove was very excited for Adam and I to open her gifts to us. At school she painted an ornament and made a calendar with hand print pictures. They are precious!
Baking and cleaning day, Friday, December 23rd:
Elise and Chris stayed at my parent's house for several days during the week. Mom was working at the coffee shop while Elise stayed home to bake all the Christmas goodies. She made everything...pumpkin pie, berry pie, pecan pie (for Adam), rocky road, dream bars, magic cookie bars, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, frosted sugar cookies, and date bars. I came in the afternoon to help do any cleaning or last minute chores before the big Christmas Eve dinner the next day. But, because of Elise, most everything was done. The kids stayed the night there while I had to go home to help Adam with Lucy.
Sweet Evelyn in the kitchen watching her mommy bake...
Christmas Eve dinner with the Thompson clan, Saturday, December 24th:
I don't have very many photos from this day because I'm usually busy with the gift exchange game. For some reason, Christmas Eve felt very quiet and low key. It was nice. Unfortunately, Heidi had been in the hospital with kidney stones! But, she made it out in time for our evening. The poor girl looked miserable. This was our first Christmas without John Bradley, an older gentleman from church we "adopted" several years ago. He passed away last spring. Other than him, my cousin Bryan was the only one missing. He is a lost soul in need of a lot of prayer.
Mmmm....Hammmm...
Christmas morning at my parent's house, Sunday, December 25th:
The kids stayed the night Christmas Eve while Adam and I went home to take care of Lucy. We literally drug ourselves out of bed to try to make it to my parent's house by 9AM...we were only 10 minutes late. I knew the kids would be up early to see what Santa had brought to grandma and grandpa's house. I got a phone call at around 8:15 from Synnove saying "we're up..we're waiting for you!"
My dad with 2 out of 3 "grand-dog's." Sophie (left) and Trigger (right) are Chris and Elise's schnauzers. However, if you ask Sophie and Trigger...they'll tell you that my Dad is their master.
Evie gazing and grandma
Soren's new viewfinder!
Evie talking to Uncle Henry while getting dressed after her bath.
Sweet reindeer buns
After opening gifts, a few of us headed to the kitchen to make a big breakfast with eggs, hash browns, and biscuits and sausage gravy. Then we all lounged in our jammies all day watching Muppet Christmas movies. The boys did end up venturing out later to go shoot Henry's new gun.
Christmas Day evening at our house, Saturday, December 25th:
Because we didn't go to Grandma Barb's this year, we were able to head home at a reasonable hour. The kids were eager to get home to see if Santa brought gifts to their house as well. Of course, he had.
Soren got an Angry bird (he'd gotten a pig and an Angry Bird blanket as gifts prior), some more Hot Wheels, and a miniature Candyland game...among other things.
On the way home from my parent's house, I asked Synnove if she had gotten everything she wanted for Christmas...she said, "yes....but, I really wanted a Tangled doll..." She wasn't unhappy with her gifts, but that doll was one of only two things she asked for for Christmas (the other being a new pair of rubber boots). It was really fun to see her face at the very end of our Christmas marathon to open her very last gift...a Tangled doll.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Some December Photos
Patty and Steve's Christmas Party, December 10th:
Soren's Preschool Christmas Program, December 15th:
Kendall refused to hold the "baby Jesus" in rehearsal because it wasn't HER baby. Her mom had to bring one from home...ha ha!
Trip to "You Paint It!" in Seaside, December 16th:
Synnove picked a peace sign mug (she's really into peace signs lately) and Soren picked a "transformer" (robot). He wanted to make it look like "Optimus Prime...like the one Uncle Chris has," and he gave it to Chris for his birthday (Dec. 26th). I think he really loved it :)
Santa and Mrs. Claus gave out small gifts to each kid and asked each of them to make sure to make their Christmas lists. Both of my kids were very excited to see Santa this year!
Soren's Preschool Christmas Program, December 15th:
Soren and Kendall were Mary and Joseph, and JR was the innkeeper. Kendall was nervous and sort of forgot what to do after walking down the aisle and seeing all the people...but that's OK. It was very cute and Soren sang all the songs and did all the hand motions (a huge improvement from last year!)
Kendall refused to hold the "baby Jesus" in rehearsal because it wasn't HER baby. Her mom had to bring one from home...ha ha!
Trip to "You Paint It!" in Seaside, December 16th:
I rarely get to spend time with my good friend Tonya and her darling daughters. Faith (her stepdaughter) was only going to be in town for the month of December, so we made sure to set a date. It was Tonya's idea to go to "You Paint It!" I had been wanting to take the kids, so it was the perfect outing.
Synnove picked a peace sign mug (she's really into peace signs lately) and Soren picked a "transformer" (robot). He wanted to make it look like "Optimus Prime...like the one Uncle Chris has," and he gave it to Chris for his birthday (Dec. 26th). I think he really loved it :)
Soren was very concentrated in his efforts...and did his very best. Synnove's ended up taking quite a long time because of all the colors and things she wanted to do. I helped her quite a bit to get her moving.
Tonya helped Faith make a coffee thermos for daddy for Christmas.
And Miss Avyrie was a perfect peach the entire time! Ooo...I just LOVE this face!
Tonya helped Faith make a coffee thermos for daddy for Christmas.
And Miss Avyrie was a perfect peach the entire time! Ooo...I just LOVE this face!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Lucy...Our Sick "Kid" Over Christmas Vacation
I love my Lucy. She has such personality...playful, obedient AND defiant, loving...on her terms. I thought it was funny when Adam said to me "if you were a dog, you would be JUST like Lucy." I laughed..."thanks?" She truly is a maremma and despite some of her frustrating qualities, she's proving to be a fantastic member of our family.
Almost a year ago Lucy ran off and we thought we had lost her. She came back looking, smelling, and acting like a different dog. We were worried she wouldn't bounce back in a "good" way and that she might end up skittish and depressed for a long time. She did go through a period of readjustment and was a bit skittish for a while. But, fortunately, she became much more obedient. Her response to the "here" command was positive at least 80% of the time. She also became unusually content spending more time in the kennel. To this day, she goes in the kennel without a fight...sometimes when you don't necessarily want her to. We still use her training collar here and there...but a small shock is rarely necessary. She quickly responds to the beep most of the time.
Unfortunately, Lucy still thinks that the entire 1/4 mile radius from our house is hers. I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't a "puppy" anymore (she will be 2 in April) and didn't like to get into things and harass the neighbor's animals. I also don't like it when I call her and she doesn't return because she's too far to hear me. It's not uncommon for her to be gone for 1-2 hours if she runs off. In the 4-5 months after she ran away, she pretty much stuck around the house. But in the last 6 months or so, we've been trying to keep her more contained because of a comment from a neighbor. I feel bad now that it's the season of poor weather because we are rarely outdoors to play with her.
True to what we've read, she favors men to women. She loves Adam and her papa best (my dad). It is clear that Adam is her master and when he's around she listens to me less. Adam has been working hard when he can to start building a fence to border our field. When it's finished (hopefully by summer), Lucy will be able to run free more often...with the goat(s).
Lucy gave us a little scare a few weeks ago when she stopped eating one day. After 2 days of no eating and lethargy I thought that maybe she had caught a virus from our neighbor dogs. Just 2 days prior to her illness I had let her out to shoo the obnoxious neighbor dogs away. The neighbor dogs (at least 5 beagles and one big, mean, black dog) love to sit at the property line and bark and growl at the kids playing outside. I strongly dislike these dogs! Usually, I'll let Lucy out and she'll go chase them away. Lucy is an extraordinary dog, in my opinion, as she doesn't bark at them...she just runs up there and has a "silent conversation" with them. Obviously, she doesn't find them threatening enough to cause a ruckus. Sometimes the dogs take some convincing and Lucy will run back down to our house and just stand by me and stare at them while they bark ridiculously...then run back up again. Eventually, the dogs leave.
ANYway, back to 2 days prior to her illness...I was having Bible study at my house and our kids were playing outside. I heard the neighbor dogs start (worse than usual), and then I heard Lucy. She was NOT happy! She was growling and shaking the kennel to get out. I let her out and she darted up there and immediately began fighting with the mean black dog while snapping at the beagles here and there. It only took about 10 seconds and the dogs ran home. I could see Lucy's adrenaline in her body language as she jogged back to the house. She shook off about 30 seconds of steam and went right back into the kennel. I was so proud of her!
If you follow my blog, you know that I have a neighbor with lots of animals and no resources to properly care for them...let alone, keep them contained! So, it made sense to me that Lucy could have caught a sickness from her dogs. Lucy did come back from that fight with a small cut above her eye. Adam wasn't too concerned, but I was stuck at home with my sick puppy and I was very concerned. She would just lay there...no food or drink, heavy breathing, definite fever...ugh. On day 3 she perked up a bit so we thought she was getting better. By then, we knew she didn't have salmon poisoning because enough time had passed and she wasn't vomiting. She was back down on day 4, but we managed to hand feed her some morsels and force water down her with a turkey baster (it was a Sunday and the vet was closed). She was still down on day 5, but we were able to get her to eat small amounts and force the water. Adam wanted to wait it out and not risk the big vet bill. We had a full bottle of antibiotic saved in the fridge from when she ran away the winter before and we thought she might have contracted salmon poisoning (obviously, she never did). That reserve of medicine was the only thing giving me any peace of mind. The next morning we were supposed to leave to visit Adam's side of the family for Christmas. When I went out to check on Lucy I was surprised to find her sitting outside...which I thought was a good sign. Instead, I found some diarrhea and vomit. I wanted to take her to the vet right away...it had been 6 days! Adam did some research on the computer instead and discovered what he thought was the culprit. Elokomin fluke fever...like salmon poisoning, but milder and far less fatal. Fortunately, the treatment was the same as salmon poisoning, so we forced down her first antibiotic pill. She kept it down, we left for Vancouver, and asked my dad to check on her in the afternoon. "Grandpa" was happy to do so and was very concerned about his Lucy when she barely got up to greet him :(
When we got back home that night Lucy was already feeling a bit better and drank some water on her own. Every day she got a bit better and after being on the medicine for 3-4 days she was close to being back to her old self. This all happened on the week of Christmas, so some of our plans got muddled because Adam and I had to force a pill down her two times a day for 10 days. Still, anything was better than having a super sick pup.
Almost a year ago Lucy ran off and we thought we had lost her. She came back looking, smelling, and acting like a different dog. We were worried she wouldn't bounce back in a "good" way and that she might end up skittish and depressed for a long time. She did go through a period of readjustment and was a bit skittish for a while. But, fortunately, she became much more obedient. Her response to the "here" command was positive at least 80% of the time. She also became unusually content spending more time in the kennel. To this day, she goes in the kennel without a fight...sometimes when you don't necessarily want her to. We still use her training collar here and there...but a small shock is rarely necessary. She quickly responds to the beep most of the time.
Unfortunately, Lucy still thinks that the entire 1/4 mile radius from our house is hers. I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't a "puppy" anymore (she will be 2 in April) and didn't like to get into things and harass the neighbor's animals. I also don't like it when I call her and she doesn't return because she's too far to hear me. It's not uncommon for her to be gone for 1-2 hours if she runs off. In the 4-5 months after she ran away, she pretty much stuck around the house. But in the last 6 months or so, we've been trying to keep her more contained because of a comment from a neighbor. I feel bad now that it's the season of poor weather because we are rarely outdoors to play with her.
This was taken after a super excited Lucy stuck her whole head through that little hole hoping to get out. We all went on a hike 15 minutes later...she had a blast!
True to what we've read, she favors men to women. She loves Adam and her papa best (my dad). It is clear that Adam is her master and when he's around she listens to me less. Adam has been working hard when he can to start building a fence to border our field. When it's finished (hopefully by summer), Lucy will be able to run free more often...with the goat(s).
Lucy gave us a little scare a few weeks ago when she stopped eating one day. After 2 days of no eating and lethargy I thought that maybe she had caught a virus from our neighbor dogs. Just 2 days prior to her illness I had let her out to shoo the obnoxious neighbor dogs away. The neighbor dogs (at least 5 beagles and one big, mean, black dog) love to sit at the property line and bark and growl at the kids playing outside. I strongly dislike these dogs! Usually, I'll let Lucy out and she'll go chase them away. Lucy is an extraordinary dog, in my opinion, as she doesn't bark at them...she just runs up there and has a "silent conversation" with them. Obviously, she doesn't find them threatening enough to cause a ruckus. Sometimes the dogs take some convincing and Lucy will run back down to our house and just stand by me and stare at them while they bark ridiculously...then run back up again. Eventually, the dogs leave.
ANYway, back to 2 days prior to her illness...I was having Bible study at my house and our kids were playing outside. I heard the neighbor dogs start (worse than usual), and then I heard Lucy. She was NOT happy! She was growling and shaking the kennel to get out. I let her out and she darted up there and immediately began fighting with the mean black dog while snapping at the beagles here and there. It only took about 10 seconds and the dogs ran home. I could see Lucy's adrenaline in her body language as she jogged back to the house. She shook off about 30 seconds of steam and went right back into the kennel. I was so proud of her!
If you follow my blog, you know that I have a neighbor with lots of animals and no resources to properly care for them...let alone, keep them contained! So, it made sense to me that Lucy could have caught a sickness from her dogs. Lucy did come back from that fight with a small cut above her eye. Adam wasn't too concerned, but I was stuck at home with my sick puppy and I was very concerned. She would just lay there...no food or drink, heavy breathing, definite fever...ugh. On day 3 she perked up a bit so we thought she was getting better. By then, we knew she didn't have salmon poisoning because enough time had passed and she wasn't vomiting. She was back down on day 4, but we managed to hand feed her some morsels and force water down her with a turkey baster (it was a Sunday and the vet was closed). She was still down on day 5, but we were able to get her to eat small amounts and force the water. Adam wanted to wait it out and not risk the big vet bill. We had a full bottle of antibiotic saved in the fridge from when she ran away the winter before and we thought she might have contracted salmon poisoning (obviously, she never did). That reserve of medicine was the only thing giving me any peace of mind. The next morning we were supposed to leave to visit Adam's side of the family for Christmas. When I went out to check on Lucy I was surprised to find her sitting outside...which I thought was a good sign. Instead, I found some diarrhea and vomit. I wanted to take her to the vet right away...it had been 6 days! Adam did some research on the computer instead and discovered what he thought was the culprit. Elokomin fluke fever...like salmon poisoning, but milder and far less fatal. Fortunately, the treatment was the same as salmon poisoning, so we forced down her first antibiotic pill. She kept it down, we left for Vancouver, and asked my dad to check on her in the afternoon. "Grandpa" was happy to do so and was very concerned about his Lucy when she barely got up to greet him :(
When we got back home that night Lucy was already feeling a bit better and drank some water on her own. Every day she got a bit better and after being on the medicine for 3-4 days she was close to being back to her old self. This all happened on the week of Christmas, so some of our plans got muddled because Adam and I had to force a pill down her two times a day for 10 days. Still, anything was better than having a super sick pup.
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