LOVE

 
 
 

Munchkin loves my mom so completely! It seems obvious to me that she feels the same. 

Mom's Garden

 
 
 
 

These are the newest blooms in my mom's garden. There is so much color in her yard, it is beautiful. 

Just do what I say and nobody gets hurt!

 
 
 

This boy absolutely loves to play in the water. He is totally happy until it is time to leave, then you would have thought that someone stole his dog. He is asserting himself and trying to prove his independence by throwing temper tantrums anytime I don't seem to be obeying his orders. "I said don't take me out of the water, Mom!" 

Good Samaritan

 
 
 

There were two highway barrels in the river today at the park. Excessive run-off due to melting snow in the canyons is washing all sorts of junk down stream, uglifying our rivers.

Jeremy decided to take it upon himself to better the world today. He braved the rushing current and removed both barrels from the water. Way to go J! 

My Doggies

 
 

Munchkin at the dog park. What fun! 

The Butterfly Enclosure

 
 
 

This was a wonderful opportunity to see many different kinds of butterflies at Hogle Zoo. 

A Day at the Zoo

 
 
 
 

Munchkin took his first trip to the zoo on his birthday. Being a natural animal lover, you can imagine his satisfaction when he saw how many different kinds of animals there are. 

Fantastic

Munchkin celebrated his first birthday with a great party today. All of his friends and family were invited to Grandma's back yard for a grand time. There was a blow-up water slide, two wading pools, a ping-pong table, lots of food and drink and many shade umbrellas.

Munchkin's birthday was Thursday, but Brady's (my nephew) birthday was actually today. Since the party had an outdoor/water theme we thought it appropriate to arm Brady with a power water gun. GOOD IDEA! That thing became the weapon of choice for the rest of the evening, eventually soaking each person at least once throughout the afternoon.

Munchkin got spoiled with gifts! Everybody brought such nice things. There were toys and clothes and all sorts of wonderful things. Our friend, Miles, drew a charcoal drawing of Munchkin that is simply stunning! Jeremy had arranged with Miles to do this drawing, but I knew nothing of it. Today, before the party, Jeremy showed it to me. I was so taken a back by it that I cried. It is absolutely beautiful. Perfect in every way! Thanks Miles!

After gifts we turned our attention to the birthday cake. We had a lemon cake for Munchkin and a chocolate cake for Brady. We sang to them and I planned on cutting the cakes and serving them when I was strongly protested by the party goers about serving Munchkin's lemon cake. They encouraged me to place the entire cake before Munchkin and let him do his damage. I guess it is a tradition for a lot of people.

I am glad that I did because watching Munchkin politely dip his finger in one designated corner of his cake taught me two things. My little Munchkin is a polite and refined gentleman and I really enjoy watching him play with his food. He had so much fun eating frosting with his fingers. He fed his cousin, Destiny, frosting from his finger tips too.
See?...What a gentleman.

After the party we brought Munchkin home and put him to bed. It had been a long, sunny day and that takes all the energy out of a Munchkers. I am about to call it a day too.

Goodnight.

Happy Birthday Munchkin

I am having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that Munchkin's first year has come and gone. I will be the first to admit that I have a tough time closing metaphoric doors on sentimental objects. Like a year ago when the time had come for me to leave the hospital with the baby that I carried in in my belly. I was sobbing while getting wheeled through the hall ways of the hospital with a nurse touching my shoulders repeating "everything will be alright." Of course I knew it would be alright, but this was the closing of a door that I hadn't prepared myself for.

I had spent nine months preparing for the labor and delivery, not leaving the hospital and getting on with my life. I hadn't even considered that I would have to leave the hospital. I grew to love having someone prepare all my meals and have them to me by a specific time each day. I enjoyed having the option of letting the nursery care for my new baby so that I could get a full nights rest. I set my watch to the snack-cart that rolled down the hallways each night at 7:00pm. All the luxuries of a hospital stay aside, I hadn't considered what life would be like on my own with this baby that the nurses kept making me feed. I was like "it's snack time, feed him your self".

Ultimately things worked out. I continued feeding the baby, who turned into Munchkin and now a year has past. He is a lot bigger and he is really cute and sweet. Here I am, however, at the door of another milestone.

It makes me sad to see such a precious amount of time turn into history. I know that the memories of the best year of my life will always be here for me to think of, but is that enough? Are memories strong enough to allow me to take the necessary step in getting on with my life? I suppose that since I have no choice in the matter I had better dive into the future head first, but make sure to take my camera to document all of the memories that are sure to come.

It is without doubt that I say this has been the most wonderful year of my life. Munchkin is a treasure that I can't imagine being without.

Congratulations on a spectacular first year, my darling boy. I love you more each day and I am excited to see all the wonderful things that the future holds for you.

Happy Birthday!

First Step

As soon as Jeremy and I noticed that Munchkin had been provided with proper motivation to propel his feet without help from either of us, we ran for the camera.

Leo and Lola were lying on the futon and Munchkin wanted the doggies... badly!! Badly enough to brave his first, unhelped step.

It was clumbsy and awkward, but it was his own. His very own first step and we caught it on camera.

I haven't been able to get him to do it again, but even if he never walks again I have this one time captured on film!

Mandu: 1996 - May 26, 2006

Mandu was a cat who greatly appreciated a good snuggle. She showed her love by head-butting whomever was giving her affection. Mandu was a special cat, slightly remedial, but that never stopped her from loving every person she ever met.

Good Bye, Mandu

Swimming

Marilyn invited us to come swimming today with her and her cutie-pie daughter, McKinley. I was hesitant at first because I still had a winter coat of fur on my legs, but this gave me the nudge I needed to do some much needed maintenance on my body.

Munchkin absolutely loved the pool. He was sitting in a floating tube that kept him above water, allowing him to splash and kick to his hearts delight.

McKinley, almost two years old, is an adorable little girl. She is a natural in the water. She will tell you so herself. While in the pool she said the word "water" at least one hundred times. She can even put her face under the water without fuss. Way to go McKinley!

Thanks Mar, we had a great day!

Mom's Garden

My mom is an expert in most areas, but when it comes to gardening she blows the competition away. Her specialty is conifers, weeping conifers, deciduous trees, weeping deciduous trees, anual flowers, perennial flowers and shade plants.

Way to go Mom, your garden looks spectacular!

Dog Park

As Jeremy and the dog's ran about chasing tennis balls, I carried Munchkin on my back in his convenient, carrying pack. I am preparing myself for hikes at the Cabin this summer. Munchkin will go anywhere I go.

We found a quiet, little wading pond aside the river this afternoon. It was a hot day and we wanted to offer Munchkin optimal comfort. Perhaps a quick toe-dip would cool him off, we thought. Munchkin accepted our offer for a toe-dip and upped us a "sit down/splash around".

I know, I know. Don't worry! It's not like he was swimming unattended in the white-water. We asked him if he wanted too, but he declined.

Dog Park

We took the dog's for a much needed run in the park today. There were inch-worms everywhere! Jeremy went into the brush to recover a tennis ball and came out crawling with caterpillars. Seriously, he had about twenty on his back. Some were pretty meaty and I had to use the chuck-it to clean him off. I am not usually offended by caterpillars, but I was way out numbered. They gave me the hebeegeebee's! The dogs didn't seem to mind the creepy crawlers at all! Leo played 'till his hearts content, or until the skin on his paws wore off and he could no longer walk normally. Poor dog, he has such heart, he doesn't know when to say "when".

Flowering Locust

This beautiful tree is covering a portion of our back yard deck. It is awesome to look at and it smells lovely too. It is a shame to leave this tree behind with our up-coming move. I wish I could dig it up and take it with us.

Semper Fi

Shiloh married the love of her life last night. She looked gorgeous and her husband looked great too. He is a Marine and they provided Shiloh and Greg with a proper Marine ceremony. Marines lined up with swords in the air creating a tunnel for the newlyweds to walk under, at the end of the sword tunnel a marine gently patted Shiloh on the butt and said "welcome".
She looked as happy as I have ever seen her. The evening couldn't have been more beautiful.

It's True

Yes, I am already smarter than the President.

I Love Photography

At last the return of picture taking has made me feel whole again. With a love of photography and a missing camera I have felt as though a part of my soul was vacant. No longer will I stress over the memories I was watching slip by undocumented. Alas, we have the Kodak EasyShare P850. A much loved addition to our family and a great deal from Costco.

Darfur is Dying

Darfur is in the midst of a genocide. Learn about the threat that Darfuris face each day while performing routine tasks necessary for life here. Ah, nevermind, they don't have any oil. Screw 'em.