This is Bruce... He is a male 9 month old cat. He likes to tease dogs, chase Lucy and avoid the kids. (look ma, no front claws, great for the kids bad for him.)

So... The other day when we were in the back yard getting it ready to lay cement and he decided to go and play with Toby and Zurich. He gets down and of course the dogs start chasing him. Jade screams at us to save Bruce! I grabbed him under the arms, and when I do he digs his back claws into my leg. I drop him, Charlie pulls the dogs off of him and get him onto the deck. I didn't think of the puncture wound until, my shoe fills up with blood.

This was one of the last snow falls of the season. The kids begged Charlie to make a snowman. Since it was just a week away from Easter, we did a snowbunny...

Mom just doesn't know how to get the camera right!

Spring Yard Work

Dad and I worked out in the yard for a while yesterday. We were working on the flowerbed in the back by the North fence and as soon as I saw the snake I started screaming. No way did I want to put my hands down in the flowerbed. Especially after your dad picked up the snake and it got away from him and went right back into the bed we were working in. Dad got the tall grasses by the fence cut down and we moved the wood pile into the dog run so we could get that area all cleaned up for our square foot gardening spot. Hopefully tomorrow we will get some more junk put in the junk trailer and get it hauled off. We are planning on putting black plastic down in the flowerbeds and covering it with rock to make it maintance free. We are getting lazy in our old age. The aspen tree on the south side is not doing well. It has had bore for several years. Not sure how many more years it will survive. It is supposed to be cloudy and rainy tomorrow, which may make it difficult to get out and work in the yard.

Also trying to get the camping equipment we had stored in the basement organized so we can put it out on the self in the garage, then it won't be under all the Christmas decorations and easier to access.

Kind of weird not seeing Elysha around or looking out the window to check and see if her car is home so we know she is safe. I'm glad she and Brandon are finally together and enjoying each other's company. Hope all goes well for the both of you and you are able to get settled soon.

Enjoy your Sunday.
Mom

The Joys of Moving

So we made it here to Ft Lewis at about 4 pm Saturday. It was a long drive but it was fun for us to be able to talk with each other the whole time. The scenery was beautiful. I (Brandon) was awake for 40 straight hrs other then two 10 minute naps while El drove. She was awake for nearly that long except for her 1 hour nap while I drove most of the way. We didn't have any problems at all getting here. We drove through some very beautiful country and I look forward to making the drive again someday. The only problem we experience was sore bottoms about halfway through. It made it very difficult to sit straight. We are happy and healthy and doing very well after a good nights sleep. Thank you all for the help and support we have received so far.

Oh, and Thanks

I forgot, many thanks to Sid and Charlie for their help in the last minute loading of the van. Dad says he could not have done it without Charlie the ever-ready bunny. You are awesome as usual. We got a lot done in a short amount of time.

Moving Van loading party for Brandon and Elysha

Grandma was in charge of babysitting the kids while everyone else loaded the van. Sounded great to me....but how was I going to keep Reacher entertained. I refer to Reacher as silent but deadly. You never know what he will get into. Well, the idea hit me to use the van ramp as a snow ramp. I put Reacher in the sled and held him while he went down, he would then crawl back up so we could do it again. His mom caught us in the act and said Grandma was a bad example.

Jade said, "Yeah Grandma, your a bad example and I'm not going to be a bad example!" Seann wanted a turn and asked if he could do it, but I told him he said I was a bad example. He said, "Sorry, now can I try?" Well of course he could. After a few times, jade said she wanted to try. I reminded her she would be a bad example, but she wanted to do it anyway. After she did it, I yelled at Sidney and told her Jade was being a bad example. Jade put her hands on her hips and told me if I told her mom again, she would be really mad at me. LOL. She went down again, so I yelled to Sidney that she did it again, then I turned to Jade with a big grin on my face. She was mad, but then started smiling again. These grandkids are so dang fun.

Brandon got here about 10:30p. last night took a nap for an hour or so and left at 12:30a. at 6:30 they were in Boise at Ihop enjoying a pancake breakfast. They are making good time and happy to be together. We all wish them well on their new adventure. Love you guys, be safe.

My really cool experience

So today was turning out to be a typical day on the floor of the hospital i was working. I ended up having to switch patients with someone for some reason, but it ended being great because I had the opportunity to accompany this patient down to the operating room and watch her entire procedure being done. That was such a neat experience. I had a colonel talking with me the whole time giving me a play by play of what was happening and how the machines in there worked. She then gave me information on how I can progress on further to become a CRNA. She is a CRNA herself, so the information is really helpful to my goals, but that experience I got to go through today re-lite the spark that I've had for a few years now. It was an amazing thing to watch and I'm very thankful that I got to participate.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Dad's shed. Cool, Huh?








Little Van



Van and Valarie after a fast ride.







Dad



Valarie, Van and Ruger



Brookie Cookie



Dad having a good time with Brooke behind him.

What a great time we had. We decided before going to our campsite, we would drive into Kanab and get maps of the area we would be staying and pick up some sandwiches at the 3 bears restaurant. (Dad and I always ate there when we did inventories.) When dad went to pay for lunch, he got the pin numbers mixed up on his 2 credit cards and it locked both of his card up so they can't be used. He used some of the cash we were supposed to use for the campground.

We found a campground by the bathrooms and we had partially set up when the ranger came by and said the site was reserved for tomorrow night. We found another site and set up camp.

We were so excited to explore, so we put on coats and hats (it was extremely cold) and off we went. It was awesome and we were in awe at the beauty around us. We played on the dunes and found a trail to ride on. We pulled off the trail and went shed hunting. (That is deer horns that have been shed.) Valarie found a little 2 point. We then rode some more and stopped again to look for more sheds and found nothing. Next we went back and played on the dunes and returned back to cam for dinner.

After dinner we sat around the fire and it started snowing. Finally it got too cold and we all went to bed. It took quite a while to get the bedding warmed up so I was not wanting to get up for the 2AM pee break when it rolled around. Dang, it came and I couldn't hold it any longer. I jumped up and ran and went. Boy was I happy when I returned to bed to find out it was still warm when I got back in. It still took time for me to warm myself up again. At 6AM, Dad was squirming and we both had to go. I assured him our beds would still be warm when we got back. We did not get up again until the sun was shining on our tent.

We ate breakfast and off we went again. (I wore snow pants cause it was so cold.) Again we played on the dunes. We hit some trails and they were so fun because they were sandy and windy.

We went shedding again and your dad found a nice set of 4 points. Uncle Van and little Van each found a horn. We also saw a lot of deer.

We rode hard, and it was warmer in the afternoon. We went back for dinner and started a fire and it was very enjoyable sitting around talking. It was warmer that night. I made sure I didn't drink much so I didn't need to get up. Dad and I woke up at 6:30 needing to go to the crazy restroom and decided we should just pack up since we were already cold and head for home since we wanted to be to church to see who the new Bishopric was.

We figured it would take us a half hour to get loaded up and it took us almost an hour. I poured our gas from our can into Van's can because he he had filled all the 4 wheelers including ours Friday night and we left.

We drove to Panguitch and decided to get gas in the truck. Guess what! Dad's credit cards still wouldn't work because of the pin number problem from Friday night.

Van had paid for the campground so we figured we would pay him when we got home, so dad used the last $15.00 in the tank. We hoped we would make it home. If worse came to worse, I guess we could ride the 4 wheelers on the back roads the rest of the way home. LOL.

Guess what again!! We made it home safe and sound and to church on time. Yeah!!!

Brookie Cookie Rides again!