December

Things I'm looking forward to in the coming days and weeks:

• Thanksgiving in Yakima with my dear in laws
• the end of fall quarter (although it has gone by suprisingly fast!)
• Welcoming my nephew into this world!
• The Nutcracker
• Snowboarding/skiing
• OUR CRUISE!
• Mom and little sister(s?) will be here for four weeks in Dec/Jan
• Christmas with the family and Alan

Fun times! And most of it involves my lovely family. Aaaahhhh :)

Emma update

Here are a few recent pictures of Emma! She now weights 2.2 pounds. You should be able to click on the pictures and see a bigger view. Enjoy!

Below is a picture of her in her little hooded sweatshirt, getting ready for a jog ;)

Joel suprised me and took her to get her hair cut! I laugh/cried for like 5 minutes when I first saw her because she was SOOOO cute! I just couldn't handle it! The pictures don't show her full cuteness! She has a little halloween bow and they sprayed her with Pumpkin Spice cologne :) mmmmm

She still loves Doby, even with her new haircut!

Proud mama with the cute little tiger.

domestic adventures

So, this summer I decided not to take classes. I desperatly needed a break, we had a few vacations planned and there were lots of other things I wanted to do! So, in my free time this summer, I experimented with a few "domestic" things. See below for some fruits of my labor :)

Home made dough, homemade sauce, homemade basil + non-homemade mozzarella = YUMMY Margherita pizza :) We had this almost weekly for a while. My basil grew like crazy! mmmm! I also made lots of homemade spaghetti sauce using the basil and homegrown peppers (see photo below).

I started working on this quilt a while ago, but class got in the way and I never got around to finishing it. Well, here is the finished top of the quilt! Now I just have to attach the border, batting and backing. I looooove quilting, but for some reason, my cutting isn't perfect and my designs never match up the way they are supposed to. Oh well, I still love quilts. For now, I'm keeping all the quilts to myself. Perhaps when I've amassed enough, I'll start giving them away. The dog bed for Emma is made with the scraps from the quilt.

And heeeere is a picture of my homegrown peppers (in my hand painted bowl! Extra domestic points for me!). I'm proud of these little guys! I checked on them every single day. There are lots more, but this is just what I picked in one day. We have green, yellow and red peppers. Mmmm. I chose to grow peppers because once you cut them up, they are easily freezable.

Henry and Emma

Henry and Emma seem to actually enjoy playing together. At first, Henry was a little freaked out, but now he doesn't seem to be scared of Emma. He'll eat in front of her and groom himself, which makes me think he's pretty relaxed. Henry likes to fly right in front of Emma and then allow her to chase him around the room. Henry's tail is pretty long, so I think one of these days, Emma is going to grab a tail feather. Emma's mouth is too small so fit Henry's body or head, so I'm not too concerned about her causing him much harm. Also, Henry is pretty feisty, so I expect that Henry will prove himself as head of the household pretty soon.


Henry sitting calmly knowing that Emma can't reach him.

Emma after struggling to get on top of the couch pillow (it's quite a hike for her!)

What is it with our pets and our shoes/feet? Henry is obsessed with our shoes and yesterday, I found Emma taking a nap in our huge pile of shoes!

obsession

Please, bear with me for the next few days/weeks/months while I bask in the happiness of our new puppy. Yesterday, Joel and I picked up the newest addition to our family...a one pound, 10 week old yorkie-poo. We don't have a name for her yet, so for now she will be referred to as "little ewok". Here's a run-down of the first few hours with the new baby:

We picked her up last night and had to drive about 30 minutes with her. She snuggled into my arms and just kept trying to get closer and closer to my face. Eventually, she was on my chest with her little head on my shoulder (pictures to come). She was a brave little soul and didn't whimper, whine or shake the whole trip. So, we got her home and I went straight to the pet store while Joel stayed home to bond with her. I spent an hour there wandering around in a daze trying to decide what to get. A few things of note: I got her the smallest pink CAT collar I could find…it’s waaaay too big! It slides right over her head. I also got her a little carrying crate, which is also what she’ll sleep in. I also got her a fence that can be set up in our kitchen. It’s 16 feet in diameter, so she has PLENTY of room since she’s only about 6 inches long…hehe.

Anyways, I got home and she was just romping around the house and playing with Joel. She’s COMPLETELY silent, so the breeder suggested we buy a bell to put on her collar so that we don’t step on her. It’s weird because we’re used to Henry being on the ground, but at least Henry makes a little bit of noise! Anyways, when I got home from the pet store, I let her outside on the grass and she went potty immediately! Good giiiiiiiirl! She didn’t have any accidents in the house last night. So we played with her a little more and I washed her feet off in the sink (she had accidentally stepped in her poo). She was soooo good while I washed her feet off! It’s so amazing to hold something so small and realize it’s a DOG! There should be another name for creatures so small (other than rat or guinea pig).

After the foot bath, it was time for bed. She went right into her crate with NO PROBLEM. I put a pair of Joel’s dirty socks in there and she snuggled right up and went to sleep. Not a single peep out of her ALL night! Me on the other hand…I couldn't sleep a wink. I kept worrying about her and I kept trying to peek in her crate to see if she was asleep or not. Then, my mind was running wild trying to come up with a feeding plan and a potty training plan. I woke up extra early this morning so I would have time to play with her. I took her outside right away and she went potty like a good girl! Then we played fetch and romped around the house. She just loves exploring the house! The couch pillow was on the floor and she had to struggle to climb up on the pillow! That’s how small she is! Also, the grass in the yard is longer than her legs, so it’s a struggle for her to find a good place to squat! She already loves her little toys that I bought her…I bought her a kong, a rope toy and teensy weensy tennis balls (they are an inch in diameter…and she can’t fit it in her mouth, so she just bites the fur on the ball!).

So, I had to leave to go to work. Joel was going to be around the house for another hour or so. Well, while he was brushing his teeth, the little Ewok went poo under the bed. Naughty girl! So, I guess she’s not perfect. But, we’re working on it! Joel and I have talked about firmly saying “NO” when she chews or barks (although she hasn’t barked yet…just a few little whines). I really don't want her to be a spoiled brat...we'll see how well that actually works out!

Sigh. I already love her so much. She’s so precious. When I woke her up this morning, she immediately started wagging her little bobbed tail and started licking my hand. I’ve been smiling ALL morning…even when I was just sitting on the bus. Can’t wait for you to meet her! Check back tonight or tomorrow for a few pictures!

Cape Cod, Cont

So now for a run down of Cape Cod. We stayed at a nice place called the Light House inn. It was right on the beach. Cape Cod wasn't quite what I expected. I expected lots of hoity toity people. That wasn't the case at all! I felt like we fit right in. Everyone was SUPER nice and laid back. We spent lots of time on the beach. The water was amazingly warm! We could have stayed in the water for an hour with out getting chilled. We built a sand castle, went for walks, read, swam and RELAXED! The 10 of us shared a cute little cottage. There was absolutely no stress all weekend. We all got along great and just had the best time. For the wedding, it was right on the beach next to a small jetty. The wedding only had about 30 people, but it was great! For the rehersal dinner, we ate Lobster and clam chowder. A first for me! For the actual wedding, we ate stuffed shrimp. They had an open bar, so we took advantage of the free wine and Long Island Iced Teas :)

Wedding Weekend in Boston/Cape Cod

So, it's been a long time since I've posted, but Brenna doesn't have facebook so a blog post is the next easiest way to post pictures online for her to see. Our trip to Boston and Cape Cod was amazing. We had so much fun and I was able to completely relax. It was a good blend of hanging out with friends, seeing the sites, eating DELICIOUS food and relaxing. I'll give you a quick rundown:

First, we flew into Boston on a red-eye flight. I wasn't able to sleep on the plane, so I was kind of dreading the day. We had plans to walk around Boston and see the sites, so I knew I wouldn't have a chance to nap. Well, as soon as we got out of the airport, we went to catch a train to our hotel. So, we're lugging our suitcases down the stairs to the train station and all of a sudden, people come running up the stairs shouting "someone's been hit by a train", "call 911!" and "Does anyone know CPR?". Well, Mark jumped into action and took control of the situation. Sheesh, what a hero Mark was! I was totally impressed. So, that started my day off with a little adrenalin. We ended up walking the 15 blocks *I might be exaggerating* to the hotel since the train station had to close down for the investigation. Our hotel was beautiful. It was called the Omni Parker House. It's credited with creating Boston Cream Pie. It was also right across the street from an amazing cemetery. Paul Revere, the victims of the Boston Massacre, Ben Franklin's parents, Sam Adams, etc are all buried there. It was amazing to be standing amidst such amazing history.

After taking a quick shower, we headed out on our tour of Boston. Luckily, Mark is a history magnet and was able to tell us a lot about the buildings we saw. We went to Fenway Park and saw a bunch of really old churches, buildings and old libraries. Also, we went to the Cheers Bar for lunch (from the TV show). In the evening, we went to little Italy. It was amazing! It felt like we were really in Italy. There were tons of Italian people (imagine the stereotypical Italian...those people were everywhere!). There were tons of cute little restaurants and shops. We settled on a restaurant and they ushered us down a few flights of stairs and into their back room. It was a private dining room big enough to fit all 10 of us! The food was amazing!

After dinner, we saw a few more sites. We saw Paul Revere's old house. The thing that amazed me about the house is that it was made of wood. Most of the other buildings we saw were brick, which stand up to the weather a little better. I'm not sure how Paul's wood house is still standing! We also saw the famous church that Paul Revere held the lanterns in. we also went to Faniel Hall, which is a bunch of bars and restaurants. It also was near the Holocaust Memorial. Justin is a Holocaust history buff, so we spent some time there reading about the victims' experiences. Finally, after spending some time at a bar and meeting some of the bride's friends, we headed back to the hotel for a short night's sleep. We had to be up early the next morning for our trek to Cape Cod!!! Another post about Cape Cod will follow :)