Sunday, 18 April 2010

Lucy and Drover

On April 13th we added two new members to our family: Lucy and Drover. They are 4 month old Labrador Pointer mixes that came from the Humane Society. We have been looking foward to getting the dog for the past few years but wanted to wait until we were settled in our own house. Now that the snow is melted and the weather is warming up we feel the time is right.
When we saw these two dogs on the Humane Society website we decided to go and visit them the following day. We took them into the visiting room individually and then together. Both of them seemed to have lovely temperaments. We were also very happy that Tara is still here because she came and stood outside the room to observe. She agreed that both dogs looked good. We went home to think it over that night and decided to get both dogs. It is a big committment but decided that they would be good companions for each other. Lucy is officially M's dog and Drover is the family dog. That doesn't really mean much as far as work goes (I will still do most of it - but have been getting good help) but it does mean that M likes to point out the things that Lucy does better than Drover!
Our visit at the pound

Drover
Lucy

We quickly became the hot spot for family and friends to hang out.

First night at home. I love how they cuddle up together.

M was up for school bright and early the next morning so she could play with the dogs.
Meeting Grandma
Corinne and the boys came up for the weekend and had fun meeting the dogs, especially Sam.
Lucy was content with relaxing and getting lots of love.
Sam was constantly calling Drover's name, although about half the time he called "Driver" and we'd have to remind him of the correct name. Sam loved putting out his hand for Drover to lick and every time he licked it Sam would say "Luf me!" (translates: love me).

Saturday, 17 April 2010

Cuddling with Hayden

Tara and Greg have stayed with us for a lot of their visit here. It has been really nice having them and Hayden here. The photos of Hayden and I together are on other people's cameras and I don't have them yet, but I wanted to post a few other photos now.

Grandpa enjoyed a cuddle with Hayden after a family meal at the Olive Garden.

Josh having a cuddle.
M has enjoyed cuddling with Hayden during their visit. She also shared her love of singing with him by making up a song that she sings to him. It goes like this: "Walking down Hayden Street. Walking down Hayden Street. Walking up Hayden Street. Walking up Hayden Street."

Baby Animal Days

During Spring Break last week we went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Hertiage Center just outside of Logan. We went with Corinne and her boys, Jeni with her children (minus Adam), and Kate.









Friday, 16 April 2010

Chicks

We were home to Michael's 4 new chicks for about a week until he was able to move them into his new house a few days ago. They were very cute and grew a lot in the week. I am looking forward to them being fully grown because Michael is planning on sharing their eggs with us.

The Heat is On

For Girls Scouts a couple of weeks ago M got to dress up as a girl from another time period. We chose the 80s and she wore this dance costume of mine that I wore in 1988 when my primary school dance group performed to the song "The Heat is On." I found the hot pink socks after she got home from the activity but she rocked this outfit even without those!

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Build-A-Bear and a Wide-Brimmed Hat

M got some money for her birthday which she used to buy this white hat. We had just finished reading about the American Girl Rebecca (New York, 1914), who gets a fabulous hat for her birthday. When M saw this hat in Target she put back the toy she was going to buy and got the hat instead. I think that is a sign that she's growing up! She also got a gift card to Build-A-Bear and had fun creating this bear, named Catherine (after Nanny).

The Party

For M's birthday celebration this year she invited Kate, Minnie and Morgan to go swimming.

The awesome slide
Kate
Minnie
Birthday Girl
Minnie jumped off the 10ft platform
M climbed to the top of the 10ft platform......but decided to take the steps back down and stick to the springboard instead.
Best Friends

The Birthday

M's birthday was on a Sunday this year. The morning began with opening presents on our bed. M must be a pretty unique child because she chose to open the smallest present first. I didn't think that through very well, because the smallest present was... ...a cap and choker belonging to the Felicity doll. M's expression translates as, "But, I don't have Felicity." "Oh, I think I know what might be in this big box!""I can't believe it'! It's Felicity!"I think it is very sweet that M did not think she would get an American Girl doll for her birthday. She knows they are expensive and figured that only Santa would be able to afford to give those to her.Grandma and Poppy got her Felicity's Christmas outfit.Josefina also got a new Fiesta outfit.
Every singer needs her own microphone.
Grandma and Poppy also got M this basketball. Minnie has been teaching M how to play basketball and she is looking forward to playing with her at the park by our house. As a 9-year-old, everyone gets bunny ears, including Felicity when she is modeling her Christmas outfit.Nanny and Grandpa got M The Sound of Music soundtrack. She listens to it every night as she falls asleep. Nanny was still in Australia, but it was nice to have Grandpa here. I love this photo of them together.We were very lucky that our New York family arrived on M's birthday for their skiing trip. They got here just in time for cake. Emily gave M a very sweet American Girl Valentine's dress for her dolls. I didn't get a photo of it but you can see it on M's lap in the next photo. I love that all of the girl cousins share that interest right now. I also agree with what it says on Emily's t-shirt!
Do we have cute kids in our family, or what? It was nice to have lots cousins celebrate M's birthday with us.

M's request was for an ice cream cake. I love ice cream cakes in Australia but haven't been able to find the same kind here. Instead we went with a cookies and cream ice cream cake, which is M's favourite flavour, so she was happy with it (despite her lack of smiling in this photo!).

Happy 9th Birthday!