To Devin Brooke Owens

Casebook was an accident. I guess Dad didn't catch that either as he proof read. BooBear is a Logan because well, I guess he's a boy or he is now the baby of the family or we were just lazy in thinking up a new middle name that went with BooBear. BooBear Brooke Owens? What do you think?

BooBear Logan Owens

Buddy has a new little brother. Let us introduce Boo Bear Logan Owens.

He is a 10 months old Maltese--born on December 13, 2009 and weighs four and one half pounds right now. I am sure he'll fatten up some being with the Owens family (Buddy is 7.5 pounds and we are trying to get him back to his 6.0--he sleeps a lot right now which is my fault because we haven't been doing our mile walks everyday). Boo came to live with us Thursday October 14, 2010. The couple we got him from just didn't have the time to spend with him. They had him a little over two months. I'm not sure when they got him if they knew he was from a puppy farm but yesterday we did some research and found out that fact. So really we rescued him.

He is very afraid of people but when he's in the back yard with Buddy he is a totally different dog. I took him over to a friend's house yesterday who has two Maltese and a Yorkie. He had a great time. I had a hard time rounding him up to get him back in the car. He went to the Vet yesterday and he will be neutered on Tuesday.  Boo had his first beauty shop appointment at Pets R Precious this morning.  He has never walked on a leash so we have a lot of work to do. He is a darling, sweet little thing and Buddy and Kitty have both been super great. I think Buddy will be a great help for getting little Boo out of his shell. One additional incident I think traumatized him even more. The day we called about him (October 13) the owners said there was another couple coming to look at him. This couple bought Boo and took him to their father who had just lost his 14 year old Maltese. He lives in a retirement home and has Alzheimer's. He took a scissors to Boo's hair and we think tried to make him look like his old dog. He really chopped his hair up and in the process cut his little cheek that we didn't notice till the next morning. Boo was brought back the next day when everyone decided the circumstances weren't working (!). So we got him. Apparently he had just had a $70 haircut and the owners were furious.  He does have a lot of drainage in his eyes but we are hoping to clear that up too. He is beautiful to us and love him already.

I can't believe I have not blogged anything since May 19th. WOW!!!! I'm lazy. Brian and family were here. Devin and family were here. Spencer and the boys were here. Dewey and I even had Grandpa and Grandma Camp with Spencer and Connor for about 10 days. Dewey went to Florida with Spencer to watch the BYU/Florida State game.  We went to Provo for the Washington game. Brian moved up to the San Francisco area (San Carlos) . A job transfer. Paul has been to the mountains several times and is becoming a great photographer. This week on his hike and overnight campout he ran into two bears. He has video of that experience. I think he put it on his Casebook. I am glad I found out after he was already home. Jeffrey's two cats had kittens. He still has two of the kittens (yes, four cats.)

Buddy is great--he loves his walks. Still gets beautified every Tuesday morning. He is going to be a caterpillar for Halloween. He still has Dewey wrapped around his little foot when it comes to giving him little pieces of food off his plate. Buddy doesn't even try that with me. Thus the one pound gain in about two month's time. He absolutely loves going to the fence and peeking through the slats to see if Reggie (our neighbor's Newfoundland) is outside and then proceeds to bark like a crazy dog. This is the same dog that came through our fence because Buddy liked to harass him. We had to get a new fence. Buddy is great.

I am teaching early morning seminary this year. The students are wonderful. The class starts at 5:40 am. I am tired all the time but I was tired all the time before anyway.

Fall is here. Haven't been to the pumpkin patch yet. Maybe today if time allows. I love living in Washington. I love my family.

Fun in 18 hours

Yesterday Spencer flew in to SeaTac Airport.

Paul picked him up. We were anxiously waiting. Took them a little longer than expected because they had to slow down for an accident. We had to make the most of the time he had  here so we went to Famous Dave's for lunch/dinner and then Paul met us at the movies to see Robin Hood. We liked it and thought it was really good. Came home to chill. Watched the Celtics beat the Magic and then proceeded to finish up with the Mariners----Spencer fell asleep and we all went to bed early--actually I'm not sure about Paul--he tends to be a night owl. We got up at 3am to take Spencer to Portland where he had to pick up a trunk for work and drive it back to California. That was the reason for his quick but fun visit. He volunteered to do this job and we are thankful he did. We don't get to see him as much as we would like.  Buddy thought it was great to have another brother around.

And Kitty surprised us all by jumping up and spending a good deal of time on Spencer's legs. Usually it takes her a long time to come out of hiding. Buddy has taught Kitty a lot about how to be sociable. Thanks for coming Spencer. We love you!

Hummingbird Time

Even though we lost the little wrens, the hummingbirds have found our feeder this year. I've seen them feeding on several occasions. I am not sure if it is different ones or the same one. Paul has seen them feeding too. It really is spring and the past few days it has been summertime weather. We have our bird feeders in the front yard and the hummingbird feeder in the back yard next to out kitchen window. There is a neighborhood black and white cat who likes to hang out in our front yard garden waiting to catch a bird. Buddy and I are always shooing that cat away. This is a nice time of the year.

The Nest in the Fuchsia Plant

When we arrived home from our Utah Trip we discovered that a little wren had built a nest in our fuchsia plant that was hanging on our front porch. We also discovered that she had laid eggs in it. I called a wildlife society to see if we could move the nest to a little wren house and was told it was against the law to move nests. So we did what responsible people do and left it alone. We even went in and out the garage so we wouldn't disturb her or her babies. About a week later Paul came home and wanted to see the eggs and nest so he got a ladder and looked and found the three little birds had hatched sometime earlier and they had died. I was so sad. One was trying to get back in and the two others were on the ground. The only thing we could figure out was the day before we had heavy winds and we think they may have blown out or else the mother got hurt and was unable to return to the nest. I was really sad. When Dewey got home from work he, Paul and myself (Buddy too) had a little funeral. We put the little birds in their nest and put them in a little box and buried them by our bamboo plants. We said a prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for all the little creatures in our lives. The nest had been built with such perfectness and entwined with the vines of the fuchsia. I am amazed how they can do that.

Nature is beautiful and wonderful.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's day and Mother's Day Weekend. I heard from all of my children before 2:30 our time. Yea. On Saturday we went to the farmer's market--that would be Dewey, Paul, Buddy and me. I got a beautiful handing petunia basket and a lilac bush. There were tons of dogs there and Buddy had a great time. We got Thai food, took it home and had a picnic in the back yard. Sunday was fun. The primary children sang in Sacrament. I'm still the chorister. They always make their mother's smile. Dewey made my day special. I did relax and have an enjoyable day. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's in my life.

Our Utah Trip

On Friday April 16th Dewey called me from work and said that he didn't have much going on the next week at work and asked if I wanted to take a road trip to Utah. Twenty four hours later we were on the road.  Saturday night we spent the night at our favorite dog friendly hotel, Oxford Inn in Boise.  Yes Buddy made the trip too. He had to see his Ella Bella. We had a great time.

Hayden was so much fun and the first morning there I woke up to find Hayden at her door peaking out. She had climbed out of her bed. A surprise for us all.

The day we left Carl and Devin turned her crib into a big girl bed.

Of course we did all our favorite things. Played with and babysat for Hayden.

Ate at J-DAWG, In-n-Out Burger, Chuck-a-Rama (our first time there and we loved it),

Goodwood, and Pizza Factory. We had Thai food from one of Carl and Devin's favorite places and Carl grilled steaks for us.

We visited the BYU bookstore (had donuts--my favorites and mint brownies-- BYU's popular treat) and Daddy Carl's office. 

We took a trip up to Salt Lake to see Jeffrey and his new litter of kittens and take his male cat to have his shots.  Hayden went with us and loved the kittens.

She held each one of them.

Devin and I went to the Spanish Fork Cemetery and visited my friend Eileen Fowler's grave. We had a nice time visiting some of the other graves. We spent time at a farm that Hayden loves.

She got to ride the ponies.

Yes, we visited Costco and Baby Gap. We had a blast. Thanks Carl and Devin for giving us a comfortable bed and letting us babysit for Hayden while you went on a date. I'm sure I've left out many things.  We did watch Princess and The Frog, Toy Story, Toy Story II, Cinderella and Avatar.

Some of those on more than one occasion. We had snow, beautiful skies and rain during our time there.

Here's to last minute, spur of the moments trips.

Happy Easter!

What a wonderful Easter!  Today we got to listen to a Prophet's voice and remember our Savior and color eggs and have a lazy day.

Hope yours was special too!

Buddy and Apollo Ohno

We don't think Buddy is a fan of Apollo Ohno. During the Olympics in February Dewey and I became fans of short track speed skating.

It was fun to watch and we were cheering for America and Apollo. While waiting for one of his races to start he was interviewed. No one was on the screen except Apollo and the image of him was from the waist up. Buddy usually sleeps on our laps or the chair by us when we watch TV but this particular night he was sleeping on the floor by Kitty in front of the portable heater (it was a little on the chilly side.)

All of a sudden we heard a very low growl. We looked to see if something was crawling on the floor or if he heard a sound somewhere. The growl started escalating until it became a bark and that's when we realized he was barking at Apollo on screen. And he got louder and louder (to the point he was sounding ferocious) until I picked him up and then he tried like crazy to wiggle out of my arms to get to Apollo. It took a while to settle Buddy down--maybe till the end of the interview which we couldn't hear anymore anyway. I believe he thought Apollo was in our living room and Buddy wasn't having any of it. So Buddy isn't a fan--maybe it was the soul patch--who knows.

All I know is I wish we could have taped it. It was really funny watching Buddy trying to protect us from a short track speed skater.

Puzzle

I just finished my Charlie Brown puzzle that Dewey gave me for my birthday. I must say even though it was only 1,000 pieces it was the hardest one that I can remember doing.

Maybe it's because I haven't done a puzzle in a long time or I'm just getting older and my mind doesn't work as fast. Whatever, I finished after hours and hours and hours. I've thought a lot about whether this is a waste of my time and I concluded that it is a real learning experience for me. It has helped me realize that piece by piece I can eventually see the whole picture.

I get impatience with things at times but keeping on task and slowly working each day the job gets done no matter what it is. I'm glad I didn't give up because it was really frustrating at times. Other times I felt a great sense of satisfaction even if I only found one piece. If I apply this to everything I do I can get much accomplished.

Whether it's little steps, little bites or little pieces or whatever I want to call it--slow and steady really works.