Where did February go?

How is it possible for February to be over?


I guess when you are having fun and having surgery it goes pretty fast.

Hayden, Shirley Owens (our sister-in-law), Spencer II and JoAnn had birthdays this month along with George (Washington) and Abraham (Lincoln). With Valentine's Day thrown in the mix too, lots was happening.........so time flies, ready or not.


Last weekend Dewey surprised me with a little weekend trip to Portland, Oregon for my birthday. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco.





It is a lovely, small, boutique hotel that is pet friendly so Buddy got to make the trip with us. He had fun meeting some dogs there. There was even a sign welcoming Buddy and all the other dogs staying that night.






They have a Golden Lab who is the pet relations director and greets all the four legged friends who arrive. Unfortunately, we were there on a Saturday and Art (the Lab's name) takes the weekends off. Apparently he works a 40 hour week so he gets to rest on the weekends. Hotel Monaco even have goldfish they will bring to your room if you are lonely and need some company during your stay with them.




Delivered to the room for Buddy was a huge pillow for him to sleep on, a basket filled with a big organic dog bone, little red doggie bags for his poop when taken for a walk , "Fido" (a dog magazine for us to read) and two big silver dishes for his food and water. We were really impressed.

With Buddy at our side, we ordered room service a lot.






Room service, a vast menu, and Dewey ordered a hamburger. The french fries were amazing though, as was their signature, gourmet, "Mac and Cheese".





Later we had a chocolate plate and another "amazing" dish, an upscale version of "Boston Creme Pie".


While we were there the ATLANTA HAWKS were staying there and the next day the LA CLIPPERS showed up. Dewey talked to one of the HAWKS in the elevator. He was surprised at how nice the guy was and later found out he was the coach. It was a relaxing weekend for us.


Here's Jody in a leopard skin robe (Dewey's was a tiger).

On our way back home we thought we would drive to Mount St. Helen's to see it up close and personal. We drove a long way and after about an hour we finally pulled out the GPS and realized we were no where close to seeing it "up close"--in other words we were lost.





Lost in the woods.


I guess we should have pulled our navigational system out when we started on our little adventure. At least the mountain wasn't moving through time and space and our noses weren't bleeding (for all of you "Lost" aficionados).





My birthday was fun. I heard from all my children. We went to Chili Thai and had a fabulous meal.





Paul was with us so I was happy to have one of my children here. Sometimes it's just Dewey and me so having another member of our family with us was great.





I got some fun gifts.




I know, you're thinking diamonds and a ....................Rug Doctor? I've been begging for a Rug Doctor for a long time and I know some would think that would not be a cool birthday present for a 62 year old woman but I was ecstatic. Dewey got it for an exceptionally good price at Costco and so I got one. Don't worry, I got flowers and personal care products (thanks Devin and Carl!) and walking shoes and bookends and the things I wanted and needed too.





Brian and Flora's flowers!





It was a wonderful birthday. 62 isn't so bad. I guess in some circles I am now considered a Senior Citizen. That's not so bad either. Discounts here and there.

On Thursday the 26th I had some oral surgery. Our Stake President is my oral surgeon and is very good. I had a root canal several years ago and a crown and something inside went wrong over time and I had a serious low grade infection eating away at the bone. It is probably one of the reasons I have felt so icky for so long. Anyway the tooth was extracted and the infection cleaned out and now I am on meds for the pain and of course antibiotics. I'll be better in no time. I'm probably going to get an implant.

My son-in-law Carl had his gall bladder removed this month. He is doing good. I don't have a gall bladder either--another thing Carl and I have in common! Of course the number one thing we have in common is we both love Devin.

We had snow Wednesday night the 25th. It was cool. I love it when it snows here. It melted by noon Thursday but it was beautiful to wake up to.

I even worked on a puzzle--valentine candy themed.

There's probably more I could go on about but this is getting a little lengthy.

It has been a good month but too short, but then that's February. Every year February is too short. It probably has a complex and is teased by all of the other months.

Happy Happy Birthday Hayden Dear

Hayden Lily McCain turned 1 year old on February 3, 2009. Devin and Carl had her birthday party on January 31st and we were able to be there to help her celebrate.

Dewey found a very reasonable flight and we left on Saturday morning the 31st and flew back home on Monday morning February 2nd. Hayden had her first cupcake.


She and her friends loved playing with the balloons.

Devin had a cute game to play (we had to guess the dates of all the "1st" pictures of Hayden--her first trip, tooth, etc.). I won (I had an advantage) but I deferred to the second place person. She got the candy bar. We also had to guess how many M&M's in the jar. I didn't win. She got some cute presents.



She even liked the singing Spiderman that Dewey gave her but unfortunately the very next day it scared her to death.

We have the cutest , sweetest and happiest granddaughter.

We are so thankful that she is in our lives. Happy Birthday Hayden.

While we were gone Buddy went to Pet Ponderosa Resorts and Spas--"A Dude Ranch for Pets".

Paul picked him up before we got home. I called to see how he did and if he liked the other dogs. They said that little dogs usually don't play--they just hang out. I can just see him hanging out and watching the big dogs play.

When I got back I had an appointment with my oral surgeon who happens to be my Stake President and found out I have to have surgery. It's probably one of the reasons I have felt bad for so long. At least I found out there is something and that I am not crazy.

I got my haircut today. Yea!

We have had beautiful weather the past few days. It almost feels like spring.

It's over, it's over, it's over

Before 8:30am on January 21 I finished Breaking Dawn. I cannot believe I read the last three books in under a month, plus remember I did take down Christmas during that time too. I amazed even myself. I do believe that we have not read the last of Ella, Edward, Jacob, Nessie and the entire Cullen clan. Now I have to go back and try and get into Host. I have read about 100 pages so we'll see. Someone told me it takes half the book to get excited about it--it is another many pages book. Here's to reading--may the Book be forever with us.

There's a New TV at Buddy's Place!!

As anticipated here at Buddy's Place, we have a new HDTV! After much angst and countless hours on the internet and at stores, I selected my favorite. It's a 42 inch Toshiba XV540. Bought it at Costco, giving us a three year warranty and 90 day return capability. I looked at Samsung and Sony, but this one gives me everything I want (1080P, 120 hz) for a fair price and in a good size.

Here's the box safely transported into the family room. Did you know that Toshiba packages their LCDs in the industry's most compact boxes? True.

Opening the box reveals the mysterious contents, snugly wrapped and secure.

Out of the box!

It's a REGZA!

Sitting next to the 32 " JVC--it's just a little bit bigger.

Stand attached and lifted in place.

Turning it on for the first time. This is pretty exciting.

It works!

The picture is breathtaking--here's King Kong on the HD DVD.

Spider Man 3 on the PS3. 4 HDMI ports enables a lot of stuff to be hooked up.

Can there be any question? I love this thing!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I can't believe that we haven't blogged since Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was great. We did an opposite day. We got up and went to the movies. We saw Twilight. Guess what? Dewey really liked it. I think as much as I did. I was very proud of him. When we got home we put the turkey in the oven and a little while later--somewhere between 3 and 4pm Dewey, Paul and I opened presents. By the time we finished it was dark outside. We had a delicious turkey dinner and watched a movie. Like I said we did things backwards and it was fun. We couldn't get away with that type of day if there were children here but since the youngest here was 36 years old we could.

It took a week of earnest work to take down and put away all the Christmas decorations. We told ourselves that we had to stop buying for Christmas but as soon as the Hallmark store put the 75% off flyer on their door we were up to our old tricks. We did find some very lovely stocking hangers and got them. We have been looking for some for a while so at 75% off we were delighted.

I'm on the 4th and final book of the Twilight saga, BREAKING DAWN. I've read 100 pages so far and I can't imagine what will happen in the next 650 pages. Every time I think it is happily ever after it continues. I really didn't think I would get this involved. BUT I did.

Tomorrow is my first day of being Primary Chorister (again). I'm looking forward to it. It is fun singing with all the little ones. The only thing that would make it perfect is if Dewey could be my pianist.

Winter has been quite interesting so far. First the snows came. I personally loved it but unfortunately this area wasn't equipped with the magnitude and longevity of the snow. Schools closed and even church was canceled the Sunday before Christmas. You know it must have been bad. Buddy liked it and had fun every time he got to go out in it. Sometimes I couldn't find him because of all the white on white. Then just about the time the snow started melting the rains began and then the flooding was upon us. Streets were closed, rivers rose and families were evacuated. Fortunately for us we could get out of our subdivision but only going one way. When we took Buddy for a walk in the park today down by one of the creeks. You could tell how high the creek rose with the amount of sogginess in the grass areas. I think I like the snow better than the rain.

Dewey is in the process of getting ready to buy a new HDTV. He studies and reads and looks and does everything possible so he knows he is getting the perfect one for us. I think it is making him crazy. I know it is making me crazy. It's okay because when it is finally done he gets to start doing the same thing for a new stove that we need.

Time flies. Hayden has 6 teeth now. Little Connor and Spencer are playing football. The Mariners start Spring Training in a while. I am not sure how many days left till BYU plays Oklahoma for the first game of the season but I think we'll we there. It's in Dallas. Happy New Year.

Christmas Eve Pictures

Here's a taste of what Christmas Eve is like at our house tonight:

Merry Christmas!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It really is a wonderland. It's beautiful but some of the streets are not passable. We tried taking a Christmas gift to a friend and we couldn't get down her street. According to the weather report we got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Church was even canceled which doesn't happen so you know it was bad here.

Buddy loves it. We tried carrying him out in it and he wouldn't have it. He wiggled so much to get down that we just gave up and let him frolic all over the place. It warmed up a few degrees above freezing today but it didn't melt much. Tonight it will be in the 20's and refreeze those places that were thawing a little. The weather people are predicting a white Christmas. Thought you would like to see some pictures of our yard and house.