Spring Visitors

On Taylor's 10th Birthday last year; it was a bright, sunny and warm day. I went out to the backyard to do some preparations for his party and lo and behold, Daisy had brought 11 ducklings and they hopped into the pool to swim around. They stayed all day among all the visitors we had, but we soon realized that the water was too low for the babies to get out and we had to add water almost all the way to the top, just so they could hop out. They finally made it out and trotted off to wherever they were currently staying. What a pleasant surprise on Taylor's birthday!

Trip to Portland

For our birthdays last year (they are only 5 days apart) Roger and I decided to head to Portland for an overnight trip. We had a lot of fun walking around the malls on Saturday and on Sunday before heading home, we took a stop at the Pittock Mansion high in the hills. Lots of fun to see many old pieces of artwork, furniture, etc. Here are just a few pics from that day!

Roger's Surgery

Not sure how many people know that on Thursday, Roger had to have surgery on his lower back (Lumbar Spine). The disc between his L4 & L5 Vertebrae had herniated into his spinal canal and then traveled up the spinal canal and had apparently gone up behind is L3 Vertebra and was pushing all those nerves to the right side (hence his complaints of numbness and pain in his left leg). I am happy to report that his surgery went well. His surgery was in the Orthopedic Spine Surgeon's Ambulatory Surgery Center and then due to his sleep apnea being so terrible, he was sent to a rehab facility for one night so that he could be monitored overnight after having anesthesia. He is home and is resting comfortably. He is pretty sore at the incision area, which is normal but I think he will continue to improve daily. We have had him up walking a little around the house, but I am going to take him outside and walk him up the street a little since it shouldn't be raining today. I will keep you updated as I can. Thank you to everyone for all your phone calls and emails as well as all of your kindness. I know Roger appreciates it just as much as I do. We do have some wonderful family and friends!

Socks......1 year old

Here is Socks when he is officially 1 year old! He is bigger than Lily and tips the scales at over 15 pounds! He chases after Lily too, trying to say that he is the dominant cat, when everyone knows that Lily is the dominant one. But she won't fight back, she is more of a lover than a fighter. Hopefully it will calm down one day.......

Play at the Hult Center - 4th grade year

Taylor and his 2nd grade teacher (Sue Ann), 1st grade teacher (Bev), and 4th grade teacher (MJ)

Last year when Taylor was in the 4th grade, it happened to be the 25th Anniversary of the many years Corridor has put on their plays at the Hult Center. So they took bits and pieces from all their plays in the pas and made it into one big play. It was so much fun to watch and Taylor did 2 parts (A cowboy and a cat). Can't wait for the play coming up soon this year!!!!

Snow - January 2008

In January 2008, we got several inches of snow that lasted for only a couple of days. Here are just a few pics from those fun filled days of slick streets, snow crunching beneath your feet and building snowmen!

Christmas 2007

For many years now, I have been wanting to take Taylor to Michigan and spend Christmas with his Grandma Leona and Papa John (his biological father's mother and step-father). In 2007 my parents helped make that dream come true. It was so worth it to see the smile on Grandma Lee's face when she saw Taylor at the door and he was spoiled rotten the entire time we were there. We had so much fun playing in all the snow that we don't typically get here. Spent time with family and just enjoying the holidays. Roger even got to go, but was sick in the very beginning, but he still had fun meeting new family and seeing a place he had not been to before. Now he is ready to go back for a much longer time to have many more adventures!

A new kitten addition

After coming home from Diamond Lake, we heard this strange noise coming from somewhere around the house, but for a while couldn't really figure out what it was. After a day or so of trying to pin down the noise, we figured out we heard it loudest from Taylor's room. We walked around there outside and heard it coming from the crawlspace of our house, when we looked under there we saw this tiny little kitten (only about 5 weeks old) and it took us about 30-45 minutes to get him to come to us. We had seen the mom moving kittens a few days before but figured either she abandoned this kitten or something happened to her that she couldn't come back. So we took him in and had him checked out. So here are a few pics from when he was little!

Family Traditions

We used to have a family tradition on my dad's side of the family when I was little to meet at Diamond Lake for a weekend of fishing and just being together as a family. It was amazing memories for me growing up! So this last year my dad thought it would be nice to start up the tradition with our family. So we went with my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. We even took some time to drive to Crater Lake nearby since we hadn't been there in a while. Sarah was the only one to truly catch a fish to take home, it snowed out on the lake while we were fishing and it was sooooo cold, but we had so much fun! Can't wait to do it again!

These 2 pics below are of Diamond Lake........

First day of 4th grade......

Taylor's first day of the 4th grade!!!!!!!

One Kitty......

This is just one of our wonderful kitties, Lily. She is an amazing mouser when we lived in our duplex and had that "little problem". She is such a joy to have and so in tune to each one of us, especially when we are ill (she pretty much doesn't leave our sides). What a wonderful addition to our family!