Two Tickets to Paradise

Chuck and I just returned from 10 days in Hawaii, visiting both O'ahu and the Kona coast of the big Island of Hawaii.  10 days of sunshine, blue skies and warm water- in the middle of January!!

 

Chuck needed to go to Hawaii to work a convention of Allergists and I got to tag along and pretty much entertain myself during the days while he was working, which was easy for me to do.  Just give me a book and a lounge chair on the beach and I am in hog heaven. We did get to spend time together in the evenings having wonderful dinners, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with friends. We were there over two Sundays, so we had the adventure of finding different local chapels to attend for church. One such adventure took us to the darling little town of Hawi (pronounced Haw vee) which is on the northern most tip of the big island.

 

The last trip Chuck and I made to Kona was on our 10th anniversary 17 years ago.  I remember two very distinct things about that trip- the first was going to the Sheraton Hotel and standing on their back patio on a cliff overlooking the rocky shore in the evening watching the manta rays swim by.  The hotel has large searchlights that shine into the water to attract small fish and insects and it draws the huge manta rays who feed on them.  The second thing I remember is that although we did a ton of snorkeling that trip and saw amzing fish, I never got to see any turtles, which everyone said were so plentiful.  This trip we got the reverse side of the coin, although we went back to the Sheraton and the lights off the cliff were still shining, we (along with a large crowd of spectators) never saw any manta rays.  However, my turtle wish was fulfilled- abundantly!  We saw turtles in the water, we saw turtles snoozing on the shore, we even had a turtle come out of the water right up to where we were laying on the beach.

 

 I have realized that even though I have lived in the northwest for 27 years, I am still a southern California girl at heart.  I am drawn to the ocean at a very fundamental level (a sunny warm ocean, that is..). Not just to lie by it, or walk along the shore, or wade in the shallows, but I am compelled by some force of nature to actually get out in the breaking waves and swim, float over the swells on my back or try to body surf this plump old body to the shore. There is something about being in the crashing waves that is nourishing to my soul.

 

My third favorite thing to do after swimming and sunning, is shopping. Ahh, the alliteration of of my preferred pastimes (again, alliteration). The last two days of our trip were spent in Honolulu, were Chuck was working with one of his employees all day. So having never been there before, I got to explore by myself.  The morning was overcast and drizzily so I spent it shopping in Waikiki looking for souveniers for my kids and grandkids.  I went leisurely from store to store just browsing.  I even bought myself a new swimsuit! Which was an almost pleasant experience. I find when shopping for a swimsuit, it is best to keep expectations low. The afternoon turned sunny, so I took my treasures back to the hotel and put on that new suit and headed to the beach to swim, read and people watch. I ended up having the perfect day.

 

Even though it has been nearly two years since my last post, we are still alive and doing well.  As evidenced by the above photo, our family is going through an expansion phase, much to our delight. Sam is still with us and has become an integral part of our family.  Rachel and Nate now have two children (Evelyn age 2 and Douglas James age 1). Although Rachel and her family still live in Idaho, which is a 12 hour drive for us, we try to get together at least twice a year and skype every Sunday night so the grandbabies don't forget who Grandma and Papa are.

All other family members are currently living at home, so our household is bustling and noisy- just the way I like it!  Both Jared and Sam are attending college and working.  Jared attending Bellevue College here in town and living at home, Sam is attending BYU Idaho, but is currently home on quarter break.  Becca graduated from BYUI with a degree in Communications and is home while she applys to graduate school to become a Physician's Assistant.

Not much has changed with Chuck and I over the years, besides a little more gray hair and a few more wrinkles.  We are both doing what we have always done- Chuck working as a pharmaceutical sales manager and me totally occupied by my family and my dog walking business. A life we both love and are so greatful for.

WE HAVE BABIES!!!! part III

On the way home from Schweitzer I started getting sick with a viral infection in my chest which nearly put me flat on my back for almost 5 weeks.  This has been the first week that I haven't been hacking my head off.  The first Sunday after we were home from vacation as I was too sick to go to church and spent the day in bed, the boys decided to cheer me up by bringing me a surprise. They were darling baby bunnies!

This is Sam's bunny, named Chewy (Chewbacca). Who we have found out is quite the escape artist.  We have had a hard time keeping him contained in anything, as he is a skillful climber.  I knew bunnies jumped, but climbed?  He could scale the sides of a very large wire dog crate to get to the ceiling of it which had a slightly larger grid and then squeeze out thru the holes.  We could not for the life of us figure out he was getting out every day until we caught him in the act!  Luckily he never went very far, just uphill to our neighbor's lawn to feast on their grass, and then would merrily hop back when Sam came home from school and would call his name.

The black bunny is Jared's whom he named Zion (apparently after a band) and is a very mellow, sweet little guy.  Very different personality than Chewy.

One of the boys friends, Tim was given a bunny for Christmas- they had no idea she was pregnant at the time. Surprise! She had 10 babies, and Tim has been distributing them among his friends.  So now Jared, Sam and each member of their posse has their very own baby bunny.  Charming.   I am mostly amazed at how big their feet are for such a small creature.

This is a picture of the bunnies in a shoebox- so you can tell by comparison how small they are-

They have been a lot of fun to watch and interact with- much more so than the guinea pigs.  They are a lot tamer than the guinea pigs, and a lot cleaner.  They are just like cats in that they are constantly giving themselves (or each other) a bath with their tongue.  They have darling tiny little pink tongues.  The cutest thing is when they clean their ears- they grab one ear in both paws and bring it down the side of their face and around in front to lick it clean. The only problem is that we are not sure of the sex of these two.  Apparently sexing bunnies isn't all that easy, even when they get older, as their "private parts" look pretty similar. We need to find an expert to help us out before they get any older.  Otherwise everyone in Jared's posse is going to be getting a second addition to their bunny herd!

SCHWEITZER

Over Mid-winter break the boys and Chuck and I went to Schweitzer ski-resort for a week.  We used one of Uncle Richards' time shares and stayed in a condo near Sand Point Idaho.  The condos are right on Lake Pend O'reille with a great view of lake and snowy mountains. It takes about 40 minutes to drive to the slopes.  We could stay closer, but this timeshare has a lot going for it- indoor pool, 2 hot tubs (one indoors, one outside) indoor tennis courts, pickle ball courts, basketball court,racketball courts, work out center, billiard room, ping pong tables, dvd rentals, video games, small grocery store.  Everything to keep the boys and Chuck entertained when not on the slopes.

View from condo-note ski resort

The view from the ski slopes down to the lake was just as gorgeous!

There was certainly plenty of snow, great skiing- deep powder.  I swear Schweitzer is the best kept secret!!  No one on the slopes- you just ski right on the lifts.  No waiting in the terrain parks, the half pipes,boxes and jumps are just wide open. The perfect place for someone like Sam who is just learning to snowboard.  Wide open slopes to practice without fear of being run over, or running over someone else.

The best part of all was a knock on our door late Tuesday night-

Rachel, Nate and Evelyn came for a surprise visit!!

We were so shocked to see them- Nate took some time off in the middle of the week to drive 9 hours from Rigby, Idaho to surprise us.  It was wonderful to see them.

When we weren't skiing- we were recuperating from skiing

Like sitting in front of the fire doing Sudoku

napping

picking one's nose

checking the blogs that I follow and relaxing

making brownies

playing with Evelyn

and the most important......family bonding

and when we weren't recuperating from skiing, we were prparing to go again

waxing snowboards

Nater fixing Sam's broken binding

We took the time to do a little sightseeing as well, in Dad's new Subaru Outback that got us everywhere we wanted to go, no matter the weather

Sandpoint has two things I dearly love- Starbucks for yummy hot chocolate and the world headquarters for Coldwater Creek clothing store.

With hot chocolate, new clothes and my family around all is right with the world!!

WE HAVE BABIES!! part 2

 

Finally!! these piggies were born on Tuesday 2/8.  The fact that there are 4 of them explains why mama was so HUGE. Mom is a solid red abyssinian (meaning she has cowlicks sticking up all over- crazy hair). Dad was a long haired red with some white stripes. It looks like the black baby (Jamal-according to Jared.  Isn't that racial profiling?)has cowlicks too. I am amzed by how easy this birthing process seems to be for these moms (sows).  I left the house Tuesday at noon- no babies.  I came back 3 hours later- babies. The babies were all dry, no umbilical cords dangling, running around.  Mom was skinny again and not showing any signs of wear.  Even her bottom was pristine, no blood, no redness, no swelling after giving birth to twice her own weight in babies. One would almost think the stork left them! I am still puzzled how an animal who is suppossed to have litters of between 1-6 babies (kits) only has 2 teats.  I guess that is why these piggies are born with teeth and able to eat solid food immediately, cause there is always a line of babies waiting their turn to nurse.

I know this picture is a bit fuzzy but it shows the relative size of one of the babies from this litter when it was 5 days old.

This picture shows the relative size of this litter and a kit from our last litter 11 days before. It is amazing how fast they grow. They are constantly eating- especially once they stop nursing, which they seem to do after about 10 days. They get very vocal right away too.  Although their permanent home is outside, we brought the moms/babies inside due to cold temperatures. The babies have already figured out that the sound of crinkling plastic wrappers or produce bags mean they are going to get a treat.  Even from the next room if they hear anyone rustling around in the refrigerator they start making all sorts of racket, chirps and whistles especially, hoping for a carrot, red cabbage or their favorite is parsley.  But in truth they aren't picky they will eat just about any fruit or vegetable.  The only things they don't seem to like is green beans (go figure) and citrus fruit which is odd because they have really high Vitamin C requirements.

PARENTAL ADVISORY





Jared and Sam have a lot of things to keep them entertained here at home.  They have the computer, xbox, airsoft rifles, cell phones and their ipods.  The latest addition to their stash of toys is a dart board given to Jared by Nate and Rachel for Christmas. I noticed that it has been hung in a number of different places in Jared's bedroom in an effort to find the perfect spot that gives them just enough throwing distance.  It somewhat worries me that it is so close to the light bulb on top of the lamp, but on the other hand, it shows their prowess that the bulb is still intact. Jared did, however, come and ask me a couple of days ago if we had any more dark blue paint........

WE HAVE BABIES!

One of our guniea pigs, Peaches (short for Peaches and Cream) had 2 babies!  They are adorable!  The mom is the white and red piggy in the background. Unlike any other rodent that I am familiar with, baby piglets, known as "kits", are born with hair, eyes open, already have teeth, and running around. Although they do nurse for the first couple of weeks, they don't need to as they are eating solid food from the first day.  They are totally self-sufficient newborns.

The other piggy named Tulip has not yet had her babies, and she looks like she is about to explode.  She is huge!  It is almost painful to even look at her. She is nothing but belly. She has gotten to the point that her back legs can't support her weight independently, so although she can walk normally on her front two legs, her back two work together and hop like a bunny. Poor thing is ravenous all the time and eats night and day.  She will push everybody else out of the way to get to the food.  She is also the most vocal of all the guinea pigs I have ever had. She can get really loud to let you know she is out of food.

We have been keeping the two moms and babies inside for the last week, to monitor the deliveries and try to keep the babies warm as the temperature is getting down to freezing at night.  The other 4 pigs are just fine outdoors in cold weather- we just make sure they stay dry and have lots of hay to burrow into. I'll post pictures when Tulip becomes a mom.