Keeping busy while waiting for .... Super Silly Celia Snowflake Seagull Penelope Gertrude Holly Josephina Lucy LaRee

We went sledding at the school by the house!

 

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We decorated gingerbread houses!

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And we made a HUGE, GIGANTIC, GARGANTUAN Snowman!!!

Only a few days left

Liberty is so excited she can hardly stand it. She looks forward to every ornament getting hung on the advent calender. She runs and checks it at least 25 times a day to she when Christmas is going to me her. It brings back great memories of hanging them up when I was young.

We Found Josh

Well Really ... Josh found us. He thought it would be fun to sneak out another exit (besides the one we were all waiting at and then sneak up on us and *surprise* here I am .... A little "recon" fun for the family.



We are truly thankful to have Josh and Jayson with us this year - we know that many military families do not have that privledge (in Jayson's unit only three Marines were granted leave). Our hearts and thanks go out to those women and men in the field who will not be with thier families this holiday season.

Josh will be with us until Jan 4th, then back to go to San Diego. His unit has orders to Iraq; he expects to ship out about January 22, 2009.

at this rate Christmas will be in January

um.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Silly Video

Here is a link to a hysterical video of cars trying to go up a hill in portland. The whole sped up effect of the time lapse is really fun. The cars look like ants scurrying around. Crystal and I giggled when watching it. I especially loved the people that kept trying. I had a similar experience on Thursday night trying to get home from work. I had to back down a hill that I couldn't get up. The roads are slick here. We have sledding hills within walking distance so the kids are having a ball.

http://www.komonews.com/home/video/36484574.html?video=pop&t=a

I will post some pictures later.

I shoveled about 5 inches of snow out of the driveway tonight. In case the baby decides to come tonight I don't want to get stuck in my own driveway!!!

Lucus Charles Pierre François van Baudelaire

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of the newest member of the Mitchell-Ward family... Monsieur Lucus Charles Pierre François van Baudelaire. aka Luke... a 4lb (who should be 8lb) black male Chihuahua.

We rescued and began fostering Luke on Thanksgiving with full intent on finding a suitable home for him. His previous owner, an elderly woman who lived near St George, suffered a debilitating heart attack and was unable to care for him. Her husband, who always had distaste for animals, neglected him severely as his primary concern (understandably) was caring for his wife. The first few years of Luke's life were spent in a ridiculously small kennel where he suffered solitude, hunger and worse. He ultimately was moved to a the home of the babysitter of his previous owner's grandchildren where he suffered further (unintentional) abuse by their small children. (Small children and small dogs are not a good mix).

Breck's Mother, a friend-of a friend-of a friend-of the babysitter heard about Luke's plight of this small animal and asked if Breck and I would foster him and find a good home.

We immediately said yes, especially since she lied and said he'd be put to sleep if we didn't. I was aware of a woman who had recently had to put both of her Chihuahua's to sleep just the week earlier. She was excited to take him until she saw him. To be kind, he's less than perfect for a Chihuahua, floppy ears for one, and he was incredibly malnourished, ill and timid. She backed out of the arrangement saying that she was looking for a female, to which I replied "I understand your confusion when I told you his name was Luke... it's a very androgynous name." Several other potential owners came forward, but no good matches made.

In the mean time, Luke remained our guest. He instantly bonded with Chloe, and became a pal to Louis who hasn't been friendly with anyone (canine or otherwise) since 1992. Victoria enjoyed the peace that came with a very tired Chloe (she and Luke play non-stop) and Breck feel instantly in love with him. I was the sole hold out. I just couldn't imagine two men and four animals living in a one-bedroom/one-bath house.

Yet Luke started gaining weight and quickly became part of the family. I was horrified.

Three dogs is one thing... but FOUR? Who has four dogs besides crazy people who collect animals and other dust filled bric-a-brac? I worried that I was suddenly becoming that crazy lady down the street with 40 cats and no friends. I was the catholic woman with 10 kids. I was THAT GUY with four Chihuahua’s. I was one of the crazy fringes of society.

But then I remembered. I've always been one of the crazy fringes of society and this animal had no home. He'd only had a short time when someone loved him. But ultimately it was a friend who reminded me that I was the fourth in my family and look how well I turned out... What if my mom had said 3 is enough... no more? Could any of you imagine our family without me? You'd be bored to tears, have nothing to talk about, and you'd all worry that there was no quality truly intelligent and beautiful genes in the gene pool! I jest. What if Mom hadn't wanted me? She may still be in a hospital with a gangrene gallbladder and I'd be living with a family who only liked me for my handsome good looks and winning charm.

Regardless. I'm done apologizing for loving too many people/places/things and other nouns in my life. Luke will be no different. We're all happier because of him.

I just wanted to let you know... next time you come to my house, bring lots of love... and your own lint roller.

Welcome home Luke... you'll never have to move again.

2009 Family Reunion

Dear ones ...

The 2009 Family Reunion will be held August 15 to August 17, 2009 in beautiful Cambridge MD. we will be all together in a HUGE bay front property (http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p173538)... from there we will take a trip to the MD Atlantic shore, engage in Chesapeake Bay adventures - including a visit to a nearby estuary - and spend time cooking and playing games together.

Any and all of you are welcome to stay at our Montgomery Village house the night before the reunion (Aug 14th) for an early start to the beach house the following morning - we can check in at 3:00 pm on the 15th.

We have the rental house from August 15 - August 22, so for those of you who can stay longer please plan to do so .... we'll just keep having fun.

More details to come ... let me know when you plan to arrive (in the comment section of this blog) and how long you'll be able to stay so I can plan. The house is fully furnished and bedding is provided, so all you need to bring is your family and their clothes. I'll push out food responsibilities down the road .. but one thing is certain: there will be a good old fashioned Maryland Crab Boil!

Love you all .. can't wait to see you!

Deb

Let it snow

We got a little snow last night. Most snow ever for 24 hours; 19 inches on our deck. Some areas around Spokane got 3 feet. Shelby and Matthew got the day off school.

The measurement. The snows still coming down and is not expected to stop anytime soon.

The veiw from our basement taken around 6:30 am.

Let it snow!

 

The last week has brought some pretty extreme weather for Western Washington.  From what I have been told by co-workers it snows here sometimes but usually melts the next day.  Not the case this week.  We ended up with a couple of inches of snow and the temperatures are in the teens.

Of course with snow we had to have snowball fights, snowmen and snow angels.  Here is a picture of the snow angels being made.  I don' thing Katie actually got down in the snow.  She just watched the rest of the show!

Our Snowman has decided to visit our Nativity.

They are calling for 4 more inches of snow tonight.  We will see if it actually happens!

Poem from High school

I found this poem as I was going through files and throwing stuff out .... it made me laugh and I though it might make you all laugh as well =)

Our Journey

The night before we left, we cried,
Our lives in Idaho had died.
In the dark morning we awoke,
And my mother was a slow poke.
All four of us got in the car.
And we drove until we were far.
that night we were very sleepy.
And the beds felt kind of creepy.
When the sunshine finally came up.
We all kissed a very cute pup.
To the Mississippi we drove.
Reading about Cabot Cove
In St. Louis we hit the sky.
The Arch. Wow! it was really high.
The river was a pretty blue.
Almost like Elvis Presly's shoes

In the next town my family yelled.
I had once again wrongly spelled.
We were playing the game of Ghost,
The word I was spelling was host.
We stopped playing all those dumb games,
And thought of stupid baby names.
In Kentucky we stopped to eat.
The prices knocked us off our feet.

After it was dark we arrived.
In N.C. we had been deprived.
We missed the setting of the bright sun,
And everyone there had a gun.
We wanted to be in the West,
But this was going to be our test.
We later found that it was cool
In our new home we had a pool.
We could go play golf and tennis.
We could meet a guy named Dennis.
At the church we played volleyball.
And sometimes a little B-ball.
After we played we ate and ate.
With food on it we ate a plate.
With us not wanting to be there,
We felt like we were at a fair.

Waiting for the world to change

12-13-08 You can start to see the pod of a bloom on the one on the right!
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12-12-08
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For those of you who like to watch paint dry, water boil, and toast pop out of the toaster ... have I got a photo project for you! I planted two paperwhite bulbs and I have enjoyed watching their growth in the few days that I have had them so I decided to take a picture of them daily to see how they change. Stay tuned for paperwhite updates!!!!