Jan already seems like a long month

how is that possible.  it is only the 5th today.  not that this matters as i am happy for every day..but i am not sure why the first week of this month seems like an eternity.  my christmas tree (still up) seems ridiculous in the corner of my living room.  this weekend i will get it down for sure. 

So Jan 2nd…

Sam.

Rose riding his bike (Sam really rode his bike around and around Pecos park, I was SO proud, he was too)

Thorn falling off bike and swing

Thankful for his bike and going really fast on it

Ian

Rose was taking nap with mom (for sure!)

Thorn getting a big big splinter (it was big, almost an inch long in his hand)

Thankfuls (as usual) everyone in his family and his friends (stuffed animals)

Me

Rose Sam riding bike and taking a lovely long nap with the boys

Thorn going back to work tomorrow

Thankfuls for a wonderful holday

 

Jan 3rd

Ian and Sam (both had the same)

Rose Reading the Boogie Monster book twice in a row

Thorn hitting and kicking each other

Thankful for their family

Me

Rose the boys dancing to boogie monster (and naked crazy dancing).  The story of the naked crazy dancing is that Ian forgot he had already taken a bath.  So we were in my bathroom and he started getting out of his pajamas.  When I said “what are your doing nugget” and he realized he already had taken a bath so he stood there frozen and turned bright red.  Sam laughed because Ian was standing there almost naked and it was time for bed.   I thought I would help Ian recover so I said “Ian were you planning on doing some crazy naked dancing before you went to bed?”

“Oh yes he said” and he started dancing around the room like a mad man.  Sam said “well I want to do that too”….so there they both were.  Past their bedtime dancing wildly around the room in th noddy. 

My thorn was actually going back to work

My thankful is for having a good job even though I hated going back to work

Jan 4th

Ian

Rose being with Daddy at home today (NS had to leave so Daddy stayed home with them).

Thorn….pretends to scratch himself in the face with his beanie baby bear…then says…”my thorn is when I was scratched in the face by my bear”

Thankfuls “for you and me and my friends and my bed and my family”

Sam

Rose watching the guy replacing the glass in the patio door today (the gardeners accidently broke the glass with a stray rock)

Thorn when Ian hit him in the bath

Thankfuls that hamburgers can have cheese on them

The New Year

Well here marks the new year. 2012. I was not unhappy with 2011 in general as, although there were sad bits, 2011 was a good year with my family. So now we move onto 2012….I am excited for the clean slate of January.

Dec 31st
Sam
Rose was being in Auntie Anne and Uncle John’s guest room to go to sleep,
Thorn was when he cried in the car
Thankful was for everyone at Auntie Anne and Uncle John’s house…his family and friends

Ian
Rose was
Thorn was none
Thankfuls were the same as usual naming everyone he can think of usually starting with mommy, me, Sammy….

Jan 1st
Resolutions

Ian to not put his feet off the pedals when riding his bike. Not kicking anyone ever again (funny because he never kicks anyway so this should be easy)

Sam one is a secret? The other is no fighting…and finally no biting anyone, including not biting dragons

Debbie to save $$$$

Leon to lose weight

Sam
Rose was for eating Ian’s birthday cake
Thorn was Ian not sharing the lion stamp
Thankful for Ian’s birthday and his party.

Ian….was too excited about his birthday to do rose and thorn properly…he said all kinds of silly things like “thankful for Sam’s birthday” and silly things like that

A few days at the cabin

We spent the last few days at the cabin, which gave us much to be Rosing about…but we forgot to do rose and thorn until tonight. We went sledding which was a heavenly wonderful time. I finished my editing of my 2010 blog book!! Now that is a miracle. Now to get the pictures into it and it will be a wrap…hopefully before the end of 2011.

Sam
Rose: being home again from the cabin
Thorn: not getting to pick the bath bomb tonight
Thankfuls: for spending lovely days at the cabin because he loves it there

Ian
Rose: decorating my room for Christmas (he says that all the time because he is looking at his Christmas decorations from his bed when we do this)…when I said “how about something from the last few days” he said “oh ok, going to the cabin”
Thorn: something I did bad he said….then he said ummm no thorn. Sam yelled “why doesn’t your thorn be because mom’s tummy hurts”. Ian said”oh ok”
Thankfuls: “for you and for me and for Sammy and daddy. Oh and also our puppies” then just as he was laying his head down he said “and my friends” (his stuffed animals….the main ones are ducky (from Nanbo), black bear, birdy, baby bunny, grandma bunny, moose and camealion).

Me….
Rose: sledding
Thorn: the end of the Christmas season
Thankfuls: the cleaners had come to our house when we got home…clean as a whistle….excellent

A few days rosing

December 23rd

Ian
Rose eating dinner together
Thorn none today
Thankful is for taking a bath with daddy and Sammy. Sam then said “apparently daddy didn’t take a bath”

Me
Rose reading books in bed in the afternoon and falling asleep
Thorn no thorn
Thankfuls for a wonderful day

Sam
Rose taking a bath
Thorn is none
Thankfuls eating food right now

Daddy
Rose snuggling with the Boys watching a movie
Thorn issue with with bike assembly
Thankful for family.

December 24th:

Sam
Rose santa is coming tonight
Thorn being on the naughty list
Thankfuls Santa is coming tonight

Ian
Rose putting out milk and jam tarts for Santa. Also putting out celery for the reindeer because daddy had eaten all of the carrots
Thorn none
Thankfuls…mommy, Ian, Kelsey, nanny and grandad, nanny Susie and Sam. And who else??? Hmmmm…daddy

December 25th

Ian
Rose going to nanny and granddad’s
Thorn looking at Christmas lights on the way home
Thankful for being together and family time on Christmas

Mom
Rose is daddy and how much he loves mommy and how hard he works to make my Christmas special. Sam said “also nanny helped to make your Christmas special”
Thorn needing a break today from the kids
Thankful being together for Christmas

Sam
Rose a good family day with everyone
Thorn looking too long at Christmas lights
Thankfuls for Sam, Ian, mommy, dad, nanny, grandad and kelsey…our family

Leon
Rose the boys
Thorn the boys
Thankful for a wonderful christmas

December 26th
Sam
Rose eating dinner with uncle Chris
Thorn not having time for more books
Thankfuls for our big family.

Ian
Rose uncle john
Thorn being hit by Sammy (he wasn’t hit by sammy but this is his defacto thorn)
Thankfuls for everyone

12/21

Sam:

Rose was getting into bed and going to sleep right now

Thorn was Nanny Suzie having to go home

Thankful was for no TV tonight and reading a lot of books together

Ian:

Rose was also getting into bed

Thorn was decorating his room???  BIG THORN was Sammy hitting him

Thankful was for: YOU, and SAMMY, and ME, and DADDY and OUR PUPPIES

 

Debbie:

Rose was shopping and spending the day with Leon

Thorn was sore legs after shopping all day

Thankfuls are for this time of year and that we have no major plans now for a few days.  Most Christmas shopping is done.

 

Time for a new start….rosing

What am I rosing about….this is the way Sam starts off the final ritual before we go to bed.   Rose, thorn and thankfuls….so now I will attempt to make 2012 the year of what we are rosing about.

Here goes a sample from Saturday December 17th

Sam’s rose was being at nanny and granddad’s and them letting him take the tiger home. 
Sam’s thorn was missing mom and dad when they were gone.
Sam’s thankful was nanny and grandad in the season of Christmas.

Ian’s rose was pizza
Ian’s thorn was hitting and fighting
Ian’s thankful was for Sam sharing

I have already forgotten what my and Leon’s rose/thorn/thankful was that day so clearly I have to improve on this process, but I am excited to begin a new journey of treasuring my days with these three boys for 2012.

Some things to update

Well I am hopeless now at updating every day…but let me put a few things down that I don’t want to forget. 

Last night Ian picked the entire bible as his bedtime book.  Leon took one look at it and said to me ”have fun with that” LOL.  We just read one or two stories.  It is a preschool Bible.  We decided to read the 10 commandments.  We read them all and then focused on the ones that are the most important to the boys right now:

1. Love your Mom and Dad

2. Don’t hurt anyone

3. Don’t lie

4. Don’t steal

5. Don’t wish for things that other people have

Sam said to me “you forgot the one about not putting our fingers in our noses”

Some of these are straight from my facebook so I don’t lose them…

After our prayer tonight Sam said “mom, where is Jesus” and I said “he is in your heart”. Sam replied very seriously “is he crying help help I can’t get out”.

Ian woke up from his nap and said “get me out of here my bed is so smelly”. I didn’t smell anything so I said “what is making it smelly” he said “can’t you see a lot of squirrels, skunks and coconuts have moved in and are stinking it up”.  Let me say you could never know how cute this was without hearing his sweet little voice.

June and July 2011

I have not written here for days…weeks….bordering on months. Although it doesn’t feel like that. Time has simply slid by….as these days…weeks…months have been very busy. I stopped writing in here as the days moved on and Nanbo began to get sick. It was like the day to day world consumed my ability to consider keeping up with my goal to write about each and every day. Not just Nanbo…but just the sheer magnitude of living over took the desire to write it down. With two small boys there isn’t a lot of time to just sit and write. I decided to choose my evenings with my husband rather than my evenings in front of a computer. Although he may still argue that I am there…looking so often at my iphone. Looking at nothing. The news. Facebook. Email. Whatever. I am glad I chose to spend my nights not on the computer that because that husband of mine is the world to me. I can not say enough about the love, strength and sense of partnership there is between us. It is staggering. I can say I feel like I have this wonderful partner and friend in this world. I mean a true partner. I feel like it is about him and I and our boys. It is our world and our life. I have truly never been so happy….every day….every moment with the sweetness of my husband and my boys deepens my life. I have so much to be thankful for. My life overruns with gratitude. Just reading this over again the words pale in comparison to the feeling. I can’t even express how I actually feel…you’ll just have to take my word for it. Let me now say that Nanbo died. I think everyone knows that. The days leading up to Nanbo’s death were difficult…anxious…it was not the best of times. I can say that. I feel like such a fraud saying the days were hard for me…because I wasn’t even there…but it isn’t fraud. I think the days were tough for everyone. I can not say it was harder for me than it was for Tim, for example, but I can say that it was all consuming….waiting for the texts. Waking up was dreadful. Falling asleep was even worse. It was just about waiting and knowing that even though Nanbo was still alive our time with her had come to an end. I miss Nanbo and oddly as the days pass perhaps more and more…or perhaps the reality just sinks in that there is no way just to give her a call or send a text. There is nothing so final seeming as death. Like a book just slammed shut. For Nanbo life rapidly began to have less and less quality so for this I am thankful for death. For me I miss her. I miss having Nanbo in my life as a physical person. I don’t want to write about Nanbo yet. I did write something….but I will save that for later…or for me. Who knows, but I don’t feel like rehashing that at the moment. I can say that she had two different colored eyes, she lived in the moment, she had an excellent memory, her life was dedicated to those she loved, she said funny things…like “poor will” if someone said fire at Will. She would always get everyone’s name wrong. She would laugh at herself with honesty and without shame. She wasn’t going to cuddle you to death…she didn’t like a lot of displays of emotion when they were about each other (crying about a song or a soap opera was fine….crying when Mary was diagnosed as blind on Little House on the Prairie was mandatory) I loved Nanbo. I am pretty sure she knew that. I took Sammy with me to England for her funeral. It was wonderful to spend that time with him. We had a lovely time, although that might not be right for a funeral…but it is true. It was truly a week where he and I just grew into the world. We didn’t have an agenda. He expanded so much it was like watching an umbrella open to catch the rain…or a flower unfurl. Sammy. We spent several lovely days in Sheffield. Too much to write other than they were absolutely the fondest memories. We saw sheep. We played. We ate. We laughed. We walked in the rain. We were together surrounded by family. I drove in England which was a remarkable feat for me. I am not infinitely wiser and more capable than I was just a few short months ago….or maybe I have just proven to myself what already existed. I will write that Jessica Alice Jane’s birthday cake was the best cake I have ever had. Every day I think of it and wish that I had a ready made Tesco sponge cake available to me weekly. However, I do not. I keep intending to make one…but this idea comes when I am nowhere near a kitchen. Then when I do get near to a kitchen I don’t remember that I want to try to recreate the cake….so I haven’t yet which is disappointing to me as I would very much like to remember while I am close to a kitchen AND I happen to have a bit of time. Maybe in another month or so. Or maybe I should see if I can order one online. Or maybe I could just save my waistline and dream of this cake forever. Whatever happens it will be good. Sam fell in love with a kitten named lily…he called her tilly. Tim and Gill’s sweet kitten. Waiting at Nanbo’s house for the hearse was the worst. Seeing her tiny coffin was not easy. Cuddling my little blue eyed boy made it easier. I am afraid I was a bit to cheery at the funeral itself…but it is hard to not be cheery when there is a 3 year old constantly needing your attention. We went to the pocket park. While we were there Mom was telling Sam that her Dad had built some of the walkways there. Sam looked at her and said “well my dad built a lot of this too….including all those trees and that water”. Sam wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to ensure that his Daddy was still in the running for most amazing Daddy in the world. We know that he is. I missed Ian and Leon on that trip. I know they had fun being men together…but somehow I felt so sad not to be with Ian especially. Leon is big and he understands. Ian is little and he doesn’t. He really wanted to go to England. The night before we left he walked around the house stark naked wheeling a suitcase saying…I am going to England now, I just need to find my keys. It was adorable. After England as you know Leon and I went to Alaska two weeks later. The cruise was wonderful…the time with Leon was wonderful. We slept in. I went to the spa. We walked the decks together in the morning. We planned our excursions and went on an excursion in every single port. Our ports were Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay (not a port, just a day cruising around the park), Ketchikan and Victoria BC. We started and ended the cruise in Seattle. It was great to start there because we got to spend a few hours on the first day with Leon’s brother and his family. We don’t get to see them often so it was a nice time to sit and have a drink with them. They live in a suburb just outside of Seattle called Federal Way. I can say that a few hours on the first day was just enough time with them. Since this was for Leon’s EOY award we had the odd pleasure of being on the boat with 25 other people that we knew…but didn’t really know….that we were friendly with…but not friends with…and most importantly that we work with. Imagine this for a moment if you will and take note that I will say only to a select group of people. I am so thankful for the award for him. It was wonderful. I wouldn’t have traded it for the world…but I won’t be quick to hope to do that again…mix my vacation with a steady shot of global colleagues…including the CFO. If you go on vacation with friends or another family you plan things together…you plan to spend time together. You have chosen together to go on a vacation as a group…an entity. If you go on vacation with people from work. You see them and have to make small talk. You feel like you should invite them to sit with you at dinner…but you don’t want to seem pushy if they don’t want to spend time with you at dinner…so you constantly walk this thin to exclude or to include line with other couples…multiple groups of them. All feeling the same way. All roaming around a ship that is only so large…so every day you run into them. Sometimes just a smile. Sometimes a stop and chat about that day. Sometimes an awkward “well…see you later”…sometimes a good conversation. You never know. I am not sure that I am cut out to be a full time “cruiser”. I felt like I didn’t get to really see the truth of Alaska. It was like a façade that was erected at each port to cater to these giant floating worlds of extreme gluttony and excess. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy myself, because I did very very much. But I didn’t enjoy the other people on the cruise so much and that means basically all of the people…fellow ON’ers or not. We had a lovely cabin with an outside balcony. This has caused me to put a line in the ground that any other cruises must include an outside balcony. Lovely. Peaceful. Private. Albeit cold. Because Leon and I don’t ever do anything halfway…we bought a new house THE DAY BEFORE we left for our cruise. Yes…THE DAY BEFORE. Which meant there were inspections to be had, checks to be written, and a variety of other things to be done from the ship. This was fine really…but took some coordination. We also had people coming in and out of our current house for viewings. This meant that someone had to be called (ie. Mum) and go pick up the dogs…in the 110 heat, NS had to tidy up and get the kids up and out. Everything had to work like clockwork and the people came to view the house unbeknownst to the complete chaos that had just ensued to allow them to view our home unfettered. We attended the art discussions and auctions on board the ship. I had to constantly check into reality that although the ship staff are very convincing in their commentary that an original Chagall etching would be a good memory and a good investment (heck what’s not to love about the Biblical etchings from Chagall) AND you can open a fine art charge card right there and then…so no need to even pay for it today. Walk off the boats with a Rembrandt. This was not practical. Although art is probably a good investment…before you could see your return on your investment you would need to find someone to BUY your investment. Not being a gallery yourself it could be quite difficult to do so. Or so we felt. Basically it boiled down to knowing that this would be a poorly researched uneducated whim on our part. Thus no Chagall…no Rembrandt…a new love for an Italian artist called Pino. Recently deceased and supposedly his works will “skyrocket”…..well that is what the ship curators said…but who knows. You could say anything in international waters now couldn’t you. In other news Leon went to China within 5 days of returning from Alaska. He returned yesterday evening. Immediately on his return we went to Chuck E Cheese for Quincy’s 4th birthday party and then to Rawhide so they kids could ride a burro (continuation of the party). Ian turned out to be too small to ride a burro. Sam was too afraid. So that was it. We were covered in dust and sweat with no actual Gross boys riding on a burro. BUT it was fun. We came home around 8. Leon unpacked from China while I packed for Europe. At 1AM Sam came into our room and immediately threw up. After a night of multiple trips to the bathroom with Sammy and exhausting all sets of sheets due to various untimely incidents. I crept out this morning with my bags and a headache to head to Piestany and Paris for a week. Poor Leon will spend the day exhausted with jet lag couch bound with a sick little boy…and probably a soon to be sick boy #2. Ween has been visiting for a few weeks. I had a great time with my sister as usual….anyone who has a sister knows there is nothing like a sister. I know I have said this before. Nothing at all can compare. My sister. My best friend. She knows me. I don’t have to even say anything. There are also no children you can love like your own flesh and blood. I love her kids each for their wonderful unique selves. They are all wonderful and beautiful children. I am glad for every option we have to spend with them even if it is slow….but exhausting…as nothing else can be except 5 kids under the age of 7. My only regret is that we didn’t get to spend much actual time together this time. That always happens when they are here because we aren’t staying in the same house. I spent last weekend getting kids in and out of our house for viewings. I am not going to lie to you. It was hell. I spent most of the weekend in an alternating cold and hot sweat. One day after receiving a call from my realtor that someone wanted a showing in 30 minutes, for example, I made the boys beds, then made my own bed, at the same time they boys decided to get back into their beds. As I remade their beds I could hear them in the loft….having fun. I went in there to find they had found our address stamp and had stamped our address all over their bodies. I mean all over. Face, hands, legs, tummy…it doesn’t really wash off. So that night I put Ian to bed with “Debbie and Leon Gross 4235 E. Woodland Drive” stamped in the middle of his forehead. We got 4 offers on our house…so we are in good shape there now. Just waiting for that to close. We move into the new place around labor day. There is so much to say about this…but too tired to elaborate now. In a nutshell….the house is lovely. The lot is even more lovely. ½ acre, pool, basket ball court, lots of mature trees. Built in 1988. In Ahwatukee Custom Estates as the base of South Mountain. I was more than Leon wanted us to afford, but a good deal. The people who live there had it built it and have lived there ever since. It needs some work as I think they built it and then lived in it under the pretense that if something broke they just wouldn’t use that item anymore (ie. garbage disposal, shower leaking etc). We love it but know that it will take us many years to get it to where we want it…or maybe never…but it will be fun. It is a great spot for the boys to live and so close to my folk’s house. Great schools. Great everything. So that is ok with us. I am currently on the plane. The boy sitting next to me has gotten up 3 times to use the restroom in 2 hours. I believe this is breaking the air traveler’s code of conduct. The man sitting in the window seat has laughed out loud…loudly so many times from underneath his noise cancelling headphones. I wonder if he realizes that the noise cancelling doesn’t apply to his noises…we can still hear him. I am not kidding he has laughed so loud for so long that I felt uncomfortable. Tears were coming out of his eyes. I took a peak at what was on his computer. It appears to be some sort of slap stick type humor where people are being knocked down by unlikely implements. This means he and I will never be friends. There is no place better in this entire world than in the 4 walls of whatever place I am in with my family. The other night Sammy…who was very weepy and tired said “I can’t wait to move into our new house because everything is perfect their”. I told Sammy that “no place makes things perfect…it is us together that makes life what it is”. We talked about it for a while. I know where this was coming from. We had just spent the last two weeks keeping the house absolutely clean…we had just taken down a lot of our pictures…put Leon’s guitars into storage. All of the things that really made our house a home…the mess…the clutter…the smiling faces of us from one event or another up on the walls around us….a huge map of the world that the boys use to find “work” on it every morning…they also stake claim to countries and locales where they feel they would like to go…usually based on the pictures drawn around it…it is all in storage. It has been hard on the kids. I am looking forward to getting into our new house too. I am not looking forward to the work it will take to get from current house to new house. Well in some ways I am because even though those days will be hard we will be together. I am missing my family together as a unit over these last two months and it is starting to wear on me. Either I am gone, or Leon is gone, or Leon and I have been gone. I just want to gather them up and shut the rest of the world away for a while. No one gets one of us…they get all of us in a package. My intention is not to leave them again for more than a night or two over the next few months. The rest of this year if I can help it. So I have missed huge pieces of these last two months….funny things the boys said. Tender moments when the boys slept in my room while Leon was in China. Feeling both of them snuggle up against me. I went to get Ian one night since I put them into their own bed first. He woke up a little and said “where are you taking me mommy” I said “to my bed is that ok” he smiled a sleepy and happy smile and said “yeah” and feel immediately back to sleep. Yea it was ok with me too. Now I sit here and I miss them. All I can think is the way Ian’s skin still smells and is soft like a baby. The way it sounds to listen to Ian suck his thumb to sleep….a rhythmic slurp, slurp, slurp. The way Sam buries himself into you. The way his eyes sparkle. They way he says “can we do this for a long day” when he means he wants to do something forever. The way Leon smiles like sunshine. The way we can feel like such a team…even in the dark with a sick baby…both tired….no words….just standing together remaking the bed. Completely in synch.

June 5th and 6th

Sunday June 5th 2010

Today I took a nap with Sam and after we woke up he said “that nap was my pleasure mom”

We went to the splash pad and tempe town lake.  On the way home Sam said “my tummy is asking for a bacon cheeseburger”.  So we went to 5 guys burgers…mmmm…but man the calories were terrible.  The day before we had made Ween’s amazing sugar cookies and I ate about 7 yesterday.  Overall a 1,000 calorie surplus for the day.  Boo.

Monday June 6th 2010

Today Sam started summer camp for the week at preschool.  Super fun!  The theme is Grand Canyon and Camping.  He was a little nervous in the morning….but when we picked him up he loved it.  I have got to say I am loving the idea of Sam being in school in the mornings when I am home.  I feel like it will help me to be more sane…I can shower and get some chores done with beanie…then get Sam…we can run an errand and get some lunch…then naps and quiet time.  Then time together in the afternoon/evening.  I think next school year is gonna be great.

The morning Ian came running in and he said to me “mommy mommy my frog has a ploblem…he has a ploblem….” he brought me his stuffed frog.  I said “what is his problem”…Ian said “he ate too much cheese and jello”.  Poor froggie…he  must have done it overnight at someone elses house.

When we dropped off Sammy at school I said to Ian “it is just you and I for a while buddy…no Sammy…that is fun”.  Ian frowned at me and said “but we need Sammy”.  We do…enough said.

 

 

June 1st – 4th

I am trying to get back into the routine with my blog…as I have mentioned.  I have been so hit with jet lag these last few days I can hardly function.  I was super happy to get home to the kids and Leon.  Home was like heaven. 

Sam and Ian did really well and seemed super happy.  I did not go to work on Wednesday…I am so glad because even with a day off I am having trouble managing.  Even as I write this (on Saturday) I have been home for 4 days now and I still can’t make it a whole night sleeping.  I still can’t cope in the afternoon.  In fact I just feel asleep on the couch just now and it is 3PM while typing this and watching Gnomeo and  Juliett with the boys.

Just have to get in a little Ian and Sam quip.  We were listening to Adele “Rolling in the Deep”.  Ian calls it his “fire in the heart song” because that is the opening line.  Yesterday Sam said “This song makes my bum bum shake like crazy”.  I love it.

I have been driving 38 miles into Glendale to get my cellulite treated on my legs.  It was a Groupon.  The treatment usually costs $1200 for 8 sessions but the Groupon was for only $200.  However it is difficult to drive 38 miles there and 38 miles back twice a week.  This is why saving money is difficult for me.  I can’t stand to be inconvenienced.    They almost convinced me to get “smart lipo” for about $5000 I wanted to…but I can’t justify that expense.  However it did make all the other expense I spend on myself for beauty treatments seem very low compared to what they could be.  Ha ha ha.  Excellent.

The boys got a haircut yesterday as did the dogs.   When we went to pick up the dogs Ian or Sam (can’t remember) said “do you think that Bella turned into a rabbit and hopped away while she was getting her haircut”.  I just said “anything is possible…but I doubt it”.  fortunately they were both there when we went to pick them up.  Two dogs.  No bunnys. 

Today we are going to have a BBQ and swimming time together as a family.  Awesome.  I am so happy to be with the boys and Leon on our own.  Just having family time.  Steaks, hot dogs, asparagus, baked potato, corn on the cob, salad, and strawberry moose for dessert…mmmm.

In the most important of news.  Nan is not doing too well back in England.  Has been in the hospital for several weeks now.  She is on our mind constantly.  I love you Nanbo.