Beckermagrutis and her Fluffy

May 6th to May 9th, my sweet sister Becky and her baby son were here visiting from Texas. It was a delightful, peaceful time. I especially loved seeing how my boys interacted with Baby Seth. They were so gentle and so sweet with him! I know they would have been outstanding big brothers for Baby Benjamin.

She caught a great video clip of Hummer tickling Seth (aka Fluffy the Younger), and posted it on her blog.

We visited Benjamin's grave that first evening they were here. Becky hadn't seen the gravemarker yet, and Seth had never been there (except in utero). Benjamin would be 2 months older than Seth if he were here. We had so looked forward to watching these two cousins grow up together! Seth has been a great comfort to me. I love holding him and talking to him about his cousin.

 

 

For more fun pictures and commentary, visit http://thewildingfamily.blogspot.com/2008/05/trip-to-arkansas.html

 

Aunt Becky is great at using humor to motivate her nephews to do what they're supposed to. I learned a lot from her while she was here, and had a great week even after she was gone, just trying some of her tactics. :)

I love you, Becky and Seth! I love you, too, Daniel! Thank you so much for letting your precious family come. They brought so much joy with them! Can't wait to have all three of you here soon. . . :)

Women's Conference 2008

Here's a little slideshow for you all (24 pictures). Hope it's not too small to be enjoyable!

 

 

(Click on the little word-bubble to see the captions. Happy Windsday! )

Introducing. . . . Ruby-Roo

For Exacto's and Fluffy's birthdays this year, Nana and Grandpa gave them a very exciting gift. (This was with prior consultation and approval from me and DC, thank goodness.:))

 

 

She was born on February 12, 2008 in Snowflake, AZ. When Nana and Grandpa came to visit in late March, they brought pictures of her and her parents and siblings. The boys were SO EXCITED. We decided to follow Grandpa's example of selecting an element from the Periodic Table--his dachshund is Molybdenum "Molly"; we picked Rubidium "Ruby."

 

 

It was a little tricky figuring out how to get her from her native land to our house, and the ante was upped when she weaned and came home to stay with my parents! We looked into airfare, but that was ridiculous, even if someone was already flying and just wanted to carry her on. So finally it was settled that we would both drive halfway, meeting in Amarillo, TX. Here's our first meeting, on April 18, 2008. And arriving home - April 19, 2008.

 

She was so tiny, DC said that we would need a sign that said, "Beware of stepping on dog"!!  The first few days were a little rough, since she had tendencies to leak out one end and bite from the other.  She was awfully cute, though. Here's a shot of her in her favorite spot during the early weeks.

 

Now she's 4 months old, and she has grown super fast. I think she must be at least 3 times the size she was when we got her. Exacto and Fluffy have begun training her, and she's catching on quick! (They have a lot of motivation, because they earn computer minutes for the minutes they spend training her. :)) I wonder if we should have named her "Mercury". She is in CONSTANT MOTION! We love our little Ruby-Roo, as Hummer calls her.

So, welcome to the family, Ru! 

I'm baaa-aaack!

Did you miss me? I missed you! :) Now I have about a million posts I want to create. . . . I guess I'll go back in time and update you post by post.

For today, I want to try something new! I discovered this a few weeks ago on The Simple Woman's Blog, and have wanted to do it ever since.

FOR TODAY (Monday, June 23, 2008)...

Outside My Window... sun shining brightly, green lawn, leftover iris fronds, pansies still blooming from November, weeds

I am thinking... about Benjamin and how much I wish he were here.

I am thankful for... my family! especially my husband, who is such a comfort to me

From the kitchen... no smells yet - soon to be sweet potatoes baking! :)

I am wearing... faded black pants that I should probably save for exercising, old blue t-shirt--I'm going for comfort today

I am creating... a scrapbook page (trying to do a page a day until it's done!)

I am going... was supposed to go to Wal-mart, but had an emotional down day and needed to stay home

I am reading... still "Nicholas Nickleby", but just finished "The End" (and "Fourteenth Chapter"), by Lemony Snicket

I am hoping... to finish a post without interruption!

I am hearing... Fluffy starting to practice violin

Around the house... Exacto on the couch working out his Rubik's cube, DC and Hummer upstairs working on the FHE lesson for tonight

One of my favorite things... air-conditioning!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: go to another SHARE meeting, work tons on the scrapbook, get back into my weight loss zone

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Blog

Here's my baby brother's new blog:

www.josephsbarbaricyawp.blogspot.com

Visit. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll thank me.
:)

I'm in Texas right now--hope to post soon!

Seven Months - special remembrances

  

My beloved sisters sent me flowers for Memorial Day.. . . .this beautiful all-white bouquet. The roses in particular are so soft and so fresh-smelling. They have brought me a special kind of comfort. Thank you, sweet sisters! I love you so much!

Another special remembrance for Benjamin is being given by my wonderful parents (and the rest of the family, when available). They have adopted a mile of highway near their home, and will upkeep it three times a year in his honor! Here is a picture of the sign that has been installed. . . .

I love you, family! Thank you for doing so much to remember our precious Benjamin!

Shoulder rides are fun

Sweet Hummer had a rough weekend before last. We ended up in the ER at the Children's Hospital on Sunday morning, so that he could be treated for an asthma attack gone very bad. I am SO GRATEFUL for good doctors and modern medicine. He is now on oral steroids besides his normal Singulair and Albuterol inhaler. That's a whole other ball of wax (a friend of mine calls it "'Roid Rage." ha!)

While we were waiting in our very own room in the ER, trying to keep the spirit of the Sabbath still, I flipped through channels hoping beyond hope to find BYUTV. No luck, but I did find an "Arts" Channel, which was broadcasting a very old performance of the ballet "Giselle." Hummer and I were both fascinated.

As the graceful pair performed beautiful lifts and spins, I was watching Hummer, too, curious to know what he thought of it all. The ballerina lightly ran offstage, with the man following soon after, and Hummer commented:

"The boy wanted to catch the girl." <pause> "And give her a shoulder ride."