A White Christmas!

Just some pictures of our wonderful White Christmas! Mommy made wild mushroom frittata, Mimi brought yummy shortbread, and my puppy sisters stared out at the bright snow coating the land. What a wonderul day!

Merry Christas Eve!

We had a mini-Christmas celebration today. Mommy made wonderful Cornish Game Hens with red pepper glaze and mashed parsnips. My parents ate that while I munched on fresh pears and turkey. Yum!

We opened a few presents before daddy had to go to work, so we can open the rest with GranMimi tomorrow. Daddy gave mommy a beautiful owl pendant and an airline ticket to New Orleans/Dallas to see the Turner paintings exhibit! Best of all, I get to go with daddy and mommy on the trip in early March. Mommy gave daddy a really cool watch that finds stars and a home planetarium for using in my room! She also gave him a case of the best 2004 Napa Cabs. Some of them are so good that they'll still be drinkable for my sweet sixteen party!

I got some good books, including two about owls. I also got a set of stuffed animals that have very tasty tassels I can chew on. And Boppy gave me a really cool push toy that I will use when I can walk.

Daddy went to work in the ER now, but we'll open GranMimi's presents and all the stockings tomorrow (and Gran's presents Jan 3rd when she visits next). Thanks to mother nature and her foot of snow on Saturday night, I'll wake up to a White Christmas in the morning!

Playing with my sisters

We had another big snowstorm here this weekend- looks like I get to have a white Christmas on my first try! While the snow started falling, mommy and my sisters gathered on the floor by the fire to play. Denali is very kind to me- she lets me pull her ears and grab her face. And she just lies there and takes it. What an amazing patience!

Skye is much more wary of my grasping hands. She is perfectly happy to curl up under my chair when daddy reads the bedtime stories and she still loves to kiss me on the back of my head. But when I reach for her to pet her she pulls away. I guess I grabbed and pulled her hair a couple of times and she got skittish. But I still love her very much and hope that she is willing to play with me in the future when I learn to play more gentle!

First Time on Skis!

We had another little dusting of snow today, so it was a perfect day to try out my new skis! Daddy bundled me up in my snowsuit, strapped on my new skis, and we headed out into the backyard with the puppies! We happily snapped photos as I hung onto daddy and glided down the hill in our backyard. I am getting much better at standing with assistance, so daddy's goal of skiing before I walk is really within reach!

It was nice to have daddy back home- he had been at a meeting in Dallas the last two days. But Granmimi stepped in to help mommy pick me up from daycare. Best of all, we had Beth Cambell, Uncle Steve's friend, come and visit for her OB-Gyne interview. She is really nice- I like her. But Skye really liked her- she wanted to cuddle with Beth all the time. Skye really goes for blond women for some reason. Just ask Gran!

sorry about the sidways video- just watch with computer tilted!

The Ice Storm, part 2

We had another big ice storm on Tuesday. This one wasn't quite as bad, since we had a constant light freezing rain and no wind. As a result, there were only a few downed power lines and almost no downed trees. Our friends to the south like Oklahoma got it a lot worse. But it was still bad enough to knock out our power for an hour and close local businesses, including my day care and the medical school. Therefore, daddy and I got to stay home and play all day! Best of all, mommy had just finished a 24 hr surgical case (yes, you read that right!), so she was home too, recovering.



At Mimi's farm, her hippo statue grew some really long icicle teeth! It looks like an ice-age palentology discovery! But the St Benard's are pretty happy with the weather- they feel right at home. Skye and Denali weren't so pleased with the freezing rain. They really avoided going outside and stuck close to the house. The backyard is really slippery!



After the storm, all the trees were coated with a beautiful, crystalline coating of ice about a half inch thick. As the light streamed through the coated branches, it was like God had hung a million prisms throughout the forest.



Wow- nature is cool.

Happy Birthday, Sisters!

We celebrated Skye and Denali's 6th birthday this week. We had angel food cake - plain for the doggies and with chocolate frosting for mommy and daddy. Denal really loves the cake- she was so excited when she saw daddy bring it out of the grocery bag.

It is very cool that Skye and Denali were only born a week apart (Skye is slightly older, born on 12/3/01 and Denali was 12/10/01). It is very fitting that behave like littermates- they may as well be!

Laundry Day

Daddy is catching up on postings because we missed a few this week. So here's the first of several today. I like to go for rides in the laundry basket becuase the clothes are all warm and soft. Besides, mommy can't carry the laundry with one hand and me in the other!

Trimming the Tree

For once, daddy and mommy were both home and I was actually awake! That's been a rare event the last two weeks. So we took the opportunity to have a tree decorating party. We lit a roaring fire, scented it with the wilting roses from daddy's BCS party last weekend, and brewed a pot of tea for mommy and daddy.

While Skye and 'Nali watched intently, we hung ornaments throughout our little Sophie-sized tree. In honor of my first Christmas, mommy and daddy broke with their decorating tradition and did not adorn the tree with all glass and crystal. Instead, we hung every animal and family ornament we had.

Let's take a tour of the tree:

Here's Piglet with his candy cane present from the Santa Frog in the moon!

We put some lovely ornaments on the tree that we had gotten as gifts for special moments in mommy and daddy's life

There's ornaments celebrating our old home in Newport Beach and from family in State College

Mommy and daddy got these beautiful gold ornaments for surviving medical school.

Angels of Commander Cody and the lovely Chelsea Anne watch down over us from up high. Finally, my beloved owl got placed last- at the top of the tree!

St Benard's Snowy Day

The snow is beautiful! I am so lucky: we have had the snowiest December in years. The chances of a white Christmas are looking really good! The snow blanketing the lawn and hugging the forest impart a sense of peace and timelessness. It is so much better than ugly brown leaves and soggy mud.

On Thursday, daddy picked me up from daycare early becuase it was starting to snow very hard. We layed on the bed in the upstairs master bedroom and opened all the shades on the windows. As Skye and Nali played, we stared out the window at the magical crystals falling everywhere. It was wonderful!

Today, we went to Granmimi's farm to meet her new St Bernard puppies: Zermatt, Mattie (for Matterhorn), and Blanc. I was a little frightened at first, becuase they were nothing like my sisters. But I got used to the idea and touched they very new, very soft fur. Outside in snow, Denali played with Marilyn, one of the adult Saints. St Bernards really like snow, so they are especially happy now!

My First Christmas Tree

Yesterday mommy and daddy and I went to the local Optimist club christmas tree lot and picked out the perfect little tree. I didn't spend too much time doing it- it was really cold with a bitter west wind. But we got the little (Sophie-sized) tree home safe and set it up in the living room. I'll write more about it when we get a chance to decorate.

I am just so excited that I actually have a real live tree inside my house! I love trees so much- I am always calmed by their towering presence. Now I can get to touch and see a tree without going out into the cold. And best of all, green is back! Not the boring brown that dominates what remains of my forest these days. I suppose this is why our ancestors started the tradition of bringing green into the home in the winter- good plan!

My First Basketball Game

Tonight, daddy took me to the Iowa-Wake Forest basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was my first live sporting event ever! Cool! Daddy was the first-aid doctor for the game, so we had the very best seats- right up front under the basket!

As soon as we arrived, I was immediately fascinated by the bright electronic scorbards and jumbo TV's. As the opening player introductions rolled, I looked from screen to screen, trying to take it all in. It was a little noisy and there were lots of strange people, but after adjusting for about 15 minutes, I was totally cool with it and was content to sit on daddy's lap the rest of the way.

I barely noticed the players, even though they were about 10 feet away. I was more interested in the scoreboard and Herky, the Iowa mascot. I also really liked the marching band- I shook and danced and swung my hands around whenever they's play. Pretty cool!

Mommy was supposed to meet us there, but her surgery went late. So daddy and I walked back to the car. Well, actually, daddy walked and I slept in his arms. All that basketball wore me out!

Adorable Sisters

I just couldn't resisting posting this great shot of my sisters cuddling together. Aren't they sweet?

Proto-Guacamole

Tonight I had my first ever fresh solid food. Not the processed stuff from Gerbers in the plastic jars, but an honest-to-nature real fruit that mommy smashed with a fork and daddy fed to me. It was avacado and daddy explained that we prepared it just like we make guacamole, but without all the spices and extra stuff. A kind of proto-guacamole, if you will.

I loved it. I am getting much better about "real" food. I now can eat pears, bananas, avacado, squash, carrots, yams, and, my favorite, peas. Next comes oatmeal and, soon, meats!

A White Thanksgiving

Since we had our formal Thanksgiving feast on Saturday, we were under no pressure to cook and could enjoy a relaxing, casual, stay on the couch, lazy, wonderful day. Daddy and I slept in while mommy ran to the hospital to check on her patients. After a small breakfast of pears and cereal, I helped daddy make game day pancakes in honor of USC's special game against ASU tonight.

When mommy came home, they dressed me up in my new snowsuit and went outside to take pictures in the snow. My beloved trees, devestated by the loss of their leaves in the passing autumn, were briefly returned to a shadow of their summertime beauty by ornaments of ice and branches laden with snowy pillows. Snow definitely makes winter worthwhile.

Mommy and daddy did their Christmas "shopping" by catalog from the couch while I played. Then, I took a long, peacuful nap on mommy's chest and daddy made a batch of risotto for Granmimi. When I woke from the nap, daddy, myself, and my sisters took a ride out to the farm to drop off the dish of risotto. While we were there, Grandmimi showed me her new puppies: three Saint Benard puppies just one week old. Their mother, Betsy, was very proud and very protective of her new charges. She barked and complained as we examined her babies. So we left her alone, but promised to return when she is more ready for human visitors.

In the evening, mommy made some candied yams to add to our leftovers and we ate them while watching USC trounce the Sun Devils. A great ending to a wonderful day!

My First Snow!

This photo was taken at the exact moment I saw snow for the very time!

I stepped out of day care in daddy's arms, looked up, and there it was: tiny white flakes falling from heaven, resting gently on my "nose and eyelashes", before melting away into nothing. Nature's beautiful works of art: ephemeral, fleeting, weightless, and wonderous. Daddy and I went home, went out in the back yard, and enjoyed the spectacle. Skye and Denali looked up nervously at the sky but did not venture outside. They have seen snow before, but I guess they've forgotten about it after 8 months.

It kept snowing well into the evening, coating the yard with a gentle, silent blanket. Daddy and I were home alone, since mommy was stuck in a super-long surgery. So we both changed into pajamas, cooked up some comfort food (butternut squash risotto for daddy and pears with rice cereal for me) and cuddled on the couch with the puppies. I think I am going to love winter nights!