Can you believe it’s been an entire year since we adopted our little wonder girl? Sometimes that makes sense, and sometimes it seems impossible. She is definitely growing up fast here, talking much more and so on. But then again, she’s still our tiny little wonder. She’s seen so many changes since we got back, moving to a new house, trips on more airplanes, schedule changes because of the boy’s school and so on, but she’s been very amenable to it all so far.

Beep! Beep!

Her first Winter must have come as somewhat a shock but she enjoyed playing in the snow with her big bro and the pugs. We lost our Cheeser in January and the saddest thing there is probably that she won’t remember him at all. She celebrated her second birthday in the Spring and then we all went to So Cal to see the family.

First beach trip

We took her camping this Summer and played with fireworks in July. She’s gone swimming, riding in our trailer behind my bicycle and bouncing in multiple bounce houses. She’s played with slip-n-slides, play-dough, bubble gum and easter eggs with her brother.

After all that, we still think we’re the lucky ones to have her in our lives.

We’re all set for visiting some friends tomorrow for the 4th of July. They live up North of us but it’s always fun to hang out with them. We did the 4th with them last year too, not long after we moved to CO and had a good time. They light fireworks in the street after dark and so this year we’re bringing some to add to the fun.

Click the pic on the left to see it larger, but in our set we have sparklers, tanks, a few of those spinning dealies, something called Sparkling bubels (can’t wait to see what that’s like), a few jumping cracklers (since actual firecrackers are illegal in CO) and of course a couple types of fountains.

I remember having fireworks when I was growing up in CA but now they’re illegal in most of Southern Cal so that’s no fun. I’m glad my kids get to have this relatively innocent fun here.

We hope you all have a good fourth and remember to blow something up in rememberance of your country’s declaration of independence.

Slip n’  Slides Rule!

Yes, that’s the prediction for today here in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

These are pictures the boy drew at school, the day our dog Caesar died:

"I wish I had 100 ..."

"I wish I had 100 hamsters."

"I wish I had 100 dogs."

"I wouldn't want 100 dead dogs."

Our first boy Caesar the pug died on Friday. He died on his 12th birthday. He had some sort of liver problem and he got sick fast this last week. It ate him up inside and he died on the way to the vet’s.

We got the Cheezer from a breeder in San Clemente CA back in 1997. He was eight weeks old and was adorable. We had just moved into our first house and he was our house warming gift to ourselves. He was so full of life at that age. Whenever anyone came to visit, he would run around their feet the whole time they were there. A very excitable pug. His full (AKC) name was Caesar H.I. McDonough (from the movie, Raising Arizona).

In 2000 we thought we’d get him a playmate and so Louie came into our home next. Caesar and Louie always seemed to have a sort of love-hate relationship. They’d sleep in the same bed at night, right next to each other. Then they’d fight like mad if one thought the other was getting more than his fair share of food. My wife would dress them up for Halloween in the first years but they never really liked that. Cheezer would go along with it if he saw some snacks in it for him.

In the last few years, Caesar was obviously slowing down. He had a bad infection last year but his vets were able to cure that. He recovered well but was still not walking around like when he was younger. He would get up and run into the kithcen when he heard us getting any food going but otherwise, was pretty puggish. I mean sluggish.

We had a wide variety of names we’d call him by — Cheezer, Cheese, Bug Chug, The Bitey One (a Simpsons reference, of course), Snore Boy, and on and on. We’re going to make a donation to the local animal shelter in his (real) name.

Louie is still with us. I can’t tell if he misses Caesar or is happier without having to share our attention and the treats. He’s resting beneath my feet as I type this.

You were always a good boy, Caesar.  I hope you get lots of good treats wherever you are now.

Here are some pictures on my flickr page.

We had a very merry Christmas this year, although it was justnotthe same without our families close by. We spent some time at home, unwrapping kid gifts for an hour and them relaxed for a while. We drove over to Englewood to visit cousins in town for the holiday and that was very nice. Good family are what Christmas are all about for us.I would have preferred to see it snow at least a little but no luck. We did get to go out to a local park and watch the kids play.

Click here for some pics of Xmas Eve and the big day.

Happy New Year y’all!!!

Changes! That’s what we’ve had this year, and as luck wold have it, they’ve all been for the better. We’re in the new home now – email me for the address if you don’t have it yet – and we’re doing about as great as could be. Everyone’s healthy, there is new life here (more in a moment) and we even have new toys! It’s been a while since I’ve posted so here’s the scoop:

• After looking at something like 50 choices, we picked a new home here in CO a few weeks ago and we moved in last weekend. We’re still surrounded by boxes and can’t find that little grey thing, you know? The one that goes into the other grey thing, and then you use it? Dang. Anyway, the move went fine – we had a clear day without new snow for the movers to work – and this house is huge. It’s going to take a while for us to fill it up with stuff, I think. Pictures are forthcoming, like maybe after the holiday.

• The kids are well and happy. The girl just loves running around in the new basement, playing with her brother’s toys, harassing the dgos, etc. The boy was allowed to get a pet hamster the other day. He named him Super Sean Flyboy. (Don’t ask me; I don’t know) The hamster is a White Russian Dwar and is very cute, for a rodent. We had a bit of a scare yesterday when he got out of his cage and then got a little traumatized when we put him back in but all is well now.

• We have been furniture shopping – two couches and a computer desk so far – and we finally broke down and bought one of those big flat TVs. I opted for a plasma from Panasonic, if you care, because I thought that sounded more Star Wars than “LCD”. We’ll see. It should be here before Xmas.

• We’re already missing our families and it’s not even Xmas yet.          Thanks for all of the boxes we’ve received in the mail. We love you all!

Take care out there. Be good to each other. We’ll keep the porch light on in case you wish to visit.

HI!!!

It snowed this morning here in Denver so we’re are all excited. Even though there’s only about a half-inch right now, the boy (pictured left) wants to spend all day out in it so we have to keep dragging him back in and getting him warmed up every so often. It’s about 22 degrees out there right now.

Mom and Dad – does this remind you of Chicago at all? Don’t you miss it? No? Oh. OK.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving here the other day, just the four of us. We had a LOT to give thanks for this year so it was nice spending time thinking about that. The boy told us he’s thankful for Everything we have. I am thankful for my family, both near and far. This year’s holiday wasn’t as nice as in the past but we made the best of it. We’ll have to schedule things better next year so we can all get together. We want to invite everyone to our house for Christmas next year.

Speaking of which, we should be in our new house just before Christmas this year. We’ve started packing and planning the move. The house is going to need just a bit of painting before we move in and then it’s going to be all warm-toes-by-the-fire and presents-stacked-to-the-roof on Christmas day.

We all hope your holidays are as warm and you have a Merry Merry.

This is what the boy calls playing nice: