Chester

We're not a pet family. Not that I planned it that way - we always had cats and sometimes budgies when we were growing up. But I married a man who doesn't like cats and have kids who are allergic to some animals. I've had a couple of budgies in the 37+ years we've been married but that's about it. If I have the misfortune to outlive Lloyd, I'll become a cat lady in my old age :-). Two of our children have one pet each (I refuse to consider fish pets) - Sara has a yellow tomcat called Whitey, and Mary has a huge bull mastiff named Chester.

Chester is an interesting dog. He likes me - for which I am thankful because I think he's cool. He doesn't care much for men so the men in our family are very leery of him. Mary and Greg had him before Layla was born and we were a bit concerned about how such a big dog would react to a tiny baby. We shouldn't have worried. Chester loves Layla and is very protective of her, and Layla has always referred to Chester as 'my boy'... and sometimes as 'my brudder'. She's almost 4 years old in this picture, and Chester is 5.

Meanwhile...Back at the Zoo

The day we took the kids to the zoo 3-year old Max made his own fashion statement by wearing his cap backwards. I'm not sure where he got this idea - maybe from the neighbour boys, or maybe from television. Whatever it was, he spent the whole day with his cap turned around. It looked really cute on him.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Aidan's first birthday today - cousins, aunts and uncles came for the pizza and cake and gave the little guy lots of presents. The highlight, of course, was the cake - which he enjoyed eating without having to worry about getting any on his face, chair and clothes. He still looks cute all covered in chocolate.

Carrots and Peas

Eloise is starting to eat baby food and seems to like it. Have you ever tasted baby food? Except for the applesauce and strained peaches, it's quite disgusting. Nevertheless, little Ellie is developing a taste for vegetables and really wanted to feed herself. I didn't let her, of course, but when we were done, I have her the spoon and empty jar and she tried her hand at pretending to feed herself. It's impossible to feed a baby without making a mess. Luckily, they clean up easily.

Bridal Shower

On Saturday Sara and Jenny hosted a bridal shower for their sister Emily. The August 23 wedding is fast approaching and it's fun events like this that make it seem more real. Here are a few pictures of the event.

Scrapbooking

After a busy two days I decided that today would be a stay at home quiet day - and that's just what it has been. I've only had one phone call all day, and haven't seen a soul. So I finally got a start on my reunion scrapbook album. I spent all night at a crop a couple weeks ago and got one page finished (which I couldn't photograph tonight without having a flash glare). Today I got two pages completed and one just about done. The pages here are the first page which is the invitation and explanation page, and the whole group page. Although it doesn't show up in the photo, the first arm of the "U" has "all of" written on it, as in All of US.

Whooo

When I was 19 I bought the first of my collection of owls. It was about 2.5 ft. tall and beautiful. I knocked his head off bringing him home from the store but was able to glue it back on so that you'd never notice it was broken. I gave him the creative name of "Hoot". He was quickly followed by a smaller "Screech", and then by a number of others in all shapes and sizes. I have no idea where they all are now. We moved so much over the years that I guess they fell victim of purging and breaks. I still love owls though and am really glad that they're a prominent scrapbooking embellishment this year. The beauty pictured here was one of half a dozen or so that I saw at the Valley Zoo today where I went with Sara and the kids. I took pictures of them all, but this was the only one that wasn't ruined by the cage bars.