Our New Arrival

Pret went hunting with his dad and brothers over Christmas and came back wanting a dog.  He talked to his brother Dave, who has bred many a dog and we were on our way.  He let us know that he was planning on breeding his English (Llewelyn) Setter in the spring and we could have one of the puppies.

Here are some pictures of the puppy we got--Kate.  

So, Kate was born six weeks ago tomorrow and came to us on Friday night.  Pret went and picked her up and took her over to some friends' house where she scared their dog Nally (see post about cat or dog?).  He finally came to pick me up from the Wright's house at about 1:00 a.m. where we introduced her to a few of the family (Michael, Shannon, Aunt Diane and cousins Sarah and Amy).  Then we brought her home to my in-laws (I guess I need to update everyone on that--it will come, I promise) and introduced her to her room.  

She had fun sniffing around, playing a bit with her towel/ball, hiding under the bed, and snuggling with Pret.  After about 15 minutes, though, she was just plain tuckered out.  So she fell asleep on the bed.  We set up a little bed to the side and by 2:15 we were all asleep.  She slept fairly soundly for about 3 hours, but then I had to get up and let her out.  She is not house-trained, but we are working on that.  She played with me for a bit, but then she was tuckered out again.  I tried to go back to sleep with her in bed next to me, but I think I was a little too excited, so it never really happened.  

Finally, at about 6:30, she had to go out again.  I took her out and by 7 we were both fast asleep.  She slept in bed with us, occasionally  interrupted by puppy-mares, until about 9:30, when none of our bladders could hold it any more.  She played and slept off and on for the rest of the day, but then we left at about 5:00 to go to Lava Hot Springs, ID for our 2nd Anniversary.

We stayed at the Lions Gate Manor and enjoyed a night in the Medieval room in a four-poster, canopy bed after a nice soak in the VERY HOT hot pools.  We recommend the city (if the outside temperature is between 50 and 70 degrees, but definitely no more and less only if you like that kind of thing) and the accommodations to anyone who is willing to pay a little more (it is an "Anniversary Inn-type place), but really enjoy the experience.  

As we were pulling into the driveway back home, we were both entirely too anxious to see our baby again.  Dan and Brenda (my in-laws)  had taken very good care of it, but are now anxious to get a good night's sleep.  Dan said that they had a good play at about 2:30 this morning for about 15 minutes before she was ready to go back to bed.  Brenda just keeps laughing at me because I really used to not like dogs, but having been around their four dogs for the last few years, they are growing on me.  I think I still like cats better, and am definitely missing Miss Kitty, but I already love Kate a lot and look forward to watching her grow.  

I will try and post pictures of her weekly growth, although I don't guarantee that they will get posted weekly.  Come visit her soon if you can--she's pretty cute!

Happy Birthday Pret!

All About My Hubby...

How long have you been married? 2 Years on April 14th

How long did you date? Oh boy, that is a story in an of itself!! We have known each other since meeting in Sunday School in 1997. We hung out a few times during my freshmen year at BYU before he left on his mission, but not even on any "dates." We wrote a few times while he was on his mission in the Czech Republic and then he called me after he got home. We went out a few times that summer (2003) but then I went on a study abroad to New Zealand, so it ended then. When I got back, I moved in with my sister who was in the same ward as his parents, so we attended the same Singles' Ward. We had mutual friends, so we started hanging out again. He got back at me for dumping him the summer before, so he dumped me in October (2004). Finally, after I was dating another guy and he was dating my best friend, he cam and told me that he still liked me and wanted to try again if things didn't work out with the other guy. About a month later we broke up and a few weeks later, Pret and I went out again. Then we dated for about 8 months again before he propsed... All in all, we "dated" on and off for about 2 1/2 years before he were engaged.

How old is he? 26 as of yesterday and he is not happy about it. He has the "Peter Pan" syndrome and doesn't want to grow up!

Who eats more sweets? It all depends on what we are eating. He east larger quantities in general and when I am in the mood I will eat and eat, but he will eat any time. He is definitely the chocohaulic in our family.

Who is taller? He is. He's about 5'10" and the perfect height because I can put my head on his shoulder and in the crook of his neck.

Who can sing better? He would say me, but I think he has a fine voice. I love listening to him sing!

Who is smarter? It all depends on what we are talking about. He is better with medical/biological stuff and money management for sure. I have just a good all-around knowledge of things (computers and technology are two that I would definitely beat him out on!)

Who does the laundry? I do it for the most part, but if I ask him to, he will do it for me. Laundry was actually our first disagreement that had me in tears...

Who pays the bills? I do. He has to remind me to do it, but I am the one who does it. We do all of our budgeting and transferring together, though.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who mows the lawn? He does. But I try to do it when I can and know that he is busy. I don't mind it too much.

Who cooks dinner? I do. He is great at coming in and helping me with the little things, though.

Who drives? Both--I will drive if he is tired or just sick of driving. Neither of us mind driving.

Who is more stubborn? Neither of us backs down very easily, but we will admit when we are wrong!

Who asked who out first? Which time? We took turns initiating the first date.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me when I told him I wouldn't go camping with his family until I knew that he was serious about our relationship. We kissed before we held hands!!

Who said "I love you" first? He said it verbally first, but I had written it on his back first.

Who proposed? He did. He planned it all out with my best friend and sister and brother-in-law. He designed the ring with my friend and then surprised me in Las Vegas at the temple. I still get excited when I think about it. I wasn't expecting it for a few months, so I was totally surprised.

Who has more siblings? He does--3 brothers, 1 sister. I have two sisters and a brother.

Who wears the pants? We both do, it depends on the subject. But more accurately, we are a two-headed monster with equal say. That is what gets us in trouble sometimes...

Most of all, I love my husband. On his birthday, he deep-cleaned our kitchen counter and bought me a rose! He is sweet and kind and sensitive to my needs, but at the same time, he is strong and makes me feel safe as he takes care of me.

Thanks for being my perfect husband!

Remembering President Hinckley

Wow. A lot of feeling went through me as I heard about the death of President Hinckley. Not much of me was sad at first thanks to my testimony of the Plan of Salvation--knowing that he would be with his wife, mothers (knowing that his birth mother died and his father re-married), father, siblings, etc.--as well as my testimony of the Gospel and knowing that this is Jesus Christ's church and not "President ______________'s Church."

It didn't hit me until I was laying in bed not wanting to get up the next morning and thinking about his death that it would be sad. It will be especially hard for young children to grasp and understand. That when I teach "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet" to the primary children this summer in preparation for the program in the fall, I will not be holding up a picture of Gordon B. Hinckley. Will the children recognize and understand that this new face is now the one who is President and Prophet of our church? I hope so. I look forward to sustaining and receiving counsel from the new president, but will still look back on what President Hinckley taught with love and honor.

Anyway, I have heard of two great tributes to President Hinckley. One by a CNN reporter named Glenn Beck. I had honestly not ever heard of the guy before, but I saw this video on another blog and it really touched me, so I thought I would share.



Then there was this one from KSL news in SLC from KSL.com

Carole Mikita reporting

LDS Church President Hinckley conveyed a warm personal touch toward all the Latter-day Saints. They considered him a friend.

This is the story of one of those friends who shared a love of faith and good humor with the man he called prophet.

If President Hinckley ever would have needed a personal public relations man, Norman Rothman would gladly have stepped forward. They often shared stories. Both loved faith and family, and their time on earth ended the same day.

So often called "The people's prophet," President Gordon B. Hinckley enjoyed meeting and greeting. Friends and neighbors say he felt comfortable in his own congregation, which met in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Annette Rothman, a member of President Hinckley's ward, said, "Every time I would go to church, if Norman wouldn't be there because of the pain in his back or something, President Hinckley would say, 'Where's Norman?'"

Annette Rothman is talking about her husband, Norman. In 2004, they traveled back East to be with President Hinckley as he dedicated a new temple in Manhattan.

At the time Norman Rothman said, "This is my town. It isn't that I don't love Salt Lake City and the prophet, but this, New York, this is where I was born and raised and educated, the son of a New York City cab driver."

Annette Rothman said, "Two weeks ago, President Hinckley came to the ward in a wheelchair. [It was the] first time we'd ever seen him in a wheelchair. And when he saw me, he stood up out of the wheelchair and he said, 'Annette, how's Norman?' I said, 'President, he's still in a coma,' and President Hinckley said, 'You tell him we're praying for him.'"

Then Sunday night while visiting Norman in the hospital, she learned President Hinckley had died.

"Then I leaned over to Norman and I said, 'Sweetheart, I have to tell you something. President Hinckley passed away at 7 o'clock tonight. Now you can go.' Tears came down his eyes, and he died within minutes," she said.

Annette says one thing Norman promised her was that he would never die before President Hinckley, and he kept his word.

Annette Rothman said she and her family have decided to hold Norman's funeral on Saturday afternoon, the same day as President Hinckley's.

They both touched me and made me cry. He was a wonderful man and will be remembered with love by all!

Book Review: Twilight Series

This is from the blog of "A Former Student's Father" in my friends links. He is not LDS, but has a great view on life. If you enjoy his book review here, you should check out some of the other stuff he writes. He can be slightly crude, but it is so dang funny sometimes!!

http://flieswithoutwings.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-review-twilight-series.html"

Someday I really will do a "real" post, we just don't have time!!

Super Bowl Sunday

LAME UPDATE WARNING!!

So those of you who keep up on this blog may remember my entry about Monday Night Football and our not so positive attitude toward professional football.  Pret actually sat down and watched "THE GAME" on December 29th with my brother-in-law Alan and said that he kind of enjoyed it, so that may change for "big games" in the future.  

More, I write about this thinking of growing up and the Super Bowl Sunday Parties that my family would have.  My dad, brother, and sister Shannon all enjoyed watching the Super Bowl, and at that point, I didn't recognize the arrogance of professional football players, so I would watch too.

Now days, though, we don't care much about the Super Bowl. In fact, I think we have been over at Pret's parent's house for the last two (maybe even 3) years, and we haven't watched a minute of it. Now that his brother is back, though, we might have it on in the background just to be able to watch the commercials.

Anyway, my whole point in creating this post, which I know is lame considering it has been almost a month since I have updated it and now I am updating it for this, but I read this really interesting information about Super Bowl Sunday. This little article said that it is the second highest day of food consumption in the United States after Thanksgiving. Super Bowl Fans/Viewers will consume 14,500 tons of chips, 4,000 tons of popcorn and 8,000,000 pounds of guacamole!! That is unreal! I don't know that we will do anything special for food, even if we are watching it. But those of you who do, enjoy on our behalf!!

Happy Hanukkah! (A little overdue)

In October, Pret had the opportunity to meet a guy named Jonathan at a conference he attended in Virginia for work.  They have since become really good friends, eventhough they live half a country away from each other, as Jonathan is attending school in Baltimore, MD.  The coolest thing about it is that Jonathan is an Orthodox Jew.  As he was heading home (to Dallas) for his Hanukkah break, he decided to lay-over in SLC for a few days to hang out with us.  He happened to be staying with us for the first night of Hanukkah, so he lit his Menorah and we had it burning in our window as we went to bed.

(I'm not sure why some of this is underlined, but I can't figure out how to get rid of it--sorry!)

(So I figured it out--it's because they are hyperlinks to the pictures.  Sorry--just don't click on them.)

The next day, Pret had to take a test, so Jonathan came to school with me and was able to teach my students a little of the history of Hanukkah and how Jewish children play the dreidle game. He also bought each of my students a little dreidle so they could play the game at home.



Then, to top it off, he brought his menorah and lit the vials of oil so the kids could see what it looked like. It was wonderful. Some of the kids drew a picture of him for the "writing" and it was cute to see them try to draw his Yamika. They also each wrote a "thank you" note for him. He got them today and told me how much that meant to him.



It has been so fun to learn a little bit about the Jewish culture.  I felt bad not being able to cook for him as he follows a strict Kosher diet, but I now know how to find Kosher food and respect him for sticking to his beliefs so strongly!  Thank you Jonathan for being such a good example to us!  He is coming to stay with us again in January if everything works out ok.  Maybe I can even talk him into coming back and visiting my class again---I know the kids would love it!Anyway, this is the last thing I am doing in my classroom for 12 days!  I am so excited to take some time off and relax with Pret.  I will try to get another post up in a few days with some pictures of Pret's brother getting off his mission and other more recent happenings.  Love to all and travel safely if you are doing so in the next few days.  Tomorrow I am getting together with my old roommates for our annual Macaroni Grill meals--I can't wait to see them, especially Sarah's baby!

Firemen, Pilgrims, and New Baby!

These pictures better be worth it because it took me an hour to keep re-trying to get them loaded!

Since we don't have any children of our own yet (and no, the title is not meant to imply that,) we have to share pictures of the other children we love.

First of all, I have my students. I love Fire Safety week at school because that means we get to make these adorable firefighter hats! I have loved doing them since my first year of teaching--I think the kids look adorable. I may have even shared the picture from last year, but hopefully you have forgotten so they still look cute to you.



Then, we moved on to Thanksgiving. Our school serves a "Thanksgiving" dinner lunch the week before Thanksgiving, so we have our students put on Pilgrim hats and American Indian headbands to go to the "feast." I love the Pilgrim hats, so we were the pilgrims this year.



Finally, my sister had her baby last Sunday, October 11th. His name is Michael Roberts (they stole the name I wanted, but I am Ok with it because I haven't convinced Pret that Michael is not too popular, and this didn't help any.) He was named after his father, both grandfathers (one of which he shares a birthday with), an uncle, a couple cousins, and even his brother (Matthew Michael). Anyway, we haven't seen him in person yet, but he looks pretty cute!



Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope that it is a restful time. I am looking forward to sleeping in (although I will probably head to Kohls early on Friday, but come back and go to sleep again...) and Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's house, Denise and Dave Johnsen, in Kaysville, UT.

The love of our Father

I got this off of a friend's blog. It made me cry and I thought it was a great thing to share with all. I hope we can all remember how much Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to succeed. As related by my friend:

My father was visiting a ward in our stake where a young man was blessing the sacrament for the first time. Reading was not easy for him and time after time he made mistakes. Each time the bishop signaled that he needed to try again, the young man obediently and humbly attempted to read the prayer perfectly. Finally, after many failures, the bishop knelt next to the young man and quietly whispered the words he needed to say. The young man successfully finished the blessing and the bishop returned to his seat. After the meeting my father asked the bishop if he would ever allow the young man to bless the sacrament again. The bishop said, "Of course." Then my dad asked how many times the young man would be allowed to try. The bishop answered, "Well, as many times as it takes to get it right. I figure that's what the Lord does with us. No matter how many times we mess up, he wants us to keep trying. And sometimes, if we listen, he sits next to us and whispers in our ear the things that will help us get it right."




Any eyes still dry? Mine weren't!

"Stardust" and "Monday Night Football"

So Pret and I finally went out on a date! It has been forever since we have done anything together, just the two of us, without having to rush off and be somewhere else or have the worry that we are not doing something at home that we ought to be. We decided to go out to eat and then go see a movie.

We didn't really have much in mind as far as going out to eat, except that I didn't really feel like Chinese (much to Pret's chagrin), but he really felt like a hamburger. We didn't want to do the easy, cheap fast food route because we have resigned ourselves to that too much recently. So we decided to go to Iggy's (much like and Applebee's or Chili's, but a little more "sports" oriented), which is conveniently right next to the movie theatre and had good lemonades (or so I had remembered). We realized it was the wrong choice as soon as we walked in and the diners erupted in a roar in response to a play that had just happened in the Bills vs. Cowboys game being broadcast 270 degrees on big screens around the restaurant. Now, I love a good football game (as many people can attest), but I DESPISE professional football (and most of the major professional sports as a whole--they just get too cocky...) and Pret isn't a football fan in general, so we knew it was going to be a long stay (we didn't have any other options that stood out to us and it was almost half-time, so we decided to stick it out.) In the end, we had some really good food, our waiter was quite attentive (even if he did forget to bring us more bread) and we even watched a few plays. We made the decision to NEVER go to a "sports" restaurant on a Monday night again (at least not during football season).

Afterward we decided to go to a movie. Pret is a big fantasy fan and I enjoy it quite a bit as well. We had both seen a few previews for the movie Stardust and had heard good reviews for it, so we decided to go see it. It was a very good choice! There were a few times that I thought to myself, "What is going on? This is a little weird," but it was overall very good and we play on owning it someday. I think the best way to explain it would be to cross "Big Fish" with "Pirates" and "The Princess Bride" in its weird humor, odd fantasy-like nature, but with a little bit of adventure and romance thrown in. It was very clean, although with a few more "mature" themes than what you would want to expose younger children to. We look forward to owning it and watching it again.

All in all, it was a wonderful date and we really enjoyed being with each other (not that we don't enjoy being with our friends.) I think we are both looking forward to a date again soon.




A picture you might see with our own child in about 2 years, but a cute picture none-the-less. We had fun "kidnapping" this baby over a weekend where we were attending a conference with the child's parents. He was adorable and biggest flirt you have even met, especially for a 5-month-old.

We are looking forward to hanging out with our friends Ariana and Jordan and their little boy Jaxon who are up from Arizona for the week!

We're...

Still here. No, not pregnant! Check back in a year for that update...

Anyway, we are both safe and happy, just very busy. The new school year has started with new things for both of us, so we need to find some time to just relax and update. Unfortunately, that time probably won't come for a while, so bear with us.

Love to all of our loyal readers, however few you may be!




This was us walking on the boardwalk in Yellowstone by Old Faithful.

Catch-up Time!

Well, I don't even know where to begin and am not creative in doing lists of what has been going on, so here it is briefly (in very non-sequential order):

• Pret finished his two summer classes by passing both his finals and doing well overall. We are glad to be done with that! Thanks to all those who supported us physically, spiritually, and/or emotionally through all of that. We couldn't have done it without you!
  
• Megan went and saw "Becoming Jane" with cousins Jordan and Alison. It was good, but almost too close to her stories. Definitely worth seeing for free and again, if someone rented it. I would personally not pay to see it again, but would encourage Jane Austen fans to see it. Anne Hathaway did a very good job and whoever played her man has amazing blue eyes!
• Pret thoroughly tromped all of his friends playing "Halo" in a mini-tournament a few weeks ago and is looking for people to join again some weekend soon...
• Megan has finished "Deathly Hallows" and was sad for the characters who died and still has no idea where the names Rose and Hugo came from! Pret is anxiously awaiting our next long trip so we can listen to "Half-Blood Prince" and get on to learning the rest of the story since Megan won't tell it to him. (M-I am very proud of him for not going to look the story plots up on the internet...)
• Megan is now waiting for someone she knows to finish "Eclipse" so she can read that!
  
• We are anxiously awaiting a vacation next week, although we are still undecided on where we are going exactly. We are fine as long as we get more than 100 miles away from Salt Lake, but not too far or we can't afford the gas money!
• We are in the final stages of signing on a duplex to buy for future living in West Jordan. We won't move in until at the earlies November, but hopefully not until we have to when our landlords return home from their mission in about March.
• We have both have friends leave for the east coast recently, with another to join them next week: Pret's friend Nate, and wife Jenn and daughter Reece, have left for Penn State Medical School in Hershey, Pennsylvania; Megan's friend Lauren, and husband Dallas, have left for Chapel Hill, North Carolina for Dallas to attend the UNC Dental School; and next week our friend Lance leaves for the University of Virginia to attend Law School there. We are proud of them all for their accomplishments and will miss them greatly but will look forward to seeing them all at Christmas!
• Megan missed out on registering for the Provo River Half Marathon for which she had been training all summer. Instead we get to climb Mt. Timpanogos on Saturday, Aug 11th, and she will now run the Top of Utah Half-Marathon in Logan on Aug 25th. It threw a kink into scheduling and training, but will all work out fine (It was $13 cheaper, too, although I will spend that much more on gas up to Logan...).

I think that about covers it. I will hopefully post after next week with some pictures of our hike and vacation.

Becoming Jane

For those of you who are 1) Jane Austen fans and/or 2) have seen the preview (it is part of the Harry Potter previews, I believe, plus probably some others) for the upcoming movie Becoming Jane and are therefore interested in seeing the movie, I have a great thing for you.

I went to the website to look around today and they are offering screenings on Wednesday, August 7, in most major cities. You can sign up for a free screening ticket that will let you and up to two other people into the theatre. I have done it already and will look forward to seeing/hearing that anyone else may be there to join me (although I realize that many of you that actually read this don't live anywhere near me, but if you do go, I hope to hear your reaction to the movie).

Funny, funny commercial!

We were watching tv tonight and we saw this commercial and I couldn't stop laughing. We were watching on a t-vo machine, so we were able to rewatch it 3 times! I immediately knew we had to put it up here. Hope it makes you laugh a few times. It will take you right to the page, sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQO8BogwDng

Doing Well

Sorry about the lack of updates. Life has been crazy around our neck of the woods. Pret has been insanely busy with school, but is doing well. He took two tests today passing one and getting a 90% on the other. He was worried about not passing the latter class, but will do great in the end. It has definitely been a family job with his parents and my family all pitching in to help at various points. We only have about 3 weeks left before we both have a week-long break, so we are both counting down the days and trying not to look too far ahead for fear of becoming depressed.

We have enjoyed a fun weekend with my family--hopefully some picture/videos to post on that soon.

Hope all is well with everyone else and I apologize for the lack of updates--that will change once we are back in the normal swing of things.

The Dark Is Rising

Ok, when I get going, I get going! Anyway, I was browsing books online at the library and I saw, "The Dark is Rising: movie tie-in addition." For those who don't know what I am talking about, The Dark is Rising is a book/series by Susan Cooper that have long been a favorite of my who family. It combines the stories of a family of three kids and the story of a young boy, all led/supervised by a strange man, Merri (Merriweather). You come to find out, he is based on the character, Merlin, from Camelot (That whole story comes in later.) Basically, Will finds out on his 11th birthday (ring a bell with anyone else) that he is a member of "The Old Ones" and has to find out the six symbols that will "save the world" in the battle between Light and Dark. That is a very poor explanation, but going to various websites (or better yet, reading the books!!!) will provide more and better plot synopsis.


Ever since The Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter have been turned into movies, I have thought that this series would make a great movie series. Well, going back to the first sentence of my blog, The Dark is Rising is finally being made into a movie! It is to be released in October, but the "reader reviews" are mixed and I have doubts that it will be made properly. But I am excited that if nothing else, it might get more people to read the books, which are awesome. The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King" won the Newberry Award and The Dark is Rising won the Newberry Honor. To repeat myself, and needless to say after that, THEY ARE WONDERFUL, AWESOME, GREAT books, so please read them if you haven't.

Camping and Mosquito Bites

So I have been training for a half marathon in August and have done a few runs down Butterfield Canyon, about 15 minutes from our house. It has been great to be out in nature and away from everything loud and crazy here. It has me VERY excited for our upcoming camping trip to Flaming Gorge with the Dahlgren family this weekend.

That is until last night... We went over to The Wrights (Shannon and Michael's family) and James came up from his bedroom requesting some Benadryl. I questioned why and he proceeded to show me the approximately 125 (yes, he had tried to count them) mosquito bites covering his body. He had been on a scout camp-out at Twin Lakes in the Uintas and said that one of the lakes was just a boggy mess, so there were swarms of mosquitoes everywhere. As I looked at him covered in little red bumps, I literally got the chills and announced to Pret that I don't think I want to go camping anymore.

In the end, I am still very excited to go camping--I love being out in nature, but I do hope that I don't get too many mosquito bites. I will give the update upon our return...

Paul Potts

So I copied this from my aunt (Knight Family), but I was too impressed not to, so sorry for you within the family who may see this twice.

Great Britain has a show similar to American Idol called Britain's Got Talent. It even has Simon Cowell on it. You will get the story from watching the clip, so I won't take all the time here explaining it. I will let you know, though, that Paul ended up winning the competition, so that is exciting. I love the song that he sang and he performed it so well!

Anyway, it takes about 4 1/2 minutes to watch the whole clip, but it is worth it to at least listen to him sing. Good on ya, Paul!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Cat or Dog?

So I am sitting at Shannon and Michael's house waiting for Pret's homework to finish printing (if anyone has high blood pressure, I know a drug to tell you about (I don't know that I would recommend it, though, but that's only because I don't really know that much about it...)) and their family cat, Sushi, is bugging me to throw "her mouse" for her. Now, most cats will have a toy or two that they will bat around when they are feeling playful or bored, but Sushi is not like most cats (some of you may have been around her and experienced this first-hand and know what I am talking about.) She not only likes to play with little mice (fake at the moment (although she has been known to chase around a live one now and then...)), but she loves to retrieve them when thrown. I have now thrown this particularly disheveled looking one (as Michael said earlier, "They just don't make mice like they used to, do they Sushi?") about 15 times and she is jumping up on my wrist as I type, trying to coax me into throwing it again. Alas, I am more interested in getting this post typed before the printing is done than entertaining this cat, who I truly love! But it makes me wonder, is this a cat that likes to bat around a mouse, or a cat that wants to be a dog and fetch the mouse? (I did this in gray to match Sushi's fur.)

On the other hand, some friends of ours have a dog, Nali, that acts much like a cat. They have a laser pointer that Nali loves to chase. We have watched in hilarious facination as Nali has run back and forth across the back yard through rain, snow, and dusty dirt, following the "light" for long periods of time. She would do it endlessly if only we could keep up with her. The promise of the "light" will get Nali to do almost anything for them. If she sees it sitting on the counter or just being held in your hand, she will nose or nip at you until you start pointing it for her. I have even see her "pounce" on it, stealth-like approach and everything. So now the question is asked, is Nali a dog that likes to chase things, or a dog wanting to be a cat and chase bright lights, such as lasers? (I would have done this in white to match Nali's fur, but that wouldn't have worked to well, would it?)

I got this finished before it was done printing! (I even had to do some of it over because the internet shut down on me and it didn't save it all.) (And I did this in green because it is my favorite color.)

We survived the Desperado!

So Pret and I joined Shannon and Michael and their children on a trip to visit Melanie and Alan (Shannon and Melanie are Megan's sisters, for those who don't know...) in Las Vegas for the Memorial Day weekend. It was a great break and escape from our worries and busy lives at home. We started off the adventure Saturday morning by going to Primm, Nevada, right on the boarder between California and Nevada. What would bring us 45 minutes into the desert? THE DESPERADO!

The Desperado is a "hypercoaster" built into the Buffalo Bill Casino. It was quite the experience! I rode with my niece, Susan, and about halfway up the initial climb, she turned to me and said that she didn't want to do it anymore! I said, "Just close your eyes and hold on tight." The next thing I knew, I was screaming non-stop for about 2 1/2 minutes. It was pretty intense! At the end I reached over to ask Susan how it was and she was holding on to the bar so tightly that I could only feel the muscle in her arm. Pret sat at the back the first time and when he was done his hair was straight up on his head (think Kramer from Seinfeld but everywhere). The second time (yes, he dared to do it again!) he sat in the very front and we were told by others on the ride that he let out a few choice words and the first descent began and all he could see was a small hole in the ground into which he knew he would soon travel...

I have included one picture below, but I have also included the link to go and look at some other pictures of it. Below are also some general facts about the coaster to either scare you or make you want to go on it the next time you travel through innocent Primm.

Ride facts
Length: 5,843 feet
Max Height: 210 feet
Biggest Drop: 225 feet
Max Speed: 80 mph
Ride Duration: 2 minutes, 45 seconds
Capacity: 1,700 people per hour on three trains
Designer: Arrow Dynamics, Clearfield, Utah
Special Features: A high-speed dive down a 55-degree hill into a tunnel kicks off the ride followed by a 155-foot second hill. That's higher than most other coasters' first drop.


This is the first drop down into the tunnel and where you exit to go up the next "hill."

Click here for some more pictures.


Saturday night we went to the Ballagio for dinner at their buffet where we stuffed ourselves full of King crab, Beef and great desserts. It was nice to leave the kids (more for the parents of the children) and have some time with just the adults.

Sunday we went to church, ate turkey dinner, and then took great big naps. It was a wonderful day with family and relaxing.

Monday we went four-wheeling! People who have known Pret for many years know how much he likes to get out and ride! One of our first dates (we had a few "first dates") was going four-wheeling and I have been obsessed with it since then (even though I haven't gone again). Last summer Pret sold his last one (he had already bought and sold a 3-wheeler and his big Grizzly) to buy his Miata and I was really sad! :-( Now, after going again, I am putting the pressure on to buy another one. Unfortunately we don't have the money now and won't for a while, but a new savings account will be established especially for the purchase of a four-wheeler or two.

When we got back, Pret and the kids spent hours in the swimming pool wrestling and repeating "Marco Polo" hundreds of times. I think Pret was in vacation heaven!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend. We fortunately called it a "vacation" although it was more of a "trip" for everyone else. We made some great memories and shared in some wonderful adventures. We hope everyone had as good a weekend as we did. I will try to add some more pictures when I get them from my sister.

Pret's Big Fish

Last Saturday, Pret spent his last worry-free Saturday fishing with his dad. It was my first Saturday in a long time to sleep in, so I didn't mind too much that he was gone. :-)

He had quite the day! He caught about a 23" lake trout! As you can see from the picture, it was pretty good-sized. It was the only fish they caught that they could keep (I think the only other one was spawning, so they had to put it back...).



His mom cooked it up for dinner on Monday. It was great! They got enough meat off it to feed all four of us a nice sized fish steak.

I am jealous of the opportunity to go fishing. I am already looking forward to the next chance we have to go out on the boat. It is so relaxing.