It's broken!

We've had our first trampoline catastrophe. After standing in the kitchen for 6 hours today making 13 dozen cookies for a big cookie order, Matti went outside to have fun for a minute by jumping on the trampoline. And she broke her ankle. Poor thing. She and Doug are in the ER right now. She's had an X-ray, and the big bone that jets out on the outside of the ankle is sheared right in two. But it doesn't look like it shattered. They are waiting on an orthopedic surgeon right now--she may need a screw in it. Darn it!

House Hunting

Michael and I are looking for a house. We've even packed some boxes already. We're looking from Lehi to Spanish Fork. Doug mentioned that a position in his records office was opening up soon, which is daylight work hours and $4 more an hour than Michael makes now. So if Michael got that job, then maybe we would move up closer to Erika. At any rate, we'd love advice and tips and suggestions.

Also, we are both pretty sad about poochie going away. I didn't think I'd mind so much but when I got home and he wasn't there, it wasn't pretty. I sit alone all night while Michael is gone, Andy was such a nice little companion. So yes, we are both still sad.

Comment conversations

Today Adam was asking me about keeping track of all the comments on this blog, since we are all so chatty, like in this post.

I've set it up so that I get emailed whenever a comment is posted to this blog (and my other blogs for that matter), and I really like it because I just read them and archive them and I'm done (also since I check my email all day).

You can do this by going to "Settings" in the blog of your choice, then click on the "Comments" tab that shows up beneath settings. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a box that you can add your email address to to get the notifications.

If you don't want to get emails, and if you have an RSS feed like Google Reader, you can subscribe to the comments that are posted. Just subscribe to this address:
http://gilroyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default

(If you want to do this for other blogs, just put their address in instead of "gilroyfamilyblog.blogspot.com")

Casualty #1

Our poor puppy walked into the wrong direction, got a little too close to the 'wrong' chew stick ,(as both dogs had 'their own') and got 'chewed' out. Suffice it to say, all are safe and well, the puppy unfortunately has two broken bones, but no broken spirit yet! (Poor pokey puppy!) In the meantime, grumpy ol' gran'pa dog is on anti-anxiety meds and starts Obedience Training tomorrow for the next 6 weeks. And once the puppy is fully rehabilitated (which should only be 2 more weeks) she will start training classes of her own. So we are taking baby steps to keep the atmosphere 'amicable' here in dog land. And no, we have no intentions of giving either dog away. Although the fantasy has crossed my mind many a time. Especially with all the sleepless nights, and the new hit on our pocketbooks, but alas, we love both dogs and so does everybody else, so we are sticking it out. (For the time being!) Sorry to hear the other dogs had to leave, but its true that they take a lot of time, responsibility, training, and love and all that put together is a lot of extra work. I don't know where I think I have any extra time, but I am positive it will all work out. Good luck to all of us on our new adventures, for next week is a new month...and who knows what kind of mayhem us Gilroy Girls can get ourselves into in the next few weeks!

Update

We still have our dog! Of course, we just got a three day break from him. But, no immediate plans to change anything. We even still have our chickens. We were worried about them making an escape from the yard while we were gone as one of them learned to jump to the top our our fence the day we left...But Doug made an enclosure and they all survived, too. So, if anyone missed it, we went to Vegas with our kids for the weekend. We had fun seeking out anything and everything kid-oriented in that town. It was warm and we all enjoyed the break. Doug and the kids loved the buffets (I still think they are a little gross.) We saw a show called the "Pet Comedian," which the kids loved. One highlight was Saturday morning--we all woke up and Merri mumbled, "Dad farts like some people snore!" Jack thought that 6 hours in the car was pretty unbearable. But we made it back safe and sound and I'm ready for all my kids to go to sleep now!!

I guess

I guess I should tell about my experience, too. It's weird because you do feel kind of stupid getting a dog, just to turn around and get rid of it, but unfortunately, when I got my dog in the first place, I didn't exactly make the decision with Kimball. I thought maybe he'd warm up to her ... she's so cute and sweet, but it just didn't happen. The pressure of three kids and long days at work was just too much to throw a puppy into the mix. I didn't feel like it was fair to make him overwhelmed even though I had high hopes for having a sweet family dog and loved the interactions the kids got to have (besides all the nipping). We had several calls about her and a nice family came for her this morning. Hopefully in the future, when the kids are older or life is just a little less hectic, we can try something like that again. I will definitely miss her (and so will my kitchen floor.)

Bye to Andy

We said goodbye to our pooch today.

A great family came and got him. They have four kids under the age of 10, which is great because Andy loves children, following them around and smelling what they are doing all day. They also have a Beagle, which is great because Andy loves other dogs. They said that they were trying to find a friend for their Beagle, because he had separation anxiety, which Andy has also, so hopefully they can help each other to not feel so lonely. The lady is a stay-at-home mom, and the dogs are "house dogs" and not "outside dogs." I'm thrilled that he's going into such a great situation, it's better than what Michael and I could have done for him, and we're glad to have saved him from the possibility of euthanization at the shelter. Alternatively, I'm very sad, I didn't even pet him goodbye this morning because I was late rushing out the door. One of my big fears was that I would feel terribly guilty for giving him away, but I think he went into a really great situation and I feel such relief about that. Michael, on the other hand, is having a harder time than I am. He misses Andy a lot. (I think I know where my next source of guilt is going to come from... unsolicited, that is).

So . . .

What if a monkey gets back into the tree?

Just So You Know...

we're not getting a dog. No monkeys here.

Taffy

This is Taffy. And I should probably say that like Breanne, we are unsure of just how long she'll be with us. She's a Maltipoo (that's Maltese/Poodle). I actually saw her the same day that Erika and Breanne got their dogs, but tried to wait a day to really be sure if I wanted her. Well, I'm still wondering if I'm sure, but she's a really good dog. She's only 2 months old so we have our hands full, but what else is new. I just love that I can hold her and play with her and I have absolutely no reaction. It seemed like our poodle even gave me a little bit of watery eyes if I didn't wash my hands after petting him. It's sort of akin to finding a delicious gluten/dairy free treat to eat . . . for a few moments I'm a normal human being! lol Anyway, more pics and stories should be on my blog shortly.

Jumping on the Bandwagon!

Theres an old joke that goes something like this: "Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?" Because he was dead! (duh!) "Why did the second monkey fall out of the tree?" Monkey see monkey do! "Why did the third monkey fall out of the tree?" Peer pressure! (Then there's more:) "Why did the fourth monkey fall out of the tree?" Because he was stapled to the third monkey! (I know, its dumb, but it still makes me laugh!)

OK! With THAT being said, you all probably think that I "jumped on the bandwagon" and got a dog because 'everybody else did'. But actually, when I came back from Florida and called Erika and Doug answered the phone and said "hey Nik! Did you buy a dog too?!" I was completely confused and then stupefied why 3 of my 5 siblings all bought dogs in the same week. At the time I had no interest at all in gettting 'another' dog since we all know that we already have one that we know and 'LOVE' so well! But after spending a fun-filled evening at Erika's house on Saturday I was not prepared for falling in love with her dog! (And mind you, Breanne brought her dog too!) But I absolutely LOVED Erika's dog. So I asked my husband on the way home if he would hate me if I bought one, (to which he lovingly replied, 'no') so I immediately got a number from Erika and made an appointment the next morning, and sunday morning the kids and I met the dog, left a deposit, and came back this morning, and picked her up! she's doll! we don't know her name yet but it seems like a group effort is trying to configure one up, and Austin absolutely loves her! So we may have a name by the end of the day. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. And if you call me a monkey because of my 'peer pressure' inclinations, then so be it! But I love our new little lady (and suprisingly so does Duncan!) and I think she makes our little family quite complete!

It's a Dog's World

So.. I just thought it should be out there in the open, that three of us bought a dog this week. That would be Erika, Breanne, and Jacque. I think we all got pretty good matches, too. It seemed like we all found something we were looking for. Weird? very. Smart? Maybe not. Anyway, I just thought I should make a post and everyone can weigh in with their comments. Feel free to judge, accuse, mock, tease, or congratulate, whichever you choose.

*Update from Bre:
Here's some proof for Adam. I should probably also say that we're not sure if we can keep him.

Dancing Keala

Just thought I would add a clip of Keala and I playing with my camera's video capabilities. We had a lot of fun playing it back for each other. She got a little silly though. It was just one afternoon while just the two of us were home together with not much to do. So we had a big fashion show with her posing for my camera in funny angles and with weird expressions (and a lot of jumping). Check out my blog to see more of those photos.

More With Water and Music

So, the other day at Lauren's house we were talking about music and water. Erika was opening up Matti's Christmas present from Santa which was a Speedo waterproof ipod! Doug mentioned how water amplifies music so it sounds all mumbled in the water. (And Nikki mentioned how whales change their speech when humans [try to communicate with them]--look under "comments" for her explanation.)

Anyway, at church the other day, the subject came up again. One of my co-worker's husbands is a composer and he made a cd to go along with a new workout they were doing where you work out slowly and then as fast as you can for 30 seconds, followed by a 2 minute cool down. I mentioned how they've made cds to help you fall asleep, too, where the music goes along with your body rhythms for falling asleep. So, that prompted my other friend to mention how they've said that because our bodies are made up of 70% water, music really resonates within us. (It is even amplified!) So, like when we hear something really beautiful, it can give us chills. And probably it really affects our mood and how we feel physically from the inside out. Anyway, I thought that was really neat, and I thought I'd add to the conversation!

(I also started thinking of the phrase Living Water and it started to take on new meanings, too.)


By the way, when I was looking for images to post on here, I came across a new instrument that uses water instead of air to produce sound. It's called a hydraulophone or H2Oboe if anyone wants to google it.

Happy New Year!

I don't know if this new year can top the past, but if its anywhere as good as last year, then we're already in the makings for a great life ahead of us! Our family wishes all of you a GREAT AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!