The Donaldson Post

Family Pictures

2008-09-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

Leah Wright photos

Riding the range

2008-06-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

Kaden got the chance to ride the neighbors horse while we were visiting Nana & Papa in Prineville.

Isn't that how the cowboys do it?

Maui! North Coast Drive

2008-05-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

One of our biggest adventures while in Maui was our road trip around the North Coast of the Island. It is breathtakingly beautiful, but also about the most windy & narrow road on the edges of sheer cliffs. We took this road last year with Kaden & he threw up everywhere so this year we left him at the house with the other weak stomachs.

One of our first stops along the way was at this great blow hole area. It was a bit of a hike down to it in slippery sandals on very sharp rocks, but so worth it.

Brian & Brad getting a closer look at the blow hole...

hmm... it's really starting to blow...
and that's when it got Brian.
Soaked!

There were lots of wave crashes besides the blow hole so we were all pretty much soaked.

Alexis, Anna & Anita
Lonny & Mary
Erica & Brad

Brad exploring a rock outcroping.

Brad & Mary climbed down into this wide basin.

Posing a little on the way back up the rocks.
He's never satisfied untl he's done something that has me calculating his life insurance.

See all that water behind him? Covered in crashing waves against sharp rocks? That's where he was standing just moments ago just begging to be washed into the ocean.
So proud he's alive.
Dave along the shore.
Dave being brave.

Brittnee didn't join us because she gets car sick too easily so we had to make sure Dave made it back & didn't fall off into the ocean somewhere.
Dave & a giant yucca.
See, this is how you pose with a blow hole, unlike Brian.
The road trippers taking a break.

Alexis, pulling a Brad as she breezed past the warning signs.

Chris on the coast.
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...
Real Hawaiian shaved ice on the side of the road!

Maui! The Beach

2008-05-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last year when we were in Maui Kaden had a unshakable aversion to the sand, he would whine & not move if it was touching him. We had to carry him or drag the stroller down the beach everytime! It bothered him the whole time we were there so we were interested to see if he would have the same annoying reaction this year.

We plopped him on his feet in the sand & just kept walking to see if he would even notice if we didn't make a whole thing out of it. Well, he stopped, looked at his feet & said "there's sand in my crocs" I said, "yeah, there's sand in my sandals, too" & kept on walking. He just sorta looked at me & started walking again. That was the last we heard about the sand bothering him! Yeah!!

First day at the beach in Kaanapali.

Kaden way out in the water with Mary & the kids.

A cool turtle that swam right past us. We've seen lots of turtles while snorkeling, but never just swimming along next to the beach with all the people everywhere.

Kaden & Erica at Big Beach. The waves here were so powerful, great for the big kids trying to boogie board, not so good for little ones.

Here's Brad about to be clobbered.

A typical wave tackeling all the kids.

Chelsea & Alexis debating whether to run into or away from the wave.

Dan, Chelsea & Brian riding in on a great wave.
Chris holding onto Erica to keep her from washing away!

A guy broke his ankle battling the waves, Brad & Dave had to carry him off the beach.

Snokeling near La Perouse Bay.
Kaden trying his skim boading skills.
We took up quite a bit of the beach when we "set up camp."

Kaden wanted to boogie board like the big kids so badly!

He's waiting for the perfect wave.

Enough water to move him around abit.
Crash!
This is a much better way to do it!
Brian, Dave & Brad getting ready to surf.

My beach boy.

Worn out!

Brittnee trying her hand at it.

Maui! The House

2008-05-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

This was the awesome house, Hale Kohola, that we rented while we were all there. Brad, Kaden & I were the first to arrive so we stayed at Trendwest the first night until everybody else arrived the next day.

Erica & Kaden enjoying the front yard pool.

View of front yard from the lanai.

Kaden cooling off Chelsea.

Kaden really enjoyed toting water from the creek that ran through the yard into the pool & vice versa.
The cute little dolphin bridge than ran over the creek. Kaden on one of his many bucket runs.
A little high flying action. You can see where the creek ran into the pool. It was so pretty.
Chillin' on the deck with the cousins.

Diva.
Here's a shot of the bridge & front lawn & steps down to the street.
The inside of the house was amazing. I had to move way too much stuff out of Kaden's reach. The owners of the house are art collectors & the house was basically done up like a gallery, way too many breakable things! We were lucky though, no accidents!

The sculpture on the ceiling was a mother whale & her calf. So amazing!

Kaden on the porch with a giant snail, it was nearly as big as his foot!

The main living areas (kitchen, dining, living room, sitting area) were all upstairs, along with 2 bedrooms. The kitchen was behind Chelsea to the right & the living room was behind her to the left.
Another shot of the whales.
The view of the goff course & ocean from the lanai.
Brian hanging out in the kitchen. The pillars behind him had giant banana leaves & fruit sculptures mounted to the top of them as well as along the far wall. Wish I had a better shot of them.

Looking downstairs. There were 4 bedrooms downstairs, 2 of which were master bedrooms. Since we got there first we got to claim one of them! (didn't ever get a shot of it though). Under the stairs was also a big pond & fountain full of a bunch of little sculptures of whales & fish & nudie mermaids! (can't believe I didn't get a picture of that!)The incredibly large kitchen, you've never seen so much counter work space!
This was everbody the last day in the house, just before check out. Brittnee & Dave had left the previous day & Anita & her family were headed back that eve. so with the reduced numbers we headed back to Trendwest for the last few nights.
Having our own house was awesome! It was so nice to be able to let the kids run around, play in the pool & do their own thing without having to worry about other people & all the rules that go along with sharing commen areas at a resort. The pool was open all night & your toys were left next to the pool where you would need them again soon! Oh, & Kaden spent most of the time running around without bottoms on as we are trying to potty train & thought he would enjoy practicing aiming at the trees. You can't do that at a (family) resort!

Maui!

2008-05-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last month we spent two lovely weeks in Maui with a bunch of my family. There was our little family, my sister Brittnee & her husband Dave, Aunt Mary & Uncle Lonny & their 5 kids & a spouse- Brian, Jaclyn, Jaclyn's new husband Tyson, Daniel, Chelsea, & Anna. My Aunt Anita & Uncle Christopher & their two girls, Alexis & Erica, & my Grama. We had a whopping 18 people on this trip! It has taken me forever to get anything on the blog because we copied everyone's pictures and had nearly a thousand shots to sort through.

These are some random shots that didn't fall into the catagories of the other posts that will soon follow.

Kaden made tremendous strides in his swimming skills. By the time our vacation was over he was swimming underwater (w/o his "jet pack") just like a little turtle. We started him in actual lessons once we got home - a step up from the waterkids classes we've been taking- and he already moved up to level three just in the last few weeks!

Kaden & my cousin Anna.

Daniel spent alot of time serenading us on his guitar (when he wasn't glued to his laptop watching "Lost"- he finished the entire series by the time he left!) & even purchased a Ukelele while we were there.

We never did end up with a picture of everybody all together. This was pretty close though, out on the boardwalk in Kaanapali.

(Tyson, Jaclyn, Chelsea, Daniel, Heather, Brad, Kaden, Alexis, Erica, Anna, Brittnee, Dave, Anita & Mary)

Mary & Grama

We had a great veiw of the fire dancers that were part of a luau along the boardwalk.

Perouse Bay
Sunset at Wilea on our last night.

Crazy monkey boy.

Easter

2008-04-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

This year the Corvallis Easter egg hunt was right during church so we crashed the Philomath Easter Egg hunt since it was on Saturday morning.

The weather was beautiful & the crowd was a much better size then last years Corvallis hunt.

He has recently decided that he likes wearing my stocking cap more than his own.
Such excitement!
He was most impressed with the eggs that had stickers & balloons inside.
Kaden & Nixon comparing their loot.
We were driving through Albany later that day & saw this giant Easter Bunny walking down the sidewalk. Such luck!

Our own precious little bunny!

Spring comes in like a Lamb...

2008-04-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

We made it out to the lambing barns a couple times last month to try to catch a glimpse of a baby lamb being born. No such luck though.

Here's Kaden with Janessa.

We did see alot of really cute babies.

And some very pregnant mommies!

These twins were hilarious, they were trying to tag team their mama to get her to roll over & nurse. The one on top would jump up & down on her back while the other one would run around trying to ram into her. She wouldn't budge an inch. There's an in control mommy!

Here we are with Nixon. Still no luck seeing a birth. In all my years growing up here we always went to the OSU barns during lambing season & I have never got to see one being born.

Believe it or not this was St. Patricks day & this little lamb was sporting green ears!
This baby was so cute curled up in a tight little ball in the feed chute.
Well, maybe next year we'll see a birth!

Gymnastics!

2008-04-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

We just finished up our first session in gymnastics at OSU's kidspirit. Kaden loved it!

It was a great outlet for cooped up winter energy.

Check out those skills!

Brad recently put a pull up bar in the garage so now Kaden has gotten pretty good at holding on & hanging for as long as he can.

The trampoline was the biggest hit!

Our little buddy Nixon.
They are such great little gymnasts!

New Bloggers on the Block!

2008-04-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

My sisters have both decided to hop on the blogging bandwagon!

Check them out here...
Brittnee & Amy

Book Tag

2008-03-31T16:00:00.001-07:00

I've been tagged by Bridgette, so here goes the Book Tag...

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).

2. Turn to page 123.

3. Find the 5th sentence.

4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.

5. Tag 5 people.

I've been halfway through this book, When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, for while now, it's a pretty slow read, but it's really interesting. I promise you'll never see animals the same way ever again.

Here's the line: "If it is a social animal it needs company."

I tag Debbie, Chelsea, Denver and my sisters Brittnee & Amy.

Conversation Overheard

2008-03-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

I overheard the sweetest conversation between Kaden & his Lion King Simba doll a while ago. It's a talking and dancing Simba. It went a little something like this:

Simba- My Dad taught me how to pounce, did you learn anything today?

Kaden- "No, my Dad's building a fence with Uncle Tim."

Simba- That's Great! I'm gonna be a king when I grow up, what are you gonna be?

Kaden- "Um, a pirate!"

Simba- That's a great idea! Do you have a best friend?

Kaden- "Named Wickett!!"

He didn't know I was listening & Simba just keeps repeating the same questions over & over when you press his ear, so Kaden just kept on answering them. I was pretty funny.

Madison Belle

2008-03-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's the newest addition to the family! My sister Amy welcomed this beautiful little girl to the world on Feb.9th. Her name is Madison Belle. Amy had a very rough delivery and was induced 3 weeks early due to high blood pressure. Madison took her sweet time to make her appearance, they started a pitocin drip on Friday afternoon & she wasn't born until Sunday morning! She was admitted to the NICU all week and Amy was finally able to take her home on Friday the 14th.

She has been diagnosed as having Cytomegalovirus which at this point appears benign, but they will be meeting with a Specialist at Doernbecher's next week to find out for sure. She appears very healthy and is a pretty happy little girl!

Kaden is so excited to have a little girl cousin, he talks about her all the time!

She looks so much like her Daddy in this picture.

Her arrival took much longer than we had anticipated so we ended up spending an unexpected night up in Vancouver waiting by the phone. Here is Kaden in mommy-improvised jammies!

Seattle with Santa

2008-02-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

CATCHING UP

(What we were up to in December)

Kaden & I spent another fun weekend up in Seattle. This time it was for my little cousin Erica's 6th birthday party. The party was a breakfast with Santa at the Marriott. Santa even brought his reindeer for the kids to check out. Very cool!

Erica, the birthday girl (with the pink crown) & her friend Lola getting their balloon animals.

A balloon elf hat!

My aunt Anita, Erica & her friend Ethan. Kaden thinks that Ethan is his coolest friend!

My cousins Anna & Alexis & another friend.
We braved the snowy weather & made it out to Redmond Lights that evening. It is a really fun walk along the river with music & goodies along the way. It ends up at Redmond Center, a fancy outdoor shopping area, all the resturants offer samples out in the courtyard areas, so yummy! Although the weather cooperated that evening it had been snowing all day & alot of the booths & musicians pulled out. We really missed the live nativity with a complete petting zoo this year.

As it warmed up we started to shed some of our layers.
Face painting at Starbucks.

Playing with the Red Robin mascot.

We always have so much fun up there!

Christmas Activities

2008-02-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

Cutting down the perfect Christmas tree.

This was our Christmas card shot, it had a caption bubble above Kaden saying "Merry Christmas" & a thought bubble above Wickett saying "I asked for a pork chop!" Too funny. Storybook Land in Albany.

We got some snow at our house.
Mandy moved in next door & we were treated to a visit from Robyn!

Christmas x 3...

2008-02-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

We started Christmas with Brad's family at his mom's house.

Kaden & Howard always have fun with Great-Grampa, Papa A.D.

Playing doctor with Grama Betty.

Lots of great toys!

Then we had Brad's Dad come to Christmas at our house.

A great big hug for Papa Bill for the super cool train table!
Then it was off to my folks in Prineville for round 3.

We decided to do homemade gifts for each other this year (with a couple exceptions for Kaden) & unfortunatly I didn't get pics of many of the great things that were created. Here though are a couple.
Love how my sisters dog Dobber got into this shot.

Kaden got his very own fishing rod from Papa 'eve.

Grama Nana made him a heating pad froggy to keep him toasty at night! I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to teach him to put frogs in the microwave!
Uncle Dave trying to burn the house down with his demonstration of how to use the flint stone in the survival packs he made. Very creative!
Bathtime fun with Grama Nana

So much Snow!

2008-02-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

Right after Christmas we went sledding up on Santiam Pass.

Kaden & Brad

Brad told him to just roll down the embankment to keep him from sinking into the snow everytime he tried to walk where it was really deep.

I guess it doesn't taste so great.

The girls made a cool snow cave.
Roar! Snow cave monster!
Even snow monsters need to rest.
Funny Erica.

Brad goes to India

2008-02-21T14:11:00.001-08:00

Brad recenlty went on a business trip to Hyderabad, India.

Golconda Fort - Famous military outpost in the Andhra Pradesh state.

The Charminar - Mosque of the four minarets. One of the most popular landmarks in Hyderabad.

Mecca Masjid - Popular mosque in India. It was bombed two weeks before and a few weeks after Brad was there. Probably not a good place to site see.

Statue of Buddha on the Hussain Sagar Lake.

Brad playing cricket with some of the locals.

Oregon Coast Aquarium

2008-02-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

CATCHING UP

(What we were up to during November)

For Colin's birthday present Kaden & I offered Colin 3 choices to fullfill "Colin Quest 2007." He had his choice of going to the Aquarium, the zoo, or the children's museum. He chose the aquarium. So Debbie & I wisked the kids away on a friday when there was no pre-school.

It was quite wet & blustery that day. We had to hold tight to the kiddos when we were walking into the bldg. as the wind was threatening to pick them up & blow them away!

Colin, Janessa, Kaden, Heather, & Debbie.

Lobster, yum.

Kiddos trying out the Crab Dance Video.

This is the real size of a giant Crab from Japan, freaky!

Exploring the indoor tidepools.

Trying to tickle a starfish!

Making friends with the otters.
"Sleeping with the fishes!"
The tank cleaners were pretty cool to watch.
Megatooth Shark!
Yikes!

WInter Pineapple Classic, Seattle

2008-02-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

MORE CATCHING UP

Everytime we get Kaden together with my cousins things like this happen! The girls love to treat him like a lifesize doll to dress up, and he loves it! He reminds me of a little cartoon character, but I can't figure out who...any ideas?

Kaden with Alexis.

Kaden with Anna.

Butterfly Geisha princess, how pretty!

He has stunned himself.

The reason we were in Seattle was to participate in the Seattle Winter Pineapple Classic. It's a 5k run done in Amazing Race style where there are unknown obstacles along the way. Brad teamed up with my aunt Anita. My aunt Mary teamed up with my cousin Chelsea.

Anita being silly.

Brad pre-race.
They also were required (as a team) to carry a pineapple the entire route.
Mid-race. (Guess Seattle is still full of "hair-band"guys!)
Rock wall obstacle.

Mary & Chelsea pre-race.
Mary & Chelsea mid-race.
Chelsea rolling under the army crawl obstacle.
They all did great! Brad & Anita took 3rd out of 75 among the 2-person coed teams, & Mary & Chelsea took 2nd out of 55 among the 2-person female teams!

http://www.komotv.com/home/video/10997571.html?video=pop&t=a

Here's a video link to the news story on it, you can catch a quick glimpse of Chelsea & a great shot of Mary coming out of the swinging punching bag obstacle.

Beach House Thanksgiving

2008-02-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

MORE CATCHING UP

We enjoyed a couple of Thanksgivings this year. We spent the first one at the coast with Brad's siblings & their families. We stayed at my aunt & uncle's beach house in Newport, it was fabulous!

Playing on the beach.

Gotta love those blustery winter coast days!

Not very pleased with the foam sticking to his boots.

This was the beach access from the backyard of the house. Slippery, steep & windy! Brad took Kaden & Wickett out ahead of me while I was gathering hats & mittens, and when I got out there all three of them were already on the beach! Brad carried them down one under each arm. Now according to my math that leaves no arms to hold onto the railing!

I'm so glad I didn't see it happen.

I heard that one of the bigger winter storms since that weekend really did a number on the stairs & they are pretty mangled now.

The spread, compliments of Brad.
Brad's brother Bryan & his wife Jenna.
Brad's sister Brandy, her husband Josh & their boys Howard & Charlie.
Spoiled Wickett!

Kaden slept through dinner so he had his own seating for one.

My sister Brittnee & her husband Dave came over to enjoy part of the weekend.
The view from the house was fantastic!

Little Buddies

2008-02-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

MORE CATCHING UP

We went back up to Seattle for our 2nd Thanksgiving weekend & we got to spend a little time with Bridgette, Mark & little Owen while they were there visiting her family.

Kaden & Owen hadn't seen each other since we went to Maui with them in the spring.

Buddy love!

Fun in Prineville

2008-01-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

CATCHING UP

We have been on an unitended hiatus from blogging. But I have in fact been starting and not finishing or publishing posts all along. So in an effort to get back on track I'm going back to clean up everything that has been sitting in draft forever!

Way back in October we spent a few fun days in Prineville with my parents. Kaden had a great time with his grama Nana & Papa 'eve while I was busy worrying about Wickett.

Kaden discovered a new hiding spot IN the fridge!(this was new to him as our fridge is on top) He found a giant pitcher of lemonade right at his level & with the help of a straw he was able to climb in there & suck down as much as possible before being discovered. He was able to fit in there with the door all but an inch or 2 closed. So sneaky!

The city of Prineville was having their 150th birthday celebration so there was a fun petting zoo in central park.

They had old firetrucks on display for the kiddos to climb up on.

Kaden also got to try out the new fire engine, nice fit, huh?

Kaden & Grama got to dress up as pioneers!

We got to take our own private train ride through town. We showed up too late after the tours were over for the day, but the conductor was kind enough to let us ride one way back to the train depot, which was way better because we got the whole thing to ourselves & it only lasted 15 minute instead of the hour long tour crammed with a hundred other people!

Here we are waving to my dad as we passed his office.

Kaden got a chance to learn some big kid skills while with Grama. After a few minutes of instruction he was on his way!

It was a slight incline in a few places & needed some pushing assistance.

He was pretty excited to feed the horses the grass clippings.

Then we had a little photo shoot.

Brad's Mexican Adventure

2008-01-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

MORE CATCHING UP

This is what Brad was busy doing while we were in Prineville.

Exploring Mexico with his high school buddy Carl & Carl's brother Jeremy & their cousin Carlos.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

MORE CATCHING UP

Before Halloween we got to go to the Pumpkin Patch with Aunt Brandy & cousin Howard & baby cousin Charlie.

Rubber ducky races.

Playing in the Corn (sand)box.

This little piggie...

Stuck in the hay bale maze.

Discovering a much easier way to navigate the maze!

Waiting for the tractor ride.

In the wagon on our way to pick out a pumpkin.
"I claim this one!"

Halloween...again & again

2008-01-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

MORE CATHING UP

Kaden & I did the downtown Corvallis trick-or-treating dressed up as Super Sleuths Tigger & Darby! (I even cut my hair for the full effect!)

Later that evening we went to the Heritage Mall with Debbie's family for some nice, warm, indoor trick-or-treating!

The Saturday before Halloween Brandy brought Howard & Charlie down so we could go to the Albany downtown trick-or-traeting event together.

Charlie was a very cute turtle, but the effect was best while he was crawling.

Superman & Tigger.

"hey, we want our candy!"....

Silly boys!

And lastly, our friend Joseph at the ward Halloween party.

Colin's Cool Camo party

2007-11-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

Last month our buddy Colin turned 5. He had a fantastic party. Everybody came in their camo outfits and got to participate in a really great obstacle course.

Colin first demonstrated the moves for all the kids.

And then it was our turn...

Crawling through the tunnel.

Water balloon target practice.
Up the rock wall.
Scope out the terrain.

Down the slide.

Through the hoops.

Attempt a pull up & just hang around!
Through the buckets.
Monkey walk under the canopy.
A bit of bat-to-pinata combat.

He got a couple pretty good shots in.
Calvin really had the baseball stance going.
Remarkably nobody got smacked with the bat, although Kaden came pretty close a couple times. It was just so hard to wait in line for the next turn.

Snack time for the troops.

The top of the cupcake is always the first casualty.

Everybody got to take home some pretty fun party favors, too!
It was lots of fun, we can't wait to see how Debbie will top this next year!!

Portland Zoo

2007-11-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

So lets get caught up with what we have been up to the last month or so we have been on hiatus...

At the end of September Kaden & I went up to the Portland Zoo. Grama Betty went with us and we met up with Brad's sister Brandy & her husband Josh, & their two year old Howard & little Baby Charlie. Brad's brother Bryan also came, as well as my sister Amy & her husband Dave.

Cousin Howard

We thought trying on the funny hats was cute, till he thought it'd be funny to run away with it!
" What, you can't quite see the animals, let me throw you over the fence to get a better look!"

Uncle Josh, Howard & Kaden in the Safari Jeep.

Kaden trying to share his green bean snack withthe monkey.

Feeding the Lorries was the best part of the day. Bryan showed Kaden how to hold real still and let the birds eat right off your arm.

I was so impressed that he was so calm with the birds.

Kaden the Bird Wisperer!
The leopard was quite active while we were there. He would brush right up against the window.
Funny faced boys playing with sticks.

Poor little Wickett

2007-11-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Wickett has had quite a rough month. He's probably in the running for patient of the month at the Vet's office since we've spent so much time ($) there this month. So, for the record, here's the story.

It really all started a few months ago, Brad noticed that Wickett had dribbly pee. I thought maybe he had a UTI so I gave him some collodial silver in his water & didn't think much else of it. Then a few weeks ago I noticed it was still really dribbly so I did an internet search to see what that could possibly be a sign of. The results brought back a host of problems that could be a symptom of, most likely though was bladder or kidney stones or some sort of prostate problem. While doing this search I also came across The PetCheck Up site, where you can order a home urinalysis test for your pet. You can test for a whole range of problems with just a few drops of urine. I thought this was a great idea because I hate going to the vet wondering if I am wasting my time & if there is really something wrong. It is so expensive for them to even look him over, I would hate to spend $60 to have them say he's perfectly fine. So, a few days later the test came & Brad followed Wickett around one morning with a dixie cup. The test showed him in the normal ranges for just about everything, except blood in the urine... it was off the chart. So, we went straight to the vet that day. They did a few ultrasounds and determined it was bladder stones & sent us home with medicine to treat them while they awaited the lab results. The next day they called to say that the lab determined the type of stones he had, calcuim oxalate, were not medically treatable and had to either be passed or surgically removed. Waiting for him to pass them could lead to an emergency surgery in a much more delicate location if they get stuck & could be unbearably painful. So we opted for surgery the next week. The procedure was supposed to be pretty simple, open up his bladder, flush out the stones, close him up & while he was under they were going to go ahead with a dental cleaning-(they threw that in for only about $100 bucks more- we had it done last year as it's own procedure and it was over $400). Well, it didn't go quite that well. Once they got him opened up they didn't find the stones but found & removed 5 polyps from the lining of his bladder wall (likely caused from stones embedding themselves in the soft tissue). He was in so much pain, the vet almost wouldn't let him come home that night, but I assured him that he would do better at home with us then in the overnight clinic. He was on 2 different pain killers and he still was inconsolable. He couldn't really move & just laid on his blanket screaming in pain, everytime he needed to pee using those bladder muscles was excrutiating. He would try to stand and take a step and then collapse screaming and peeing all over himself. I slept on the floor with him that night & got about 2 hours of sleep...it was awful. By morning he woke up vomiting everywhere. He wasn't drinking anything and had vomited up the little bit he had eaten. So we went back to the vet & he showed me how to administer an injection of pain medication to add to the other two he was taking and they gave him sub-q fluids. This seemed to help him a little.

While I was at the vet with Wickett, Brad was at the pediatrician with Kaden. He had a suspicious looking bump on his tooshy that looked just like the staph infection he had a couple of months ago. Sure enough, the staph was back, so now I had to keep the two at arms length so Kadens staph didn't kill Wickett with his giant stomach wound. Oh yeah, & did I mention Brad was leaving for Mexico the next morning! So that weekend (the day after Brad left) I packed up my two patients & headed to my parents house. I was hoping the competition factor with my parents dog (who Wickett just adores) would be enough to trigger his appetite as it had been over 4 days since he had eaten. No luck. He was moving around a bit gingerly and drinking a little, but still no food.

Wickett still wouldn't eat the entire weekend & was clearly not getting any better with time. My sister & my mom both thought that his stomach seemed hard and swollen, but I figured that was just due to the polyp removal, & the fact that he was in a lot of pain & that it is normal to tighten your muscles when someone goes to touch you where you are hurting. We got back into town late Monday & went to the vet first thing Tuesday. The vet determined that Wickett had a a hole in his bladder that was leaking urine into his abdomen! Apparently a blood clot had formed at the incision site that prevented blood from reaching the tissue there, which caused that tissue to die & not hold the stiches. So, his not eating made sense now, his poor little body was FULL & couldn't take any more. He also mysteriously hadn't lost weight (down only 4 oz.) after not eating for 8 days. So, that made sense, too. The solution: ANOTHER SURGERY! I couldn't believe he was going to have to endure surgery all over again. I was heartsick leaving him at the vet, but it was absolutly necessary to fix this problem, immediatly. Apparently we were pretty lucky Wickett was enduring it as well as he was, if he was a Cat this would've killed him after only one day. They removed the dead tissue, found a very scary looking stone (think tiny chinese throwing star- spikey & sharp on all sides) and after relieving him of all the extra fluid he was down from 17.9 lbs. to 15.4 lbs. So another sleepless post-surgery night, and still no interest in food. He spent the entire next day at the vet being monitered, they wanted to make sure everything that was going in was also coming back out. By the time I came to get him that evening he had improved dramatically. He was walking around on his own & wagging his tail in delight to see me. Pieces of his personality that hadn't been seen in over a week. He actually watched out the window as we drove home instead of slumping down in the seat as he had been doing for the past 10 days. We had accumulated quite the arsenal of treats and favorite foods while we had been trying to get him to eat for so long so we broke them all out buffet style for him to try what he wanted & sure enough he finally had his appetite back. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see food being eaten. He didn't eat much, but it was a start. He was really weak from having pretty much been carried everywhere for so many days that he was a bit clumsy as he tried to pick up the pace outside. Attempting to run along the sidewalk the next couple of days was very wobbly looking. He had lost a lot of muscle mass and also wasn't able to jump up to his spots on the bed and couch. We had to put little stairs at the foot of our bed and crates next to the couches to give him a boost up.

It's been just over 2 weeks since he started eating again and other then still feeling pretty boney when you run your hand along his back he is back to normal. He had his stiches removed on Tuesday and hopefully it is a long while before we find ourselves back at the vet's office agian.

M. I. A.

2007-11-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

So I really am alive & well. Although we obviously have some explaining to do. Why have we been missing in action the past month? Well, to start with my laptop is not alive & Wickett has not been well. But we have remedied both these situations. As of yesterday Wickett had his last visit to the vet (for a while let's hope) & my new laptop has been ordered. So, let's get back to the business of blogging shall we!

A couple ~Good Things~

2007-10-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

Did any of you see this on Oprah today? I'm am NOT a cook, Brad is great at it and loves to do it so I am willing to support that! But, I gotta say, this was so inspiring! In Deceptively Delicious, Jessica Seinfeld created great recipes to sneak veggies & other good-for-you stuff into regular kid-approved foods. I don't have too much trouble getting Kaden to eat veggies, but as he gets older I see him getting more independent in his food choices. Plus, all the recipes are low fat and really nutritious for adults, too! She'll be on Regis & Kelly next monday (10/15), check her out.

elf makeup anyone? I learned about this deal from another blogger, (thanks Tami) but it is too good not too pass along. If you go to their website all of their makeup products are only $1. And if you put in the coupon code CAROLINA when you check out then you get half price on up to $20 dollars or just $10 off if it is more than that. I haven't tried their make-up yet, but I'm gonna now, what do you have to lose?

Rental House- Before & After

2007-10-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago we bought a rental home near the Country Club that Brad's mom rents from us. We decided it was time for a paint job so Labor Day weekend we set to work.

Before Shot:

Notice the giant bush under the window. It was growing under the siding and into the house throught the window sill. Not through the window, but actually through the joints in the window sill! Flowers could bloom IN the kitchen!

And here's how it looks now! Brad did all of the stone work himself before we started painting. He did such a great job! I'd like to put some bark mulch in the flower bed & a flower box under the small front window to set it off a bit. Other than that I think it looks pretty great!!

A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village

2007-09-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

WARNING: EXCESSIVE PHOTO POST!

So last week Debbie & I got a hankering for a fun activity to do with the munchkins. So we loaded in her van & headed up to Salem to visit the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village. I had never been there and was really impressed. It is learning-based, hands on fun!

The first stop was the munchkin-sized grocery store for some shopping & shopkeeping.

Colin sending groceries down the hand crank conveyor belt. Next was the water science room.

Inspecting a specimen.

Learning about newts & suckerfish.
On to the Asia discovery room where we painted slate tiles with water.
Colin, Janessa, & Kaden in the giant rocking chair.

Very cute Kaden sized rocking chair.
There was a dino discovery exhibit.

The bubble room was the biggest hit. You could stand on the platform below & pull a bubble up all around you.

Bubble mess was everywhere.

Kaden bit the dust twice slipping on bubbles on the astroturf floor!

Their Magesties, our own King Arthur & Princess Guinevere.

Debbie & the kiddos learning about water pumps.
Kaden wants to drive so much...
this truck was perfect for him.
Playing on the marimbas.

A giant checkers game, the kids had fun rearranging & knocking down all the cones.
It was a great way to spend a friday afternoon. The kids were practically asleep by the time we pulled out of the parking lot! Lots of fun had by all!

Killer Bee Attack!!

2007-09-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

We were out in the field behind our house today trying to plant a little cornstalk that had been growing wild in a friends yard. We thought it would be fun to transplant it and see if it would continue to grow wild corn. While I was digging a little hole for it suddenly my arm was killing me, I shouted to Brad, who was 15-20 feet away from me with Kaden, that I thought I had been stung by a bee. It really hurt and I could still hear it buzzing around me. As I was high tailing it away from where I had been squatting it was still buzzing around me, and as I got closer to Brad and Kaden suddenly Kaden started screaming. I thought maybe he was reacting to me screaming and flailing around as well as Brad who was batting at the air and trying to see if it was stuck in my hair or something. I told Brad to grab Kaden start running as it, or they, or whatever, was still buzzing around trying to get us. With Kaden sobbing we made it into the house where I removed his shirt to find this:

There are seven sting marks. Three right along his waistband and four others up his back. Whatever it was was clearly stuck in his shirt and wasn't the kind of bee that stings once and then dies (we never did actually get a look at it/them- wasp, hornet, who knows.) After a dose of baby tylenol, laying on his tummy while the baking soda paste worked its magic, and one episode of House of Mouse he was pretty much recovered. (Although I am still whining about my one sting on my arm- I can't imagine how seven must feel.)

He is posing with Grama Betty while I document his battle wounds. What a brave little guy!

(P.S.- This was no where near that hive we saw earlier this summer)

I Pity the Fool!

2007-09-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Kaden's hair has been getting pretty shaggy lately, especially in back, it was starting to curl up and look very rumpled after a nap.

So, it was time for Brad to get out the clippers and work his hairdressing magic.

When I left them Kaden looked like this,,,

This is what I got when I came back!

No, just kidding. It really is real, but I knew that was the plan all along. Kaden asks for a mohawk every night when he gets out of the tub, so we thought it would be fun to give him a real one for a while. He thinks he is pretty cool, we think so too!

Now, if only I could get Wickett to sit still at the sound of the clippers we could have twins!

Black Butte

2007-09-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the forest service was ready to evacuate Black Butte due to forest fires burning about a mile away from the homes. Lucky for us we were their the previous weekend & spent a leisurely weekend playing with the puppies and hanging out in the pool, without any fire threat!

Above is Wickett with his new summer haircut (a little late this year) and below is Harley. Harley is a Lhasa Apso also. He is the reason we have Wickett, actually. Brad fell in love with Harley, who belongs to our friends Travis & Rachel, and when Brad picked out a puppy for my birthday 4 years ago he wanted one just like Harley. So, that's how we ended up with Wickett. They are super good buddies now & love to wrestle around.
Harley sits like this when he is asking "please" for something, it's hilarious, all the way down on his bottom, I've never seen another dog do this before!

Travis' family has a house in Black Butte and they were nice enough to invite us along to their weekend getaway. They have the cutest new little baby, Jacob.

Travis, Rachel & Jacob enjoying the pool.

Kaden jumping in the pool to Brad.

He just loves to swim on his own!

After we got out the wind picked up, we bundled him up as best we could & I thought he looked just like Ariel the Mermaid in this shot!

We took some long walks around the golf courses.

Stopping to chase lots of bushy tailed squirrels along the way. Fourtunatly they were way to fast for Kaden or Wickett!

Playing on the playground...

What a cute kid, huh!?

Weekend in Central Oregon

2007-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

We recently spent the weekend in Central Oregon. While staying in Bend with Grama Pickles we got to enjoy Munch & Music at Drake Park, complete with a bouncey kingdom. Kaden was in heaven!!
He was accompanied by Erica on this bouncey adventure.
We mosied over to Prineville to enjoy the Crook County Fair & Rodeo. Alexis, Anna, Erica, and Kaden (& my mom) got up close to the action. The most exiting event was the Mutton Busting, little kids trying to hold on & ride a sheep for 8 seconds. It was hilarious, I gotta get Kaden signed up for that next year!
We got to see Uncle Dave in action. He is working as a volunteer for the Prineville Police Dept.

Action (that just means blurry) shot of Kaden trying to kiss a sheep.

Hangin' near the cows with Auntie Brittnee.
Grama & the piggies.

Kaden got to take a ride on my Dad's elk mount while it was off the wall.

I suppose this is what Kaden would look like if he was monted on the wall!

Benton County Fair

2007-08-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Kaden got to go on some big kid rides at the fair. He takes his flight skills very seriously & kept his hands on the wheel the whole time.

He even rode a roller coaster all by himself! He was pretty startled when it first started moving, but was soon smiling!

We got to see lots of horses...

A baby pygmy goat...

( I think we will have to become goat farmers some day & have a whole herd of these little pygmies, they are too cute!)

Kaden trying his hardest to fall in the goat pen.

There were even some cool reptiles, this turtle was huge!

"Future" FFA!

Kids Corral...

Wouldn't we make lovely pioneers!

Bzzz.....

2007-08-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

How scary is this!! We found this on our evening walk around the neighborhood the other night. We couldn't quite tell was living in it... and didn't want to stick around to find out! Yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, giant alien stingers? Any ideas?

July Road trip- On the way home

2007-08-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

Brad flew home after the reunion, so the rest of the trip was just Kaden & us girls. We drove home through Yellowstone saw lots of animals, buffalo & elk mostly & stopped by Old Faithful Geyser. Our timing was perfect it went off about 10 minutes after we got there. It goes off regularly about every 90-120 minutes.
We went through the super cool Old Faithful Lodge.

We stayed in Cody, Wy. & got to go to the Night Rodeo. It is runs every night during the summer months.
Anna, Erica & Alexis are in this crowd of kids. It was basically a "capture the flag" contest, with the flag being attached to a calf. It was pretty funny to watch them running around in flip-flops trying to avoid the leftover land mines!

The last stop on our trip was in Meridian, ID. at my Uncle Dan's house. They just built an amazing pool in their backyard. Complete with jumping platforms. The top platform has water that cascades off into the pool. Very cool!

July Road Trip - Reunion in Montana

2007-08-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

This is my Great Grama Cecelia, the reunion was in her honor as she turns 94 this year. She had 14 children, one died as a child, one passed just recently, and one wasn't feeling well last month. Other than that, 11 of her children and most of their families were there to spend some good family time together!
Cecelia's daughter, my Grama Pickles. Pickles daughter, my mom Donna. (And my cousin Paula's pup.)
Me & my Grama.
Kaden with my cousins Anna & Alexis, he likes to call her Ali.

Kaden playing with "Uncle" Buster, he is my Grama Cecelia's only kid at home these days!
My sister & her husband, Brittnee & Dave Halbleib.
My sister Amy...
... & her husband Dave Kramer.

While at the reunion we played alot of games. Brad & my aunt Anita are fierce Scrabble competitors, they are always trying to prove they are smarter than each other. No room for the casual Scrabble player here, so....

we played a matching game instead!
Lots of fun with stickers. A bunch of the Gramas and Moms worked on this quilt while the rest of us played, it was auctioned off at the end of the reunion. My sister Amy was the highest bidder!

It was lots of fun....

We can't wait to see everybody again next summer!

Toby and Tommy (or as Kaden says "Boobie and Homey")

2007-08-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

We call this "Lotsa Lhasas." Kaden's Grandparents got a new puppy as a companion for Toby. Toby is the Samurai in the video. Wickett can also be seen being harassed by Tommy.

July Road Trip- Glacier National Park, Montana - Continental Divide

2007-08-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

Here we are on the road to our family reunion in Havre, Montana. We drove through Glacier National Park with my Aunt Anita and cousins.

Left to Right: Anna, Alexis, Brad, Heather, Kaden, Erica (Missing: Anita)

Continental Divide : Point at which water falling on one side goes to one ocean and water falling on the other side goes to another ocean.

Top of the "Going to the Sun Road"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_National_Park_%28U.S.%29

July Road trip- Silverwood Park

2007-08-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

We made a quick stop at Silverwood Park in Coeur d' Alene on the way to our family reunion in Havre, Montana. Super fun roller coasters and an amazing water park!

(Kaden & cousin Erica)

Long day!

We love blueberries!

2007-07-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

We got to go blueberry picking this weekend out by Peavy, so yummy! Kaden was a big helper, he was in charge of quality control and therefore had to eat about every third berry that landed in the bucket. There is something almost magical about a dark blue fruit that doesn't stain!

Kaden with Brad's Mom, Grama Betty.

Silver Creek Falls

2007-07-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Robyn (Clements) Shepro and her little family, before their big move to Iowa, last week up at Silver Creek Falls. I was suprised on the way up there to hear Brad say that he had never been there before (even having grown up in Corvallis.) So it was exciting to have Brad & Kaden experiencing it for the first time. Kaden kept repeating "Whoa, big water!" I think I'd have to agree!

4th of July

2007-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

We got all dressed up and joined in the downtown Corvallis 4th of July parade with some friends. We had a great caravan of decorated wagons going. It was about a million degrees (the hottest day of the year so far), but it was really fun.

Once it got dark we went to Mama Debbie's house to enjoy a firework display with Colin and Janessa put on by the daddos. The kiddos really enjoyed all the sparkly lights and displayed some pretty funny dance moves once the popping and crackling started.

Famous on the Fourth!

2007-07-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

We were surprised with this the next day...

Wickett even got recognized at the Saturday market this weekend. A lady stopped Brad & asked him if Wickett was the puppy from the paper this week! Guess we need to start signing autographs & booking apprearances!!

Kaden's 2nd 2nd Birthday!

2007-07-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

The weekend following Kaden actually turning 2 we had a big party at our park for all the family. We had grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, a great aunt & uncle (althought they are all pretty wonderful) and even second cousins & puppy dogs there to celebrate the event.

It was a bug theme, perfect for Kaden who loves the bugs! I'm no Martha Stewart so these little creations were my shining moment! And all by myself! (Mostly, thanks mom!)

Kaden's cousin Howard joined in the bug catching activities.

He got lots of fun presents from his guests

And had fun playing at the park...

He makes his mama & papa so happy!

Playgroup Birthday Party!

2007-06-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Kaden turned 2 on June 12. He was lucky enough to get 2 birthday parties! The first was spent celebrating with our playgroup as two other kiddos were also turning 2 at the same time. Kaden made quick work of the cupcakes, although he was really only interested in eating the strawberry off the top.

Uncle Manny

2007-06-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Brad's brother Bryan & his wife Jenna just returned from 6 months in China teaching English and came to visit us this past weekend. Kaden has taken to calling Bryan "Manny" for some reason. Do you see the resemblance? Perhaps with just the right tools...

Teddy Bear Picnic!

2007-06-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the annual Teddy Bear Picnic put on by the Corvallis library. We went with some of our playgroup friends and had a great time listening to the stories being read and dancing to the silly songs. The weather was awesome & we even got a visit from a special friend!

Our playgroup friend, Janessa.

A little nervous at first...

Alright, maybe this is okay...
Hey, I love Pooh, this is awesome!

And here we are a year later...

2007-06-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last year Brad set up this blog for me to add to the ever growing list of projects that I can never seem to get around to. But this has become project week and I am finally crossing some things off my guilt laden to do list. Liberating!
For the amount of time I spend lurking on everybody else's blog ( I may even start commenting now) I certainly can come up with the time to keep up on my own.
Let's begin now, you'll know it's time to scroll the page when you hear the chimes ring like this...

2006-04-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Babies