Journey

Happiness is a Journey, not a destination.


Namaste.

Friday, September 30, 2011

In Memory of Cosette July 31, 2000 to September 30, 2011

From February 2011


We got Cosette when Kyle was 18 months old.  We wanted a small, in house pet for Kyle, and I've always loved cats.  We went to a rescue operation, and when all the kittens were placed around Kyle, Cosette immediately came over to him and started climbing on him.  We knew she was the one.  She was always Kyle's cat, she slept with him almost every night for many years, until the last 6 months when she couldn't jump on his bed anymore.  She was really good with all our kids...she tolerated a lot, and when she was done, she would nip at the kids, but she almost never broke the skin.  She was our attack cat, she liked the family, but would hiss at anyone else...and in her younger years she used to chase the babysitters up the stairs. 

Last April, she started not doing very well.  She had a couple of seizures, and I thought we were going to have to put her to sleep.  The Vet  thought it was an infection, and gave her an antibiotic.  He also told us that she needed to lose weight (we knew), and prescribed weight loss food.  I wanted to give her more time, so we bought it.  She lost at least 10 lbs, and for awhile did better, but this month, she started looking not so good.  She couldn't jump up to her favorite place on the couch anymore, we had to lift her.  She couldn't always make it up the stairs, or to her litter box in time.  Cole traveled the 3rd week of September, and there was one day she looked so bad, I thought she was going to die while he was gone.  She waited for him to come back however. 
The last week of September, she only came upstairs until Wednesday.  Thursday she stayed in the exact same spot most the day, curled on a blanket in the basement.  I got in the habit of checking on her any time I went downstairs for anything.  Friday, after lunch, when I went downstairs, I glanced over to her "spot"...and I knew it was over.  I wrapped her body in a towel, and then I had to tell the boys.  We all cried.  She was an amazing cat, and we will miss her a lot. 

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Family Time...

My family has a tradition of going up to Strawberry Reservoir to see the salmon spawning...they swim upstream, bright pink/red, against all odds, to get to where they think they'll lay their eggs...(only to have them collected by the Fish and Game people).  The past couple of years we've missed it for various reasons, so when my dad found out they were running, he quickly arranged a family road trip...

It was past naptime when we left, so it only took about 10 minutes for this girl to be out for the count...
From September 2011


The boys found ways to occupy themselves on the drive..
From September 2011


And then, I made my husband irritated by using the self time to get some pics of the 2 of us...
From September 2011

At least none of the faces or obscene gestures he made got captured on camera :)

We arrived, and started to look around...unfortunately we  missed the peak time, but we still saw a bunch...
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011


Logan...
From September 2011


I managed to capture this one jumping the last hurdle on "film"
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011


It seems so simple, but I  love watching them struggle to get past the current, some of them even trying to jump the wood barrier...and I cheered every time one made it.  I actually saw quite a few make it over...and a few get sucked back down as well...

From September 2011


In the collection facility...
From September 2011

From September 2011


My family stood on this bridge forever, throwing grasshoppers off to get the big cutthroat trout to come to the surface...I'll admit, it was fun to watch!
From September 2011


The colors are turning up in Heber...I can't wait til they start down here!
From September 2011


After we saw the salmon, my dad treated us all to dinner at The Hub in Heber.  It was pretty yummy.  It was fun to spend the afternoon with my family. 

Saturday, September 24, 2011

It's time for Frightmares!

Frightmares opened last weekend.  I worked on opening night, but Cole and the kids went with his mom and some friends who totally DITCHED me (they were supposed to join our whole family on Saturday night, but decided to go Friday night when I was working instead).

So our family headed down all together on Saturday night...

The kids...
From September 2011


Nightwalk...the newest "Fright"
From September 2011

From September 2011


It was pretty good, but not as scary as I expected from all the hype. 

Talia's "I'm scared" face
From September 2011


Me and my sweetheart...
From September 2011

and my other sweetheart...
From September 2011


Showing me her brave muscles..
From September 2011


Going through Scary and Crow's Straw Maze..
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011


Kyle was pretty exhausted from his overnight backpacking trip the night before, so he chilled with Cole and Talia in kiddie land, while Alec and I hit some coasters...
From September 2011

Took this shot right as we came up after the first hill on the Roller coaster...
From September 2011


The chainsaw gang...
From September 2011

From September 2011


It's that time of year...it's finally in the air!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

"Inside the Lines"

The other day, Talia was coloring while I was digi-scrapping.  She looked at me with a light on her face, and said, "Look Mom, I'm not scribbling! I'm coloring between the lines!"

From September 2011

From September 2011


Such concentration...
From September 2011


I asked her who told her she was scribbling (because we never have worried about it, we don't want to stifle our kids' creativity), and she told me a couple of her friends at school.  I think it's great she's mastered this skill, but a little sad too...

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A trip to the Aquarium

We were down in South Salt Lake, and decided to take the opportunity to go to the Living Planet Aquarium.  Kyle was being moody and didn't want to join us, so it was just Me, Cole, Alec, and Talia.  We had a really fun time...

At the Sting Ray pool...
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

Talia loves touching the rays, but Alec is a little timid...

I love his expression...
From September 2011


Playing...
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011


We enjoyed the shark tank...
From September 2011


And how cool are these frogs? 
From September 2011

From September 2011


Conversations with an electric eel...
From September 2011

and a turtle...
From September 2011


From September 2011

From September 2011


And then, I got these SWEET jellyfish pics...I love my camera!
From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011


Fun times...