Everyone needs a friend

Hawkeye has become one of the family.   He likes to cuddle which is nice for all of us.  It was intresting, when the kids were sick he would lay right by them and watch out for them.   We do have a few issues but the good outweighs the bad and we are glad we have him.   
         We have a neighbor with 2 labs.  The younger lab and hawkeye will stand on each side of the chainlink fence and play.  They are so funny to watch.  If I see the lab out there I tell Hawkeye his friend is out and wants to know if he can play. 
         Have any of you seen the movie UP.  It is so cute!!   Hawkeye is like the dogs on that movie.  If he sees a squirrel, his total attention is on the squirrel and trying to catch it.  Yesterday, he saw one climb down the tree and he was standing oh so still and then bang, off he went.  And he can run really really fast.  He ran after the squirrel and ran into a branch of a bush.  His front stopped but not his back.  It was funny.......   
          The squirrels loved our pumpkins.  We grew some in our garden.  We grew some tiny ones.  We stacked them and some big ones in the front yard in a nice display.  The little ones were disappearing.  Don thought maybe the squirrels.  I thought okay but those are kinda big for a squirrel.  Then I saw one through my kitchen window.  The squirrel grabbed one and took off.  I was so amazed.  I guess we have done our part in helping our squirrels survive the winter.  After the small ones were gone they started in on the big ones.  We ended up putting the eaten ones in the backyard.  Stephen put them by the bathroom window that doesnt have a screen.  Then he would leave the window part way open and watch the squirrels while he held hawkeye.  Then he would let hawkeye go so he could get the squirrel.  Hawkeye never got one thank goodness, but i guess came close.  It didnt take the squirrels very long to figure it out. 

Grandma Bear visits 10/09

                            These are from when Grandma Bear was visiting.  The big silver thing is called the Bean.  It is some modern art thingy that cost a whole heck of a lot of money.  At least we can get cool pictures by it.   I love the trees and the colors of the leaves. 

Hyrum's cross country meet 2009

Don said this is a meet that Hyrum did not do very well at.  I guess he was not feeling well.  I thought you would like to see the corn fields and etc.  He really does like to run. 
       Right now Hyrum is playing basketball.  He wants to get the 4 sport award.  So he did cross country, now he is doing basketball, then wrestling and then track.  He will do shot put and disc.   I am not sure if he really likes basketball.  He says he stinks and really doesnt want us to go and watch him.  I have decided he is just doing basketball to get the award at the end of the year.  He has never played basketball and they only practice twice a week.  So I know if he had more practices and exposure to it he might like it better.

Nauvoo oct 2009 w/Smiths

When went over to Nauvoo but it was so so cold.  We did go to the gunsmith which the boys really liked.  David and Dad would love it.  They had a lot of different guns on display.

clothespin dolls

I think I have the picture thing figured out now.  wow!!  The pictures are not the greatest.  There is a glare on them. 

I have been having fun making these dolls.  I tried to attach some other pictures but they didnt come up.  I will have to try again.  I dont understand what it is doing.  It is so frustrating!

our oct. 2009 trip to see the Smith's

Carrots

These are carrots we grew. The red ones are a little disappointing. We thought they would be red all the way through, no just the skins. So if you cut them with the skins on them then they look cool. We thought this looked like a bouquet of flowers.

Blogging

Don has been trying to figure out this blogging stuff. He has been trying to post somethings. He has been having a hard time with it. I was surprised he hadnt posted any football or cross country pictures.
The problem is I am not much help. Maybe we will figure this our before too long. I am going to see if I can post some pictures.

Dwarf Sunflowers in our garden growbox

Garden Recycling

I found an old power pole with antique glass insulators along an abondoned rail road right of way in Chicago. I had a brainstorm about how to reuse it.

It was really hard to clean the insulators but, once clean they are really pretty.

Summer Color

This summer has been really mild. We really just started to water about three weeks ago. After a long, snowy winter it is great to be out in the yard. The consistantly deep snow cover really did wonders for the plants especially, the perennials.

People in Chicago always complain about the winter. They just forget about the pay back in summer. Besides, If it is cold one can always bundle up. When it is hot, once your naked there is not much more you can do to get comfortable!

Number Six is now Baptised

Clara VerJean had her 8Th birthday on June 5Th. Summer birthdays rock! Poor Emma gets the shaft every year! She has to share her special day with the savior of the world. No contest who is going get all the attention. Of course, it is her own fault! She just had to be born a month early. To top it off, she mistook the umbilical cord for a bungee cord and jumped over the edge yelling Yeee Hawwww!

Anyway, back to Clara. She had a special day with lots of friends and family in attendance. Her aunt Liz made her beautiful baptismal dress.

Stephen's Graduation

Stephen's graduation was really nice. The choir sang which he is a part of so I circled him so you can find him. Or you could play Where is Stephen. It was suppose to be outside but it was raining so they had it inside. But by the time we got out it was really nice. Hyrum and I were an hour early so we got to listen to the band play. They are great. It was really a nice day.

Congratulations Stephen!!!!