I guess it has been a few months since I updated my blog. I am going to try to do a recap of each month.

Aug. 2010 was just horrible. My family that was visiting from Northern CA went home, and about a week after that our dog King Louie has to be put to sleep. It still makes me sad to think about it. He was such a GREAT dog. I think about him often, and whenever I see a picture of him I always smile.

Sept. 2010 Mark and I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss. We decided to go away for the weekend. We went to a cabin in Estes Park, CO. We were so lazy, we brought books, and just lazed around for two days. We had such a fantastic time. I can't wait to go back.

Oct. 2010 Mark turned 38. We were just saying the other day that we are close to 40, ugh!!

Nov. 2010 November was a great month for us. We went to UT to see the Smith family for Thanksgiving. Mark's parents, and youngest brother were also visiting. We had so much fun, we love visiting the Smith Family. We were supposed to leave on Wed. before Thanksgiving but due to a storm that was supposed to cover WY we decided to leave Tues. night. We were doing fine until we were hit by a HUGE snowstorm. It was a complete white out. I was driving and ended up in the median. We had to turn around in the middle of I-80 and exit on an on ramp. It was crazy scary, but it turned out fine, and we made it safely to UT. We were supposed to return home on Sun. but due to a storm that hit during the night we were not able to leave until Mon.

Dec. 2010 Dec. is always a busy month for us, there are many things around Denver that we want to do, and many shows that are a tradition for us to watch. Work for me is always slow, I am usually down 2-3 kids during the last two weeks of the month. I love my daycare kids, but I seem to love them more when they are not at my house!! As far as presents go, it seemed that we got all that we wanted and more.

Jan. 2011 Happy 70th birthday to my mom. On Jan. 22 my mom turned 70. I went home for a quick trip to celebrate my mom's big day. I arrived late Thurs. night, my sis-in-law picked me up in San Francisco. My brother had to work so the plan was for my nieces to sleep at my parents, and then either my parents or myself would take them to school on Fri. My youngest niece, Emily was so happy to see me on Fri. morning that she tried to play the sick card so that she could stay home from school, and hang out at my parents. She played it well, she even was crying. My mom was so worried, she called Karen and was telling her how sick Emily was, and how she should stay home. You could see the happiness on Emily's face. Karen said she should probably go to school, and if she still did not feel good she could call home, and someone would pick her up. After Karen told her to go to school, the tears really started flowing, and now not only did her stomach hurt, but her nose started to hurt as well. I quietly said to my mom that I think she might be faking. My mom was sure that she was not faking, and that she was really sick, because after all, Emily does not pretend to be sick. My mom called Karen again and told her how sick Emily was, and now her nose was bothering her, Karen said she would come down, and take the girls to school. My mom was not happy that everyone thought Emily might be faking. When Karen arrived at my parents house, the tears really started flowing. Karen told Emily to get her blanket, and bear, that if she was sick she had to go home, she would not be allowed to stay at grandma and grandpa's house. You could see the look of defeat in her little face. Amazingly enough by about 10:00 am she was fine, running around the house, almost like she had not been sick at all. The funniest part to this whole sick story is that my mom could not believe that Emily would try to trick her. My brother and I had a great time teasing my mom that she would have never allowed that when we were kids.

Feb. 2011 Mark and I decided that it might be time to get another dog. We were so sad after Louie died, that another dog did not sound like a good idea, we did not want another dog, we only wanted Louie back. We decided that it might be time to get a dog. We found a dog that seemed like would be a good fit for our family. We now have Lord Byron. His name was originally Irin, but we did not like that, so we changed it to Byron. We felt like he needed a title, but in no way could he be compared to King Louie. So Lord Byron it is. He is a med. size dog. At the shelter they were not sure what his breed might be, and they wanted to know if he was part pit bull. The shelter did a DNA test and it turns out he is boxer, bulldog, corgi, schnauzer. It seems like a strange combination, but he seems to be a pretty good dog. Hopefully I will post some pictures soon.

March 2011 Well, I have put it off long enough, in my attempt to procrastinate, I have even updated my blog, I need to start working on my taxes. Wish us luck that we do not have to pay a huge amount!!