Death to the Pinata!

Our Tae Kwon Do teacher's daughter had her birthday party last Saturday. Along with the Filipino food (which is great but I always end up feeling like the Hindenburg after consuming vast quantities of it), an absolutely wonderful fruit cake (not the gross Christmas kind but the light, fluffy kind with strawberries, mangos, and melons in it) and Tres Leche cake, there were three pinatas for the kids to destroy. Observe:

Alysa

Owen

Felix

Robee

Good times. Summer is quickly leaving my side. Sigh.

What's a Tree Hugger to do?

When it comes to helping our environment, I'm trying to be a good participant. I really am.

I drive a Prius most of the time; when I'm not, I drive 55 miles an hour to save on gas.

I recycle everything I possibly can; glass, plastic, paper, cardboard.

I yell at Ben and Thomas when I find recyclable items in the garbage.

I even switched from my wonderful, yet polluting laundry detergent to a more environmentally friendly one.

However .................... I really miss my TIDE. I've noticed my clothes aren't as clean as they used to be. I miss the wonderful smell they used to have. I know this sounds silly but I really do miss it.

I didn't realize HOW much I missed it until we took our trip to Utah.

I'm a fanatic when it comes to dirty laundry when I'm traveling. I always find a washing machine at the hotel. It helps two ways; I don't pack as much and I don't have gross laundry to do when I come home.

I decided it would be cheaper for me to buy a little detergent than to pay the hotel laundromat for their soap. I could not find (of course - I'm in Utah) an environmentally friendly detergent, so I went back to my old friend, TIDE.

Oh! TIDE!! You are so wonderful! I forgot how clean you make my clothes! How sweet you make them smell!

And so with a heavy heart, I bid farewell to ECOS, albeit friendly to the water and earth, you suck big time taking care of my textiles.

I'll change shampoo and conditioner. That should make up for it.

In Utah Again!!

Hey! We're in Utah! My niece Heidi married on Friday and Thomas is also opening another office in St. George with his friend and it was the perfect opportunity to drive to Utah to do both.

The wedding was wonderful and we weren't late! I was able to see aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in years. My aunts Pauline and Joan and Trudy have died and my uncles Earl and Darrel and Pat have also died (spouses in order with each other) and since we moved, I don't ever have a chance to see my other relatives. My father was dressed to kill in a tux but my mom, due to her ever failing health, didn't make it.

Heidi looked so happy and I'm so happy for her. She deserves this. Josh is a wonderful guy and they will have a great future.

We have eaten enough to feed a small country. I don't know if our clothes will fit us tomorrow. We've been invited by my brother (also a family member I never see) to an authentic Tongan luau. My niece Brooke is married to Vaka, who is full Tongan. He has promised much good food tonight. We'll roll into Washington on Wednesday.

We're bringing our granddaughter Alsya with us to stay for a couple of weeks before the wedding. She's excited to help with the goats and dogs and cats and pigeons (have I forgotten anything?) and then she's going to stay one night at the Evergreen Fair. She's gotten so old. I forget she's not a baby anymore.

Here is a great pic of my dad. I love my daddy. He looks great in his tux!

OUR STATE FAIR IS A GREAT STATE FAIR!

Ok. So it's not the STATE fair. But it is a Fair just the same.

It's Fair season folks: time to break out the goats and polish off those boots.

Felix attended her first fair of the year in Silvana. For those of you not familiar with our area, Silvana is a small town located southwest of our bigger (but also small town) town of Arlington. It's a bit closer to Puget Sound and has two forks of the Stilliguamish River (major river of this area) running on both sides of the town.

The fair is tiny; held only one day but it's a good place to get back into fair mind when showing goats (or whatever animal happens to be in your yard) and remembering all those things that may help you to get that coveted Overall Champion ribbon.

We have two goats now; an Angora named Lili and a Pygora named Tootsie. A pygora is a cross between an Angora and a Pygmy goat. They are small like the Pygmies but have the mohair (fiber or hair) like the Angoras.


This is what my lovely Landcruiser does now; hauls animals. This is Lili (white, horned goat) and Tootsie (black goat) riding in the back of my car on the way to fair. I'm thinking the entire time, "Please don't poop or pee in my car. Please." They must have heard me because they were angels. They actually made less of a mess than the two dogs I usually have back there.




Lili, wondering to herself, "What the Sam Hill is going on around here? Where's my grain and where are you taking me now? Am I going to be a gyro?"

Felix, receiving a Reserve Champion for Tootsie in Fit and Show. This is where you show the judge how well you and your goat get along. This is where Felix must somehow show the judge that she spends a lot of time with her beloved goat, treating her like it was her twin. This is also where Felix is really going to have to pull the "mohair" over the judge's eyes because she hasn't spent more than four days working with this goat. And Pygoras tend to be a bit stubborn and difficult to maneuver if they don't want to be maneuvered.

This Felix and her babies, going to fair. She had to sit in the back with them to keep them calm. Of course, on the way there, she fell asleep. (This is out of order I know. Sorry)

And this is me. Well not me exactly but me filming the back of my car whilst driving to the fair and singing (or screeching since it was so early) my version of "Green Acres" to the goats. I believe one of them bleated their distaste of my singing. Possible. But they're my prisoners and must listen to me sing if they want a ride in my car.

You're probably wondering how I took this video if I was driving. I'm wondering the same thing.

Happy Birthday Felix!

Today is a special day because my little girl turns 11 years old. Now I don't know what happened to the last ten years because I must have closed my eyes for a moment but I could have sworn that she was just a baby last year.

I love you Felix. You're such a great girl. I was petrified when I found out I was having a girl. I wanted us to be friends forever and I worry that we won't because sometimes moms and daughters don't get along. But I'll just keep doing things with you and trying my best to be a good mom even though some days I know I've failed miserably. Hopefully, there will be more good days than bad and you'll remember the good days when I'm long gone and remember the things that we used to do together.

Here are some times I do remember and will try to etch every moment into my brain so that I never forget ...........


Felix at four months in my tummy. If you notice, you can actually see one of her eyes.



Daddy holding Felix right after she was born. He looks tired!



Four or five days old. Lots of brown hair which quickly went away and she didn't grow any back until she was two and it was white!



About three months old visiting Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Keith. I think she was teething already! She broke five teeth soon after.




My big blue eyed girl




Felix at her two year old birthday party. She had a pony and every kid in the neighborhood came to ride that horse! All the little girls loved Felix and would beg me to let them "watch" her for me during the day. This was a huge favor to me as I was the size of a house, expecting Robee in September.







Felix, holding her new baby brother in St. George. We moved a month after he was born. She liked to help occasionally, but was never a real "mothering" type of girl. Luckily, they're best friends now.





Felix dressed as a bunny for Halloween, 1999. She loved that costume and would wear it EVERYWHERE until it finally gave out.







Felix dressed as a fairy princess. This is the costume she wore to her pre-school and won first place in her class.







Felix at five, dressed like a butterfly with Robee (three), who is dressed like Mike Wazowski for Halloween.





Thank you Felix. You have brought me such great happiness and laughter. Your antics still shuffle through my brain when I stop to think about our time together. Like the time you were three and I was getting gas and I came to check on you and somehow, you had completely undressed while still in your car seat. I'll never figure that one out.


And the fact that you were talking at nine months and by one year old, could sing "Insy Weensy Spider" -- in Spanish mind you -- by heart. By two, you were telling people in complete sentences that you wanted to be a veterinarian when you grew up. At four, you had to explain to the next door adult neighbor what an "Orcas" was because he didn't know that was the proper name for a killer whale.


You were and still are, a huge source of pride for both of us.


Love you always Feliciti.