The Family

Here we are, almost the entire family. We're missing a couple of cousins who couldn't make it to the memorial service and Gee-pop, who passed in October of 2007. And Dad. We're missing Dad.

Daddy's Little Girl

No Place Like Home

Tuesday, the pups and I headed west to visit the family for several days. We stayed at the cabin at Dad’s, which was great, because it meant we had privacy and a place for the pups to run. It rained all day Wednesday, so we just hunkered down for the day. I read, the pups slept, and during dry spells we’d go outside for a quick walk. We visited Mom and Ronnie on Thursday, and Ganna on Friday. Saturday, Josh, his family and Ganna came out to Dad’s for lunch. The kids are cute, but wow, they’re loud and energetic. We were all exhausted by the time they headed home. The pups and I were very happy to come home Sunday. It’s a toss-up as to who was happier, me or Reyna. The poor girl stopped at the truck every time we walked past it, clearly asking if we could go home.

We did have a bit of excitement Saturday night. The pups and I were walking back up to the cabin when Reyna cornered a possum. It was hissing at her, and as I was grabbing her collar to pull her away, Duncan swooped around from behind, snatched up the possum, shook it twice and then tossed it off to the side. He then looked at me and gave me a big doggy grin. Naturally, I told him he was a very good boy. I checked the possum, and I’m pretty sure Duncan didn’t actually kill it (although I didn’t actually check for a pulse). There was no blood and no obvious puncture wounds, just a lot of slobber. Its possible Duncan snapped its neck or back, but his death shake has always been more disorienting than fatal… Sunday morning, there was no sign of the possum, so it either got up and ran away when the coast was clear, or a coyote ate it without leaving a trace. My guess is that it “played possum” until we left, then ran home, thanking the possum gods that it got away with minimal damage.

Country Throwdown

Friday¸ (brother) John and I went to the Country Throwdown at Walnut Creek. Starting about 2:30, there were 8 different bands performing. The headliners were Montgomery Gentry, and they put on a great show. It was plenty warm, although not miserable, for most of the concert. About 9:30, though, the temp started to drop. I’d been seeing lightening off in the distance for a while, and we could see where it looked like it was raining a good distance away. Shortly after 10, it started raining just a bit and the wind picked up. About 10:30, the skies opened up and dumped right on us. Montgomery Gentry finished shortly before 11, and John and I had to slog our way through some deep water to get to the vehicle. The parking lots were starting to flood, and at one point we were walking through water that was up to my ankles.


Upside – great concert, lots of fun. Downside – I now have a cold.

Christmas Travels - Part 1

I was scheduled to work a closing shift at the kennel on Christmas Eve, and a split shift (opening and closing) on Christmas Day, but I managed to get the 20th through the 23rd off, so I headed west to visit family. The pups traveled with me, and John checked on Niko and the cats while we were gone. During the trip, we covered 635 miles and I took 486 photos. Yep, 486. It took me a bit to get them all checked and cropped, but that task is finally done. Have no fear, I won’t be posting them all at once...

My first stop on Sunday was at my brother Josh's house. They'd had a party for his patrol squad the night before and Peyton was up most of the night with an upset tummy, so everyone was a bit groggy. I didn’t stay too long, since I wanted to get to Dad’s before dark, but it was nice to see the family. Before we left, everyone went outside to see the pups playing in the back yard.

Stephanie, Cooper, Josh, and Peyton

Monday, I went to Rutherfordton to spend several hours with Ganna. We had a lovely visit, catching up on the last several months. Ganna made me two of my favorites – seasoned oyster crackers and my very own cherry pie. Yummy! The pups spent their time on Ganna’s back deck and didn’t seem too upset at not being allowed in the house. Their main concern was just being able to check on me through the windows occasionally.



I spent Tuesday in Forest City with Mom and Ronnie. Poor Mom had to sit and go through a bunch of pictures from the 70s and 80s with me, trying to remember who some of the people were. She held up nicely, though. Mom and Ronnie gave the pups a bag of tennis balls, the cats a bag of food, and Niko a couple of treat sticks. The animals were all very pleased with their gifts. Both pups also enjoyed running around Mom’s extremely large back yard.

Mom and me

Wednesday was a quiet, non-driving day at Dad’s. The pups and I went out walking several times during the day, and it actually occurred to me to have Dad get a picture of the three of us. I’m still surprised that even crossed my mind. Sadly, what didn’t cross my mind was getting any pictures of Dad and Krysti together, but with luck my cousin, Miriam, will send me some from the family’s get-together on Christmas Eve. I did managed to get one of Reyna relaxing near Dad while he was loading firewood…



Christmas Eve morning, I left Dad’s bright and early so I could stop by Ganna’s house for breakfast before driving back to Raleigh. I did that so I could see my Uncle Newt, Aunt Susan, Miriam, and her husband, Buck. They arrived in Rutherfordton last Wednesday evening.

Newt, Ganna, Susan

Me, Miriam, Buck

Me and Ganna

I was only able to visit with them for a couple of hours before I had to get on the road. Traffic was heavy coming back, but I arrived home in time to unpack the truck, have lunch, and get to the kennel on time.

Visit

Dad and Krysti came for a brief visit this past weekend. It was really good to see them, especially since its been a while (last Christmas, I think, but its been a very blurry year, so I make no guarantees). We went to the Farmer’s Market Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect for that sort of thing, and the place apparently wasn’t nearly as crowded as it typically is in the morning.


Dinner Saturday was at Outback (always yummy!). Its nice to see that Dad and Krysti are finally eating dinner at a reasonable hour. I still have traumatic flashbacks to late night dinners, especially one with a Colonel Fink as another guest and we didn’t sit down to start eating until nearly 11:00pm. *shudder*

Sunday morning was an Excel lesson for Krysti, and then we met John and Amy at Perkins for lunch. Nothing like talking about convicts and criminals over Sunday lunch… Dad and Krysti headed back home shortly after lunch. The visit was the perfect length – not too short, and most importantly, not too long! And the really nice thing is that I can say that and Dad and Krysti won’t be offended.

Coop

This is Coop, not yet 24 hours old.

And here he is with his big sister, Peyton.

Welcome To The World

My nephew, Joshua Cooper, joined the family last night at 10:58pm. He is 8lbs 1oz, and 21 inches long. He was 18 days early, but there weren't any complications. Mom and baby are both doing great. Happy birth day, Coop!

Some Exciting News

Josh and Stephanie are expecting a baby in late August/early September. Josh called Friday and said that the ultrasound showed just one baby (not the twins or triplets that I thought would be really fun). They’ll find out if it’s a boy or girl in about eight weeks. Peyton really wants a little sister, though.

Picture Time

This is one of the portraits John and I had taken right before Thanksgiving. These are the first professional pictures of the two of us since I was a year old.

Peyton Marie

This is my niece at her 1st birthday party last September. You can tell we’re related, because she clearly loves her cake icing. She’s the daughter of my brother, Josh, (the middle of the half-siblings), and his wife, Stephanie. Peyton has definitely reached the point where she is an entertaining child. And she can be freakishly cute (no, I still don’t want one). She and Josh are currently working out who’s really in charge. He’s tough, but my money is on her. Watching him tell her to not drop something, and then her deliberately throwing that item, is absolutely hilarious. I’m hoping that when I’m visiting with my best friend in February, I’ll be able to stop by and introduce Reyna and Peyton. Steph said Peyton’s been around big dogs, so Reyna shouldn’t scare her. And we all know how much Reyna adores small children.