tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89701765050868842132024-03-05T07:07:31.884-08:00Woodbury WorldIt May Not Be Exciting...But It's All We Have!The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-10169650622382628252016-09-11T20:19:00.001-07:002016-09-11T20:30:46.972-07:00A Tribute to Dee Dee<span style="font-family: "calibri";">During Mom’s year-and-a-half stint with illness, there were
several times that she ended up in the hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About a year before she died, she was in the
hospital in Weatherford with pneumonia, and she was pretty sure that this was
going to be the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she shared some
thoughts with me at that time – things that she wanted to make sure that the
family would know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also basically
planned her own funeral service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
told me that she wanted “one of those DVD’s that has music and pictures in it”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me that in addition to pictures <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">from</i></b>
her life, she also wanted some pictures that represented the three most
important things <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in</i></b> her life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God,
family, and love of country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that
time, she only wanted three songs: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“ You’ll
Never Walk Alone”, “I Believe”, and “America the Beautiful”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strangely, enough, about two weeks before she
actually passed, when the rest of us were thinking that she was actually
starting to get better, she told me that she wanted to add a song to her music
line-up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted to include “Elusive
Butterfly (Of Love)” by Boots Randolph.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For Mom’s funeral, I ended up giving her eulogy and I tried
really hard to convey the thoughts of her heart with everyone there:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The first thing that she wanted everyone to know was that
she had a strong faith in God and believed that Jesus Christ was her savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though she did not go to church, I know
from personal experience that she did talk to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t count how many times she would come
toddling out of her bedroom and then tell me that she had been praying for
someone…usually whichever kid or grandkid or great-grandkid was having a tough
time, or for someone who might be traveling and in need of extra
protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the hospital that day she
said that she hoped that each one of us would be able to find the comfort and
strength that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The second thing that meant the most to her was her family;
we truly were her whole world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom
always loved you, even when you didn’t deserve it; and Mom was always there for
you, even when you didn’t deserve it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know that she was there for me even when no one else was, and I will always be
so very grateful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the grandkids
seemed to agree that she had the ability to make you feel like you were the
most important person in the whole world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of Alan’s greatest joys was to go spend about a week with Mom in the
summer, and that was the only reason he was not thrilled at first when she
moved in with us – he was going to lose his “summer place” and his time alone
with Dee Dee!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was that Mom that
would give up the last piece of cake if you wanted it, or even give you the
shirt off her back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The woman loved her
family.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The third thing that meant the most to her was her country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She loved her country and was very proud of
the fact that she was a veteran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
that her being a veteran was not only a great source of pride for her, but it was
also her identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her later years
she was very interested in politics, and there were days that she spent a good
deal of the morning on the phone, calling her senator or congressman to let
them know what was going on and what she thought about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she would come out to the kitchen and
proudly announce, “Well, I’ve done my activism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I need some tea!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
wondered why she was so consumed with politics (she watched Fox News <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all
day long</i></b>), and it wasn’t until after she had died that it hit me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her own way, she was still doing her part
to defend the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if she
couldn’t wear the uniform any more, she could still do her part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom was military until the end, and even
after – she chose to be buried at the Veterans’ Cemetery in Killeen, Texas,
beside her fellow vets.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mom got the video she wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again, my brother-in-law, Don, came
through. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could not have done a better
job!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is absolutely beautiful and does
a wonderful job of capturing who Mom was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you would like to watch it (it’s about 9 minutes long), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ows1fzdhu103juj/My%20Life.mpg?dl=0">click here</a>.</u></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVdgOwbVO0B9xZwvlWD2dgT178Nzw0qx77Gr_TUSsJBY8q8QzypSssDiZyWxQwDLspngq90_jKYyzFZ7Z22BCwrbK-KS8ejD0AmDQQoTMk3jrNKqHzRDuFEiQzTCqWMU8dMNkQd1X0_Y/s1600/Dee+Dee+Military.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVdgOwbVO0B9xZwvlWD2dgT178Nzw0qx77Gr_TUSsJBY8q8QzypSssDiZyWxQwDLspngq90_jKYyzFZ7Z22BCwrbK-KS8ejD0AmDQQoTMk3jrNKqHzRDuFEiQzTCqWMU8dMNkQd1X0_Y/s640/Dee+Dee+Military.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-15025755586042492722016-09-04T17:08:00.002-07:002016-09-04T17:17:41.259-07:00Special Words<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within just hours of Mom's passing, my brother-in-law, Don, had the most special gift for my sister and me...a poem that he wrote, superimposed on a beautiful picture that he had taken. Don may have written the poem, but it is as if my mother had spoken through him. I have read this poem countless times, and it brings me comfort each and every time that I read it. I count it among my treasures, and now I would like to share it with the rest of the world:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbyDr1HZDLzPpNb7MDpkBkf00uhc9NCjz-TBGFf0Ivmszg_31l1HtQ2CFUoR_2dZy8vshj9IRzf22EUw4pSjz7q7NfQZqMzW3BdIn-FgG0-dbrgzX_ULxif_nLdqZoFg_7tGNdlU_y-8/s1600/DeeDee_Milky_Way.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbyDr1HZDLzPpNb7MDpkBkf00uhc9NCjz-TBGFf0Ivmszg_31l1HtQ2CFUoR_2dZy8vshj9IRzf22EUw4pSjz7q7NfQZqMzW3BdIn-FgG0-dbrgzX_ULxif_nLdqZoFg_7tGNdlU_y-8/s640/DeeDee_Milky_Way.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-34036790223646578742016-09-04T17:08:00.000-07:002016-09-04T17:08:02.096-07:00Broken<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It has been over two years since I have felt like writing…and
it has been a very long two years, filled with sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the time has come to share stories once
again, and I am hoping that the times to come will be filled with tales of
happiness and joy once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
first, I must remember our last two years…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You may remember Robert’s sister, Susan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had been fighting cancer off and on
throughout the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all so
delighted when she was able to attend her oldest son’s wedding in March 2014!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Susan, with Paisley and Grandma Lynda:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnqmJbwUQwzCl2jjLoAKo1pZ2SuIlK0tramZ5fsatsS4VLNUfMAbU49PzBjHxKjU9YAt6G3dRGrS8J0C4P03hS1Yik_dg72xMp_xyk6zs-E4FwpuFYvQmMvZqMeJJvnPE7hewqIUjTQA/s1600/BROKEN01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnqmJbwUQwzCl2jjLoAKo1pZ2SuIlK0tramZ5fsatsS4VLNUfMAbU49PzBjHxKjU9YAt6G3dRGrS8J0C4P03hS1Yik_dg72xMp_xyk6zs-E4FwpuFYvQmMvZqMeJJvnPE7hewqIUjTQA/s640/BROKEN01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I am so sad to say that on August 17, 2014, Susan lost her
battle with cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Everyone is </span>grateful that
she lived long enough to see her son married and happy, and to see her first
grandchild (by another son), and to see her daughter (the last child at home) graduate from high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being said, she was not even out of her
forties yet, and she still had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so much</i></b> living to do!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her absence will be felt forever by those who
loved her and many hearts are indeed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">broken</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Susan loved to write poetry (and was quite good!), and the
poem that was shared at her funeral certainly sums up Susan and her philosophy
on life:</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PLI7jDdvAYzRe8fGNlkDj46XNgHXlNRYB-eYPY_WmirxrxD9UAVFMpImqRFWaBlM5iQYKWmKo9yngRAvfvDs7LBFgC3tpcLHzVvORm42hVsQo0s66FpqAX3Axwq4dTdAYNbRsBvNOjM/s1600/BROKEN02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PLI7jDdvAYzRe8fGNlkDj46XNgHXlNRYB-eYPY_WmirxrxD9UAVFMpImqRFWaBlM5iQYKWmKo9yngRAvfvDs7LBFgC3tpcLHzVvORm42hVsQo0s66FpqAX3Axwq4dTdAYNbRsBvNOjM/s640/BROKEN02.jpg" width="460" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">During this time, Mom had been feeling better than she had
in awhile, and that girl was wanting to take a trip!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and I had actually planned on going to
Yellowstone to see Alan, but we had delayed our trip when it became apparent that
Susan was not doing so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some
time had passed, we were going to give it another shot, but suddenly Mom was
having trouble walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was sure
that it was a really bad case of arthritis flare, but she wasn’t getting any
better, so on August 28, 2014, Robert and I drove her to see her doctor at the
VA hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the doctor was shocked when the
X-ray came back – the woman had been hobbling around on a broken leg:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYYDOAm0Js7cp4F0xFJ7ifVu_WItMfXfqi0Uo5hHRoD50CeC__WMc8T1e-fBK3FiKYiMMWd7GHYhrgLRMRixfF9UTelUSr1NgFKCMciPNPGuzqMocK-d56ZofDRdUJrYlzF_ZFwfE6q8/s1600/BROKEN04_NEW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYYDOAm0Js7cp4F0xFJ7ifVu_WItMfXfqi0Uo5hHRoD50CeC__WMc8T1e-fBK3FiKYiMMWd7GHYhrgLRMRixfF9UTelUSr1NgFKCMciPNPGuzqMocK-d56ZofDRdUJrYlzF_ZFwfE6q8/s640/BROKEN04_NEW.jpg" width="524" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was such a shock because Mom had not fallen, she had not
bumped her leg, and there was no traumatic event that we could think of to explain
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her leg had just spontaneously
BROKEN!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">She was sent to a local hospital for surgery – the VA said
they weren’t equipped to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A metal
rod was inserted and the pins were in place:</span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjztGe33wwArbsn-_D1pMedLeI9O_FxOml4Reu1p4P1k4rlyi2Tam2DRDeupUgnV7Og8Wn0xkKOQYvioGuRAQHyRDwSvwoed3Haf5aj-zvMslfvcjt7d957MgFIUX96G1BJQckLAqwcAM/s1600/BROKEN05_NEW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjztGe33wwArbsn-_D1pMedLeI9O_FxOml4Reu1p4P1k4rlyi2Tam2DRDeupUgnV7Og8Wn0xkKOQYvioGuRAQHyRDwSvwoed3Haf5aj-zvMslfvcjt7d957MgFIUX96G1BJQckLAqwcAM/s640/BROKEN05_NEW.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mom was sent to a facility for about 13 days of rehab, and
then she came home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once she was here,
she complained that it really hurt, and she was not healing as well as we
hoped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I took her for her 6-week
checkup, the X-ray told the story:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Two of the screws had backed out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only later that doctors determined
that her bones were just like potato chips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surgery was done the very next day, and we were hopeful that this
recovery would “take”, but unfortunately it was just the beginning of her
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Infections of all types,
pneumonia, and just general ill health followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her health was so bad that it was determined
that she needed to be in a nursing home instead of coming back with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all so disappointed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There were times that she had some really bad infections
that were highly contagious, so she did not want us to come see her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those times were the hardest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there were also stretches of time that
she was clear, and she was more than happy to see us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did what we could to bring some measure of
happiness and joy into her life, but I don’t think that anything that we did
could ever make up for her not being home in her own little room…toddling out
to the kitchen to make some tea now and then.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Still, that woman fought!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were at least five times that she was so sick that both her family
and her doctors were sure than she would not survive…and yet, she did!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were so many miracles!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, on a Sunday morning, May 29 of this
year, Mom was having to wear the bi-pap mask constantly just to breathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the mask she told the nurse, “I want
to go home.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">“Do you mean your house or the nursing home?” the nurse
asked.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mom pointed up to the ceiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do you mean Heaven?” the nurse asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mom said, “Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell
my daughters.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The nurse called me and I hurried over...Robert came, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sister lived further away, so it took a
little longer for her to get there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Mom waited, though, </span>and within 30 minutes of having us all there, Mom
slipped away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked to her, sang to
her, and held her hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched the
machines that were monitoring her vital signs count down, and I knew the exact
moment that she was gone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was so very, very sad, yet so very peaceful, all at the
same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This woman, who had fought so
hard and had overcome so much, had decided it was time…she most definitely went
out on her own terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I am so
sad for us, I am actually comforted by the fact that I am so happy for
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her last year-and-a-half on Earth
was so miserable, and I can only be glad that she doesn’t have to endure all of
that any more.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Still, I will miss her forever, and our house is just not
the same…</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-39203361827542392452014-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:002014-08-10T19:21:12.812-07:00Happy Birthday, Fox!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, we had the joy of attending a party to celebrate
the 1<sup>st</sup> birthday of our sweet little guy, Fox. He’s Lolee’s little buddy:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATz7VfjkQRnvwYVlGdHSpnrTIcesCrES34L23BQpmquZT251LKXdpbPNDlvVTLk0yDYFc5Jh7_EhF2FYV0ETuXVHTCZ96OvRCbThbFd-Or17QzvAvi0wzS4y1ToVcruCK2vNmul2USKU/s1600/FOXBDAY01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATz7VfjkQRnvwYVlGdHSpnrTIcesCrES34L23BQpmquZT251LKXdpbPNDlvVTLk0yDYFc5Jh7_EhF2FYV0ETuXVHTCZ96OvRCbThbFd-Or17QzvAvi0wzS4y1ToVcruCK2vNmul2USKU/s1600/FOXBDAY01.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy, ever the clever party planner, knew that this was probably the only year that
she could get by with doing a woodland animal theme, and I think that she did
the most incredible job! Her decorations
were just as cute as could be:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, truly, there were woodland animals <b><i>everywhere:<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the food made me feel like I was in a wooded
wonderland:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, there were presents, and Fox really got into
opening them. He had a great time:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was birthday cake…</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…Which my little buddy certainly enjoyed!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAqcHUaihru8OybOTjjhYq_S1Ly6QCu-YikSACIRrR_azYfSUtmfosHm__2_M22_wVxH0ETz4dXOX0cox-Q5ilyDLMLnhykMMAAtoW8pQaJbExfcbJo_PrMCkjSnVT0lnosjm7TCDQt8/s1600/FOXBDAY21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAqcHUaihru8OybOTjjhYq_S1Ly6QCu-YikSACIRrR_azYfSUtmfosHm__2_M22_wVxH0ETz4dXOX0cox-Q5ilyDLMLnhykMMAAtoW8pQaJbExfcbJo_PrMCkjSnVT0lnosjm7TCDQt8/s1600/FOXBDAY21.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can’t believe that a whole year has gone by…Fox certainly has grown. He’s walking now, which
means that his mother spends most of her days just trying to keep him from
jumping off of the hearth and chairs and such.
He can say a few words, including “book” – he finally <b><i>likes</i></b>
to have someone read to him. He’s all
boy – climbing curtains, banging things on the furniture, and roaring and
screeching and generally being noisy. He
even roars and screeches when he is perfectly happy. I have an idea that rearing him over the next
several years is going to be quite the adventure for Mandy and Jeromy. ..</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluLmnOZpnTdnzBhTuylWjHqLov0Vq_jOD4YwIkMpKGfy4FN_kttmE-N9uqOI-ezyz9loNQHJViJSvwrYq8imkzahnNrErZBOnABrUMHQqzGKa_Z9S-NNp9xMx7d9Z6zdAz0LPgR3VMEc/s1600/FOXBDAY22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluLmnOZpnTdnzBhTuylWjHqLov0Vq_jOD4YwIkMpKGfy4FN_kttmE-N9uqOI-ezyz9loNQHJViJSvwrYq8imkzahnNrErZBOnABrUMHQqzGKa_Z9S-NNp9xMx7d9Z6zdAz0LPgR3VMEc/s1600/FOXBDAY22.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with a face like this…</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ8-QxIEJI_ZaxltYjRv9pC2m_G3WYel58-VaP5TSw8MdkMBcSuth4_jlCIurrQyU93UCMZaF6qNaNLYVLzFniuQ8JKOvXa2yM5i5BfmEtn3y3Jq5KiajxlGGAE6E13dQrPcPOM5wqQs/s1600/FOXBDAY23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ8-QxIEJI_ZaxltYjRv9pC2m_G3WYel58-VaP5TSw8MdkMBcSuth4_jlCIurrQyU93UCMZaF6qNaNLYVLzFniuQ8JKOvXa2yM5i5BfmEtn3y3Jq5KiajxlGGAE6E13dQrPcPOM5wqQs/s1600/FOXBDAY23.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…They can’t help but love every minute of it!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-38092935843303030652014-06-01T18:48:00.000-07:002014-06-01T18:48:13.645-07:00Jake and Jessica – A Happy Day!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier in the year, we received this “save the date” card,
mounted on a magnet (how smart is that?):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZxiBOPZFIpEXvmqYmzqAIuou_nyUociEh1gqmn5RRkTWMRGfWZSbLh0fhyucp-ZouN8p8qfDa4wmm-bDJg2oMZ5KdEc3_pMVQ21eV9rT258bJMYXhKwl0OL7ZCiC_uPHdUx5jvtN3Qs/s1600/JAKE02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZxiBOPZFIpEXvmqYmzqAIuou_nyUociEh1gqmn5RRkTWMRGfWZSbLh0fhyucp-ZouN8p8qfDa4wmm-bDJg2oMZ5KdEc3_pMVQ21eV9rT258bJMYXhKwl0OL7ZCiC_uPHdUx5jvtN3Qs/s1600/JAKE02.jpg" height="640" width="556" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jake is Robert’s nephew, the oldest of the Mayo clan. Alan was home during this time, and since
Nestlé was still with us at the time and we needed someone to be home to keep
an eye on things, I had a little begging to do.
Alan had wanted to go to the wedding, too, but was kind enough to step
back and let me be the one to go with Robert (Robert and Alan went to visit
Susan and the family at a later date).
It was already pretty exciting (Jake and Jessica truly were made for one
another), but when I found out that they had asked Paisley to be their flower
girl, I was even more excited!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see, we were there when Jake’s parents were married
those years ago….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqbrl0TEd3iUhIKovf_oKKxLuDa2K8HD5qxfXrgRKfxMNPEo2INcQCWP2i6HNFHwlE1PlgBB9v-vAW08icjyfWjqHKYn4cdKi0eWhgI9tJRCS7CkauRXQPJUDpSIU5hFd1fvA5fzMjJ0/s1600/JAKE02A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqbrl0TEd3iUhIKovf_oKKxLuDa2K8HD5qxfXrgRKfxMNPEo2INcQCWP2i6HNFHwlE1PlgBB9v-vAW08icjyfWjqHKYn4cdKi0eWhgI9tJRCS7CkauRXQPJUDpSIU5hFd1fvA5fzMjJ0/s1600/JAKE02A.jpg" height="396" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…And Mandy was one of <b><i>their</i></b> flower girls!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdcSuclU_5hyphenhyphensohnJQWZvBhyj106uQAIpX3E7tnO6kXVTgAGK7sYWmJlCR2foWIMNVqmfugsybPOd1cBR-x6ff2Y9Tu8eXjn299ouzfQ5c74I2lZ4gFFpJXWfycIl9Iav26uDLvhotuE/s1600/JAKE02B+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdcSuclU_5hyphenhyphensohnJQWZvBhyj106uQAIpX3E7tnO6kXVTgAGK7sYWmJlCR2foWIMNVqmfugsybPOd1cBR-x6ff2Y9Tu8eXjn299ouzfQ5c74I2lZ4gFFpJXWfycIl9Iav26uDLvhotuE/s1600/JAKE02B+-+Copy.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jake's wedding was held at a beautiful venue, and the whole
place was buzzing with excitement.
Paisley’s mother managed to get a few pre-wedding shots…here is Paisley hanging
out and gearing up:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEIWUG4GGYwAqOcNDgrh-RfdbAVCRN2u7emsIotGnryFE8jSdG1irWc90XmoTcIcCY-y5HRtwWWrDv0dLw0i7Uvh9eVMzXw7UVKU8lkFE74uJ0gbmBuYUGZoY3rzYW1eJtMA7jx3QcH4/s1600/JAKE03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEIWUG4GGYwAqOcNDgrh-RfdbAVCRN2u7emsIotGnryFE8jSdG1irWc90XmoTcIcCY-y5HRtwWWrDv0dLw0i7Uvh9eVMzXw7UVKU8lkFE74uJ0gbmBuYUGZoY3rzYW1eJtMA7jx3QcH4/s1600/JAKE03.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqdEn68ye9mEFG6ghQ5odnCIkBIlDevvo2WjCivylFkzSO2SyK-to-1wr-AK1zsBHYKTAVLZhqrJW3Vcr99F3Whh333h5aj47JX7HHsCxGKerKleWst1KNf-OLP7Y4PbFSNzmVvERlgo/s1600/JAKE04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqdEn68ye9mEFG6ghQ5odnCIkBIlDevvo2WjCivylFkzSO2SyK-to-1wr-AK1zsBHYKTAVLZhqrJW3Vcr99F3Whh333h5aj47JX7HHsCxGKerKleWst1KNf-OLP7Y4PbFSNzmVvERlgo/s1600/JAKE04.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr7F8z9OqLHAluHuYWALSvseILblt7Iazehe33O5gI_Ev9WiyUtKS49ClyhJKqkFqUNgur02u9tJdllyew7nj6OyY0wmqmIzewOUYfsaJJDk79d0vTbLC_1_Sy3MQC4ZmGMAcqVg_zL2g/s1600/JAKE05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr7F8z9OqLHAluHuYWALSvseILblt7Iazehe33O5gI_Ev9WiyUtKS49ClyhJKqkFqUNgur02u9tJdllyew7nj6OyY0wmqmIzewOUYfsaJJDk79d0vTbLC_1_Sy3MQC4ZmGMAcqVg_zL2g/s1600/JAKE05.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before too long, it was going to be time! Paisley was armed and ready with her basket
of petals:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeuOK6tTvou7zqUkN0fUxF90eg8hlspPKdgdT_Fptl465Z2kPku4KRWWbnAO5fNN3izv2tmdUt6mwwePbmO1Sxd84lljVBJDM7Agd8_bczHtN2u2xEjCSZdk8qwEuPycmEycn-4mpdkk/s1600/JAKE06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeuOK6tTvou7zqUkN0fUxF90eg8hlspPKdgdT_Fptl465Z2kPku4KRWWbnAO5fNN3izv2tmdUt6mwwePbmO1Sxd84lljVBJDM7Agd8_bczHtN2u2xEjCSZdk8qwEuPycmEycn-4mpdkk/s1600/JAKE06.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon, the big moment arrived! It was Paisley’s duty to prepare the pathway
for the beautiful bride, and she took her job seriously! While Jessica and the rest of the wedding
party were all smiles and giggles, and even <b><i>danced</i></b> their way down the
aisle, Paisley was <b><i>not</i></b> going to succumb to all of that frivolity! This was serious business – she had a job to
do! -- and her stoic countenance and stern concentration were certainly
reflective of this solemn, blessed occasion:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V2jtItcmBftZkcXl29SphLoV0s9EVDGtRXwovDXZ8vCZynG85RHRocPbyuw2H_tFCjaJd5q4BRrXClMRLRG2Vs9beBE1roTAHNfuwAKx5ugi45ceoxSBoUZykxGXJWtWZH0lB2Q5VwY/s1600/JAKE06A.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V2jtItcmBftZkcXl29SphLoV0s9EVDGtRXwovDXZ8vCZynG85RHRocPbyuw2H_tFCjaJd5q4BRrXClMRLRG2Vs9beBE1roTAHNfuwAKx5ugi45ceoxSBoUZykxGXJWtWZH0lB2Q5VwY/s1600/JAKE06A.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfwxBCikvucx-145ewfww2c6bCk9FdsVKjpRvpAqpz_Jp5wNkAGNsa8Gv6pai47bkKnaynfi4mxHFiTBgVWU27t8Dir8tU21GzDsAbQQSxNmKkgsfeSrBAieONFH9yWp60oFsCqfMA3E/s1600/JAKE07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfwxBCikvucx-145ewfww2c6bCk9FdsVKjpRvpAqpz_Jp5wNkAGNsa8Gv6pai47bkKnaynfi4mxHFiTBgVWU27t8Dir8tU21GzDsAbQQSxNmKkgsfeSrBAieONFH9yWp60oFsCqfMA3E/s1600/JAKE07.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a really special ceremony – Jake and Jessica were
married by the same preacher who had married Jake’s parents. (How many people can say that?) And as I said earlier, Jake and Jessica
really are a good match and we hope they have a wonderful life together:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAPVlP8sgmzyLOfajdJCR5jAiUuMDaXPKT9OEYsVEQhSzh25NiTvUbVaFF9ZMu2lXm0Iw_XSOeJ450zIA_NBZRWAR-3m_mRYN0P-sdWGLQCTVeFuFI4-Icjiii1jlVeDP2ROtiCqTDa8/s1600/JAKE08+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAPVlP8sgmzyLOfajdJCR5jAiUuMDaXPKT9OEYsVEQhSzh25NiTvUbVaFF9ZMu2lXm0Iw_XSOeJ450zIA_NBZRWAR-3m_mRYN0P-sdWGLQCTVeFuFI4-Icjiii1jlVeDP2ROtiCqTDa8/s1600/JAKE08+-+Copy.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to say, though, that of all of the wonderful things
that I witnessed that day, I was most inspired by Robert’s sister, Susan. Susan is now battling her third round of
cancer (this time it’s lung cancer). The
day would have been strenuous for any mother-of-the-groom, but I can only
imagine that for someone right smack in the middle of cancer treatments, it had
to be absolutely exhausting. Despite
this, Susan donned her wig, her gloves, and her pretty dress and was there for
her son for the whole day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Susan, Paisley, and Grandma Lynda:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehBSgRP7Ud1FSGJUpVJI2jMBbHyf4dLuRkxJrBGn-A63Gw2HUo4D_j_VjIR89MFcMyBl6aT1hAbAiFa2pwIyJ2s8xtePYCMHsYn677dRE7OBZdR9-uA3YV_DImBgTt08W2NZqOtHqwJg/s1600/JAKE10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehBSgRP7Ud1FSGJUpVJI2jMBbHyf4dLuRkxJrBGn-A63Gw2HUo4D_j_VjIR89MFcMyBl6aT1hAbAiFa2pwIyJ2s8xtePYCMHsYn677dRE7OBZdR9-uA3YV_DImBgTt08W2NZqOtHqwJg/s1600/JAKE10.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy’s favorite picture (and I must say, mine, too) of the
whole event was this touching moment of Susan dancing with her son:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXxX_Ix3ckpDAGGUhBQWMsJj4rpQI8G1DHYa24VRte4TeMH_WVakkVHGMf-iunWK9hNpUYI-f8NJKVvCNl7hSm7KrUzo4CaDXHRTLp0DQLTiIqUfW9GP8Jnt58yBAP4azLGWw-yWsrXU/s1600/JAKE11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXxX_Ix3ckpDAGGUhBQWMsJj4rpQI8G1DHYa24VRte4TeMH_WVakkVHGMf-iunWK9hNpUYI-f8NJKVvCNl7hSm7KrUzo4CaDXHRTLp0DQLTiIqUfW9GP8Jnt58yBAP4azLGWw-yWsrXU/s1600/JAKE11.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Susan is such an inspiration to me, and whenever I’m feeling
whiny about some goofy thing I’m miffed about, I just think of her and
immediately stifle myself!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second favorite photo is this one:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYjqZkfFBtrjCJ5TgHAuq6I7u5lQQ_DL2ypA7_k28lU7hH98NmFKK8JfQBusNitbLl8Gz8UpWV6bUC9kYDKT_kSTGhks7HJHoiQIob82CEzZxRJYcjPqNAQDcPzbWZhCkRCXkiQDPTKc/s1600/JAKE12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYjqZkfFBtrjCJ5TgHAuq6I7u5lQQ_DL2ypA7_k28lU7hH98NmFKK8JfQBusNitbLl8Gz8UpWV6bUC9kYDKT_kSTGhks7HJHoiQIob82CEzZxRJYcjPqNAQDcPzbWZhCkRCXkiQDPTKc/s1600/JAKE12.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It reminds me of a picture I took behind the scenes when
Mandy’s flower girl, Avery, was a little scared about going out in front of all
of those people, and Mandy gave her a little pep talk:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4XaY-K7b0Deg74RvWJSCOU4crD_sGLDnT87bClFVS_VGcaYwa7grB498zV-oP9i5XnXJsD3tqmNgDn7I8jZhZem1z7fCPblm8b1o651217P9MkUHMaoIERmSBpC6ZxJq-UUWvLadKEA/s1600/JAKE13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4XaY-K7b0Deg74RvWJSCOU4crD_sGLDnT87bClFVS_VGcaYwa7grB498zV-oP9i5XnXJsD3tqmNgDn7I8jZhZem1z7fCPblm8b1o651217P9MkUHMaoIERmSBpC6ZxJq-UUWvLadKEA/s1600/JAKE13.JPG" height="640" width="514" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cycle of life and love continues, and we were grateful
to have a bright spot to celebrate so early in the year!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-43156112548434274432014-05-07T08:54:00.000-07:002014-05-07T08:54:35.785-07:00Honoring Nestlé<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had just recently returned to blogging, with plans of
several more fun little posts to come (a wedding, bragging on Fox, and even a
picture of my first decorative painting piece).
This post is <b><i>not</i></b> fun and is <b><i>most unexpected</i></b>: I lost my sweet Nestlé rabbit this
morning. I really did not see this one
coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had gone all of this time thinking Nestlé was a girl, and
only very recently realized Nestlé was a boy.
This is partially due to the fact that <b><i>we are dumb</i></b>; it’s also due to the
fact that when we bought him, the feed store <b><i>swore</i></b> that we were buying
a girl; and then there’s the whole factor that rabbits are one of very few
animals that can actually retract their testicles and hide them inside their
bodies, and Nestlé had only recently decided to “let it all hang out”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had taken him to the vet yesterday where the diagnosis was
that he had a little ulcerated sore on one of his testicles…no big deal,
according to the vet. Dr. Becky said
that with rabbits she sees it all the time, and that, in fact, she has seen many
rabbits with many more of those sores (Nestlé only had the one), and that his
wasn’t nearly as big or bad as what she usually sees. Some antibiotic ointment, some oral
antibiotic, and we were on our way. He
would be good as new in no time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hurried home because I was already late for my appointment
with Paisley and Fox (Mom and Dad had somewhere to go), so I kissed Nestlé and
put him in his cage, and then I headed to the Lackey household. When I got back last night, it was obvious
that Nestlé had a major diarrhea attack while I was gone – something that he
had <b><i>never,
ever</i></b> had before! I cleaned him
up, put more ointment on his spot, gave him his oral medicine (which he
actually liked!) and spent some time cuddling him before heading to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning, straight-a-way, I went to his cage to check on
him. He was alert, but certainly was not
his perky self when I took him out. No
diarrhea, though, so I cuddled and nuzzled him for a while. He was panting a little, and I set him down
on his newspaper to see if he might need to take care of some business. He sat there for a couple of minutes so I
started ironing Robert’s shirt. I saw
him take three little wobbly hops towards the dining table, where he then laid
on his side and began doing something that I can only describe as
convulsing. I screeched and ran over and
picked him up. As I held him to my
chest, he made a couple of little clicking/coughing sounds and then went limp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert thought he was still alive (though barely), so I
headed to the vet to be there when they opened.
He was gone when I got there. In
my talk with Dr. Becky, she expressed that she was absolutely shocked. The rabbit that she saw yesterday showed her
no reason to even dream that he would be gone this morning. Other than his little lesion (which she swore
was minor in terms of rabbit ailments), she considered him to be in good health
and would have never guessed that this would have happened. Here is a picture of my sweet bunny that was
taken just day before yesterday – he was hanging out on the hearth as he
usually did:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXWov40eALndwXwH5DxByu4OvXyijb4yO4t4u4OSWGpISn5Eqh6ALkzdkK0g_4soowhgTymLZ9EtLV-2hDoIegNgEbo0B96CI9A5f9e_Yk2-rsw7mV7nJtsuusq4sAzIGdJ-TTuLEeso/s1600/NESTLE01+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXWov40eALndwXwH5DxByu4OvXyijb4yO4t4u4OSWGpISn5Eqh6ALkzdkK0g_4soowhgTymLZ9EtLV-2hDoIegNgEbo0B96CI9A5f9e_Yk2-rsw7mV7nJtsuusq4sAzIGdJ-TTuLEeso/s1600/NESTLE01+-+Copy.JPG" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got Nestlé two years ago as a birthday present from
Robert. He was pretty small, and very,
very sweet:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPHZJatXeI9-PoH0HtPNuVzvSqTzqO8KOWrK1bfcI0HfOiD6eNvrpIezypv7pU-5pe1AGRzmJHQnU1Ykqt79LqDyS7u6dAtBAQ1x0apvVe4CBc7HvyUht9ket3tIfHF8JTdeXpgSpNVg/s1600/NESTLE05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPHZJatXeI9-PoH0HtPNuVzvSqTzqO8KOWrK1bfcI0HfOiD6eNvrpIezypv7pU-5pe1AGRzmJHQnU1Ykqt79LqDyS7u6dAtBAQ1x0apvVe4CBc7HvyUht9ket3tIfHF8JTdeXpgSpNVg/s1600/NESTLE05.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn’t take him long to become a regular member of the
family. He loved the dogs and his favorite
thing was to chase Toffee around the house, hoping to get Toffee to play with
him. And if there was a sleeping dog
nearby, Nestlé wasn’t scared to try to get a little cuddle:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He really, really loved being outside whenever we were out,
and his favorite spot was near the wheelbarrow underneath the oak tree:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_s2ctsyWpy4VTCHNnVfRV2WUZ8MvfT2rNgnqNVjn_BmisLkUTE0w8ZlyBmUAUGGbymeIswUKSJnugXpIs9r80vKNBg1rWJ2t-X8W7X2HwMzeOIIUyfNLgoe3gp4j1t4joVdS_zJYvfc/s1600/NESTLE03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_s2ctsyWpy4VTCHNnVfRV2WUZ8MvfT2rNgnqNVjn_BmisLkUTE0w8ZlyBmUAUGGbymeIswUKSJnugXpIs9r80vKNBg1rWJ2t-X8W7X2HwMzeOIIUyfNLgoe3gp4j1t4joVdS_zJYvfc/s1600/NESTLE03.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nestlé’s playfulness was not just limited to the dogs; he
absolutely loved running alongside Opal Chicken, taunting and chiding her to
chase him. She did not really like him,
though (hence, there was always a fence between them):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5EHB-WzvmpAVzeq1mTQM8HvL2HJs1_StM0_Icy93Xg_3WfppfYPh1krtLVBV7HpGkIEq6oVHmNxkvfEX1LIK7Bz9aDuvTt_4n1JrUParPE7DQgEjldoIa9R2MMXssD_a7iqfVz3pbx4/s1600/NESTLE04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5EHB-WzvmpAVzeq1mTQM8HvL2HJs1_StM0_Icy93Xg_3WfppfYPh1krtLVBV7HpGkIEq6oVHmNxkvfEX1LIK7Bz9aDuvTt_4n1JrUParPE7DQgEjldoIa9R2MMXssD_a7iqfVz3pbx4/s1600/NESTLE04.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I once read that rabbits don’t really like to be cuddled and
held, but that did not hold true for Nestlé.
I can’t tell you how many times I would be sitting in the family room,
watching TV or on the computer, and I would feel something touching my
leg. It was Nestlé, standing straight
up, putting his front paws on my leg to get my attention because he wanted me
to pick him up and snuggle him under my neck…and I always did, no matter what I
was doing or how busy I was because I knew what a special privilege he was
bestowing upon me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love my bunny, even now, and I always will. Nestlé, thank you for being part of my life –
I will dearly miss you.</span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-831466960151619092014-05-05T19:22:00.000-07:002014-05-05T19:23:29.998-07:00Bluebonnet Beauties<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Texas, spring time is heralded by the arrival of the
bluebonnets. Families everywhere park on
the side of the road or search to find some little patch of those beautiful
flowers so that they can take family pictures.
It’s almost like a rite of passage, and lucky for me, Mandy and her
little family is no exception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, this is one of my favorite pictures of the kids
together – not just because of the flowers, but because it shows each of the
kids as I have come to know them.
Paisley: Oh-so-quiet,
oh-so-serious, oh-so-obedient. Fox: Not-so-quiet, not-so-serious,
not-so-obedient! (So very different, yet
we all adore them both!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a few more pictures of all that’s beautiful:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy spring, ya’ll!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-86536160130441994272014-05-04T20:12:00.003-07:002014-05-04T20:12:35.052-07:00A Lesson in Egg Shaking…<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the butterfly exhibit and general hanging
out, Alan and I accompanied Mandy and the kids to an event, just before Easter,
at the local mall. Each month the mall
has some little activity for the kids and this event was all about Easter. Apparently, Paisley hadn’t been all that
excited about going, but when she learned that the Easter Bunny was going to be
there, she decided it might be pretty fun after all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to say, this thing wasn’t some cheap little thing…it
was quite nice, especially for a “freebie”.
There were little baskets with a stuffed animal for each of the kids,
and one of the activities was decorating a little planter with a face, after
which each of the kids received their own plant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley did pretty well with that…and then came the activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A really sweet young woman in a striped shirt did all that
she could to make sure the kids had a good time. She sang, she danced, and she led the kids
through a whole string of “follow-me” activities (whatever they pay her an
hour, it isn’t enough!). Paisley needed
a little nudge to get out there, but she finally did go and gave it her best
shot:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXhbKofJG27rSBVn8x48Gcopc-mwZ31Oymx-999Ll2vo7x-kerFlqPBNJXKXyWiWiqEo_5RBi5FcZNrajhPGxQw0AY8pYFpAiz6Jn3T-_4MFHXhSpB76aO3tv_T9x55Yu7XjHwrRh5-Q/s1600/13764714114_879a6c8e97_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXhbKofJG27rSBVn8x48Gcopc-mwZ31Oymx-999Ll2vo7x-kerFlqPBNJXKXyWiWiqEo_5RBi5FcZNrajhPGxQw0AY8pYFpAiz6Jn3T-_4MFHXhSpB76aO3tv_T9x55Yu7XjHwrRh5-Q/s1600/13764714114_879a6c8e97_o.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Lady in the Striped Shirt passed out Easter eggs filled with
rice (taped shut, of course) and led the kids in shaking their eggs to
music.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was even nice enough to give
one to Boyfriend!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley shook her egg
for a small bit.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, after a while,
she came back to sit with us.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No amount
of nudging or coaxing would get her to go back out and play with the other
kids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Was she scared? Was she shy?
No…as it turned out, the problem was that all she could focus on was seeing
the Easter Bunny. All of that <b><i>dancing</i></b>
and <b><i>singing</i></b>
and <b><i>egg
shaking</i></b> wasn’t what she came for…<b><i>where was the Easter Bunny?</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, it was time for the Easter bunny! Hooray!
Paisley’s face lit up with anticipation…and then promptly fell. It seems that it was <b><i>not</i></b> the Easter Bunny who
was visiting (he was still busy in the workshop, I guess); instead, it was <b><i>Mrs.
Easter Bunny</i></b>, and Paisley could tell the difference, and Paisley didn’t
really like the difference. All of that
wanting, and all of that waiting, and when it finally came…it was a total
letdown. Paisley didn’t even want to go
see that bunny, but we talked her into it.
Her enthusiasm is evident:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGHZpqsfDSWQ8_lcB7pI0Sjp9ZY4knNHjNVK3OOEpfrFpngqGZ2bEWsvOjuXGT45F3i5HtDsJkufdzeKJWapyeoHOqCEETQ7edqKa3NA_CLpkaA8kgh5pEhbIEFMKkyFzpq2KpOdZCdA/s1600/13764356675_e5abeff19a_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGHZpqsfDSWQ8_lcB7pI0Sjp9ZY4knNHjNVK3OOEpfrFpngqGZ2bEWsvOjuXGT45F3i5HtDsJkufdzeKJWapyeoHOqCEETQ7edqKa3NA_CLpkaA8kgh5pEhbIEFMKkyFzpq2KpOdZCdA/s1600/13764356675_e5abeff19a_o.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you want to know who actually <b><i>did</i></b> have fun? In fact, the most fun of anyone there? That would be Fox:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That kid had the greatest time! He smiled, he giggled, he flat-out laughed
out loud! And snuggled and cuddled and
cooed with Uncle-Vinnie-Who’s-Never-Even-Changed-A-Diaper-Nor-Made-A-Bottle
(yuck!). Oh, and Fox shook his egg….and
shook his egg…and shook his egg. He didn’t
care about the Easter Bunny, nor Easter baskets, nor any of that. He was just having fun in the moment...shaking his egg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy and I were having one of our daily phone chats and discovered
we had both been thinking the same thing: How many times do we miss out on all kinds of
fun because we are so fixated on the Easter Bunny coming? How many simple joys of today are we missing
because we are waiting for some future event?
In my desire to move to the mountains and pines, am I missing the forest
for the trees? And even when my Easter
Bunny comes, if it’s not exactly what I’m expecting, will I be crushed? What would happen if I quit fixating on the
bunny and just followed the girl in the striped shirt and shook my egg? A little something to think about…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-82728179003071872762014-05-04T19:29:00.000-07:002014-05-04T19:29:32.904-07:00All-A-Flutter!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alan came home from Yellowstone and has already gone back,
but for the short time he was here the thing he wanted to do most of all was
hang out with Paisley and Fox. He
absolutely adores them! So when Mandy
asked if we wanted to go to a butterfly exhibit at the Botanical Gardens, we
were there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had the greatest time!
It was the last week of the exhibit, so it was really crowded. Paisley was a little overwhelmed at first
with all of those people (she’s like her Old Lolee in that way), but after a
little coaxing, she warmed up and ended up having a lot of fun. Boyfriend (aka, Fox), was safe and secure in
some little wrap thing attached to his mother, so mister “stranger danger” was
happy, too! It was very humid in the
room, so everyone’s hair looked a little crazy by the time we were done…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s a peek at our own little nature adventure:</span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-3477929118424179202014-05-04T19:08:00.000-07:002014-05-04T19:08:47.491-07:00A Gift of Love…<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I do say so myself, I think that my daughter had <b><i>the</i></b>
most beautiful wedding gown that I have ever seen. Not only was the dress pretty on its own, but
I thought it was absolutely the perfect dress for her. She looked beautiful!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I was quite surprised when she told me that she was
giving her wedding dress away. “Giving
it away?” I asked. “Why would you want
to do that? Don’t you want to save it
for Paisley? You <b><i>can’t</i></b> get rid of the most
beautiful dress I’ve ever seen!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy then explained that she was giving it to an
organization that takes the wedding dresses and makes specials gowns for babies
that are lost while they are in the hospital.
This is a cause that is very close to Mandy’s heart, and it certainly is
worthy, so how on earth could I argue with that? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Besides,” Mandy told me, “Not one of my friends ended up
wearing her mother’s gown. I’m pretty
sure that Paisley won’t want to wear mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">( If you would like to learn more about the Angel Gown
program, <a href="http://www.nicuhelpinghands.org/lend-a-helping-hand/angel-gowns/">click here</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before she took her gown to the organization, she took a few
photos:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now she can say that Paisley has had a chance to wear her
dress, and some little angel will have a beautiful gown to wear. Well done, daughter…well done!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-41434008171166356042014-02-11T13:15:00.000-08:002014-02-11T13:15:37.278-08:00Another Sad Day…<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is the saddest of days…At some point, in the early
hours of the morning, my sweet Opal Chicken passed away. She had not been as spry as usual for the
past several days, and she was looking a little “rough”, but it was not really
obvious what was wrong with her. We still don’t really know why she died. Due to the extreme weather (at least for
Texas), I had been taking her to the coop so that she could eat and drink and
move around during whatever might be the warmest part of the day, with heat
lamps blazing; however, she had been spending the nights (and even some parts
of the day when it was really cold) inside the house with us, in her crate in
the craft room. She had been moving
around the coop as usual when I brought her in yesterday. When I took her out last night for her
bedtime feeding and drinking, she was eating and drinking okay. Robert brought her in and we put her to
bed. The strange thing was that instead
of plopping down and settling in as usual, she was still standing up when I
went to bed late last night. Still, it
was quite a shock when Robert came in the bedroom and told me this morning that
she had died. I’m guessing that might
have been that faint little “peep”, “squeak”, “sigh(?)” sound that I heard
early this morning…I wish I would have known…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m glad that Robert was here when that time came…it’s just
really hard for me to handle things like burying my little friends, and I’m so
grateful that he takes care of those things.
As soon as Robert had finished digging the hole, we wrapped her in a
blanket and together we placed her in her final resting place. She is buried next to her sister, Ruby
Chicken, near their coop, and I’m sure that I will think of my sweet Opal
Chicken every time I trot out into the back yard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved Ruby Chicken also, but since she left us some time
ago, I had a lot of time to spend with Opal Chicken. Since she was a lone chicken, I felt a need
to make sure that she felt extra-loved, and it was important to me that she
didn’t feel all alone in the world (hence, sleeping inside the house at times). She was a fun little companion and provided
me with lots of comical moments. I made
sure that we always had some mealy worms on hand (I bought them at Tractor
Supply), and she would go bonkers over them!
She could be on the other end of the yard, but as soon as I started
shaking the jar, she would come running…chickens are <b><i>so cute</i></b> when they run! She loved to cuddle, and if anyone ever tells
you that chickens are mean, you just tell them that they never met Opal Chicken! I sure hope that she knows how very much I
loved her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are not going to get any more chickens for awhile. I have enough to keep me busy with all that I
have going on right now, and I also don’t think I could ever “replace” my sweet
Opal, and I’m not ready to try. But,
someday….down the road…when we are ready…we will have a little flock of
chickens once more, and it will be solely because of our memories of the joy and love that we have known from
sharing our lives with two wonderful girls named Ruby and Opal…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-66921251589006854752013-12-08T17:29:00.001-08:002013-12-09T08:03:09.466-08:00Catching Up – Now!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you’re wondering how I
finally found the time to catch up with my blog posts, the answer is:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">the weather!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As I stated earlier, Alan left for Montana on Thursday, and within a few
hours we were hit with the worst winter storm that we’ve had in quite some
time.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If he had scheduled his flight for
late afternoon or early evening, he would have been stuck here.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s true that Texans are quite wimpy when it
comes to winter weather, but this was really something!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The pictures below are not of snow…that is
sleet that has been compacted and is now pretty much ice!</span></span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-amount1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s an overview looking
out of our front door:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijU3eEF3-TlLZYMe4NAuoVGI-8cxOdiebS6ceZtS0hlugthyphenhypheniXN_ptlaMWHbCROcF7_Xi2jZzJAiCqtMWJcGEkJ_qNk1UhxkMr2hCudDyQaY1g9N23OX1CyBPx_DypnHnWYafAFOn84I8/s1600/NOW01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijU3eEF3-TlLZYMe4NAuoVGI-8cxOdiebS6ceZtS0hlugthyphenhypheniXN_ptlaMWHbCROcF7_Xi2jZzJAiCqtMWJcGEkJ_qNk1UhxkMr2hCudDyQaY1g9N23OX1CyBPx_DypnHnWYafAFOn84I8/s640/NOW01.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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the road that runs in front of the house (Pretty slippery!):</span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-amount1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a weird (and lucky) twist
of fate, our heater went out just a couple of days before the cold snap. We had a new unit installed about 6 or 7(?)
years ago, and it was a total lemon from the day we got it. I’ve lost count how many times we have had it
repaired, and this time it was going to cost quite a bit (again!). It seems they quit making that model (I
wonder why?), and parts are hard to find, and this fact makes them cost a
lot. So a command decision was made to
just replace the whole unit. We got a
Lennox this time instead of Amana and are hoping it lasts much longer. Even though it hit our purse pretty hard, at
least we are warm, and ever so grateful that things were fixed up before it got
so very cold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-amount1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used the first couple of
days of our “snow days” to catch up on some laundry and general housework. Church was cancelled today (quite unusual),
and I didn’t want to do regular chores, so I decided to catch up on the
blog. I also fired up my bread
machine. My mother-in-law gave it to me
many, many years ago, and it’s still working!
The bread turned out so well, and it was so easy, I found myself asking,
“Why don’t I use it more often?” Just
dumb! I will certainly crank it up more
often in the future. Here’s the recipe I
used for the bread I made today. I
really like it because I have quite a few cans of potato flakes in my food
storage arsenal, and I need as many uses for them as I can get! It’s also just plain good!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-amount1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-amount1"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusty
Potato Bread<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="ingredient-amount1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3-1/4 cups </span></span><span class="ingredient-name4"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">bread flour<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="ingredient-name4"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1
tablespoon white sugar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-1/2
teaspoons salt<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
tablespoons butter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-1/4
cups water<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
teaspoons instant yeast<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the
order recommended by the manufacturer. Select White Bread Cycle; press Start.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Note:</i></b> This recipe
was originally found on the “All Recipes” website – to visit the site, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crusty-potato-bread/detail.aspx">clickhere</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I didn’t want to break my neck trotting back and
forth to the chicken coop, Opal Chicken has been sleeping in her dog crate in
the craft room. I have taken her outside
a few times to let her stretch her legs, as well as to show her that it really
is awful out there and she should be glad to be inside! She also has spent some time in the mud room
(the floor is covered in newspaper) so that she can eat and drink and stretch
some more. Nestlé Bunny has also been
stranded inside, but she has so much fun chasing Toffee around the house that
she doesn’t care.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s pretty much my life: keeping fur and feathers alive, aside from
doing yard work and such. I am hoping it
clears up soon because I have a date this week with this little girl:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpi0Iw9dLP3NolIEMHyNIX-gV0b6awBKT3t1TCosQ4_FSTeOb6fHXG1p3WH3gHBlB0eKAE_N967-Arceb3lNU8IvcbtdUwiyWXb6unA6_FZOfOtme6rRLa5jdadajY1SbeypIy-cacVg/s1600/NOW03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpi0Iw9dLP3NolIEMHyNIX-gV0b6awBKT3t1TCosQ4_FSTeOb6fHXG1p3WH3gHBlB0eKAE_N967-Arceb3lNU8IvcbtdUwiyWXb6unA6_FZOfOtme6rRLa5jdadajY1SbeypIy-cacVg/s640/NOW03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley (aka: “Stink-A-Tha”)
is growing to be quite a little lady.
She loves going and doing things, and is definitely into her weekly dance
lessons. Since Fox has been born, she
has also gone to an event to meet Doc McStuffins, and she went to a little
theatre play showing “Blue’s Clues” and got to have her picture made with
Blue. In an effort to make sure that
her events are not spoiled by her baby brother melting down, I actually have
spent more of my time with Fox (aka: “Boyfriend”),
keeping him home while Stink-A-Tha goes
out with her parents. Even though it has
been for her benefit, I think she might be feeling a little neglected by her
Old Lolee. Therefore, I am looking
forward to picking her up some morning this week, doing a little shopping, and
then taking her to lunch. I never want
my girl to feel less than wonderful in her Old Lolee’s heart!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for Boyfriend, he’s growing bigger and wants to walk
so badly that he can’t stand it! He has
already been scooching across the floor (that was last month), and I anticipate
that he will be quite the go-getter.
Mandy says that he will be the one who destroys her house. But here’s the thing: He has this crazy
little crooked smile that he flashes that just melts your heart. I have a feeling that it won’t matter what he
does, or how much destruction he causes -- he will get out of all kinds of
trouble with that little crooked smile and those big, blue eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S2zBtgzb4p5gm_SsnzgTPKuACaElemhtO0lYkajyYNhN_jfCIcde8LZkgN007HKZ0rWHDtBPm9Q_D89diBOBdsKVxv517nfhI-3DXrLnIhHUHqGw8XfOAILRdvlqcSzS58zwKyYAj0Q/s1600/NOW04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S2zBtgzb4p5gm_SsnzgTPKuACaElemhtO0lYkajyYNhN_jfCIcde8LZkgN007HKZ0rWHDtBPm9Q_D89diBOBdsKVxv517nfhI-3DXrLnIhHUHqGw8XfOAILRdvlqcSzS58zwKyYAj0Q/s640/NOW04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So that’s it!
Pretty much caught up for now!
The Christmas season is upon us, and there will be fun times ahead!</span><br />
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-57382547404796951612013-12-08T15:28:00.001-08:002013-12-08T15:28:44.016-08:00Catching Up – Play Dates!<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s a little glimpse of what “play dates” look like at
our house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nestlé absolutely loves hanging out and playing with the
squirrels…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSMPNjSeB1GIL_ZEEdG9s_8phz3ieqXx9qZ_gpOhlpT4PeGDealzXOBJzmGwsyQSvHy594Qbm00q_aNJlnm5lHA316Og7vvoVJeR7ELsyBFTjBgeCi7aBUq-tC9ZyherX8Ut1oGKM_Xc/s1600/PLAY01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSMPNjSeB1GIL_ZEEdG9s_8phz3ieqXx9qZ_gpOhlpT4PeGDealzXOBJzmGwsyQSvHy594Qbm00q_aNJlnm5lHA316Og7vvoVJeR7ELsyBFTjBgeCi7aBUq-tC9ZyherX8Ut1oGKM_Xc/s640/PLAY01.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…In fact, LOTS of squirrels!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpFAXfSIpl5kNKUYw75WY13SRTghuh8PaxpxEgC7QOWrWhsI-xbOnbesSIBWy0lK9Pk-8Fnw0ANUO6q3GkbvCJ2Ap5VGqomH0zdOBYDu5nhJD2YiI35BTIF1TV8lGBJH0e7AvzkxWYHc/s1600/PLAY02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpFAXfSIpl5kNKUYw75WY13SRTghuh8PaxpxEgC7QOWrWhsI-xbOnbesSIBWy0lK9Pk-8Fnw0ANUO6q3GkbvCJ2Ap5VGqomH0zdOBYDu5nhJD2YiI35BTIF1TV8lGBJH0e7AvzkxWYHc/s640/PLAY02.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder how many other people can have a squirrel, a
rabbit, a chicken, and a dog, all in one shot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIM4u4Xrua3e4ZPrQUJLj9sPlqxQaQSzr5TEhg2rTQRem0pE-Z5xK_XJYX6W52cP7s41GbvChzPkPNOd75oStGP6b9wsTbbPZvlo_nXRd_EOpKJCpXQcNs5h2Jwb2cACvn2jkDTQ5QnGc/s1600/PLAY03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIM4u4Xrua3e4ZPrQUJLj9sPlqxQaQSzr5TEhg2rTQRem0pE-Z5xK_XJYX6W52cP7s41GbvChzPkPNOd75oStGP6b9wsTbbPZvlo_nXRd_EOpKJCpXQcNs5h2Jwb2cACvn2jkDTQ5QnGc/s640/PLAY03.JPG" width="520" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s my idea of heaven!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-82011242710221095232013-12-08T15:15:00.000-08:002013-12-08T15:15:38.072-08:00Catching Up – Thanksgiving!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanksgiving was a little different this year; Paisley’s
allergies have made it impossible for her to be at our house for </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>any</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
length of time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mom and I had considered
doing the actual cooking over at Mandy’s house, but the thought of having to
trot all of the ingredients, etc., over there and back again was just too
much.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we decided to do the cooking at
our house and schlep the finished dinner to the Lacky abode for the actual
event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy and her family have a tradition of visiting Bass Pro
Shop on Thanksgiving morning. There is
the most amazing Santa there (the only one that Paisley has ever known!). Grump-Pa (or as Paisley says, “Gunt-Pa”)
decided to spend the morning with the family and get in on this Santa visit
himself. The store is always decorated
and ready for Christmas, a wonderful place for some pictures:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMk1N4JwiEr63B_cW16mkwnnDQcaDM5gHsOD1FZi3QBjjAPLZii4O9dJcm53qlqA5x9vj8_Q8O363BnfrBUjw9shbIv73zzLd7VZxVgSai55XPeH9aCHyI9Xr78nLdLD18njPdmHJT44E/s1600/THANKS01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMk1N4JwiEr63B_cW16mkwnnDQcaDM5gHsOD1FZi3QBjjAPLZii4O9dJcm53qlqA5x9vj8_Q8O363BnfrBUjw9shbIv73zzLd7VZxVgSai55XPeH9aCHyI9Xr78nLdLD18njPdmHJT44E/s640/THANKS01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbL0R1B_GAQR_1Lw6eE5UbwtYArTVSagSlp5M5ZQ9ypitiqv8SeXg22_nkNugJFqYSWamXd9DCoefVgVt4atpSj12_efGEBlVeX1FU4jRWIfMd7ui_-DBQQN4nTSiHkenOD2nAyNYuujI/s1600/THANKS02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbL0R1B_GAQR_1Lw6eE5UbwtYArTVSagSlp5M5ZQ9ypitiqv8SeXg22_nkNugJFqYSWamXd9DCoefVgVt4atpSj12_efGEBlVeX1FU4jRWIfMd7ui_-DBQQN4nTSiHkenOD2nAyNYuujI/s640/THANKS02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley was ready for Santa this year! She told him her heart’s desire: A Big Bird, an Elmo, and a penguin for the
bath(?)…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0naQcEXMI9IBc4UPn6BaaJI4Woe-TU9KC0TwoYlWHzpOtW1ZSKU074hh4Htob0q673MtCYPwrnSlOa1sWHE0ZMGwbdWUyIDsTZ-ZRlSiKf2X5YV3QfyrENI80eRSosXGNgVDHyJSuh0U/s1600/THANKS03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0naQcEXMI9IBc4UPn6BaaJI4Woe-TU9KC0TwoYlWHzpOtW1ZSKU074hh4Htob0q673MtCYPwrnSlOa1sWHE0ZMGwbdWUyIDsTZ-ZRlSiKf2X5YV3QfyrENI80eRSosXGNgVDHyJSuh0U/s640/THANKS03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the official Santa photo for Paisley…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9Htz8-geTEY95PEyUrNiPohm99-rMQ9r70kNTqklCmub2yhrTmwhzDa2sEiczCpzMCZbLC2bNApuvfRlc4nnQeyvOVckaydTJ9yQKCLDzZxEaFE0zb64KlAUiRGB1pbOGuBnTRc3cuw/s1600/THANKS04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9Htz8-geTEY95PEyUrNiPohm99-rMQ9r70kNTqklCmub2yhrTmwhzDa2sEiczCpzMCZbLC2bNApuvfRlc4nnQeyvOVckaydTJ9yQKCLDzZxEaFE0zb64KlAUiRGB1pbOGuBnTRc3cuw/s640/THANKS04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…And the official Santa photo for Fox:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStkkLV6ecZUW6EacDKIr-iS3zhyho4Le8HQZLYGbFZqZTtS7DhMZuvjzLCaMsYIYLx5YfdTA5hcalQmfYBTgsz2bWHGc1dPIOK19Qi7bcKH_XzB4USLVDt2AP08QRhPZeXjD1vU4tOdA/s1600/THANKS05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStkkLV6ecZUW6EacDKIr-iS3zhyho4Le8HQZLYGbFZqZTtS7DhMZuvjzLCaMsYIYLx5YfdTA5hcalQmfYBTgsz2bWHGc1dPIOK19Qi7bcKH_XzB4USLVDt2AP08QRhPZeXjD1vU4tOdA/s640/THANKS05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After they returned, Dee Dee, Alan, and I loaded up the
dinner and we were off! I have to admit,
it wasn’t quite as good as it is when it’s piping hot, directly from the oven,
but it was still pretty good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrgmzLkXDgtfSn7fOC9_IcWW6tYbYD3eDdQuP703lzvCAcH4iNoSYalVz4_gwpS-1FPZycpDJgEjvrZ4oOg5jVOaGmBu-vwKpiXwytm3aSocOGZwgT0QjzehTJiGrFu_LoL9YB7wDsOQ/s1600/THANKS06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrgmzLkXDgtfSn7fOC9_IcWW6tYbYD3eDdQuP703lzvCAcH4iNoSYalVz4_gwpS-1FPZycpDJgEjvrZ4oOg5jVOaGmBu-vwKpiXwytm3aSocOGZwgT0QjzehTJiGrFu_LoL9YB7wDsOQ/s640/THANKS06.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were just thankful to be together!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-56493578673023318012013-12-08T13:07:00.000-08:002013-12-08T13:07:24.513-08:00Catching Up – Alan: Already Come and Gone!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alan came home from Yellowstone after spending a couple of
weeks in Bozeman, MT, with a friend. Due
to the government shut-down, he had to leave the park much earlier than he had
expected, and his friend was kind enough to let him hang out there until his
scheduled flight home. It seems like he
wasn’t here any time at all before it was time for him to go back for the
winter season! (It certainly wasn’t long
enough for his mother, let me tell you!)
While Alan was here, he mostly enjoyed having home-cooked meals and
catching up on some of his favorite television shows. I had a whole DVR stacked up with things that
I thought he might like to watch, and I was right! We also made the rounds of his favorite
restaurants; there’s not a lot to pick from in Yellowstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He left to go back to Montana this past Thursday, and
the biggest irony is that he left just a few hours before the ice storm to beat
all ice storms hit here. Our airport
started cancelling flights just about 3 hours or so after he left. He since has posted pictures of what the streets in
Bozeman look like, and believe it or not, I think our streets look even worse!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, while he was here, he had to spend some time with
his best girl:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbRoe5OlH78C5rqFiNz2lzTaeFMeCxU34dzRrw0N6XUfWcZTffDeoNWHjdH3Ens1tOuF8VoM4uhUC-rrN97NLL2yYHhcRFYfYLFNV00ShyphenhyphenMSMGp2GoffXv49cOKxQf7fvOOKIkYn60Z8/s1600/ALAN01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbRoe5OlH78C5rqFiNz2lzTaeFMeCxU34dzRrw0N6XUfWcZTffDeoNWHjdH3Ens1tOuF8VoM4uhUC-rrN97NLL2yYHhcRFYfYLFNV00ShyphenhyphenMSMGp2GoffXv49cOKxQf7fvOOKIkYn60Z8/s640/ALAN01.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I was pleasantly surprised at how much he likes
Fox. He absolutely adores him!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoo2hZtkmwRiwE1MJBQNhJ4nGwpOql-rlF-MyjZTDS2Y3RbzsAIm-_GXYIIa24ScTNwszJzO14IyTU3DyGgMGMesTDldnw-GAgV0BAssVEuBHQ3Fv_MUiWFzutcYFb983-79jQYVncDoo/s1600/ALAN02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoo2hZtkmwRiwE1MJBQNhJ4nGwpOql-rlF-MyjZTDS2Y3RbzsAIm-_GXYIIa24ScTNwszJzO14IyTU3DyGgMGMesTDldnw-GAgV0BAssVEuBHQ3Fv_MUiWFzutcYFb983-79jQYVncDoo/s640/ALAN02.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy took this picture just a couple of days before he
left:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5oQ-r1uZSWhcFGn_sWLSNtesO6rKMdBdOnUibSb8IvBjKqtCLmg0wn6H4y7lg7idTjZI54PmXvGCJWXNVK0aE1aax9nnQEI2vfx4A1593TgyQJA9BwjZEpixbHi2ha-xGkLdqLGE8fYk/s1600/ALAN03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5oQ-r1uZSWhcFGn_sWLSNtesO6rKMdBdOnUibSb8IvBjKqtCLmg0wn6H4y7lg7idTjZI54PmXvGCJWXNVK0aE1aax9nnQEI2vfx4A1593TgyQJA9BwjZEpixbHi2ha-xGkLdqLGE8fYk/s640/ALAN03.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know he has to make his own life, but I sure wish it was
just a little closer. I always cry like
a total nit-wit whenever he leaves. I
hope he will be home again soon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-74709347068290082272013-12-08T12:44:00.000-08:002013-12-08T12:44:26.804-08:00Catching Up - A Blessing for Fox<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blessing Day for Fox came a little later than it does for
most babies, mostly because he had been so uncomfortable/sick/fussy with reflux
and/or colic.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it finally came, and
it was a special day for the family.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
our church, a blessing is somewhat like a christening for a baby in other
churches, although it isn’t </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>exactly</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> like a christening.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At a baby’s blessing, their name is
officially stated, and then a prayer is said over the child (Jeromy did the
honors), with some sort of blessing pronounced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fox looked quite dapper on his special day:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_7hzdeWClXr4EKizM0OvoCjnUPc0GIMxVqMPzykhL1YmNyuzJJ2-XzRnE1G6zgkV_MiDn6zdNlrJCF2gNT9RFc-SfMymztUaHB42EGquFGMfUdxZ3ZA-maVjTEyLajbkm2-j2pnDjjk/s1600/BLESSING01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_7hzdeWClXr4EKizM0OvoCjnUPc0GIMxVqMPzykhL1YmNyuzJJ2-XzRnE1G6zgkV_MiDn6zdNlrJCF2gNT9RFc-SfMymztUaHB42EGquFGMfUdxZ3ZA-maVjTEyLajbkm2-j2pnDjjk/s640/BLESSING01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Afterwards, we went to Mandy and Jeromy’s to take some
pictures (and eat some food!):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDqw3zwQ5f3F_vxaYb4fWH93klc9T3l_XlwlfgojE2KPfTcSSYovw9V7FD8Ji47W8wYYq7xK0nunVEzwv0uv9yKt1nYNZFXfffC7ldgU0RhMp4Y2A2qIsM9ptgwtMLA1H-OlkuoWPBJ8/s1600/BLESSING02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDqw3zwQ5f3F_vxaYb4fWH93klc9T3l_XlwlfgojE2KPfTcSSYovw9V7FD8Ji47W8wYYq7xK0nunVEzwv0uv9yKt1nYNZFXfffC7ldgU0RhMp4Y2A2qIsM9ptgwtMLA1H-OlkuoWPBJ8/s640/BLESSING02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were quite happy that Robert’s mother, Grandma Lynda, was
able to come, too:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZclzMZZ3LvAFwbIa3wHsLazmrl6JRcL1YBIQ7nyIiP99ILVXaX2rk2cFOtuSoLFOAUUJSSFYPnaaqhrTkJ8LhePeCP_69XAmDkml6BSkSkICAgIteoHCAMOs1TBzPBIbHjihV3IxuCE/s1600/BLESSING03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZclzMZZ3LvAFwbIa3wHsLazmrl6JRcL1YBIQ7nyIiP99ILVXaX2rk2cFOtuSoLFOAUUJSSFYPnaaqhrTkJ8LhePeCP_69XAmDkml6BSkSkICAgIteoHCAMOs1TBzPBIbHjihV3IxuCE/s640/BLESSING03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, it was Grandma Lynda who made the beautiful little
outfit that Fox was wearing:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8z-MjxrJIURORMZYWIy-OE4s4WevJOVsOgyc5HauBFEabz21MUb-EbgkwN-Jshn0UDnzQdjqAVwmPoOIxpnUtAuloIsSa4oHI-eQgaMhl_zM-HQfebV0qJ8OZNSIE6-x19ISd7k0oAok/s1600/BLESSING04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8z-MjxrJIURORMZYWIy-OE4s4WevJOVsOgyc5HauBFEabz21MUb-EbgkwN-Jshn0UDnzQdjqAVwmPoOIxpnUtAuloIsSa4oHI-eQgaMhl_zM-HQfebV0qJ8OZNSIE6-x19ISd7k0oAok/s640/BLESSING04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was Grandma Lynda who also made the beautiful dress that
Paisley wore on her Blessing Day:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXU7Nk0AUBgSmumF-r_V5HWZER11l2WVdDRbphKSU7LaZkruupdu-N27jXG3PtBtWIfnoV7hCEhnC3T9KsKIIDjrfoKjFaIILimLvUpmoClrmmOF1RfobmCljBga6f-gA5jPIXSksaXJ4/s1600/BLESSING05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXU7Nk0AUBgSmumF-r_V5HWZER11l2WVdDRbphKSU7LaZkruupdu-N27jXG3PtBtWIfnoV7hCEhnC3T9KsKIIDjrfoKjFaIILimLvUpmoClrmmOF1RfobmCljBga6f-gA5jPIXSksaXJ4/s640/BLESSING05.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy is going to have them treated and preserved so that
each of her grandchildren will have a special outfit to wear on their blessing day…One
of those family heirlooms to be treasured forever!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-12828483647823700292013-12-08T12:01:00.001-08:002013-12-08T12:01:55.900-08:00Catching Up – Pumpkin Patch 2013!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, even before Halloween, there was the trip to the
pumpkin patch. Once again, the whole
family went with some family friends and had a great time:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9KhGObF-dQrPj09lkH3GWh6JIQ1sfIcKevzW5Z-cm_2HhZ313F3jKJXYbYC6Yzx2DDBBkEcJc426nE7d3HiPCskSo5mgrfzTJrW_dsmUDW4ucVz2Tznc0QwlAvy1PW5eIJtVz6i_Pck/s1600/PPATCH01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9KhGObF-dQrPj09lkH3GWh6JIQ1sfIcKevzW5Z-cm_2HhZ313F3jKJXYbYC6Yzx2DDBBkEcJc426nE7d3HiPCskSo5mgrfzTJrW_dsmUDW4ucVz2Tznc0QwlAvy1PW5eIJtVz6i_Pck/s640/PPATCH01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was a first for Fox, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t
quite get what it was about (other than his mother was taking yet <b><i>more</i></b>
pictures):</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3Eg9TbekILnWT8sOWlCCPKx6TFw7VVkUQB0tBFXes_1ymtjJXIhjoMeq5WbT2ltnGfM8fGBsHSIwQ9kVCtFTJwAdaNkRruQR-5XaQyPWuA88dqOoJSkRQoOXDNY0sZuQGZPdNUfSR3w/s1600/PPATCH02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3Eg9TbekILnWT8sOWlCCPKx6TFw7VVkUQB0tBFXes_1ymtjJXIhjoMeq5WbT2ltnGfM8fGBsHSIwQ9kVCtFTJwAdaNkRruQR-5XaQyPWuA88dqOoJSkRQoOXDNY0sZuQGZPdNUfSR3w/s640/PPATCH02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu-1SzoLrVeYfBZtaISCEUJ41IGAyKgGRLsuXNdmIbH1tIeEdB-ZmaPe0SDXvXCEPKGL95-7ZtcCoPFClc61DltSwqAPqFl22C02zt0Kmdf2MkoHjJqVEKSqxsSoPTjM8-Hh-HIJsqh0/s1600/PPATCH03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu-1SzoLrVeYfBZtaISCEUJ41IGAyKgGRLsuXNdmIbH1tIeEdB-ZmaPe0SDXvXCEPKGL95-7ZtcCoPFClc61DltSwqAPqFl22C02zt0Kmdf2MkoHjJqVEKSqxsSoPTjM8-Hh-HIJsqh0/s640/PPATCH03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Paisley has it down!
This first picture was even shown on one of our local newscasts:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLhlZCOXg8mt_MzrHwBNBwpp8kVMVrfW_WWjrNVsKt4sqUAaacJI2qSvkz3fqh-abSzkzFWacP9Ks4xKHUdZngzvWIm_uS6kiD2XvZov07ESXFT0vqFj5uNon0Jvd4lfiizRo-ndmvVk/s1600/PPATCH04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLhlZCOXg8mt_MzrHwBNBwpp8kVMVrfW_WWjrNVsKt4sqUAaacJI2qSvkz3fqh-abSzkzFWacP9Ks4xKHUdZngzvWIm_uS6kiD2XvZov07ESXFT0vqFj5uNon0Jvd4lfiizRo-ndmvVk/s640/PPATCH04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDEBZOIp7e39WOdSh51O3f3R1_0Mq-hWH8zWMQEr1E2I6fGmYHNim28H0CjdwN55-hFWW1T92G57DXxdNtDnk4d9dWZBfuSchqYcJHUQ5jaaQqccs-TCO8TrrbToXjmNKaS_3nNvLt5M/s1600/PPATCH05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDEBZOIp7e39WOdSh51O3f3R1_0Mq-hWH8zWMQEr1E2I6fGmYHNim28H0CjdwN55-hFWW1T92G57DXxdNtDnk4d9dWZBfuSchqYcJHUQ5jaaQqccs-TCO8TrrbToXjmNKaS_3nNvLt5M/s640/PPATCH05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What cute little pun’kins!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-9300402447742753622013-12-08T11:41:00.001-08:002013-12-08T12:46:45.507-08:00Catching Up – Halloween!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Christmas season is already upon us, meaning that there
will be lots of fun things to post about.
However, the OCD part of me will not allow me to write about <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i></b>
of that until I catch up on what has already happened around here! So before Christmas, before Thanksgiving,
there was Halloween! Now, Halloween is
not a big deal to me any more (it mostly just means handing out candy, and
Robert actually did that this year) – but, over at the Lackey household, it was
quite the event(s). Lucky for me, Mandy
is a great photographer who not only likes to take pictures, but doesn’t mind
if her old mother steals them for her personal use. Since I wasn’t there, I will try to relate
the events to the best of my memory of the story:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of days before Halloween, there was something
called “Boo at the Zoo” and Mandy went with a very good friend of hers and all
of their crumb crunchers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was “trick-or-treating”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL8l_RxyqE7YNmDl265qFaHAbWv2yixeyj4Yoon0UH-a4rInggtQBtKKpytzu4eu4Ivc69Cttjn4_YOy4thKWMbC1nhWUvR-4XTg2hltg41poTlXvWHlFhKuhTj3rPnsOIJYIFE4TLWc/s1600/HALLOWEEN01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL8l_RxyqE7YNmDl265qFaHAbWv2yixeyj4Yoon0UH-a4rInggtQBtKKpytzu4eu4Ivc69Cttjn4_YOy4thKWMbC1nhWUvR-4XTg2hltg41poTlXvWHlFhKuhTj3rPnsOIJYIFE4TLWc/s640/HALLOWEEN01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Paisley played all kinds of fun games:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtvv0J50Mp6i94hY0y89IqvAeJqTg1694er8KMXpfETvAFc2vQOthyvwpAsadQ90_qyBslID0RFvxViKfo3-1aWdqdIcplUELVNPaoC3z4I9hMiaDjyxo7JP3_EnSdfOGJkZGQmct4n4/s1600/HALLOWEEN02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtvv0J50Mp6i94hY0y89IqvAeJqTg1694er8KMXpfETvAFc2vQOthyvwpAsadQ90_qyBslID0RFvxViKfo3-1aWdqdIcplUELVNPaoC3z4I9hMiaDjyxo7JP3_EnSdfOGJkZGQmct4n4/s640/HALLOWEEN02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Fox – Well, he mostly just sat around looking cute:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmc0QGNAhm5NIuJ_ENMTO2tF56uvwc33nSgo6Aw4RqDzwdbTvpdOexAt9TPWqmNmJHMstBLKUEHc45Fe_CC3XdYqTkmaC-37CTsFAxj4vznNT-PLSXtYHXtCD_OecOnG0ukp3XY2pd9Y/s1600/HALLOWEEN03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmc0QGNAhm5NIuJ_ENMTO2tF56uvwc33nSgo6Aw4RqDzwdbTvpdOexAt9TPWqmNmJHMstBLKUEHc45Fe_CC3XdYqTkmaC-37CTsFAxj4vznNT-PLSXtYHXtCD_OecOnG0ukp3XY2pd9Y/s640/HALLOWEEN03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though it was tons of fun, I think they were there for
quite some time, and Paisley reached a point that she was just done:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkb032-ExyJgrRQzrilun3TaeSOIv6oNk8oEfOsenjOfYT9_wtOQEF2fcuafN4KS03KbSSNilbovMoAQdC0qkAt6MxZsEGrY-IV8w-ZTTRzD0a3da3sS4_xok4bNGWpArrvnc1B0-9Cc/s1600/HALLOWEEN04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkb032-ExyJgrRQzrilun3TaeSOIv6oNk8oEfOsenjOfYT9_wtOQEF2fcuafN4KS03KbSSNilbovMoAQdC0qkAt6MxZsEGrY-IV8w-ZTTRzD0a3da3sS4_xok4bNGWpArrvnc1B0-9Cc/s640/HALLOWEEN04.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was too bad, because there was a party at the church
later that night, and the whole family went:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QXga4Q4aereGkvY7l_BXTMKqEECutqBlQMqGXqWHodPUQRhuakK5-8txYER0nMyEOZt823kuj2IoA9WQjIrzsxufdQq9xaGxvp1Um-Uma5yFDJOd8mVB70cm5cQxUQ-pADMsIimNpGw/s1600/HALLOWEEN04A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QXga4Q4aereGkvY7l_BXTMKqEECutqBlQMqGXqWHodPUQRhuakK5-8txYER0nMyEOZt823kuj2IoA9WQjIrzsxufdQq9xaGxvp1Um-Uma5yFDJOd8mVB70cm5cQxUQ-pADMsIimNpGw/s640/HALLOWEEN04A.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy had been asked to be one of the official photographers,
tasked to take family-type shots of all of the attendees. She used Jeromy and Paisley as subjects for
some test shots, and our little bunny was so tired, even her ears were
drooping:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdR9NIMOmu_WD5tllhlvBRuzwJvtz4r_F7h9gpRrV_OdXtO6kZlK4fEVGvxhEDCQUwMlKp_4q-bvQ6IjYzpoF2BKN7w-3R57wgOSmeRLf_Pc6GVMFGFBzbaRSgo0QhYGe97q1Uv5MLmeQ/s1600/HALLOWEEN05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdR9NIMOmu_WD5tllhlvBRuzwJvtz4r_F7h9gpRrV_OdXtO6kZlK4fEVGvxhEDCQUwMlKp_4q-bvQ6IjYzpoF2BKN7w-3R57wgOSmeRLf_Pc6GVMFGFBzbaRSgo0QhYGe97q1Uv5MLmeQ/s640/HALLOWEEN05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Halloween night, the little family went “trick-or-treating”
with some other family friends, hoping that Paisley would have more fun and
more confidence about going up to strangers’ doors if she was with a group. At some homes, she still needed a little help from Dad…</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyz7XtMf-xi2Br2HPlVxQd3EbI3fHQhmB0pXmpW4TeREavRUpilZmYvmfKtzIaClfzSrmBsyt7zFbeB4DYYhi7noTEEHYoe1pkKFQuYzF5-6ws3QsJkliZlAACi_c-U1g5bm_HSzCwoc/s1600/HALLOWEEN06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyz7XtMf-xi2Br2HPlVxQd3EbI3fHQhmB0pXmpW4TeREavRUpilZmYvmfKtzIaClfzSrmBsyt7zFbeB4DYYhi7noTEEHYoe1pkKFQuYzF5-6ws3QsJkliZlAACi_c-U1g5bm_HSzCwoc/s640/HALLOWEEN06.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But other homes seemed safe enough that she could do it
herself:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_usarWeEe6YedBMKCVAywXjRxzqIFKgTR72oj89pBjI_p8NBAOJdhAY7FwGGc2UsFZRVgyRqIBFZiVhA-t7d_5hKjOllD6DFx3WIIhXczLozUPkIYMkuIdHxEoiTYjxKtEAsrlSwuzcM/s1600/HALLOWEEN07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_usarWeEe6YedBMKCVAywXjRxzqIFKgTR72oj89pBjI_p8NBAOJdhAY7FwGGc2UsFZRVgyRqIBFZiVhA-t7d_5hKjOllD6DFx3WIIhXczLozUPkIYMkuIdHxEoiTYjxKtEAsrlSwuzcM/s640/HALLOWEEN07.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was quite tickled that Paisley wanted to be a bunny this
year…just like her mother did when she was a little girl. Here’s a side-by-side of my two sweet
bunnies:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuHGQnVdixRiIKGFrwrY3bBmh8RHYXIItOuMLeTmjJZUVYRRdVbpiDHuNSZq0bTE5dUyMPQSZr8ShECQqdqGy59993L0NqqP07Sf9Y8Lk4bYTiHc0fgTklsk1CG5_lrDSGlsU1Ct3r5u8/s1600/HALLOWEEN08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuHGQnVdixRiIKGFrwrY3bBmh8RHYXIItOuMLeTmjJZUVYRRdVbpiDHuNSZq0bTE5dUyMPQSZr8ShECQqdqGy59993L0NqqP07Sf9Y8Lk4bYTiHc0fgTklsk1CG5_lrDSGlsU1Ct3r5u8/s640/HALLOWEEN08.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even Halloween has come full circle!</span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-42024982133103585612013-11-10T08:04:00.001-08:002013-11-10T08:04:48.479-08:00Old Wet Hen
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that the fall season in Texas has lasted all of one
week, we will be getting our first freeze here in a couple of days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess the hot days of summer are truly gone…for
a couple of months, anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means
that Opal Chicken will have to wait awhile for her next bath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe it or not, I think she might miss
them!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It isn’t like we bathed her all the time, but she certainly
got more than one bath this past summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It began when the temperatures started climbing way above the 100-degree
mark; even with fans blasting in the chicken coop, there was just no way to
really keep her cool!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a hot chicken
is a very sad sight!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I started
bringing her in during the hot part of the day and putting her in a dog crate
in the craft room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once it the
temperature started cooling down, she would go back outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“She stinks to high heaven!” my husband declared.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“She does not stink!” I countered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She just smells…different.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“She needs a bath!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He wasn’t backing down.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After seeing how wild the dogs can be when Robert bathes
them, I wasn’t quite sure how Opal Chicken would take to this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But time after time, she would just sit
calmly in the tub, letting Robert suds her up:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjd2VmNWHGM9Tz6N1yyY9zjkXzJOwLFRaFicTHZE23C-8sC-a1PPUwzIb5iIsJ2-SkipF7OWD3FRpebvCIBOJQ7dk1v6WKqx1hF32-CgHu_N5hfcP3OPRWpswgsy6ZZtoFkkRwU4ceTh0/s1600/WET01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjd2VmNWHGM9Tz6N1yyY9zjkXzJOwLFRaFicTHZE23C-8sC-a1PPUwzIb5iIsJ2-SkipF7OWD3FRpebvCIBOJQ7dk1v6WKqx1hF32-CgHu_N5hfcP3OPRWpswgsy6ZZtoFkkRwU4ceTh0/s640/WET01.JPG" width="510" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpvHTOIPJ8eOr1yuGjD3sEkpM8ZGIiwms4Ec_C0EMivSd4_83Abop-Chif04vxjUNVBBUwIgcSs3FPx2YSvmAITQzl5IXTPBJBHQwJTfEnpk0h4MoWJnXILc8skvEmilXq2mi8khh4yA/s1600/WET03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpvHTOIPJ8eOr1yuGjD3sEkpM8ZGIiwms4Ec_C0EMivSd4_83Abop-Chif04vxjUNVBBUwIgcSs3FPx2YSvmAITQzl5IXTPBJBHQwJTfEnpk0h4MoWJnXILc8skvEmilXq2mi8khh4yA/s640/WET03.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He would <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>take her out
and sit her on top of something, and then pour clean water to rinse her off:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDfzajxBOMBwv8E7IrpC9PpYO1O8ZOsjFlW2ZIdCvc1GxbNw3CSPLb8y8D_yzuoyq0kiEXrYZAlB-ul1Mb6HLMnPIWl9c8xNcfD8yk8yVB4OqPpTdhMthaQ63X_brWJZLYgtbZA0LZVA/s1600/WET04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDfzajxBOMBwv8E7IrpC9PpYO1O8ZOsjFlW2ZIdCvc1GxbNw3CSPLb8y8D_yzuoyq0kiEXrYZAlB-ul1Mb6HLMnPIWl9c8xNcfD8yk8yVB4OqPpTdhMthaQ63X_brWJZLYgtbZA0LZVA/s640/WET04.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only part she didn’t enjoy was the indignity of Cookie
doing some sort of inspection:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgi_EfU4egw9tUUdOmuCEyAX97PT0GHzV9jeqjPEVgdM9THOJjnkMmwlv6y7u0We8U-5wk2t00D5OSfUgb91nxJ82XwknyZ1dEQgTx_1iP6r4VrClXEGUiNfoMbseEp_L_GbjVoCQpDo/s1600/WET05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgi_EfU4egw9tUUdOmuCEyAX97PT0GHzV9jeqjPEVgdM9THOJjnkMmwlv6y7u0We8U-5wk2t00D5OSfUgb91nxJ82XwknyZ1dEQgTx_1iP6r4VrClXEGUiNfoMbseEp_L_GbjVoCQpDo/s640/WET05.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But after that was over, now all clean and sweet (and
cool!), Opal Chicken could strut around and enjoy her day:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-AcpcBT31PN9DDncSCCVqgpgC430bcPu6ka828GQcrmhH7m84M22lnaQs5SvJ4EeHbXXX8zGYNaJAQuSdH_d6ljxc4fSFmw_Lrn5l5mqO7PxvCjMDmY0EIcXuuYCE2GX7eoEsLikVac/s1600/WET06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-AcpcBT31PN9DDncSCCVqgpgC430bcPu6ka828GQcrmhH7m84M22lnaQs5SvJ4EeHbXXX8zGYNaJAQuSdH_d6ljxc4fSFmw_Lrn5l5mqO7PxvCjMDmY0EIcXuuYCE2GX7eoEsLikVac/s640/WET06.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-41050539031665542882013-11-10T07:36:00.000-08:002013-11-10T07:36:01.346-08:00Wheels!
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This summer we finally accomplished one of our goals!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have been looking around for quite some
time to find a camper trailer, and Robert finally found one that was still in
really good shape (except for a leak in the roof – discovered after we bought
it, during the first major rainstorm).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We bought it at such an insanely low price, that even with the leak
(which Robert is in the process of repairing), it was a really great deal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since it is used, there is the possibility that there were
dogs and smokers in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are going to
replace the carpet with a hard floor and reupholster the couch, etc., as well
as buy a new mattress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important to
us that it is fresh and allergen-free because one of the major things we are
looking forward to using the camper for is taking the world’s most beautiful
girl camping as soon as we can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also,
since she still can’t come in our house until we are down some animals, we
thought that maybe she could come spend the night sometimes and we can camp out
in the driveway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fox will be coming as
soon as he is old enough to enjoy it, but for now it is Paisley’s special thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, we have named our new home, “Paisley’s
Palace”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here are some pictures of how it looked when we bought it:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yIw5bBu8YkXNWHlzkqrZKhBFBSUxX_fFu_RwOhDxQpk1LH9asE3qmK-phzsoVcqSEfbS_TnE2Fe1PFKFbdvUG4DaZRGbIX2AfS65ORhAC22SqF6CH3z42X4rZ2XaAF3xLDimam86OBU/s1600/WHEELS01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yIw5bBu8YkXNWHlzkqrZKhBFBSUxX_fFu_RwOhDxQpk1LH9asE3qmK-phzsoVcqSEfbS_TnE2Fe1PFKFbdvUG4DaZRGbIX2AfS65ORhAC22SqF6CH3z42X4rZ2XaAF3xLDimam86OBU/s640/WHEELS01.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv_4Q9LoYLoN8nbVqK8wbJYq0R97qMvi48knLGdJIZT1jJpgnNzgQjUtl98y290N5_ueBDgDoyUlfwQRnGoocZ4w9ROvjN7XLqcUMzDJgR1EfqC5CxG7y_dDCXlS5q2oY6qNqv4j047k/s1600/WHEELS02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv_4Q9LoYLoN8nbVqK8wbJYq0R97qMvi48knLGdJIZT1jJpgnNzgQjUtl98y290N5_ueBDgDoyUlfwQRnGoocZ4w9ROvjN7XLqcUMzDJgR1EfqC5CxG7y_dDCXlS5q2oY6qNqv4j047k/s640/WHEELS02.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBGZN1j9fm-w1-V0mK3xPInNsTHUER_RLzQZn1a6gWYdwTaOINYKX8HaRk8nAfE8NMue3AXrKDnoG1vpVHeP2AmV-JTTrULnSoQVxgedAtDMnX5U_5-ntPdWNUHFPOhYJaJJqNhP9Kng/s1600/WHEELS03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBGZN1j9fm-w1-V0mK3xPInNsTHUER_RLzQZn1a6gWYdwTaOINYKX8HaRk8nAfE8NMue3AXrKDnoG1vpVHeP2AmV-JTTrULnSoQVxgedAtDMnX5U_5-ntPdWNUHFPOhYJaJJqNhP9Kng/s640/WHEELS03.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqDxvnVF91ItMTr9P36VXyXg9iHRmN-X3zhYik1ArsPkJHvmxj10Ds5qHEYnqKvvvFRCI7pu2fzZsKWLxB6lmlR0au0SmdNqrCLColRnCAS-BRLj0U5kDWDDATwIg4cALD5P6jOhQruw/s1600/WHEELS04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqDxvnVF91ItMTr9P36VXyXg9iHRmN-X3zhYik1ArsPkJHvmxj10Ds5qHEYnqKvvvFRCI7pu2fzZsKWLxB6lmlR0au0SmdNqrCLColRnCAS-BRLj0U5kDWDDATwIg4cALD5P6jOhQruw/s640/WHEELS04.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There will be new pictures when we get the re-do finished!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Robert also surprised me with a little something he came
bringing home one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been aggravating
him like crazy about moving to a small town…a town small enough that I could
ride a bicycle to the grocery store, the library, and what-not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could just picture me waving to my friends
as I ride by, just like Jessica Fletcher does during the opening song of “Murder
She Wrote”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if I was going to
be hauling groceries home, I would need a big basket of some sort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I’m not moving to a small town any time
soon, but half of the dream came true when Robert showed up with this bad boy:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnMhZjN957Ee8l3dCJT4JxNQyup3b9ZIOMLVgFu3EuBC2La0XsjBhKP-sCDLMIHN2l5gF-UqiDHTvugS3sRYT5SzOI2RpSOrwwXw3m_NRb6uOBJeeLivJl76KpTfMSiZ7-uDDVgi3cvg/s1600/WHEELS05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnMhZjN957Ee8l3dCJT4JxNQyup3b9ZIOMLVgFu3EuBC2La0XsjBhKP-sCDLMIHN2l5gF-UqiDHTvugS3sRYT5SzOI2RpSOrwwXw3m_NRb6uOBJeeLivJl76KpTfMSiZ7-uDDVgi3cvg/s640/WHEELS05.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">An adult tricycle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How fun is that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess with all of these wheels, there’s a plan to get me
out of the house more…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-90001024926515426032013-09-08T19:07:00.000-07:002013-09-08T19:07:52.163-07:00Paisley Turns Three!
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems like it was just yesterday, but Paisley actually turned
three a little while back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again, I
have not been timely in my posting, but I want to share highlights from Paisley’s
party any way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandy warned me early on that with a brand new baby, she
would not have the time, nor the energy, to throw the blow-out birthday bash
that she gave for the first two birthdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the life of me, I don’t know what she was talking about…it was
darling!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The theme came from Paisley’s
favorite things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Favorite colors –
yellow and pink, and favorite drink – lemonade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus, the Paisley Pink-and-Yellow-Lemonade-Party came to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were decorations:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uO_1FU9zQaibr2qmUkobiMk_lNCIUMiUSkoDVtOfe6Tz0jdKYe9AIiprHJZMQF7DjVoF-U8SUHm5eba6VBIEWpzaNlpAHzqs-yLo4UtZ6kAm42Xj8qptuL20ozwp3qirlCmiIGZNRE0/s1600/001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uO_1FU9zQaibr2qmUkobiMk_lNCIUMiUSkoDVtOfe6Tz0jdKYe9AIiprHJZMQF7DjVoF-U8SUHm5eba6VBIEWpzaNlpAHzqs-yLo4UtZ6kAm42Xj8qptuL20ozwp3qirlCmiIGZNRE0/s640/001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Refreshments:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8AZUqLx0ZAj4Gvth7VRD40UJEgJqM6zJ90IpyiqtAZxdrj7MRlIx_dSbHqtMOA8Am2BLleXIiDkz1NksYUt0y8BCPRJCjbjm2k3kv4VwkS7gtUEYJqDtFSZJLF3sBjbpxTsGsk3yUE9I/s1600/002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8AZUqLx0ZAj4Gvth7VRD40UJEgJqM6zJ90IpyiqtAZxdrj7MRlIx_dSbHqtMOA8Am2BLleXIiDkz1NksYUt0y8BCPRJCjbjm2k3kv4VwkS7gtUEYJqDtFSZJLF3sBjbpxTsGsk3yUE9I/s640/002.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Cake:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSunJidLvv1jJHHwqB5-xfR2Pz69S-lmoo8c55fH_5P-NplcF7VIKdiAVEy-MvECOxBA0ln340UFxEF0PVjcbOoqefG7f7u5pCfgtH4do5y36OxDNDZRVL4rH0MquKLYerimAPlpmsOE/s1600/003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSunJidLvv1jJHHwqB5-xfR2Pz69S-lmoo8c55fH_5P-NplcF7VIKdiAVEy-MvECOxBA0ln340UFxEF0PVjcbOoqefG7f7u5pCfgtH4do5y36OxDNDZRVL4rH0MquKLYerimAPlpmsOE/s640/003.jpg" width="640" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The World’s Most Beautiful Girl even had a dress with lemons
on it:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfHwqgEwEKXho96QalKIbqhruogN2Y9YOfPAbh-xQ7H5LrALXcShnJRq2xaKxrrYec8-EYVebWWI3Ua9CgpFIBpiyZ69FzceK3NB1MiFzRNBTzV7L6uV9MjS__2ADVO_kLy77GHH65W0/s1600/004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfHwqgEwEKXho96QalKIbqhruogN2Y9YOfPAbh-xQ7H5LrALXcShnJRq2xaKxrrYec8-EYVebWWI3Ua9CgpFIBpiyZ69FzceK3NB1MiFzRNBTzV7L6uV9MjS__2ADVO_kLy77GHH65W0/s640/004.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fox was dressed for the occasion, too:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FsBJfVlI0WYxr7P6zLwdOF1Yfb5GqTvZc-L6szi9pOfns0djxLGRT-ifesFnlMHaEm5y_HhcCOj27PKazYMxL27iXlLaOaud2oirf0oQWukjXkxCkkPQU2xc8p1OmtPy4p0-KK_cCik/s1600/005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FsBJfVlI0WYxr7P6zLwdOF1Yfb5GqTvZc-L6szi9pOfns0djxLGRT-ifesFnlMHaEm5y_HhcCOj27PKazYMxL27iXlLaOaud2oirf0oQWukjXkxCkkPQU2xc8p1OmtPy4p0-KK_cCik/s640/005.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paisley had fun hob-knobbing with all her guests (shown her
with her cousin, Joshua):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaYkm8yPzLFxWiuGUkrcib3g6ukrwkh-hWz6lj9-07r7qDGAfczvbv4QiiqgCd2By3yH0rHkv8RrirSP5TlMU5rd2anmqpmDIwZljNWaSzLBc7l2_pnH7vhfm16snTiHKuf3QCnKjwPA/s1600/006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaYkm8yPzLFxWiuGUkrcib3g6ukrwkh-hWz6lj9-07r7qDGAfczvbv4QiiqgCd2By3yH0rHkv8RrirSP5TlMU5rd2anmqpmDIwZljNWaSzLBc7l2_pnH7vhfm16snTiHKuf3QCnKjwPA/s640/006.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of course, PRESENTS:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhx2pXP3CpeNeoUBnDWN2lU0Vjc5bFAV0cJcr5QEEWHHWGzxAG0mXfOaMgRakrE__BejxevzzwmmUB4YtivPzX4Bx3AURgqdt2kNl9GQhJMlfVGEDfSvoo-x84BeskCQ1s0pkbbDZMW0/s1600/007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhx2pXP3CpeNeoUBnDWN2lU0Vjc5bFAV0cJcr5QEEWHHWGzxAG0mXfOaMgRakrE__BejxevzzwmmUB4YtivPzX4Bx3AURgqdt2kNl9GQhJMlfVGEDfSvoo-x84BeskCQ1s0pkbbDZMW0/s640/007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXSkXimUwBiFzj9Klhv9hjnbr1CFcNH3ymCNyOMSPW9xUFfsgu9Vz0KIXKW1lKQruU6XjHywhQbzOQj40eRHv1ZqAHIi3zvz6FODJ6RqF0IOxsAOSwWlmEFLRv1KEDDiWsCU30DoUUvc/s1600/008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXSkXimUwBiFzj9Klhv9hjnbr1CFcNH3ymCNyOMSPW9xUFfsgu9Vz0KIXKW1lKQruU6XjHywhQbzOQj40eRHv1ZqAHIi3zvz6FODJ6RqF0IOxsAOSwWlmEFLRv1KEDDiWsCU30DoUUvc/s640/008.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And singing and candles:</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUeU3KuQSujUrcBeVZC5uebAGIjQmlPGiq0Q-GXFoviFK84nkcSprIoRuh20Y3WAtkw9cazHomaZiOD6bsjN9QVmmJzoUeLO1Dfth8XPCKS_SdONIgCkXYaFVO1enZivWZPh9IOs4-R4/s1600/009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiUeU3KuQSujUrcBeVZC5uebAGIjQmlPGiq0Q-GXFoviFK84nkcSprIoRuh20Y3WAtkw9cazHomaZiOD6bsjN9QVmmJzoUeLO1Dfth8XPCKS_SdONIgCkXYaFVO1enZivWZPh9IOs4-R4/s640/009.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grump-Pa and Dee Dee were both sick and were not able to
make it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Robert’s mother, “Grandma
Lynda”, came for the event and she and Paisley had a great time together:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk6fMo5GJ6gZAd4b7yMV6YIU2NXfdBfUjiapXpVssLZnKt1zpT2GjGZsS-0WLFPAEYUAvXzC7U98Gi1-CkB5_pXK8luQtUxvPtwn1DTL2_XmF2BzNd9i9EL_axE-kujVEpZi5jwbqWFc/s1600/010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk6fMo5GJ6gZAd4b7yMV6YIU2NXfdBfUjiapXpVssLZnKt1zpT2GjGZsS-0WLFPAEYUAvXzC7U98Gi1-CkB5_pXK8luQtUxvPtwn1DTL2_XmF2BzNd9i9EL_axE-kujVEpZi5jwbqWFc/s640/010.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grandma Lynda was a big help by manning the kiddy-treat
table…Mandy had those little plastic cups with the decorative inserts that
allow the kids to decorate their own cup as the party favors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma Lynda helped everyone with those:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRZ1qNb84e4QSM1oprpPa8iJx-klrqWCJNvi1ukvtPVjEivBDPiCBC2n6mjMrQ3SMvxniSXL0FrPLkDIdfMP4vpXqsFzEhJ8NrlQvbOhWK5JTuKR9LxT5VAjsyuw-tYt8cHBV7jJzTK8/s1600/011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRZ1qNb84e4QSM1oprpPa8iJx-klrqWCJNvi1ukvtPVjEivBDPiCBC2n6mjMrQ3SMvxniSXL0FrPLkDIdfMP4vpXqsFzEhJ8NrlQvbOhWK5JTuKR9LxT5VAjsyuw-tYt8cHBV7jJzTK8/s640/011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, I must say that Grandma Lynda was quite appreciated
all the way around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She helped me shop
for some upholstery fabric for an upcoming project, helping me to figure out
what is suitable and helping me understand what I needed to be watching out
for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, since Fox was right in the
midst of his colic/reflux woes during this time, she offered to spend the night
at Mandy’s house to help out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She stayed
for two nights and Mandy told me that Lynda was a real pick-me-up for their
spirits and brought a great sense of calm to their home during this time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
I think Paisley’s party was wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, although Mandy had been worried
about whether or not it was “enough”, she later told me that she ended up being
more that satisfied with it, and was able to truly enjoy it, because it wasn’t
quite so much and was less hectic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think that a sense of peace might be the best gift of all!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-53375597431542280172013-08-05T18:21:00.002-07:002013-08-05T18:25:59.168-07:00Fox at Home<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fox has been a different “Grandma” experience for me than
Paisley was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think part of that is due
to the fact that Paisley was the first grandchild (and child for her parents),
and also because I stayed over at the Lackey house for a couple of nights or so
in my effort to help out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Fox
experience was complicated by the fact that I was okay for a few days after he
was born, but then I got sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">felt</i></b>
like helping, we all knew that a sick baby and/or toddler was the last thing
they needed over there, so I stayed home until<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>we didn’t think I was contagious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even at that, most of my “helping” has consisted of taking Paisley for
little outings or hanging out with her at home, in an effort to provide her
with a little special attention and to give her mother a chance to concentrate
on Fox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poor Fox has had problems with “colic”
– later diagnosed as reflux – and just some general digestive issues which have
been causing distress for him <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i></b>loss of sleep for his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> All of </span>the pictures I have are
pictures which I have pilfered from Mandy; however, it’s probably good since
she takes much better pictures than I do!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Paisley has been generally taken with her new brother – except for
the part where he keeps everyone awake at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Paisley found it a little hard having to share her parents' attention at first, but she has been a real trooper as of late. </span>I believe these pictures were taken when they first
brought Fox home:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDl5P9ZZaQy1sm6mm9Rp_yYYPmosczBQq1lUTy7XCyPh5Za9JYsD5uwrlZJDugqmbz8izWJFEUbA4QgzVNYrokcsoc49NDXnWZQra8Qb6N4_-RFXQ_HWkveOxOGEOZVCXxt0qdtsoAYXs/s1600/HOME02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDl5P9ZZaQy1sm6mm9Rp_yYYPmosczBQq1lUTy7XCyPh5Za9JYsD5uwrlZJDugqmbz8izWJFEUbA4QgzVNYrokcsoc49NDXnWZQra8Qb6N4_-RFXQ_HWkveOxOGEOZVCXxt0qdtsoAYXs/s640/HOME02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt312V0zVvwyinf2m2sWJ9w3e3LYW6Tui0ku1tpr-B0e68lH5Y9HW-mQcIRazogTUC707W1iv_akD-EgJL1Uc7_Y0XdH2USXOlaTCU8rRE8H_jBCYjsNL00SZzr486VcCmN3Ybro8Csz4/s1600/HOME01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt312V0zVvwyinf2m2sWJ9w3e3LYW6Tui0ku1tpr-B0e68lH5Y9HW-mQcIRazogTUC707W1iv_akD-EgJL1Uc7_Y0XdH2USXOlaTCU8rRE8H_jBCYjsNL00SZzr486VcCmN3Ybro8Csz4/s640/HOME01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mandy has taken quite a few pictures, as time has
allowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had really thought that Fox
would simply look like a male version of Paisley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So far, he reminds me of Mandy when she was this age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But really, he just looks like his own little
person:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQh6mcelJPFglDjpbsHrJ0jkaBanqWtwP66tszMWU46ORTYfq-XbIB2nHz5CiFRoAdfugmStx5vJE2go5NXHSweUN8b9CU4wIEMnhprzpxxaelgZllJ98HRgILyVW1A4fx41OGM4LOjvc/s1600/HOME03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQh6mcelJPFglDjpbsHrJ0jkaBanqWtwP66tszMWU46ORTYfq-XbIB2nHz5CiFRoAdfugmStx5vJE2go5NXHSweUN8b9CU4wIEMnhprzpxxaelgZllJ98HRgILyVW1A4fx41OGM4LOjvc/s640/HOME03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfisqhg_MCb_F322Jm8hywzjgznJTpxWPyXK4NZwX5GBINsPHRwM0IzyX6mlxIDygaJAf_ocrrSP6bXoREExDwp3FtiyFYqN0djCTB3FhRYQZVuN0gJdSuYLK1hLYop5ExToMoz6HC6zM/s1600/HOME04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfisqhg_MCb_F322Jm8hywzjgznJTpxWPyXK4NZwX5GBINsPHRwM0IzyX6mlxIDygaJAf_ocrrSP6bXoREExDwp3FtiyFYqN0djCTB3FhRYQZVuN0gJdSuYLK1hLYop5ExToMoz6HC6zM/s640/HOME04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTZbrq3ZlFupPxC1ONpOJHwxAS6yKXZWgUbJGpfzisUgn-NHDhwBUtXdkIGZame39z3zk7h4y-0Xoq4gFbxkpg0cZj6ASuyvuzrG0T1gzth7yx1oiSpleY0KruoDc-PzfPXuYRYD-E8o/s1600/HOME05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTZbrq3ZlFupPxC1ONpOJHwxAS6yKXZWgUbJGpfzisUgn-NHDhwBUtXdkIGZame39z3zk7h4y-0Xoq4gFbxkpg0cZj6ASuyvuzrG0T1gzth7yx1oiSpleY0KruoDc-PzfPXuYRYD-E8o/s640/HOME05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He has the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">most incredible</i></b> feet, and I find
myself “gobbling” and kissing them every chance I get (although I don’t know
how many years that will last!):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAxGAfXqIIuXJ9LjlhlwPBYqqVjlHNZO4jtYby9ZQjAAJOnToJEBx5xQKCRiRikgSo9Kod1cWXqbEySp1LIkyn-YfP5wNiBGtZz6p-9R0a1T4qK3Yypgk2-ZTVZiIHQMnCfZqKoJsTXE/s1600/HOME05A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAxGAfXqIIuXJ9LjlhlwPBYqqVjlHNZO4jtYby9ZQjAAJOnToJEBx5xQKCRiRikgSo9Kod1cWXqbEySp1LIkyn-YfP5wNiBGtZz6p-9R0a1T4qK3Yypgk2-ZTVZiIHQMnCfZqKoJsTXE/s640/HOME05A.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The family had a photographer come to their house not too
long ago and take pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
beautiful:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDXPlGwsKmvuWpvxCGO-RNZppxXuw50zi900kooMtlrgGPuPC5LbN-mhFTgWQcQKmxE5Q_PFzMil2r0m5alolgw4telhlsObxw3KFACP_fa1IOcvVFtVoRrttnoiMHjEbRsmMLs1NaFc/s1600/HOME06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDXPlGwsKmvuWpvxCGO-RNZppxXuw50zi900kooMtlrgGPuPC5LbN-mhFTgWQcQKmxE5Q_PFzMil2r0m5alolgw4telhlsObxw3KFACP_fa1IOcvVFtVoRrttnoiMHjEbRsmMLs1NaFc/s640/HOME06.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh805ve2IU-GRTA2370fFry21DrrchSGl2TINvj_wbh5c5GqEGTt2Efskk-JVuorzwEMzJewtCMABY3zOxzVAQuh4GqyuG9LgeFrF_OxhyphenhyphenoiSSAAa-_lzl3FYnC-reiqe_fgW3hRr61WuU/s1600/HOME07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh805ve2IU-GRTA2370fFry21DrrchSGl2TINvj_wbh5c5GqEGTt2Efskk-JVuorzwEMzJewtCMABY3zOxzVAQuh4GqyuG9LgeFrF_OxhyphenhyphenoiSSAAa-_lzl3FYnC-reiqe_fgW3hRr61WuU/s640/HOME07.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZw3Ad2u7DCeapMgbmPFMjRkbDpDOEqoSX2idccpXmZkJ1pC2gb37xb-3uZQVt5MEdf6RdsZnNodFNcealOSb1kd_4NfDdfKwP46jlH0yhi6Usw25E6o1mIi6Jlgf4GxevkMqxtLoT0I/s1600/HOME08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZw3Ad2u7DCeapMgbmPFMjRkbDpDOEqoSX2idccpXmZkJ1pC2gb37xb-3uZQVt5MEdf6RdsZnNodFNcealOSb1kd_4NfDdfKwP46jlH0yhi6Usw25E6o1mIi6Jlgf4GxevkMqxtLoT0I/s640/HOME08.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess the thing that has surprised me the most is how much
I love this little guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had worried
that there would be no way that I could love another one as much as I love the World’s
Most Beautiful Girl, but somehow… it happened!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is wonderful!</span></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-79918226283983956292013-07-08T10:28:00.000-07:002013-07-08T10:28:09.035-07:00He's Finally Here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnszzjngyaB0CC3QWAV1ZfuaKRJE8gMaY83jeTEPgd0TpRwiLuh8hJ9CSVrBPwmk9bp36pkujW3zg-XomRmoXcdJ3BcHlRt_4i7FibdkFEsK78wCwF6c-2OJ6azE7heIIvs7Lxf1Rn7S8/s1600/994227_10151477478087066_2045822045_n%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnszzjngyaB0CC3QWAV1ZfuaKRJE8gMaY83jeTEPgd0TpRwiLuh8hJ9CSVrBPwmk9bp36pkujW3zg-XomRmoXcdJ3BcHlRt_4i7FibdkFEsK78wCwF6c-2OJ6azE7heIIvs7Lxf1Rn7S8/s640/994227_10151477478087066_2045822045_n%255B1%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Mandy suffering through pneumonia at 38 weeks of pregnancy, having the worry that he looked liked he might be breech for awhile there, and just a roller-coaster ride in general during the last month of Mandy's pregnancy, the most beautiful grandson in the world is finally here! We got the call at 4:30 this morning that Mandy was at the
hospital. It took us a little while to
get on the road, but we were out the door by 5:30, arriving at the hospital a
little after six-ish (thanks to no traffic!). Jeromy’s mother, “Nana”, was already there, and Mandy was working
through some major labor pains with the help of her faithful hubby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn’t too long (around 7:00) before the nurse booted the
grandparents out to go sit in the waiting room.
It seemed like forever before we were able to go back again. We later learned that the reason it took so
long was that the doctor on-call from Mandy’s OB didn’t show up on time. They waited as long as they could before Fox actually was <b><i>delivered by the nurses</i></b>
there, with the doctor showing up after the fact. Because of this, it took longer than usual to
get Mandy situated. Nana and Lolee are
both still pretty upset about this, and I probably don’t need to ever see Mandy’s
doctor. However, Mandy and Fox are doing
fine now (thanks to the nurses!), and I know that the whole world will want to
get a peek at the most beautiful grandson in the whole world:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03CANqo0yX32gTetdfMATKT4mJKgMwYpEewfHo2RmNa4vBOef_SMWL2xlQYAFNo4szS-cIC_jyNFtzh41lDnZHRxnWj4ZwVL5HVdwqxsebtG99L5CuviOdzSv0rWqoD3ayBv8NUFkjto/s1600/DSCF3897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03CANqo0yX32gTetdfMATKT4mJKgMwYpEewfHo2RmNa4vBOef_SMWL2xlQYAFNo4szS-cIC_jyNFtzh41lDnZHRxnWj4ZwVL5HVdwqxsebtG99L5CuviOdzSv0rWqoD3ayBv8NUFkjto/s640/DSCF3897.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesjri1Ja52r666qw_UlFi8C7iDUrZrWgabjka_r4Z_okGyfPcrUEi55-OJDzWsvlaDd6U6yr-foHRM-Eqi_SUEwCG12IKbtsyBciG23MhCbdDqvW0VPwWA_v9qKIZGNXFac1JWV2rfrc/s1600/DSCF3902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesjri1Ja52r666qw_UlFi8C7iDUrZrWgabjka_r4Z_okGyfPcrUEi55-OJDzWsvlaDd6U6yr-foHRM-Eqi_SUEwCG12IKbtsyBciG23MhCbdDqvW0VPwWA_v9qKIZGNXFac1JWV2rfrc/s640/DSCF3902.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdco84r2FFf61Y-g02HABVNDLpgupJTtgdBJYLwsh61vanA7cSh9vAWxasHAFdZipdJj_-k-JbAhHJrWxrqCUmRnEW-TR0bfzom1huLpdM7taC8vk_bQti-78mA5mDWYMXS0HFD3tjtc/s1600/DSCF3903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdco84r2FFf61Y-g02HABVNDLpgupJTtgdBJYLwsh61vanA7cSh9vAWxasHAFdZipdJj_-k-JbAhHJrWxrqCUmRnEW-TR0bfzom1huLpdM7taC8vk_bQti-78mA5mDWYMXS0HFD3tjtc/s640/DSCF3903.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOBVP-e0kIhImOX3MyCvUVSXjuCohIOvlvXEcabWAAJqITLeyTEFmOqdyzTRQBLUKmne6gfbNCLd-doKd_NvRdzKVNHDp28_1PPLSq0idq-G4pbePDiL6dASuUVQGJxLjmU82wmzPnUo/s1600/DSCF3910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOBVP-e0kIhImOX3MyCvUVSXjuCohIOvlvXEcabWAAJqITLeyTEFmOqdyzTRQBLUKmne6gfbNCLd-doKd_NvRdzKVNHDp28_1PPLSq0idq-G4pbePDiL6dASuUVQGJxLjmU82wmzPnUo/s640/DSCF3910.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC4FTQ5cApiGG3LECiBvewx1jFjFzCSEbIWHH5iz8ze1jXjqhfE156fi4YcCz4NeNOLV_iYm6qfJaZPcvve-BAc7jDPmSPrXpKhyphenhyphenHrYjtMxwsVrmww0RLgeLAvENMA6M7OioPHOt1Xc5E/s1600/DSCF3914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC4FTQ5cApiGG3LECiBvewx1jFjFzCSEbIWHH5iz8ze1jXjqhfE156fi4YcCz4NeNOLV_iYm6qfJaZPcvve-BAc7jDPmSPrXpKhyphenhyphenHrYjtMxwsVrmww0RLgeLAvENMA6M7OioPHOt1Xc5E/s640/DSCF3914.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-63178362809180764102013-06-09T18:58:00.000-07:002013-06-09T18:58:01.487-07:00A Round of Applause!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The past couple of weeks have been a busy and exciting time
here, and for a couple of members of the family, it was certainly time to
shine! This post is a chance to
recognize Robert and Paisley for their most recent achievements, as well as to
mention a really wonderful gift which I received.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Tuesday night, Robert and I did something that we haven’t
done in years: We went to a
concert! He surprised me last Christmas
with tickets to see Fleetwood Mac – in a section where we wouldn’t even need
binoculars! The funny thing is that Fleetwood
Mac was <b><i>so </i></b>popular when I was young, and while I thought they were
okay, I wasn’t especially taken with them at that time. It has only been in the last three years or
so that their music has actually “spoken” to my soul – especially Stevie Nicks’
music (I’m pretty sure that “Landside” was written just for me). So not only were there applause on Tuesday
night, there was some whistling, shouting, and just general jamming out. So fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next event that I want to share was for our old coot...It
has been a good season for Robert in his career. For the past few years he has been <b><i>an</i></b>
engineer for the city in which he works, but he was recently promoted to become
<b><i>The
City Engineer.</i></b> This is a
position that he has wanted very much, and I am so happy that he has the chance
to do something that he really wants to do.
It has meant that he has been gone from home much more, and I’m learning
to just make him a plate at dinner time for him to heat in the microwave later. However, he thinks it is worth all the extra
time and effort, and since he’s the one that has to get up and go every day, I’m
going to help support him in any way possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right on the heels of his promotion came the news that he
had won an award at the state level of the American Public Works Association. It’s always nice to win an award, but I think
this had a special significance. You
see, Robert used to work in the private sector – and there is often much more
potential to make more money there. But
I guess you’d have to know Robert to understand that he really is more of a
public sector guy, a place where “going the extra mile” is appreciated and
celebrated. Last Friday’s festivities
really served to drive this point home to me, and I can more fully see that
this is where a guy like him belongs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a couple of pertinent pages from the program:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBY5B8DOAiK00F2FNuxKtD5MRVR-pt-R8O5RjiYGP2bmYRdKW2Vgbxgj75kIs0010dN3ZRfmTz90nW0bfAdV08XaBVE_Yw7eQnZ8bXvSat2z0pyuQ_Ew9217AD3ZtTdMb3XDPVTdVz4Y/s1600/APPLAUSE001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBY5B8DOAiK00F2FNuxKtD5MRVR-pt-R8O5RjiYGP2bmYRdKW2Vgbxgj75kIs0010dN3ZRfmTz90nW0bfAdV08XaBVE_Yw7eQnZ8bXvSat2z0pyuQ_Ew9217AD3ZtTdMb3XDPVTdVz4Y/s640/APPLAUSE001.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is the happy public servant with his award:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(A special thanks to Mandy, who went with us. While her mother was too shy to go up and
take a picture, Mandy just trotted her little pregnant self right up there and
got a couple of shots!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all had a wonderful time (and some really great dinner
and dessert didn’t hurt, either). I can’t
begin to tell you how proud I am of my husband, and how happy I am that he is
so happy in his job!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was another fantastic event that happened on the 25<sup>th</sup>
of May: The World’s Most Beautiful Child
had her very first dance recital. Of
course, the whole family had to attend the extravaganza and we had the time of
our lives! Now, maybe other people won’t
get too excited about seeing a group of two-year olds strut their stuff on
stage, but this old Lolee was excited.
This event had been weeks (or maybe even months) in the making, and I
had been getting updates along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dress rehearsal was serious business, and Paisley had
the demeanor to match:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some shots of the performance:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those who might want to see the actual performance
(cute, cute, cute!), you can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEJ67OjBBc0">click here</a> (Paisley is the 4th from the left). As for the part where Most Beautiful lifts
her skirt: Paisley’s mother explained to
me that there was tape on the floor with their “marks” on it. I guess when one of the other girls was standing
so close, our girl knew that something was off, and she was trying to see where
her mark was. Once she found it, she
tried frantically to go through the moves to catch up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently, it is customary for even two-year old dancers to
receive bouquets of flowers. Paisley’s
parents -- and both sets of grandparents -- brought bouquets to Most
Beautiful. She was so tickled and
absolutely thrilled to receive them.
Mandy combined the various flowers to make this lovely arrangement:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most Beautiful officially has been bitten by the
entertainment bug, for she already has been asking when she can dance for <b><i>“everyone”</i></b>
again. She was quite disappointed when
her mother told her that she would have to learn some new dances and that it
would be a little while. Paisley is
ready to go again!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970176505086884213.post-73103275708272368982013-05-19T07:33:00.000-07:002013-05-19T08:22:56.346-07:00A Big, Beautiful (P)Earl<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of you may remember the story of (P)Earl Chicken, but
if you don’t, here’s a refresher: After
our beloved Ruby Chicken died, we were afraid that Opal Chicken would be
lonely. Our friends, Jill and Ricky (who
sold us Opal and Ruby) said they had some more young chickens, and if we wanted
one we could just come pick one out.
When we went, I found the most <b><i>beautiful </i></b>chicken I had ever seen;
soon (s)he was on her way home with us and was given the name of “Pearl”.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKAAtMwwus3HclKhO2YmZXwP0g_MMikM9PKhyphenhyphen0zINWL8qXPI8nMtNKsgh5AZCRTWctSc9o4X0UvG-OObMyVqs3B9ygrjx-_U1SBbiEc1gn0uSqCO-jnCNiLaHHzgM_c-6UJvqSLY2Pkg/s1600/PEARL001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKAAtMwwus3HclKhO2YmZXwP0g_MMikM9PKhyphenhyphen0zINWL8qXPI8nMtNKsgh5AZCRTWctSc9o4X0UvG-OObMyVqs3B9ygrjx-_U1SBbiEc1gn0uSqCO-jnCNiLaHHzgM_c-6UJvqSLY2Pkg/s640/PEARL001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only problem was that although we were quite smitten
with Pearl Chicken, Opal Chicken made it clear that she </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>did not</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> want another
chicken </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>at all. </i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Opal chased (P)Earl
all the time and was so mean to the little chicken </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that we had to let (P)Earl stay in the chicken
tractor instead of bedding down in the coop just to keep (P)Earl safe.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we were in the yard, (P)Earl was never
far away from me (which I actually kind of liked).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, all of this drama was short-lived
when (P)Earl began to crow every morning.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our city ordinance bans roosters from living within city limits, so (P)Earl
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(who was really an “Earl”) went back to
live with Jill and Ricky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, Jill just kept telling the cutest stories about (P)Earl,
so a couple of Sundays ago Robert and I asked if we could come for a
visit. Jill said, “Come on over,” so we
were on our way! I was absolutely giddy on
the drive over to Jill’s house. I
was going to see my sweet (P)Earl Chicken!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I absolutely LOVE Jill and Ricky's place -- it is so fun to go there! I swear, it seems like Ricky’s yard is at least four times bigger than ours, and even though
they live in town, they are pretty much able to live “the country life”. (Their town ordinances are also less
prohibitive than ours.) Therefore, when
we started to the back of the yard, we were greeted by chickens <b><i>everywhere</i></b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were some ducks, too!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzLdpbUmxjwXCMymcGWF4kRHGbHzkIyHWEHKb00ghm5aOBymRpOHTe-lApzp0Pr7HPboIMlQ-BtCKn2ayuFdiBeqEz7BVpFw55mZuD3A7MkiUTWHB0y5J_spW9kD9imVvKufn2D0bHvgk/s1600/PEARL002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzLdpbUmxjwXCMymcGWF4kRHGbHzkIyHWEHKb00ghm5aOBymRpOHTe-lApzp0Pr7HPboIMlQ-BtCKn2ayuFdiBeqEz7BVpFw55mZuD3A7MkiUTWHB0y5J_spW9kD9imVvKufn2D0bHvgk/s640/PEARL002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And they even have a peacock!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This peacock showed up at the house one day,
out of nowhere, bloody and pretty beat up.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After finding respite and help there, it just decided to stay!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It walks about freely among the chickens:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1r6QJQj8bw9f6nV6idJMTHu9LvoAA4iUPCEeGw2uawOPLP-w5p_IIBjEsUga4hPYaWbGQ-agW_APX10hEASTY1t4o4zY53-KItXoOq6jtHWr7Gvb5Tn0eldYzCo2EAtOwfUzcW0Danc/s1600/PEARL003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1r6QJQj8bw9f6nV6idJMTHu9LvoAA4iUPCEeGw2uawOPLP-w5p_IIBjEsUga4hPYaWbGQ-agW_APX10hEASTY1t4o4zY53-KItXoOq6jtHWr7Gvb5Tn0eldYzCo2EAtOwfUzcW0Danc/s640/PEARL003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hangs out with the ducks (and even has a tendency to herd
them, according to Jill):</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawVF_kB6hKBR1mdmX4tCS1zVnoXhuROpPwG4kE50F45bINfD3Taapdw5hOwEFjoVjwFy7tubTrEnt-lfLbBuPjInwjpmHYujHa_Q8ChU9e3UT2bOxMDxIcqS_jrHJgmdirbvGsJ8hdNM/s1600/PEARL004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawVF_kB6hKBR1mdmX4tCS1zVnoXhuROpPwG4kE50F45bINfD3Taapdw5hOwEFjoVjwFy7tubTrEnt-lfLbBuPjInwjpmHYujHa_Q8ChU9e3UT2bOxMDxIcqS_jrHJgmdirbvGsJ8hdNM/s640/PEARL004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And makes itself the “King of the Hill” on top of the
chicken coop:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPdHl0UX83IQht7NHp39vhzp-ugUflET8O6buKlex6dphI4h10Du_jNni1lx6fdSZz63UJ5Lgru7vYgYqKVXiRxaX_9zcgwLrJPi51Hx1eQ5wTLkq9-u7b1aNzMnSaR8_vJpzOqZI00k/s1600/PEARL005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPdHl0UX83IQht7NHp39vhzp-ugUflET8O6buKlex6dphI4h10Du_jNni1lx6fdSZz63UJ5Lgru7vYgYqKVXiRxaX_9zcgwLrJPi51Hx1eQ5wTLkq9-u7b1aNzMnSaR8_vJpzOqZI00k/s640/PEARL005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After having some fun watching all of the other critters, we
finally caught sight of the true catalyst for our trip:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(P)Earl Chicken!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyiMKOeiw7gF1PSoEJr4KgrqvWCPnHPXSLSciXyt7hhfNsWqz88gCJfsRRAjDb8U_w7WISBo8UGzccNQChi-ff7_1OSCzd4eNmboM-cHg9tN7U2MhdbihVQrGaFlgAJBpx596PuOUW1o/s1600/PEARL006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyiMKOeiw7gF1PSoEJr4KgrqvWCPnHPXSLSciXyt7hhfNsWqz88gCJfsRRAjDb8U_w7WISBo8UGzccNQChi-ff7_1OSCzd4eNmboM-cHg9tN7U2MhdbihVQrGaFlgAJBpx596PuOUW1o/s640/PEARL006.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(P)Earl is so beautiful!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so-not-the-scrawny-little-chick that we once knew!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I bet Opal Chicken would think twice before
bothering (P)Earl now!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(P)Earl has quite the harem:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuFHwiAyIRcM2oir6wR6-A1Z77qYlV1cJcCkK5DpMhLB3l7aCPKjTa3Is8UAhk8yrMyNCQ0rADnOy7R9JBTtcKs912dhhsS0cQ74TEkQQ3_7bRMjbHFyj_hdFoeNBqkPx_pv_cYqZrOk/s1600/PEARL007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuFHwiAyIRcM2oir6wR6-A1Z77qYlV1cJcCkK5DpMhLB3l7aCPKjTa3Is8UAhk8yrMyNCQ0rADnOy7R9JBTtcKs912dhhsS0cQ74TEkQQ3_7bRMjbHFyj_hdFoeNBqkPx_pv_cYqZrOk/s640/PEARL007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we were there, (P)Earl decided to romance his “favorite”
girl right there in front of us.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jill
has told me stories of watching him try to get girls by pretending his foot is
hurt.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She doesn’t know where he picked
that up, but he does it quite often, and it always makes her laugh to watch
him.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He hobbles around on his “hurt”
foot, and as soon as the concerned females rush to his rescue, BAM!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s on it.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He did not show such finesse when we were there – he pretty much just
jumped the poor girl.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, she was later
chasing him around, so I guess she likes him, too.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the happy couple:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegk9i61YJ4FVh8gcxWrlrlVjAWPpT0kgJJQhAuPDbSjGD13iiEpHzCht3LqCJUwJGBvOvjHhP4Jug2qgtpurrOEtLdiBnCudSWebtq2lEn1d-4tNIhC-gm6aBDC29RKerJ0LlIuI73v4/s1600/PEARL008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegk9i61YJ4FVh8gcxWrlrlVjAWPpT0kgJJQhAuPDbSjGD13iiEpHzCht3LqCJUwJGBvOvjHhP4Jug2qgtpurrOEtLdiBnCudSWebtq2lEn1d-4tNIhC-gm6aBDC29RKerJ0LlIuI73v4/s640/PEARL008.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As fun as it was to watch him, the best part was getting to </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>cuddle</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
him again!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jill was able to catch him,
and Robert and I took turns cuddling our beloved (P)Earl Chicken!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s Robert holding our big guy:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you go…(P)Earl Chicken is now loud, proud, and
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4De4M3s4-PqiN1Yn_0Q9is4C5D75XTC8SOrLfatD7H5yKNKLcuNLNGZi1buATWvnlMQV4GyfQySOyQe5dBTOG4p4jI1u4CtGmHG9hLfaVFkLOjXbAKvMa-H-kdGPOsYBMr_g5CqdSKls/s1600/PEARL010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4De4M3s4-PqiN1Yn_0Q9is4C5D75XTC8SOrLfatD7H5yKNKLcuNLNGZi1buATWvnlMQV4GyfQySOyQe5dBTOG4p4jI1u4CtGmHG9hLfaVFkLOjXbAKvMa-H-kdGPOsYBMr_g5CqdSKls/s640/PEARL010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Woodbury'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199984375439077879noreply@blogger.com2