a boy and his dog

 I am enjoying having JT here! 

https://youtu.be/_1oHL_7iZrQ

Finishing a Room

John and JT are working on a room in the basement, for JT and Miley to share (Miley is the big bear-dog). They started in August. 

Framing:

Here is the room and hallway, last week. Looking pretty good!

 

Murder Cake!

 Have you ever tried a recipe that was in a murder mystery? 

I did! One of my favorite series is Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen Cookie Mysteries. 

The cake I made this week is from her book,  Key Lime Pie Murder.

Kitty's Orange Cake is so good! 

I made it gluten free, too! It calls for a boxed cake mix, so I chose this one: 

Yummy, yummy!

My new Nana Van

We got a van! So funny, after giving up our Odyssey for a more gas-efficient Prius years ago. We've gone from a Prius, to another Prius, to hybrid Camry, to another hybrid Camry, then this hybrid Sienna. 

It's a 2021 model, and I am loving it. It has captain's chairs in the middle (really it is a bench seat with the middle seat removed), and window shades, two items that were on Luci's list of wants. I got a camera so I could watch Emma. I also got my Christmas present, so John is off the hook--a Harding University Alumna plate!

it's really an "alumni" plate, but the feminine singular is "alumna"

look at that mileage! FIVE full miles over the factory estimate, and I expect it to go higher.

camera view of precious cargo

starry night

 

JT took this one evening as he walked Miley down by our creek. 💗

Emma

 Emma is Bryan's first-born. We get to watch her two days a week and have so much fun seeing what she has learned each week! Babies are amazing. They have to learn so much from birth to age two that they qualify for "genius" designation, in my opinion. 

Last Tuesday, she sang along with me as we sang the Days of Creation.

Emma has fun in her swing, too. She seems to be Irish dancing here: 

Here are a couple of shots as she seemed to be doing an interpretive dance: 

and, she's a climber! Luci and I saw this sight when we arrived at her house yesterday. Mama had a good hold on her.

She was completely worn out the day after Trinitas. Napping with Nana: 

Hazel the Wonder Dog

Hazel is so fun. She has claimed me as being her person. There are lots of stories about Hazel, but I'll just give you one recent tale (tail?).

Luci, Emma, and I were leaving for Trinitas. John was helping by loading Emma in the van. Nobody paid attention to Hazel as we left, until she darted out the door! Zoom! 

Luci headed after her, and saw that Hazel was making a bee-line right to the creek. She came back up the hill. John buckled in Emma, then headed down the hill with the leash and doggy treats I handed him.

An hour later, we are sitting in Opening Ceremony at Trinitas. I see a Ring Alert come up on my phone. Hazel was walking around the driveway. 

John had made it to the creek and then came back to the house, because he had work to do. I called John and let him know that Hazel is back home.

"How did you know Hazel is back?"

"I'm watching her on the Ring camera!" 

silly doggy. more stories to follow