New baby in the house

A few weeks ago, Mike's brother, Aaron, and his family added a couple of new hound/border collie puppies -- Mocha and Hailey -- to their household. Everything was going just fine, until all of a sudden last Wednesday after they got back from dinner, the puppies started randomly, spontaneously fighting. By Thursday morning, it got bad enough that they decided to give one of them away ... and guess who inherited one? Yep, that's right, we sure did.

Mike's brother brought Hailey over about lunch time on Thursday and she was an instant hit. Apparently our nieces were upset about giving her away until they found out she was over here. We had some trouble with the name -- one of Kylie's friends in our ward and neighborhood is named Haley, and it got a bit confusing talking about Haley the person and Hailey the dog. Fortunately, Mike's mom mentioned that the girls didn't have their heart set on calling her Hailey so it was ok for us to change her name. By the end of the day, Mike settled on Brandi.

The first few nights were a little rough. Poor Brandi, who Mike is determined will be an OUTSIDE dog, cried much of the night. I decided her full name should be Brandi Whine (instead of wine). It didn't help that the 3rd night the cat (Monty, the alpha male) broke out of the house and attacked her. Yes, the cat broke out of the house to attack the dog. Poor thing.

She's just about 4 months old now, born mid-November. She doesn't bark, but she bays like a true hound dog. She reminds me a little of Copper from The Fox and the Hound. Mike and his dad built her a dog house over the weekend, and by Sunday night she had settled in to her new home and we didn't hear a peep from her.

Even though we weren't looking for another pet and even resisted the idea at first, we have discovered several benefits to owning a dog: First, I had just bought a new pair of walking shoes, got an MP3 player for Christmas, and now I have a dog to walk. Second, Mike will have someone to keep him company when he's working in the back yard. Third, hopefully she'll scare the pigeons away so they'll quit cooing outside my bedroom window. Fourth, the kids (especially Steven) have been spending a little more time outside and a little less time in front of the TV.

She is a very cuddly thing. and so gentle! She wants to be where everyone else is, and spent much of Friday at Steven's feet or curled up beside him. When Kylie picks her up, she'll lay her head on Kylie's shoulder. Steven is even training her to pull him on his skateboard. It's been kinda fun to watch.

We now have more pets that people in our household. Officially, this makes 3 cats:

Monty (6) ...

Zuma (5) ...

and Blue (4) ...

One ferret, Jillian (2-ish) ...

and a dog. :oD

Steven's 14th Birthday

We had Steven's birthday dinner at Golden Corral on Wednesday, March 4th. His grandparents were in town from Oregon and they came with his Uncle Aaron, Aunt Ellen and cousins. Our good friends the Byrnes also joined us. Kylie was at a track meet, her first of the season, but told us to go without her since the cousins were leaving for Alabama the next afternoon.

We gave him a new bike (we just hadn't picked it up yet) -- a sturdy mountain bike instead of the street bike he's been riding, with heavy tires to better withstand the goatshead thorns he tends to pick up. It's a 26" Mongoose, red and black. In July the local bike shop will have maintenance and repair classes that he can take. Of course, at 14 he already knows everything there is to know about main-taining a bike, so I'm sure they'll have him teaching there classes right away. Uh-huh. Yeah.

We also finally gave him a new cell phone, after about a year and a half without one. We gave him a brand new one when we moved to Arizona, but within the first week here he had it in his pocket when he "tripped" and "fell" into the pool at his aunt and uncle's house. The SIM card still worked, though, so we put it in my old phone and he used it for awhile, until he lost it on a scout hike/campout on CG Mountain. By then, we'd already pulled him out of school so he didn't really need one; when he did, he used mine. Now that we are eligible to upgrade our phones again, it seemed like the right time for him to have one again -- I gave him my old phone number and I'm using my karate cell phone exclusively now.

No birthday is complete without a new video game. We still have the Super Nintendo, a PS2 and an X-Box that Kylie's friends gave us. I'm not ready to buy for the X-Box yet, so I got him a PS2 game. It's a hunting game, but I chose it because he can hunt on 5 continents with a variety of high-powered fire-arms (that he can upgrade as he goes) and if he's not fast or accurate enough, is forced to engage in "hand to claw" combat. I don't particularly care for the "shoot-em-up's" but figured we have enough army games; at least he's not shooting people.

His uncle, aunt and cousins gave him a gift card to Target that glows in the dark. He's kinda funny to shop for, so the gift card was perfect. Now when he "hangs out" at the mall, he'll have some spending money.

The waitstaff at Golden Corral came out to sing to him. I love how big a show they put on for the birthdays: The head waiter walks around among the tables, involving many of the other diners. They start out with a cadence, "I don't know but I've been told ... Someone here is getting old ... The good news is we sing for free ... The bad news is we sing off key" then launch into their unique version of "Happy, happy birthday!" It was fun.

On Saturday morning, Steven's grandmother took the scruffy boy shopping and brought home, several hours later, a nice, clean-cut, handsome young man. Steven resisted the haircut (which Janet said was her gift to me on Steven's birthday) at first but now will even admit that he likes it. He didn't fight clothes shopping, though -- he got several shirts, a couple pairs of pants, and a new pair of shoes to wear to the dances that he is now eligible to attend. WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY REAL SON?!?!

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Dear Steven,

What a young man you are growing into! Yes, you still have your moments when you are a pain in the rear (many of them deliberate, I'm sure), but you have many more when we can see the man you will become. There are many times when I've wanted to say, "This is my son, Steven, in whom I am well pleased." You have no idea how good it makes me feel when people comment on how responsible, mature and polite you are. My heart swelled the other night when Connie came to ask you to help her unload her car -- because she thought enough of you to ask and trusted that you would help her, and also because you put your shoes on right away and went.

I believe your Heavenly Father is well pleased too. You have a strong moral character that is not easily influenced by your more liberal peers. You are among the first to stand up for what is right, even when it's unpopular. You are loyal to your friends and especially to your family -- even your sister. It's amazing how you can be deliberately annoying her one second and jumping to her defense the next.

You are very intelligent, but remember that there is still much for you to learn and those of us who are further along the path we call "life" still have things we can teach you. Seek out those with more experience in any given area, watch them carefully and learn to follow their example. Learn to listen more than you speak; God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Learn to weigh your words before you speak them. Learn to trust others and follow their instructions without questioning them, even if you don't always understand the hows and whys of what you are being told. There will always be time to ask why later, and it may save your life some day. Learn to control your impulsivity and to serve others. Learn to work hard and to be generous with your abundance.

Most of all, learn to turn to your Heavenly Father for guidance. He will never leave you alone or lead you astray; but remember that He has placed in your path parents, teachers and other leaders that He trusts to guide you on His behalf. Seek out opportunities to be better, more like your Savior Jesus Christ. Follow Him in faith. Develop a personal relationship with Him through scripture study and prayer. His teachings are simple if you will let His Spirit touch your heart as you search, ponder and pray.

Remember the purpose of this life is to learn what we need to know to do what we need to do to return to live with Heavenly Father again. Our purpose right now is to teach you, just as one day your purpose will be to build your own family and teach them. Your career, your job, your hobbies, your material possessions will all pale in comparison with the importance of the Gospel and your family when it comes to your Eternal Salvation. The earlier you learn and understand this, the fuller your life will be.

You only have a few years left of growing. Make the best of them. You are no longer a child, but you are not yet ready for the responsibilities of adulthood. Decide who you want to be in 5 or 10 years and begin to act like that person. We have given you the tools you will need but now it is up to you to use them. Whatever happens, we love you and we have faith in you.

Happy 14th birthday, my son!

Love. Mom