Alley & Kyle’s Adventures in . . .

I know that I rarely update my blog these days. It has been a very quiet year for us in Houston. Quiet can be a good thing too. Also, a little scary. I just wanted to see if anyone even checks my blog. Leave a comment to let me know if you do!

My friend Amy and her husband Marc are in the process of adopting a little girl named Zoe.  She is 3 years old, in the Ukraine, and has Down Syndrome.  Please check out their blog as they share their experience through this journey with us.

http://imbodens.wordpress.com/  

Good morning, everyone!  I hope that you are all bright and cheery this beautiful Groundhog Day.  I’ve been up for about an hour watching all of the festivities at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA.  And just a few minutes ago, the great prognosticator or prognosticators, the seer of seers, Punxsutawney Phil made an appearance!  A very short appearance because he saw his shadow and ducked back into his home. 

I am so sorry to report to all of you up north, but Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.   If it makes any of you feel better, we are having a bit of a cold snap down here as well.  It has been in the 50’s for several days, and it is going to remain that way for several more days!  On a brighter note, we have plenty of room, so come on down and warm up for a bit!

If you would like more information on Groundhog Day, click on the links I have on the right side of my blog.  It actually does have an interesting history.  Groundhog Day was originally called Candlemas Day, and here is something that I found about Candlemas Day:

"If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year."

And here is a fun link if you want to see some Groundhog Day Songs:  http://web.archive.org/web/20080719091409/http://ourworld.cs.com/DonaldRHalley/ghdsongs.htm

Read Phil’s complete prediction:

Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler’s Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, "If you want to know what’s next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be."

Dear Kristin,

Today is your birthday.  Today is your special day.  I hope that everything about today makes you feel special because you are special.  To my sweet friend, I miss you and wish you the best of all days today.

Happy Birthday, Kris!

Rocky and Slate found a baby bunny in our yard yesterday.  Fortunately for the baby bunny, I was able to intervene and keep the dogs off of it.  Rocky was mostly playing "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" and bopping it on the head.  Slate, however, well……  I posted a link below that has a pretty good reenactment of Slate with the Baby Bunny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxiv3CBMS4M

I can’t be mad at the dogs because they were just acting on their instincts.  I do hope, however, that the baby bunny has learned its lesson and will no longer wander into our yard.

We drove down to Galveston with our dogs today.  Galveston was hit hard by Hurricane Ike last year.  We saw a lot of the devastation that is still there, but we also saw some of the rebuilding that has already taken place.  Kyle drove down to one end of the beach to show me some restaurants that he had eaten at when he went there for a conference.  After looking around and thinking that they were "around here somewhere," he realized that that little row of restaurants was now leveled.  It was a little sad.

After our little scenic tour of Galveston, we took the dogs out for a short walk on the beach.  They didn’t quite know what to do with the water, but pretty soon they were having a good time jumping around in the waves and "boxing" at the waves.

I went to Florida last weekend to hang out with my nieces.  Here are some pictures of Katelynn (3 years old) and Abby (three weeks old).  Notice the proud grandparents.  They are beaming, aren’t they?

Kyle and I have seen this fellow a few times around the neighborhood, and we have heard him several times at night.  I finally got close enough to take some pictures of our new friend.

Our community was developed to preserve as much nature as possible.  We have trees and wildlife all around us.  There are beautiful white cranes that hang out at the creek near our house.  There are wild pigs that lurk in the trees behind our house.  From what I have seen of the wild pigs and from what others have told me, there is a Mama and about 5 or 6 little piglets.  The "piglets" that I have seen are bigger than Rocky and Slate!  And, I have been told that they are very mean.  So for now, I’ll just enjoy seeing them from our upstairs window looking down to the wooded area behind our house. 

We’re not exactly in the country.  However, Kyle and I enjoy the fact that on the weekends, we can forget that we live in a city with 4 million other people.  And a little hoot from our new friend will remind us of that occasionally.

Here is my newest niece, Abby.

And here is the proud Big Sister, Katelynn.

My sister-in-law Erin was scheduled to have a c-section with their second baby girl on Wednesday April 15.  My new baby niece thought she would like to be here in time for Easter instead.

Sarah Abigail Long was born on April 11, 2009, at 8:38 pm, 7 lbs, 19 inches. We will call her "Abby."

Erin started to go into labor yesterday evening, so they called the doctor and were told to get to the hospital.  Everyone is doing well.  Erin was feeling sick after the c-section due to all of the medications that they had her on, but she was feeling better when I spoke with my brother after midnight. 

I am going to Florida to visit the first weekend in May, so I will have plenty of pictures to post then.  If I get sent any before then, I will post those as well!

Welcome to the World, Abby!  I can’t wait to meet you!