Thu., Nov. 1

Tonight we got to go to Bob and Leota's, down in Green Valley, for supper. The only thing we had to take was dessert, so N & I baked a cake this morning, from scratch.

Jeremy took the day off today, and did some house repair work with Justus. He also worked with the children to accomplish their Household Service projects way earlier in the day than usual. We decided to take Jabba with us this evening, but before taking him anywhere we decided he had to have a bath (one of his first NOT due to elimination complication!). Justus has been anxious to get a picture of what Jabba looks like in his bath, so it was Justus who got the camera going this morning. I didn't realize until downloading pictures tonight that he and N had a little fun of their own with the camera this morning!



Before picking up Elaine from work and then heading south, we stopped at the Library. For my Bible class on Sunday ("Joseph as a Boy") the curriculum suggested taking along a children's book about sheep. We don't own one, so we borrowed one from the library - the only one our branch of the Pima County Library had that was written for chidren and has color pictures. It turns out to be an extremely great book!!!!!!!!!!! I'm recommending it to you, so here are the details for you to jot down for next time you're at the library. A Young Shepherd, by Cat Urbigkit. It was written last year by the mother of a then 12yo boy starting his own flock of sheep from a handful of bum lambs he was gifted. It didn't hurt our level of interest, either, that they're from Wyoming (some place that still has lots of snow in May!) and the name of their ranch is Paradise Sheep Company. Mmmmm!! Sounds like 'home'! ;) Author Cat Urbigkit also took the myriad of REALLY BEAUTIFUL pictures. Read more about her/them at: http://www.paradisesheep.com/author.html. The Web site says they're from Pinedale, WY, which looks to be about 100 mi. S. of Yellowstone Park, whereas 'home' to me is about 100 mi. N. of the park. (Now I hope I didn't hype up this book so that you're disappointed when you read it!! lol On thinking about it, though, I promise you'll not be disappointed!) We were also able to borrow from the library two Magic School Bus books the children haven't read before: volcanoes and inside the earth, likely full of evolutionist theory ... as are lots and lots and lots of things.... Thankfully, already at this young age N & J can re-word a sentence written from an evolutionist standpoint so that it will align with our creationist beliefs. :) Yay!

Here is Jeremy repairing Gram's globe. It has moved with us three times in addition to its move from Gram's to Mom and Dad's, so the globe itself was no longer holding on to the stand. Jeremy knew this was going to be his project of the day, and he relished the challenge. (This globe has been worked on by a number of other loved ones in the past few years including Dad, and two engineers: Scott, and Daryl Chipman!) Jeremy came downstairs this morning and asked, "What's for breakfast?" I said, "Toast, Egg, & Cheese," (one of Jeremy's favorites). He raised both fists to the sky in glee and without thinking, I said, half-sarcastically, "That's a breakfast with which you can conquer the world today!"

Thanks to Justus, now you can see how spindly a Maltese is under all those puffs of fur!! (Yes, those are kitchen scraps in the upper right corner, headed for the garden ... tomorrow.)

Jabba is really funny in this video, but my favorite part is Justus's CONSTANT giggling!! I want to bathe Jabba every day just to listen to Justus watching Jabba after his bath!!!!!!!!!!!! [Jabba's nickname is 'Stinky', not necessarily because he's stinky, just because that's what we've taken to calling him, affectionately. In the video you'll hear Jeremy call him saying: "Hey, Stinky!" Just FYI....]