Granny Days

Where Has the Time Gone ?

2009-09-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

I am quickly going to publish these and continue the update on another posting because my computer is acting strange and I am afraid of losing everything. Got more to show you so til later enjoy.

May, I attended a play both Adia and Avery were in

" Samson Brings the House Down"

It was too cute and they both did awesome in their parts. But I must admit Adia played the part of a "ditzy angel" just to good to be thinking she was acting.

Bubba and Papa working on their relationship. Right now it tends to be a real love / hate relationship. Bubba has his moods that don't coinside with Papa's and feather's fly. So it's always kiss and make-up with them.

My big 6-0 and Tammy got me this special birthday cake to celebrate !

(she's an undeniable daddy's girl - she thought she was so funny)

Adrian bought me a couple of miniature donkeys "He-Ho & Rory"

nicknames given to us by our cousin Jack.
(of course he had plenty of "Ass" jokes prepared to go along with them)

This is the cutest one "Rory" that was my nickname.

they are both very sweet, people friendly, and yes they bray very loudly and

they are boosom buddies.

After the donkeys he then took me for a ride up the coast through the Redwoods and we stayed at Cache Creek Casino the first night. Adrian had a full service message & facial waiting for me while he played Texas Hold'em. Then we had a nice dinner and I played the penny slots and won a $2,000 Jack Pot (that I got to keep - after all it was part of my birthday). Then the next day we stayed at a cottage in Little River with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Then the Ben-Bow Inn in the Redwoods.

Both places were quaint, had beautiful views and excellent restuarants.

Then we drove through the "Avenue of the Giant Redwoods" every bit of it. Adrian was getting restless one tree was the same as the next for him but it was all overwhelmingly

beautiful for me .

Poor Bubba, he misses Tammy so much. He just can't love on her enough. He thinks she is his "soul mate". No wonder he doesn't like Marc around and is so mean to him. He will only cuddle with her and regurgitate for her (something Macaws do for their mates only, I am glad he doesn't like me like that).

Papa helping the new little kittens & the mama he found inside a water meter hole while donkey shopping . Someone had dumped them so Papa rescued them and brought them home. The kittens were pretty healthy but poor mama cat she was so thin trying to take care of her babies but now she is much better. Now the kitty count is up to 11.

July 2nd a very special day for our birthday girl "Erin" at Gilroy Gardens to

celebrate her 3rd birthday.

Lauren & Adia on "Sally, baby watch" sleeping out for two nights awaiting baby's arrival

7/11 at 4:30pm Sally started labor (I will spare you all the detailed pictures of the birthing process we were all so excited to get to watch from beginning to end)

Everyone is so excited the baby has arrived approximately 5:30pm and Papa is anxiously waiting for the opportunity to find out if he got the colt he wanted or another filly.

Surprise ! Papa got another little filly. Her name is SHASTA.

Papa was diappointed that he didn't get his colt but now he is so proud of his little filly, Shasta. He takes her on daily walks morning and night. She's already wearing her halter and follows on a lead rope (which makes her very smart for a two month old). She loves to have her head and neck scratched and will follow you everywhere once you start - she just can't get enough.

Training the animals to be "Kid Friendly"

2009-05-12T23:58:00.001-07:00

It takes lots of hands on loving from everyone to make kid friendly animals. Everyone takes their job seriously. Some times I don't know which is funnier the kids or the animals with all the mischief that goes on between them.

Tammy loving on little Samson getting him used to people .

Oops! just a little friendly "horsey play" .

Nothing serious, he just wants Lauren to run and play tag "she's it"!

Brooke is taking bunny holding instructions very serious.

Hold the bunny very close but not to tight.
Erin says the bunny "likes me" ! Papa's favorite bunny

Erin says don't forget to hold the chicks ! She found her favorite one.

Brooke walking & training Sally in the small round pen. She takes her job

very serious and insists she can do it herself and doesn't need any help.

Adia loving on her horse "Sierra" . Sierra loves attention & is very curious.

Lauren walks the goats an important job to get them used to the kids.

Wearing the smaller horse's halter upside down makes for great goat halters too!

Sometimes you just gotta come dressed for the dirty work.

Erin is ready

There is bathing the horse that sometimes gets you just as wet.

Then there's the pooper scoopers. Brooke & Erin's favorite job. Right now they still think its fun.

Grandma's job is to keep the camera charged and ready for any kodak moments. Believe me there are plenty of them. All these little kids & baby animals are a great mix. Some one is always getting loose and you have to catch them before the dogs get to them because they think everything is a new chew toy for them. Something is always happening and we are enjoying every minute of it. It's hard to stay in the house and get anything done.

HE DID IT AGAIN !!!

2009-05-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Papa is out of control when he goes to the feed store! We went to replace "a" sick chick because we must maintain 16. I think papa's counter is off. We came back with two to replace one and before we got out the door we added 3 dwarf bunnies. One adult, on papa's shoulder and two white babies on Lauren's and best friend, Mia's shoulder. Now he says he would like one male bunny. Not a good idea! I just found out they can reproduce in 30 days (3 females - 30 days - how many each time? I do not know but I am sure it would be way to many, way to fast). .

Although I am grateful to how happy these animals make him and the enjoyment he gets from them, papa is not allowed to go to the feed store anymore. He needs to make a list and someone else will go pick-up the supplies for him. Now I just have to figure how can I possibly enforce this.

A glimpse of why we called this the Lazy "H" Ranch ...Lazy humans, hounds & horses

lazy cats too,

Max says "no worries" he's on guard

ADIA ON BABY WATCH

2009-05-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Adia arrived on Saturday, April 25th, energetic, alert and ready to assist with delivery. After all she already has experience from two of her sibling's births. So "baby watch" began. Patches had all the signs that her due date had arrived. Adia checked for her milk...

Took her temperature...

Gave Patches back massages

Readied herself for a " babywatch" sleepover

After the second night and no baby Adia was "pooped!"Unfortunately, grandma had to take Adia home Wednesday night for schooling and a Volleyball tournament on Saturday. We begged Patches to wait til we returned on Sunday. Patches did wait til Sunday but not quite late enough. She gave birth on May 3, 2009, at 2:30 a.m. to a 24inch "little filly" we named Samantha after her father, Samson (29"). It wasn't til Monday papa realized that Samanatha was really a "colt" , and gave him a new name, Samson, Jr.
Day two, and it looks like Samson is going to keep mom on her toes.

Sally, will be delivering our next baby, due July 7, 2009

WE HAD A GREAT WEEKEND

2009-04-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend. Avery & Adia came to visit. Avery & Lauren were off to Great American to celebrate Avery's sixth birthday. Adia stayed back with Grandma & Papa to meet all the new critters . First was papa's pride and joy "BIG JAKE" the rattlesnake. He's 3 1/2 ' long , 14 rattles, and resides now in papa's workout room. Definitely not one of grandma's favorites.

Then papa & Koda performed a "howling duet" for Adia

Adia & Koda gave a pretty good performance also.

Adia showed us her riding skills were right up to par on Apache.

Adia convinced papa into getting "three" baby chicks", which didn't take much effort.

they came back with 9 baby chicks.

Papa stopped by a feed store later to pick-up a water dish & feed tray for the chicks and came back with 2 miniature goats. From now on you must go through grandma before you talk to papa about any more animals.

They were a big hit with the girls.

Little Koda's wolf blood came out once he realized what they were. He tried hard but couldn't get through the wire to them

Avery & Lauren came back from having a great time at Great America all smiles with their faces painted and ready to celebrate Avery's birthday.

Grandma thought Kaden was going to be here too, so she had a birthday cake ready for both Avery & Kaden.

Avery was very excited & pleased with her birthday cake. We sang "happy birthday"to Avery and ate her & Kaden's cake. Yummy !!

Avery ended the day on a very happy "split" note.

It's been a crazy kind of weekend but a fun one with the kids and all the new animals. The kids loved it and we loved watching them. Lots of "kodak" moments, too many to download at one time. At the rate we are going we may turn into the family petting zoo. If you knew Tammy when she was a young girl with her menagerie of pets in her bedroom, you now know where it came from "HER FATHER".

CATCHING UP !

2009-04-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

OK, so Amy e-mailed to remind me I had a blog and I needed to update it. So I have spent the last three days putting it together and it was fun. My last post was in September, '08, so here's a quick little catch -up on what has been happening since then. Please excuse the format, those pictures lined up real nice until I posted it and they hopped all over the place.

OCTOBER

God blessed us with another grandson, Gavin Tristan Miller, born October 21, 2008. I got to fly to New York to meet my new little grandson and he is as sweet as can be and his brother, DJ, told Papa that Gavin is his baby. That stood strong until papa said he would trade him a puppy for Gavin and DJ agreed.

NOVEMBER

While visiting in New York, we got a call from Adrian Jr. that our precious grandson, Tristan went home to be with the Lord. We know he is happy and no longer suffering. We miss him but look forward to seeing him in heaven with open arms and that sweet spunky little spirit.We were blessed to be his grandparents and be apart of his life here on earth.

Tristan Scott Howell

March 23,1999 - November 7, 2008

DECEMBER

We celebrated Christmas with Stacey & Tammy's family and Amy's family joined later. We had our traditional birthday cake for Jesus and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. A family tradition started when our children were young and I am happy to see that all four of our children have continued on with this tradition with their families and added even more to help their children learn the true meaning of Christmas.

We all had a fun time visiting Natural Bridges Park to see the Monarchs and play at the beach. Seeing all this through the eyes of a child makes it much more fun. Uncle D, Lauren & Avery spotted the Monarchs, Addison & Kaden (8 mos. ) explored the beach & DJ saw his first Monarch butterflies.

JANUARY

We were excited that Stacey and her boys planned to stay a couple of months after Christmas with us. DJ enjoyed time with his cousins, celebrating Kenyon's birthday, horses, dogs & cats, the doghouse "he dubbed Lugi's Tire Shop", and became a true little country boy and Gavin grew and enjoyed his outdoor adventures. Papa and Grandma enjoyed watching DJ's antics, Gavin's smiles and coos, and time with Stacey. Thank you Daryn for letting them stay. So as I remember it you said you'd be back in 3 years, well it's here. When's the moving date?

God has blessed us with a new grandson, J'onn James Tristan Scott Howell, 7lbs 6oz., 20"

You can never have too many grandchildren.

Papa surprised us with a new little 1/2 wolf & 1/2 siberian husky we call him "Wolfy"

I can't let this month go by without a great big THANK YOU to Amy & Kyle for organizing and reorganizing my garages. Kyle built shelves, moved furniture, boxes and more boxes. Amy reorganized all that and more which I am extremely grateful for. Amy had tarps out in the drive way for keepers, give away, & trash it and it was very emotional and painful for me but I am for the better now even though I fought her every step of the way. They worked two days straight from dawn to midnight. Now, who has a son-in-law that would do that for his mother-in-law, and still talk to her, and a daughter that would be willing to battle it out and tug-o-war with her mother to help her get more organized despite herself? I am so happy to say that I do. Now I have a very organized garage for all my stuff, that I can now find easily, a nice play room for the grandkids and a happier husband. thank you, thank you, thank you

FEBRUARY

Thanks to Adia sharing with Papa that her filly, Sierra, should have a Nevada, Papa went out and found a colt, that looks like Sierra's twin. He named the colt, Nevada. No more sharing any horse ideas with Papa Adia we have enough horses now. You would think they really were twins, Sierra and Nevada, the way they always stay close together.

DJ & Gavin go to "John Baptiste the Barber" with papa to get a haircut.

DJ liked John, Gavin was very interested and John has been doing papa's hair for over 40 years. He even gave Uncle Jr. his first hair cut. John is waiting for Gavin to return for his first cut.

Stacey, DJ, Gavin & Grandma went to the Discovery Museum.

DJ really enjoyed discovering all that the musesum had to offer. I couldn't put in all the pictures from the museum so you could see just how much DJ enjoyed the day.

MARCH

Avery's first sleepover with Grandma & Papa all by herself and she didn't even get homesick. With all of Amy's family celebrations home schooling we had to be sure we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with Avery. We made clover leaf hamburger patties, green rice pilaf, green broccoli, green sherbert punch, and a special green shamrock cake for dessert. Avery made sure we all had our green on for the day.

We celebrated Brooke's 4yr. birthday with her favorite "Tinkerbell" and made fondant cookies with Aunt Amy (a special request from Brooke who wanted Aunt Amy to plan her party).

Papa surprised us with a new puppy, Koda, 1/2 wolf & 1/2 siberian husky, because this was what he really wanted. He decided he didn't like the looks of Wolfy. Said he didn't pick Wolfy, Wolfy picked him. Well, I hope he's happy now. Wolfy is way to friendly to be wolf and Koda circles you all the time just like a wolf would before he'll come to you.

Not even a week later, thanks to Tammy on an outing with Papa,

suggested we should have a white wolf too when they saw Loba, a 5mo. old, 1/2 wolf & 1/2 siberian husky and of course Papa thought that was a great idea too. Her eyes are so blue they look white almost. She's very friendly and fit right in with the other dogs.

Three wolf puppies in all the colors and one chocolate lab, Max, one jack russell, Pepper, who is the boss, and Max & Wolfy love to tease unmercifully, four cats, and 8 horses (2 expecting). I think papa needs to quit & enjoy what he has, although I overheard him & Tammy talking about a miniature pig and building a pen for her Macaw to move in too. It won't be long we won't be just the " Lazy H Ranch " but the "CRAZY Lazy H Ranch".

This is papa & Roxy (the neighbor horse he has been working with) that spooked while riding her. She bucked him off and ruptured a cyst on his kidney and caused some bleeding within the kidney. When the bleeding stops and the pain is gone he will be going in to have the other cysts removed so when he falls again it won't be quite so painful, for his kidneys anyway.

APRIL

We celebrated Easter with Tammy, Marc & the girls and went to a brunch on Pebble Beach. It was beautiful and the food was delicious and it was a nice day all around. Of course we had to find the eggs when we got home and finish off playing with the horses. We did discuss what Easter was really all about and Lauren shared everything she learned at school about the true meaning of Easter. We are so thankful for such a loving God that knew we would need a Savior.

Sierra's Pedicure

2008-09-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Adia's little silly filly sleeps thru her pedicure. We could not wake her up from her nap so this was a first for farrier Alex. I sleep thru some of my pedicures too, so I don't see the problem.

Sierra is really tired! She won't even wake up when they roll her over. That is a very sleepy little filly.

DAD CONQUERING MRI FEARS

2008-09-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Only your dad would find this as a solution to conquering his fears of an MRI.

He did clear out the spiders and their webs before crawling into this 18" pipe

he found out on a trail ride with Tammy. Personally, I find this much worse than any MRI could possibly be.

Marc & Tammy 30th a Big Splash !!

2008-08-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 9th we celebrated Marc & Tammy's 30th. We were glad to see so many family and friends show up to help us celebrate. There was a giant water slide, slip'n slide (Tammy was "OH SO SORE" the next day), horseback riding, karaoke, BBQ (yummy) and even a water slide birthday cake. Marc and Tammy are grown-ups now because we all know that life really begins at "30".

A special thank you to Kyle & Amy (brother-in-law & sister) who helped in the planning, set-up, serving, tear-down and Stacey (sister, from New York) who helped support Amy via telephone consultations and for helping to set-up. Without them this party wouldn't have been such a big splash !

Meet "SALLY"

2008-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Adrian met Sally and decided he had to buy her to rescue her from a very sad home environment. She is 3 1/2 yrs. old, 9 months pregnant, part Arabian & Quarter horse. She is very gentle, eager to please and will only get better with age and tender loving care. I know all the grandkids are going to enjoy her.

Lauren and Brooke have already checked Sally out and decided she's a keeper.

PAPA WORKING

2008-07-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Don't let this picture fool you. Papa isn't really working; he's playing on his tonka toys in the dirt. You can tell the difference between the men and the boys by the price of their toys. DJ and Papa are actually in the same stage of play. He goes out in the morning and doesn't come back in the house til dark. He has no set hours, no deadlines, no boss but he sure is in a hurry every day to get out and move some more dirt. He even waters his dirt after he moves it around. I wonder sometimes if he thinks he's growing dirt. Whatever it is he sure loves to play outside with his toys every day.

RETRACTION

2008-06-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

Our "silly little filly" is actually ADIA's . Papa gave Adia KD's baby before she was born and had Adia pick her name. So, Sierra is actually Adia's "silly little filly" and papa and I are caring for her.

Our silly little filly, Sierra, wants to play.

2008-06-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Sierra loves to play, run and jump. She can't decide if she's a race horse or a rodeo horse. Romping around her pen is a favorite thing to do with anyone who will play with her.

Come on mommy, play with me.

See me jump!

Papa play with me! I gotcha, you're it!

Papa and Sierra are having a talk. "Sierra you cannot jump on people!"

Sierra says "I am sorry papa. Will you still play with me?"

Isn't she cute? Sierra loves to eat, nap, romp and play with people. Anyone who walks by her pen she runs over to the fence in hopes they will come to see her. It doesn't take much encouragement to get her going. Adia, don't let your teacher see these pictures because this is the "ole cowboy way of training your horse". You know papa he has his own special way of training horses. Just remember how nice "Apache" is, papa trained him.

"SIERRA" and her TOYS

2008-06-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sierra loves all her toys. She is so curious about her world. All this helps so she won't be a horse that spooks when she comes upon something new. She is so funny and spunky.
The hula hoop is fun to bite and step on.

Sierra sneaking up on one of her balls.
Here she is trying to pick-up the ball by its handle.

Papa trying to see if the butterfly net or foam pole
will spook her but she is to curious to be scared.

Sierra is very energetic and mischievious right after her nap and when it cools down in the early evening. Just like a little kid (maybe like - Kenyon).

SIERRA, our new little filly

2008-06-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sierra, our new little filly, was born on May 29, 2008, at 7:00 am. She weighed in at approximately 100lbs. Her mom, K.D., is a great mom and doing fine. Our grandaughter, Adia, chose her name and Sierra has freckles just like her.

I Had Merry Christmas

2008-01-03T14:02:00.001-08:00

I sure enjoyed being with so many grandkids for Christmas. It was truly a crazy Christmas at my house and I loved it!

I AM BACK....

2007-12-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

OK, for all of you that have called & emailed me to write something new on this here it is. I first forgot what my blog was, then thanks to Hailey, she emailed it to me. Then later Amy called to tell me I should write something but I also forgot my password, which she quickly figured out and told me. So now I have no excuses. I am on and haven't much to say because .....

I have been sick since I got home from Amy's right after my New York trip.

First a pinched nerve in my backside, then a 24 hour flu bug, and continuing on with my backside and leg spasms and now I have another virus (sinus, sore throat & cough) don't think I left any symptoms out. So, my heads in a fog, my mind is malfunctioning and I am tired of being sick. I feel runned down all the time and fall asleep everytime I sit down or pause for a minute and then I can't sleep at night. BOO-HOO !!! Now I am ready to move on past this. Actually, I am starting to feel better, no more spasms.

I have managed to put some Christmas up in the house. A tree that was so pretty when Adrian got it and is quickly drying out. Scarry !! Did most of my Christmas shopping online and a little help from Tammy calling me whenever she was out and found something she thought I wanted to get. Unpacked some more boxes and now I am just about ready to throw everything else left in a box out. I know Adrian thinks we'll never get them unpacked but he's been pretty patient with me (considering he hasn't unpacked one box nor do I want him to).

I am trying to get some Christmas spirit in me and I do whenever I talk to my grandkids and hear their excitement. I am so looking forward to seeing all their little faces all excited and full of wonder. That's the best part of it all.

OH, I did make another birthday cake. A butterfly for Lauren's 5 yr. birthday. Tammy has all the pictures so I can't post it. Lauren found the image of the butterfly she wanted on the internet (thanks to Aunt Stacey, showing her how to look up images on the computer). Now anytime we color anything or do coloring for her homework, we have to look up the image to see what color whatever really is. I am looking forward to DJ's 2 yr. birthday cake coming up soon. Tractors, bulldozers and dirt. That's the request and I have a plan.

Well, Hailey, when you have this memorized let me know and I'll write another one.

Family Birthday Cake Maker

2007-10-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

One of the fun Grandma duties that I proudly accept is the family cake maker. With 15 grandkids I get lots of request. Some of my proudest cakes are a princess castle for Adia, a baby einstiens cake for DJ, a very hungry caterpillar for Brooke, a cute baby girl with [igtails for Lauren, Cowgirl Dora for Avery, the little mermaid for Hailey, Elmo for Madeline and oh so much more. I'm at Amy's house right now and this in the only picture she had so although it's not my favorite this is a puppy for Adison's first birthday (it looks like her new dog Max).

Thank you mom for helping me with the beautiful butterfly for my junior high bake sale. We never could make it again but it sure started a fun tradition.