Our Little Josie is 2!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Josie girl!

Can you believe it? Our baby Josie is 2 years old?!? Our little baby is now a very active and personable toddler! She is talking up a storm and is our next little fashionista next to her big sister, Vanessa. She truly is a character and a joy to have around. Though she is still very much a mama's girl, she is coming out of her shell little by little and what a little ham she is!

These next shots are from today, her real birthday:

Josie showing off her little "Cheetah Girl" coat that she got from Aunt Bern & Uncle Shawn

Josie shoing off another new outfit & necklace--supercute!

Cake time!

Blowing out the candles

Cake shot

Can you stand it? They are so cute!

(Sorry, but I love them so much)

Mom & Jo

Everyone got a present

Josie got a sweet new cell phone. Here she is calling her peeps.

It's all about the network. Can you hear me now?

Baby Colette, cutie patootie. Now 3 months old!

(Outfit compliments of Aunt Bern & Uncle Shawn)

Dad & Colette

Sunday, Jan 13, 2008: Josie & Pop's combined birthday party

(low key this year :))
We had an "official" birthday party for Josie, combined with her birthday buddy, her Pop, of course, last weekend.

Here's Jo modeling yet another new outfit

(from Aunt Bern & Uncle Shawn)

Cuddling with Aunt Ei

Aunt Bern and Jo: Fashionista-sistas

Waiting patiently to open presents

Josie opening presents.

(Whatsup, Grandmom? Why the face?)

Log cabin present from Grandmom & Pop!

Wow! A farm for Jos!

(Thanks, Aunt Ei, DC, Aunt Kris & Uncle Mike!)

Pop got presents, too!

25th Anniversary Care Bear!

(With Swarzky Crystals!)

New fad--forget the oversized Jackie O glasses

Uncle Shawn gets cuddle time with Colette

Dad delivers the cake

Pop & Josie get ready to blow out candles

(a comprimise in number somewhere between 2 and 72)

All the kids help out

Mike


Pop enjoying his cake
(and eating it too--sorry had to do it)

Josie taking a short break from her cake eating

Jack & Josie: mmmmm cake!

Pop & Colette

Jack kisses!

Happy Birthday, Josie & Pop, we love you to the moon and back!

Rubio "Christmas after Christmas"

Or should we say, Rubio Epiphany? Lolo & Lola made it out for our annual holiday gathering after the holidays on January 5 through the 11th. Like the first set of holidays, it flew by. We had a great time with Lolo and Lola. Josie especially enjoyed playing "tea party" with Lolo.

Just before they left, Josie got a special early birthday mini party with Lolo and Lola. Thanks, Lolo & Lola! We miss you already...

Here are shots from our week:

Here's Josie's early birthday mini party with Lolo & Lola:

A Tribute to Boom

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. Our family dog, Boom, peacefully passed on to doggy heaven just after Christmas last month. It was time, he was well over 14 years old and had outlived the average life of a labrador retriever. However, it doesn't make losing him any less painful. We've had several family dogs (Mookie, Sammy, Perther, Pepper & Rowdy), but there was something about Boom that just captured our heart--his beautiful and soulful puppy dog eyes that remained until the day he died and his gentle heart and his unconditional love. Boom was a special pup to us and he will be dearly missed. If you came to our wedding festivities in 1996, you met Boom at our house at our family BBQ a few days before the wedding. That was over 11 years ago!

What makes saying goodbye for me so difficult, is that he lived in Montana with Mom and Dad, so I last saw him in July of 2007. Perhaps it was a good thing, as we did not witness his final decline in health. I thought he'd be around forever and never really thought about his increasing age. He'd been there to witness much of my adult life--graduating from college, my wedding, graduating from law school, hanging out with me while studying for the bar exam, the birth of Vanessa, Jack, Josie & even Colette (though he never got to lick her).

That was what so great about Boom, he was always there, waiting for a friendly pat on the head or a nice walk. Though he never really like to "retrieve", nor did he like to swim oddly enough, he was always good for a nice toe lick. We will miss our faithful Boom, always a pup at heart. May he rest in peace in doggy heaven. We love you, Boom Boom.

Boom as a pup

"Joe Cool"

Boom's first Christmas

Boom broke his leg--he had a supercool cast. (Can you say "cha-ching" in vet bills?)

Boom and me in April 2006

Boom at his best

Boom and Me in one of our biggest snow falls

Dad & Boom

Mike & Boom having fun in the snow

Boom on the pontoon boat on Flathead Lake, Labor Day 1998

Where we learned he really doesn't like to swim, nor is it easy to get a 100 lb. dog on a pontoon boat from in the water.

Boom hanging out with me when I was studying for the bar exam outside

Boom & Bern

Us and Boom Easter 2002: Jack's first trip to Montana & Easter

Vanessa & Boom: Christmas 2003

Jack & Boom

Lolo, Vanessa, Jack, Mike, Big Sam & Boom: March 2006

Vanessa & Boom: Montana, March 2007

Family & Boom: March 2007

Boom at home

We love you, Boom

Jack's Autism Service Dog is coming!

To those of you who have been waiting for news, we have some! After over a year of waiting, we are finally scheduled to receive Jack's autism service dog! Our pup will be one of 19 in 2 litters born in December 2007 on the same night to two wonderful North Star Foundation moms.

We are scheduled to receive our pup some time in March 2008--the puppy will be only 3months old. I will be the one to take the dog through most of its training courses, obedience and then ultimately service dog training and certification. It will be a busy year for me, but I am so very excited.

One of these pups will be ours!






More details and pictures as we get them!

Happy New Year!