The ebbing days of summer are upon us! I am anxious for the weather change but not too much. If I had small children I would be dancing the Staples Dance! We only have small cats and they dance enough for us. Talk about lots of laughter in this house. They are nutty in their circus antics. Bailee can now be in a room with them and is able to hold her urge to kill. She still thinks they are squirrels, but is beginning to see the growth in them and their similarity to Momma Cat, so they are holding their own against her. Two were adopted last week-end at Kuna Days so we are down to three kittens and the Mom. All have had surgeries and their shots so are good to go.

Mac didn't get the first position she interviewed for with Americorps but is pushing on with other options. She is one of the leaders this week at the Humane Society working with groups of 25, 9-12 year olds teaching them about caring for animals. Her small garden thrives and we have had some great salsa. I am sure she will update you soon on her new furniture buy. Mac and I took Grandpa and Grandma Hanami shopping Antiques stores on Saturday and they took us out to lunch at a great place called the Green Chile. In the afternoon we dropped Mac off to tend to kitties, Stomie took a nap in the car and Mom and I walked through the booths at the Lake View Park Arts and Craft show. Sunday it was out to the Emmett ranch with the kids' fourth grade teacher and one of her daughters Hailee. It was warm but lots of fun. Mac is off to Phoenix over Labor Day to visit a friend who is teaching for Teach for America.

Joe is extremely busy with work with several trials pending, my work never stops but I like it busy. My house sure shows it, but until the kitties leave there will be no deep cleaning. Why waste my energy!

James and two of his friends are roofing the old rental this week. Say a prayer for their safety. I have already given them my workers compensation lecture about roofing and my Mom lecture. I'm sure they will be proud when they finish. Nate has the most experience building and roofing in New Orleans after the flood, and he is just starting his Architectural Program at BSU in a couple of weeks.

Man vs Food will be at the Flying Pie on Friday to consume the double Habernero pizza!

Everyone is healthy in the family, including Marye and Fred.

Well the morning chores are calling, will chat later.....Much Love Deb

PS will leave you with some photos from our ranch visit.

Emily I have not forgotton your birthday! I am just trying to decide on Kitty or $!?!? Love Great Aunt Deb

What a week it has been! Mackie got a call from Americorps last Friday that she was granted an interview and could she be in Portland on Monday....James to the rescue and they took off Sunday, she interviewed on Monday, back home Monday night only to receive an email advising her that she made it through the first round of two rounds. They wanted her back today, but if one travels any distance they would accept a request for later in the week. She got assigned Friday at 2:30pm! Yea, she is headed back for grueling with a small panel of Americorp members this time. Wish her luck and say a prayer, she really wants this particular job working with high risk high school students with college applications, financial aid, essay writings and the whole confusing process in general. She will be supervising 14 other team members. We are all so proud of her and her ability to hit it all head on. Soon as she finishes Friday we are headed to Marian's at the beach for two nights of R&R, good food, good wine, good conversation, then home on Sunday!

Oh for those who wonder about the kittys and Momma Cat...we can't trust dad with them so another foster mother is taking them for us for four nights. Up for adoption next week.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Little Ricky!

Wow! Where is the summer going? Between housing the six homeless cats and helping Mac with their chores, Cathy and Dan's visit for Mom and Stomie's anniversary, second hand store shopping, helping Mac with furniture refinishing ideas, work, new computer conversion at work, more work and very ill injured workers, McCall (I like it the best, with the exception of spending time with my favorite daughter, my best friend) and getting to see my son(my favorite son and my other best friend) a little more often (only because his sister is home), Mac's graduation party, Mother-in-law cooking (I like this part also because I find cooking therapeutic), learning tons more about vegans and vegetarians, learning tons of new recipes, how to use Tempeh, Nutritional Yeast, (ever made Mac and Cheese without the cheese?), gardening (this can be a real chore when you go to McCall frequently), my other kid Joe, and just keeping the house and laundry current in general, but they fall to the bottom of my list. Life is way to short to worry about that kind of stuff.......Dan and Cathy were great sports when they were here, especially with the cats. Mama Cat escaped on Saturday night when they were here which created a crisis for all but Cathy and Dan......the boys went to bed and Cathy said don't worry a Mama will never leave her kids long......she was right, Mama came waltzing through the back door, just out catting around on a Saturday night. Cathy asked her if she got any tattoos or a nipple ring while she was out. She just stormed off to nurse the chillens.

Then there are the birthday's I have missed and those to come! Let's see, Hannah must be 7 now, Alyssa 8, Rick %6, still acts like a six year old sometimes as the grandchildren can testify to, and Alison and Jeff this week-end, I won't give their ages out only to say that they are aging nicely! Happy Birthday to All!

I just received my 20 year award with the State of Idaho, though it has been 22. I worked the first two years on contract while they were deciding if they liked nurses at the insurance company. They still don't like nurses, but I guess they like me, they have kept me around and it is sure helping to ensure a good retirement for us. Well the other kid Joe is calling, he is making Gazpacho tonight and not sure how to use the processor. Better sign off before he injures himself.

Love to All

Deb

We're back and had a blast! Thanks Dan and Cathy for joining us for this memorable occasion! I will have more pictures and notes later on....right now we are concentrating on the yard, McCall, water and planning a celebration for the Mac! Life just doesn't slow down.....and am I glad. Makes the years fly toward retirement.....until later ~Deb Check out the newest Blogger on my Blog list!

Happy Birthday James!

Happy Birthday James! A quarter of a Century....Wow. Dad and I are so proud of the man you are becoming. Keep up the good work. Thanks for joining us yesterday for lunch, we will have more of a celebration when we get back from Boston......Here's to a great next year, on to 26. Have fun on your trip to Seattle, tell all the guys hello from Momma Welch. Love Mom

Time is flying...way too fast. Spring has definitely bloomed here and the flowers are beautiful. I have included a photo of one of my new tulips that has five heads. I actually have two of them....not sure if this is how it is supposed to be but it happened. We have been busy preparing Mackie's room for her return. Not sure how long we will have here but we are ready! She is in her last two weeks of school before Senior Week. She was recently nominated and received another award call the Scarlet Key award and will be tapped in a ceremony with a sword 5/13/09. We moved our airline tickets up so we could attend. 40 Seniors are chosen out of about 3500 graduating! We are so proud of her.

http://www.bu.edu/scarletkey/selection/index.html

We have the truck loaded for our first Spring trip to McCall this week-end. We have a dinner out tonight for Chinese food with some good friends, and the next function will be the Mother's Day banquet at Mom's church. Mom is singing with the grandma's. I have included Marye wearing Mom's hat at Easter.