11 Years Together

June 19th was our 11th anniversary. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Olive Garden and visited Bobbie who was recovering from knee replacement surgery. We are such party animals. Thanks to the Heinzes for watching the kids!

Annual Blueberry Picking

This year we picked three different times! That may be a new record. On our second visit, we ran into Mr. Lewis. The kids have become a little more efficient, although Andrew tries harder to perfect his throw-a-bluberry-in-the-air-and-catch-it-in-his-mouth trick. It just wouldn't be the same if Juliana did not find some creature to be her very temporary pet. This year, a very tiny baby praying mantid.

Waterfowl for Wildlife

While living at Erie Cove, we saw our share of ducks and geese and their undesirable leave behinds (which Paul DOES NOT miss). Now at West Ridge, we get to watch foxes, squirrels, birds and catch frogs. One of our neighbors has convinced a family of foxes to trust us humans enough to venture into our backyards. I think they have learned to associate the smell of the grill with free food, but not by us! While the Cook family was visiting, the three members of the fox family were kind enough to make an appearance. Here are some pics of Loxy, so named by a neighbor.

Test your fox knowledge:

1. What is a male fox called?
2. What is a female fox called?
3. What is a baby fox called?
4. What is a group of foxes called?
5. What kind of fox is this?






1. todd
2. vixen
3. kit
4. skulk
5. Gray Fox

The Cooks Come to Visit

It is always exciting to read an email from a great friend who lives across the country. Especially when the email contains something like: "What are you doing this weekend?" I was very surprised and excited to find out that Ashley and kids would be making their way to Mississippi, from Texas, as a little side trip. For those of you who don't know how great she is, not only can she change a van tire in khakis and not get a speck of dirt on her, she can survive a 3,000 mile road trip with 3 kids and still be her composed, sensible, laid back self. Oh, how I envy thee! While they were here, we went to Mud Island and Ashley taught us how to play Commando (no, not the Friends definition) which has now become THE summer evening game. It was great to see the kids again and I realized how much I miss them and how fast they are growing up.

Cam, Juliana, Kegan, Jake, Garrett, Andrew and Anna