Our New Addition

The day Ryan has been waiting for has finally arrived! Our new puppy, Copper, came home on Sunday. He was born on April 4, and had his shots on Saturday, May 16, at 6 weeks. The vet said that the six puppies were ready to go to their individual homes. So Sunday after church, we went and picked him up. We had a long visit with the breeders (we have been talking with them about weekly since we put a deposit on Copper a few weeks ago). They gave us all of Copper’s vaccination information and his pedigrees from both of his parents.

Here are a few pictures of Copper on his first day at home…I had been told that having a puppy is like having a newborn again. I think Sunday night was worse than having a newborn! I was up taking him out seven times, but I was awake almost all night. We are “crate training” Copper, so I put his crate next to my bed with the door facing me so he could see me. I kept the hall light on so he could see me. He still whined (and when I say “whined,” what I really mean is “howled”) almost all night. I think my longest stretch of sleep was about an hour and 15 minutes. It’s a good thing he’s so cute!

Our nights have become progressively better this week. Last night we were only up three times, with minimal whining between. My longest stretch of sleep was three hours. I’m crossing my fingers for continuous improvement.

Ryan has been so good to get up early to help. All three mornings so far, Ryan has gotten up between 6:00 and 6:30. He takes Copper for a walk around the block, and then gives Copper his breakfast. Ryan has his breakfast while Copper has his, and then Ryan gets ready for the day. Once he’s ready for school, he takes Copper for one more walk around the block. Then Copper and I take Ryan to school. Copper whines when Ryan gets out of the car. It’s cute to see how much they have already become buddies in just three days. Ryan is a very good puppy owner!

I keep hearing a lot of different advice, and I’m trying it all. Hopefully this phase of sleepless-night-puppyhood doesn’t last very long! Again, it’s a good thing he’s so cute, and that he puts such a smile on my sweet Ryan’s face.

Fun Festivals

On Friday, May 15, I helped chaperone the 3rd grade field trip (on the bus) to the Living Traditions Festival at Washington Square (the block of the Salt Lake City & County Building). I spend every Friday morning with Ryan’s class, helping them with reading. The kids know me pretty well & some of them greet me with hugs when I go into the room.

The original plan for the field trip included four or five parents that had signed up to help chaperone. We learned literally at the last minute that two had backed out. Ryan’s teacher had all of the kids’ names listed on the board, divided into the five groups. As we heard about the two parents that weren’t coming, Ryan’s teacher rearranged the groups under the three chaperones. I guess he felt pretty confident that I could handle the boys – he gave me all of them but two!

I know all of the boys that were in my group pretty well, so most of them were responsive and respectful. We enjoyed going around to the different artisan booths and to the musical and dance performances on three different stages. (Yes, the carvings in the first picture are watermelon and canteloupe.) Two of the boys apparently weren’t used to sitting still at cultural events, because they complained during every musical/dance number, and asked me what time it was every few minutes. The highlight of their day was lunch! I was proud of Ryan and most of the other boys for enjoying and appreciating the things we saw and did, like making their own Japanese origami frogs.Later that afternoon, Ryan and I walked part of Bountiful Main Street looking at the art on the annual Chalk Art Festival. Can you believe, I didn't have my camera? We had a great time, just the two of us, walking and talking, after the craziness of the first part of the day.

SCORE!!!

Ryan finished his Spring soccer season with a bang! He scored TWO goals in his last scheduled game! He is such a good little player, and a great sport. He and another player on the team figured out their own way to communicate if they were open. They had a series of claps that they would do. It was very cute. Here are some highlights of that game...

Wolves and Bears and Webelos…Oh My!

A couple of days last week revolved around our participation in cub scouts. On Thursday, April 30, we had our monthly pack meeting. The theme for April was “Jurassic Pack,” and our cubmaster and committee chair went all out with the theme, including dinosaur eggs in a nest!The dinosaur eggs were cracked open to reveal…the boys’ awards!Ryan earned the bowling belt loop and pin, for a total of 20 belt loops, and two more silver arrow points, making a total of 9 arrow points! Then he officially left my den (the Wolf den) and was welcomed into the Bear den. Luckily the two dens meet together (partially), so we'll still be together in scouts for another year.Saturday, May 2, was the annual Scout-o-Rama. We always enjoy attending Scout-o-Rama, and Ryan is always on the lookout for belt loops, achievements, and electives to earn. Last year he earned five or six belt loops there. This year we only found one that he hadn’t earned, so we worked on that one. He also enjoyed making his own rope and tying knots to complete one Bear achievement.Every year our troop has a booth where we help the boys earn the science belt loop. We talk about the scientific method, the properties of gasses, liquids and solids, and then help the boys that visit our booth make ooblek, which can be either a liquid or a solid. Ryan and our other boys had a great time helping the visitors to our booth make their ooblek.Other activities and booths Ryan enjoyed...

But wait...there's more!

It has been such a crazy week that I forgot that I still had pictures on my camera! I was thinking about a couple of pictures that I know were taken, and trying to figure out whose camera they were on. They were on mine. :)

Here's Ryan with his awesome chocolate mint ice cream cake that Rara made!Having fun with Claire...And Ryan "trying out" his BYU basketball outfit...