Meet Jake

Meet Jake...the newest addition to the Logan family. Jake is a 6 year old, black lab that we got from our local SPCA

He is friendly, gentle, great with other dogs, amazing with children and most importantly gets along with our cats. He is a little clumsy, needs some leash training and has some abandonment insecurities that we are working on now, but we figure that is not too bad for a rescue pet. All he needs is some guidance and a lot of TLC.

Here is the story of how we found Jake. After hearing that the dachshund puppy that we were supposed to inherit ran away, we decided to start looking at the local animal shelters for another dog. We another black lab that was in a foster home in Santa Cruz and made an appointment to visit the dog. He was a sweetheart and we were ready to drive straight to the shelter office and fill out the paper work. The foster parent however responded by rudely escorting us out of his house and informing us that another family was first in line to adopt him and that he would call us if something changed. I immediately called the shelter and asked if this dog was still available. The volunteer told us yes and to come in first thing in the morning to fill out the paper work. So Matthew went the next morning, filled out all the paper work, and was approved to adopt the dog, or so we thought. When the volunteer called the foster parent, he was so upset that we had gone to the shelter to fill out paper work becuase he, "had told these people that another family was in line to adopt the dog and he would call us if that changed." The volunteer kindly explained that the other family never got back to them and that it was in the best interest of the dog to be allow this adoption to take place. After much arguing the foster parent changed his mind and said he wanted to keep the dog after all. The volunteer said at that point it was out of her hands because the foster parents do get first dibs on adoption, but that she was very sorry about what had happened and that they would not be using the services of this man any more. So strike 2 on the dog search.

Matthew and I then went 6 or 7 other animal shetlers but could not find a dog that we fit the restrictions of our apartment complex. Defeated and ready to give up we walked through the San Jose shelter one last time to see a cute dachshand that we liked but had some emotional issues we thought would be better handled by a family with a less hectic schedule than ours. Right then, as luck would have it, a volunteer brought in a friendly, black lab that was just being put up for adoption. The rest as they say, is history.

Senior Portraits

About a month ago we took Matthew's sister, Carrie, down to Santa Cruz to take her senior portraits. It was a beautiful day on the coast and we all had a great time. Here are a few of our favorite pics (taken by Matthew & me).

Carrie graduates!

This past weekend Matthew and I drove down to Fresno for Carrie's high school graduation. After spending a couple hours watching Carrie and her best friend primp for the grand event we headed off to claim our seats in the stands. Carrie, who had driven to school with her friend called to tell us to that she had forgot her senior medal. We turned around, drove home, picked up the medal, raced back to school, and Matt gingerly (since he was still recovering from surgery) ran the medal to his little sis saving the day. The rest of the graduation process went off without a hitch.

Carrie & Ashlan (BFF) writing their names in their caps


Carrie discovering that there is no way to look cool in a grad cap


Carrie walking in for her big moment!

Matt minus 1 appendix

Matthew had his appendix taken out last week. He went to bed with a bad stomach ache Wednesday night but was fine when I left for work Thursday morning. Then I got a call from him say that his stomach hurt even more and it was starting to ache in his lower right side. Having volunteered in an ER and been taken in myself for the same complaints multiple times, I figured the ER staff would chalk it up to a stomach virus and send us back home. I told Matt to stick to the BRAT diet (bread, rice, applesauce & tea) and we could go into in an urgent care facility in the morning if we needed to. About 2 hours later Matthew called to tell me that he needed to go to the hospital. Within 1 hr of arriving in the ER we were signing the pre-surgical papers, consenting to have his appendix removed, and I was feeling like the worst wife ever!! His surgery was over in just under an hour and a half. He spent the next day recovering while Katlynn, Mandy and I kept him company. He is doing much better now, just a little bit sore still. And well I guess that the next time he has a stomach ache at least we will know it is not appedicitis!!

Home Improvements

Matthew and I have spent the last couple of months decorating our little apartment. We started out by sprucing up the bathroom with some new paint, putting up two decorative shelves, adding a few decorative elements and a new kitty pan that keeps the litter from getting all over the floor. We then moved on to the dining room and thought it would be a good idea to re-finish the table set we were given. We soon found out that it was a little more difficult than we had expected! Then we decided that we were ready to tackle the bedroom, which is still currently "under construction." So far we have painted the walls, put up new curtains, brought back to life some of my old furniture with new paint and rearranged the whole set up of the room. As with the dinning room table, some of the painting turned out to be a little more work than we expected, but our room looks wonderful and I can't wait to take care of all of the finishing touches.

Along the way Matthew and I have learned many valuable lessons.

Lesson 1: If you on mix paint, always mix more than you need.

Lesson 2: put the kittens away before you start painting.

Lesson 3: Wash the paint off the kitten right away.

Lesson 4: Look at Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel for decorating ideas and then see if you can find similar decorating elements elsewhere for a more reasonable price.

Lesson 5: When your husband is nicknamed "Matty Stewart" and you dream of living in a "Charlotte York" type of apartment, then you are bound to have some decorating disagreements. Be ready to compromise.

Lesson 6: If you are short and have tall ceilings then you may need some help painting those hard to reach spots.

Lesson 7: If all else fails, remember that the one decorating scheme that two California babies can usually agree on is that beach and ocean inspired elements always bring peace to any room.

Rainy Day Activites

A couple of weeks ago, Nat, the oldest of the 3 girls that I take care of, had a week long break from school. As luck would have it it rained all week long. So to keep the girls from going stir crazy inside we made some good old fashioned crafts. We made homemade strawberry jam and peanut butter and created a Barbie Mariposa cake. Of course the best part of all these act ivies was eating them!!

A short trip to LA

Last weekend Matthew and I drove down to LA to visit some of my long time camp girlfriends. Cricket was out in LA for two weeks for a graduate school conference. Alissa and her husband Paul also live down in that area. It was wonderful to see both girls (and Paul of course). Alissa and Paul hosted the little visit and spoiled us with their yummy home cooking. I got to spend a little time catching up with each girl and I can't tell you how much I treasure the opportunities to talk face to face with these girls. The highlight of the weekend was staying up till 3am playing a farm version of monopoly. Of course Matthew (my FFA American degree holder husband) won by a landslide. This game was so much fun that I have even included the link to it down below, check it out!

http://www.farmgame.com/

Peek-a-boo kittens

Our kittens love to hide from each other in boxes, bags, blankets, cabinets and suitcases. Here they are playing a fierce game of peek-a-boo.

Japanese Cuisine

Recently Matthew and I have been looking into my Japanese heritage. Matthew loves to cook and so of course he wanted to cook a Japanese dinner. He made sushi, a traditional Japanese soup and maki for dessert. Our friend Katlynn (and our kitten Jack) joined us for dinner and it was marvelous!

Matthew's Koi Fish

Matthew bought two very small Koi fish. Both fish are small enough to fit in our current fish tank for now but will need a larger home a year from now. But don't worry because Matthew (my little homemaker) is going to build a pond complete with planters for the fish to move to when they get too big for their tank. The kittens of course are very curious about the new fish and love to watch them.