Christmas Break

Marry Christmas! Its a little late but oh well. We have been up in Brigham City since Christmas Eve. At first it was just Anji and I with the Grandparents and RJ got lots of one on one attention. He loves it and never gets tired of being held and therein lies the problem. We are new parents and given the oportunity again...I know I would do some things differently. It has been great being around so many dynamic parents this last week. One cool thing I witnessed was when Kate took a pretty tough fall. Both Emily and Scott looked at Kate and cheered...Kate got up smiled and ran to them. I know why it impressed me but it may sound trivial to others. When they cheered it was like their brains were processing the same information in the exact manner....unified, in sync. Anji and I are still pretty new and in no way anywhere close to having this whole parenting thing worked out. I hope we get better with practice and I pray we don't do anything permennant to RJ that later in life he won't be able to recover from.

Its been awhile (again).....

I haven't posted for awhile. Anji has pointed it out to me on more than one occasion that I go through phases with things that I am obsessed with. It's true I guess, I don't think that it makes me any different with most people in the world. We get new toys and for a time they occupy all our time and then we get bored with them and move on. Happiness isn't found in things. Well I guess you are wondering what has kept me away. Well first off it was my Dad letting me get his tools, I spent a couple of days in the garage cleaning and organizing all the tools that I got from him then it was a book that I picked up, then it was thanksgiving day sale at Best Buy, and most recently it was a HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer). I got rid of my cable but recently I fired up my Internet again. Don't miss cable at all.

RJ has been growing up and smiling, and cooing lots more than he ever has. He is super cute! We get along just fine. Anji is going back to work soon and she is worried about being away from little RJ. I really don't know what it is like for to be a mother and a working mother at that...I have seen one of my co-workers really struggle with being away from her kids and know that it isn't going to be easy. I was raised with a working mother but the big difference with my mother working was that although she was really busy....she was always there....just downstairs. So I guess that really it isn't the same as situation that Anji and I are in right now. Anyways tough subject that I am sure will always be a sensitive and hard subject to talk about.

Some of the things that have taken place since I last wrote was RJ's blessing. The big surprise there was that my dad showed up. I was glad to see him and was even happier when he was again able to come over to my house and spend some time with the family. We had lots of people over here that day and I am grateful for everyone that was able to come. Grandma and Grandpa Findley came and spent a week with us before and after the blessing and as always they were super helpful with RJ. My mother made some of her famous rolls and I begged her to leave some since I really didn't get any leftovers from Thanksgiving. Grandpa Culter really liked them and took a bunch home for Breakfast the next morning. Everyone pitched in for the food for RJ's blessing. Anji has been taking lots of pictures of RJ and I need to update the blog with some of those pics. Well I am looking at the baby monitor and it looks like the little rascal is awake and crying. GTG.

Its been awhile.......

I haven't blogged for awhile so I thought I would catch whoever reads this up on some events. Last week we had a new renter move in and needless to say I spent a lot of time moving dishwashers around. I could spend a great deal of time recounting my experiances with dishwashers and my amazing luck with screws but I am afraid that most of you would find it extermly boring. So I will just catch you up on some of the big stuff. I was able to get my dads tools last week and have been spending a great deal of time in the garage cleaning bird poop, shining tools, and organizing. I am grateful for those tools and know that they will help me do some amazing things that will benefit me and my family.

Grandma and Grandpa Findley left to go help another one of their children but while they were here they invaluable help. I think Grandpa Findley taught RJ how to smile because he did lots of it while he was here and has been doing lots more of it since he left (but not because he left).

RJ has been getting bigger every day, Anji weighed him today at 11 lbs. He has been sleeping lots better at night and RJ and I still have a special date at 530am no matter how tired I am. One cool thing that has happened is that while Grandpa and Grandma Findley was here RJ got sick and we gave him a blessing and in that blessing I was prompted to tell RJ that he would overcome his sickness and that he would be blessed with a reprieve from sickness for awhile. It seemed that he immediately overcame the sickness and he hasn't been sick since, which has been a blessing because it seemed that he was sick with one thing or another.

Grandma and Grandpa Findley Visit....

Well they are finally here......wooot! It's great to have them here. I know both Anji and I have felt less stress with them here. I know I sound like a pansy but looking after a kid 24/7 gets tiring and just having someone else here to do a little here and a little there is great. They have been doing dishes, cooking dinner and just loving RJ. They are both great!

I haven't been blogging for the last couple days because yesterday after work I went and checked out the damage to our rental and the day before I was driving my dad home from Kolob Care Center. Lots of good news. Our rental looked great and we just showed it off to a lady Anji works with and our hopes our high that she will rent it. I am trying to not label every event in my life as "good" or "bad" but just "life". Life is neither good or bad it just is....we assign mental labels as we see fit and those labels can vary between each person. We can even interpret similar events in our life very differently depending where we are mentally. Some of the things we think are the worst possible things to happen to us later in life we look at them as a blessing. And we are.....truly blessed. I am no expert at this mental reframing but I am working on it and it has helped me to look at things from different perspectives and overall help me to be a little happier.

On to news about RJ.....Anji took him to get his pictures taken and she told me on the very last picture the captured the money shot. RJ had his head held high with his big eyes opened. Can't wait to see it! Anji had a little laugh this morning. After I had fed RJ, I laid him down in his crib and took a shower....he started to cry and Anji grabbed him and laid him in the bed with her. Grandpa and Grandma woke up and went in to his room when they woke up and they couldn't find him and then they checked the bassinet and couldn't find him in there either. They were a little stressed until they found out that he was laying next to Anji in the bed.

Spencer Lars Stephens.....

My dad has been in town since Wednesday and I have been able to go over and see him everyday which has been nice. This is the first time in a long time that I feel like I have a relationship with him. I have been typing a bunch and then erasing it....afraid of how it will be interpreted. Oh well, here goes. There have been times in the past that I have done token visits with my dad and the truth is I wasn't a 100 percent enthusiastic about visiting him. Every since my dad has had his stroke it been pretty much up to us to visit him....since his mobility is greatly compromised. He lives in a tiny city about 15 miles from I-15 and there has been too many times that I have calculated in my head the amount of extra time it would take to visit my dad and decided to just keep driving north or south.

It's several hours later from when I started writing this post and I am wondering about how smart I am exploring this subject in a blog. On our way down to the hospital my dad told me that he really didn't know how to be a dad.....his own dad died very young in a mining accident. Since this is the first go with being a son....I guess you can say that I really didn't know either. We both know that we have made lots of mistakes....one of which I mentioned above.

Another of my mistakes is that when ever I see my dad, I want it to be about me. I want him to ask about every detail of my life, but my dad lives mostly alone and has lots to talk about himself and the family history that is his passion. Because of his health, my father has many moments when he wants to impart some of his wisdom, tells me about the mistakes he has made in hopes that I don't do the same.

I don't know what really happened on this trip. Maybe he was willing to talk about me....maybe it was me willing to listen to him.....but it was different. I can't speak for him but for me I passed a milestone in our relationship. For some reason I really wanted to do this....normally I wouldn't of minded someone else making the 3 hour trip to pick him up and bring him here. I asked for day off and drove to Adamsville. I really can't remember when the last time I drove for any distance in a car with my dad but it was fun. We talked mostly. My dad started to talk about how he would like some new music to listen to while he worked on family history so I turned on the Ipod and gave him a sampling of some of the music I could get for him asking him if he liked each of the songs. I had a song in particular that I thought that my dad would like and started to play it and told him to listen to the lyrics and paused the song to summarize what was going on. The song was "Three Wooden Crosses" by Brad Paisley (I think) and by the end of it we were both in tears hardly able to speak. I know it sounds sappy but it''s true. The song was about death and whats really important in life....which had been the elephant in the car the whole way down. That's really not true....the elephant in the room was our relationship....we could easily talk about death. My father has been preparing for it for a long time. We have a hard time talking about us. (What I am about to say I am sure many will criticize me for say but its the truth.) Most of my life....I have felt that I had been ripped off in the father department...and most of the time that is what I wanted to talk about. My hurt, my pain, my wrongs. Maybe I let go of all that and just wanted to be with him this time. I hope so. I don't know what it is but I do feel that its possible to have a relationship with him.

When we got to St. George before he went to the hospital....I wanted to show him my home. I drove him to the house and drove the car in the backyard to show him the view. I drove the car into the garage just wanting him to see as much as he could. I asked him if he wanted to go inside and he said that he didn't that he was fine just seeing this much. I really wanted to show him inside so I got out his wheelchair and told him that I wanted to take him in. He objected at first saying that I wouldn't be able to get him inside but I insisted. I got him inside no problem and I am glad I did it. We showed him all of the downstairs then Anji took the camera and video taped the upstairs and then we watched it on the TV. He was able to see RJ and we got some pictures with the three of us. I never had any Grandpa's alive when Iwas born. RJ is going to be able to have the three best Grandpa's a boy could ever ask for. It's late......so I am going to go to bed. Dad, I love You! I know that you are going to read this and I hope that you are ok with everything I wrote.

Halloween 2008

So it was the first Halloween with RJ....we had lots of Trick-or-Treaters and we were able to hang out with Aunt LoLo and Uncle Brian. They did a great job fawning over RJ and I was beaming with Pride. He is a cute kid! I haven't blogged for awhile and I really do have lots of things I can blog about but its 9:30pm on a Saturday night and if anyone knows me....it's pumpkin time! (meaning I am up late and tired.... sorry for the Disney reference)

Driving my father to St. George for surgery....

This is a picture of my Dad taken when I was driving him to the hospital.

Good news about RJ...

I had a sweet visit to my school today....after RJ's doctor appointment, Anji brought me lunch we were able to eat together in my office. I found out the when they checked RJ's O2 Saturation it was at 99 percent. He also weighed 9 lbs which means that he has been putting on the weight since he has been born....which is a good thing. Anji also told me that she caught him sucking on his thumb.....I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing so I really don't know how to feel about it....I hate to be selfish but I heard it helps them sleep at night which is always a good thing for chronically tired parents.

I had some bad news today but I am hesitant to spill my guts about it although I know it would help me clear my mind. The short story is my renters called me up and told me that they are going to have a hard time paying rent. With Anji not working, hospital bills, and now this, it's just more finacial stress than I have ever been under and I'm not used to it. I know some people have a lot bigger problems then me....but what I am feeling reminds me of something Victor Frankle wrote in his book, "Man's Search for Meaning". I can't quote you anything word for word but the jist of it is....suffering is like air in a ballon no matter how much or how little is in the ballon the air expands to fill the whole capacity of the container equally. I know my situation can be a lot worse and to some people it's not a big deal but to me right now.....it feels like a big deal.

Dad dresses RJ-from Anji

Ryan was so cute today. RJ pooped up his back again (poo back!!) and Ryan changed his clothes. Ryan grabbed a onesie and dressed him (which is really weird, because normally when something like that happens, Ryan comes and asks or begs me to take care of it!) Later, I noticed that RJ had a new outfit on and noticied that it drowned him. RJ still wears Newborn size clothes and this onesie is for a 9 month old. It was so cute I had to take a picture. I love my 2 boys!

Yep....He is a little sick

I haven't blogged for a couple of days....and I have found that I can surf on the weak signals around the neighborhood just fine. I can't watch any videos but blogging and checking emails....no problem! Anji has been talking to a few people about RJ and has some great emails....one that I am am thinking about in particular was from Emily Findley. Emily said something like how a mother would do anything to take any suffering away from their child if they could and gladly suffer it themselves. Anji let out a good bout of tears when she read this.....it was real cute. Thanks Emily for all your help.....Anji looks up to you (I can tell). We have so many good examples around us on how to be good parents.

RJ is sick. I have been having flash backs of my nephew Brady. For some reason I remember Brady getting lots of goop in his eyes so bad that he couldn't open them in the morning until you got a warm wash cloth and helped clean them up. Feeding RJ is the morning is a little nerve racking....he is sucking on the bottle and then you can see his little head go back a little....I take out the bottle and wait for the gasp of air that follows these events. Every time he does this (and he does it a lot) I mentally get prepared to do CPR or back blows. I wish that he didn't have so much problems during feeding times. Anji said something that has been haunting me in the back of my head ever since I heard it. When we took RJ to the doctor and we found that his O2 saturation was between 80 and 90 she said that he could be losing brain cells. I guess I am trusting the doctors that they wouldn't send a baby home that would be risk for this to happen. I know that there hasn't been anything in my life that I have prayed for more than little RJ. Countless prayers before he was even born, all during the pregnancy and now every day....I am pretty sure that there won't be a day till I die that I won't pray for him. I watched the movie, "Emma, My Story" and I couldn't imagine losing all the babies she lost.

I used to think that my life was so perfect....that I didn't really have any real trials to overcome....and what would it be like to overcome something big and how would I do during the testing process? Wow, the Lord sure did help me to understand what its like to live through some trials. Its sad but I know the nature of life is to experience all the highs and lows and I don't think the lord is through teaching me....I wish he was but I far from perfect....as everyone knows.....ahhhhh.

I just read Ruby and Matt's blog about their new cat.....I know its none of my business but I always hoped that they would be dog people like us....I feel a little betrayed. Oh well I guess we can't be friends anymore.....it was great knowing you! J/K . I know they would have a dog if conditions permitted so I won't hold them getting a cat against them. Having any animal to care for and look after is a good thing...research has shown that you are happier and you live longer. Zowie is getting older.....her breath is so nasty....but I love it! Its kind of weird to me to be in love with something so revolting. I really hope that RJ is going to be able to have some memories of her. I am trying to do the calculations in my head....some of my earliest memories was when my little Lori came home from the hospital.....and I think that I was 3 or 4 years old when that happened. So in 4 years from now Zowie will be 11 years old....her breath will really be stinky then. I can't remember how old Colby (Jesse's Dog) was when he finally died but I think it was 13 or 14. That dog looked like hell! He had gotten hit by a car so many times.....one of the last times he had lost his eye and for a couple years he walked around with this open oozing sore....I was glad when Jesse had it sewn up. What a cool dog he was! I dread the day my Zowie leaves us.

We are going to go to "Game Night" tonight over at Aimee and Jason's. It's the first time since before RJ was born.

RJ has some tests done on him.....

While I was at work today, Anji texted me saying that she was going to take RJ to see the doctor. She asked if they could test his O2 saturation and over a period of an hour the lowest 80 and his highest was 91 which isn't the best. Dr. Thompson wasn't there so we had Dr. Clark listen to his heart and said that he thinks RJ has a slight heart murmur. One of Anji's friend is a nurse at primary children's hospital and she said that was very common. The doctor wanted to do some more tests so Anji took him to get a chest x-ray (which he cried at the whole time) and right now I am sitting in a room at the new hospital whiching his little heart beat on a screen...he is getting a echo-cardio-gram. I hope my boy is ok. The doctor thinks he just may have caught a virus buts wants to run all the tests to be on the safe side.

RJ hasn't had a good day....

When I got home from work today Anji expressed concerns about RJ's health. She says he has been hardly eating....sleeping a ton....and vomiting his food back up. She had me stare at his face for a bit to see if his face was blue....he looked fine to me but I am not the medical expert in the family. Anji is an excellent nurse and I trust her judgement completely when it comes to the health of RJ. As of yet we haven't gone to the hospital.....which means that Anji isn't 100 percent postive that we have anything to worry about. I hope the little guy gets feeling better....I think I write to much on the blog so I am going to throw a video in here to please most of the people that just want to see what we are up to.

Nearly pee'd my pants!!

Anji and I were laughing so hard we nearly pee'd our pants. Today has been a crazy day. When I got home from school today Anji was showing me some of the pictures that she had taken with Aunt Liz. They were nice...but I thought that I could do better. I saw a cute picture of a baby in the new Memory Mixer software she had bought....and thought.....thats not hard...I can do that. Anji said that we should give it a try since RJ is asleep and I grabbed the camera and went upstairs to pose my sleeping baby. Anji and I took turns taking pictures....I'll let you guess which are mine and which are hers.K....In case you were wondering.....from top to bottom it goes....mine, mine, hers! I really don't know what she was thinking....she just looked at me and said....I want to try something and then threw the blanket over my head and put the baby in my arms! I was laughing so hard that I couldn't hold the baby still and Anji kept saying don't drop the baby! After she had taken the picture as I pulled off the blanket from my head.....I saw Anji collapse with laughter on the floor and between gasps of air she told me to look at the picture she had taken. When I was looking at it she commented that it looked like the Klu Klux Klan was holding our baby! I think I know what she was trying to do with this picture but the execution was all wrong. She just wanted a picture of the baby and my hands which is a real cute picture but it didn't quite work at that way. I love my wife and this day will never be forgotten! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

I have a lot to blog about and not much of it is as lighthearted as whats above. Today, I found out that my father's cancer is back. He also is in need of a heart stent to open up an artery. It's kind of weird because when they first found his cancer they said that they wouldn't do Chemo because they were worried that he wouldn't recovery well from it. Now I heard that they are going to be using some fancy radiation knife and that its suppose to be easier to recover from....I hope that he will be ok. There has been so many times in the past that I have thought that he might not recover from "this....fill in the blank" and he always has..... and although I know that there is a possibility that he might not be around much longer....he always seems to beat the odds. I just want you to know that I love and care for you Dad....and I will be there for you. WOw! I never really knew how much love my dad might have for me.....I love RJ so much already that I can kind of see myself a little clearer through my own father eyes....I am his little RJ.

I have a bad case of the chronic hicups!!

RJ has lately had a real healthy appetite but he eats so much and then he gets the hick up's and then his food comes up. I think this is pretty common but it's still painful to watch him spit up that much. I know it always hurts when I throw up. I wonder if he is sick? He started to up chuck a little yesterday which has continued today. Anji said that he has been real cranky....and I got a little taste of it when Anji left me to go running. RJ chilled with me for the most part but a half an hour before he was suppose to eat he got an attitude with me and wanted to eat right then. I put him off for a bit but I can only take so much crying RJ. So I started to make a little din din for him...and the next thing I know the little stinker is passed out. So I pulled some tricks that Aimee taught me and took off his little jumper and waited for him to get uncomfortable but more importantly ....AWAKE! He opened his eyes and looked at me like...."hey man....it's cold in here!" So I started to feed him and towards the end of the bottle he started to doze off again even with his jumper off. Well I went up stairs to change his diaper and then lay him down for a nap. Mom came home and I made dinner and right now I am listening to you cry....you are so much different then you were a week ago. A week ago I couldn't keep you awake for 10 minutes! Now it seems you won't go to sleep. Well I hope that you are able to sleep good tonight...if you don't I am pretty sure you are sick.

(Just to warn you cute RJ stuff is over and now its just boring Ryan stuff so turn back now!)

I started to take my blogs and put them in a book that will get published on Blurb.com. I am real excited for the book...I am loving it! I don't know what it is but something about making this book ....its just a lot of fun. In a way, I have always been self conscious about my spelling, and probably the biggest reason is I am embarrassed of my handwriting. On my mission, I did a little bit of journaling but for the most part I did audio tapes....lots and lots of audio tapes. I don't think I ever got over my second grade teacher trying to read my letter to the class but unable to do so without me interpreting for her. Nice handwriting starts early and my teacher would always say..."As soon as you finish the assignment you can go out to recces".....of course I am going to burn through that assignment as fast as I could....recces is way more important than good handwriting at that age. Another thing....no one could have ever reasoned with me about the importance of good handwriting at that age. My brain wasn't capable of understanding anything more than, FAST WRITING=MORE PLAYTIME!! So maybe this book allows for me to be able to express myself in a safe way that I won't be to embarrassed by. It's kind of spendy...I am putting together the 10X13 landscape one but it looked like the best one to display all the pictures I have and also my thoughts. I have a tendency to avoid paragraphs and forget words here and there...and do a lot of this stuff ........instead of making full sentences. I think I write like I talk.....just go'in for it sometimes floundering all over the place. I know that this might be a rallying point for all the people that love me and want to help me to change....I have finally seen the light!! He knows he is an idiot!! We can help him!!....but atlas....no. I like my idiot self. Its me and and I like me. Who knows maybe with age my mind will slow down...and I will be more coherent and I will be able to not like the sound of my own voice so much. Maybe that's it! This book is an ego thing. My proof to the world that I exists and I matter! Maybe this is a glimpse into my own father's life....with his obsession to do all the genealogy work that he has done.

K....another real fear is this. I wonder if I am going to spill my guts this much when I have more than just RJ in my life? And if I don't....later in life I wonder if they will think that I didn't love them as much as I do RJ? I think many parents go through this with there first born. I had some people laugh at how we take pictures of everything RJ does and can automatically tell that this is our first born....and exclaim how after having a few more you won't have anytime to document and capture every moment of their lives. Its all true I am sure....but for any future kids of mine....I love you just as much as RJ! He just got a little lucky coming first thats all. I was a middle child and believe me....I wouldn't trade it for a second for the postion of being first born. Man, just think of all the things we are going to learn not to do with RJ....practice makes perfect and even though he may have a more complete baby book than you....you guys just might have it better in other areas.

Sunday....

I went to church today by myself. Anji still doesn't want RJ around lots of people because of all the air born pathogens. Was pretty lonely and I definitely like it much better with my wife and child with me. I had the chorister for the primary come up and tell me that she had read our blog which was a little shocking at first. She had nice things to say but I am a little self-conscious on how I am being perceived by others. I have read a bunch which has helped a ton with my writing skills but I am still sometimes crude in my sentence structure (I am pretty crude with my language sometimes....in some family saying "stupid" is a bad word and I am pretty sure I have talked enough about RJ's dirty diapers to bore everyone to death) and I lack eloquence....but this is me and although I am no Billy Shakespeare at least I am not letting my fears of what other people may or may not think about me stop me from doing something that in the end I know is right and good. I think it would of been real cool to have some of the things I have written about from my own father. Maybe because of my situation I want to have proof that I have loved you from the beginning....and maybe it will be enough when it really matters. I have no idea how old you will be when you will finally be able to read and understand this whole blog. Come to think about it....I have never even asked my mother or father if they had kept a journal about some of my early experiences with them. What did they think of me when I came into this world? Did I cry too much?

Right now RJ is sitting in my lap...we are ready to go on a walk. I really can't think of anything fun and exciting that RJ has done today. He hasn't slept much today and I am hoping that he will be able to have a good night tonight.

Just got back from the walk...the trail was pretty bumpy and when you started to cry I scooped you up in my arms and carried you back to the car. I wish I had one of those baby backpack thingies.

Zowie buries herself in the couch.....

Saturday Morning Breakfast.....

Today was fun for me and my son. I woke up about 6:11am grabbed RJ and went down stairs to feed him. He ate a ton....nearly a whole bottle. He had a few bouts of spitting up some of his food....(I still don't know what that means....did he eat to much?) ..anyways, after 45 mins or so I changed his diaper and then heard John's ringer. John asked if we would like to come eat Saturday morning Breakfast at his house and I quickly agreed. (John is a great cook much better than Denny's) I thought about leaving RJ here with Anji and then decided against it. RJ was much to wide awake and I knew he would be crying and then Anji would be stuck with a crying baby while I went and had fun with the boys. So I grabbed his diaper bag, threw him in his car seat, whistled for Zowie, and was off. He fell asleep for a little bit on the ride over there but was awake when I brought him in the house. Jason brought, Billy and Courtney, and we all talked while cooking and eating. RJ was a champ...he just hung out watching all the kids and dogs go flying around the room and didn't real say a peep until we were actually eating and the room quieted down. I grabbed him and tried to eat while holding him....until Uncle John came and took him from me which I was grateful for. John wanted to see how Murphey (John's big dog) would act around a baby and Murphey was great. After we had gotten done eating and John was sitting on the couch with RJ....RJ started to fuss a little and it was super cute...Murphey came up and gave RJ a big lick on the crown of his head. Anyways...breakfast was fun and I thought about holding breakfast over at my house next week. The only negative about cooking at each others house is that we don't get to talk as much as we do when we go to Denny's. The time spent talking about our week and our lives is really the reason we get together. Looking back it would of been fun to get a picture with everyone. I am glad that Aimee and Jason decided to move to St. George, I really like the amount of time I have been able to spend with my Nieces and Nephews. Billy is always so quick to shout out his welcomes and run over and give you a hug. Kind of nice to feel that unconditional love and I think it makes the world that much better of a place.

A walk in the park.....

Today Anji and I went on a walk with RJ....all in all it was probably a mile. When we first got to the park we opened up the door and let Zowie out and she went running for the closest bushes and we got RJ out. Well, there was another Silver Honda Civic pulling right near where we parked and a moments later it comes back around and asks us if the dog chasing their car is ours. Apparently, Zowie thought we were in that car and was following them down to the main road. We used to do that all the time...we would drop Zowie off at Ben Franklin and let her chase the car all the way to the Diagonal house. ....I guess she was reliving those days. It was pretty hot but we walked from the Toniquint Tennis Court to the next park north on the park trails. There were lots of kids at this park and as always Zowie started to develop a line of children running after her to get a chance to pet her. I stopped and had Zowie lay down in the grass and let the kids pet her. I can't wait till RJ and Zowie get to enjoy each other in the park. RJ is going to have a constant companion and will be the envy of the kids with a dog that cool by his side.

Poo Back....

Well it looks like we have two "Poo Backs" in this family now. Sometimes when Zowie sees a fresh one on the grass she rolls in it and gets it all over her back. I don't know if she just likes baths or she thinks the dog that laid the line is a cutesy and that's her way of saying, "Hey who ever did this......I'm Yours!" but for whatever the reason she does it. When she does it Anji and I call her "Poo Back" and now RJ is getting the nick name. I cleaned up my first human "Poo Back" early this morning and for the most part I handled it like a champ. I got my nose plug that Anji bought for me from Big 5, grabbed his foam shower thing, took him to the kitchen sink, took off his diaper and sprayed away!! This way is definitely the best way to handle this kind of mess in my opinion. I thought I would be fine with no gagging but still the sight of the diaper caused one gag reflex even without the smell wafting through my nose.

A Fight, A Fight!!!

Last night at the city council meeting we won and the 2 story homes in our back yard have even a bigger challenge to overcome. After we got the verdict and were walking out of the City Planning room, the developer "Joby" came up and and said that he was going to make a wall six feet from our property line that was 6 foot high and build all of his buildings 35 foot high instead of the 28 foot high....and basically destroy our precious view. He has every right to do these things to us just to be mean if he wants to. Even without getting the zoning changed he has the right to build a block wall on his property and destroy our view. Needless to say he was upset...and he let us know. For the first time I think I have seen someone desperate....someone near the limits of their self-control. He said a lot of things but a few things he said hit me to the core. He is trying to provide for his family just like I am....and my success is his loss. It sounded like he has most of his livelihood riding on this property and now he owns a 2.5 million dollar piece of clay. I really don't know how he felt but I could imagine how it would be to go home to my wife and try to explain how my big idea is now worthless. I know that everyone in construction in St. George are feeling the stresses from the economy much more than I am. After talking to him, I do feel I understand more of what he is trying to do and I would rather be working with him than against him. I think that I am convinced that the buildings would not effect our views and really the only concern that I still have now is the type of buildings and the type of people that will be living in them.