Hawaii (Part 2)

Continuation of the Hawaii trip posts....

Scenic overlook on the way to helicopter trip.


The next day, we went on a helicopter ride with my dad and step mom and that was absolutely amazing. It was their birthday present to me and Henry and we so appreciated it. Henry and I got to sit up front with the pilot and we flew all around the island for about an hour. It was our favorite part of the trip. From now on, that is going to be something we plan into all our Hawaiian vacations. We bought the DVD of our trip so we can relive it when we are holed up in our house through the winter!

The Helicopter...



Henry and I in the helicopter. Before take off.



Some of the amazing views from the helicopter:

Napali Coast




Waterfalls in the crater in the middle of the island:


After the helicopter tour, we all met up and went to the Smith Family Luau. The grounds there were gorgeous, the food was delicious and the show was really good. We heard later this luau is one of the most authentic around and the materials used to make their costumes are all authentic and hand sewn. It was beautiful.

Me and Dad at the luau.



To be continued...

Hawaii!! (Part 1)

Ok, so I'm getting overwhelmed with all the blogging that needs to be done and that just means I'm not doing it. So I'm going to try a series of smaller posts to see if that helps!

November was a fun month for us. Henry and I both had birthdays and we got to go to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. For my birthday on the 19th, we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (Montana Ale Works) with some friends and I had my favorite fish tacos. I really can't branch out from those, they're the greatest. I've never found any better. On the 21st, I went to New Moon with some friends and had a blast. The next day, we left for California where we stayed for about three days before we left for Hawaii. We had a lot of fun going to In and Out Burger, the Squeeze Inn and Tex Wasabi's for Henry's birthday on the 24th. The Squeeze Inn was on "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives" and we've been wanting to go there since we saw that episode. Tex Wasabi's is Guy Fieri's restaurant and we had some delicious sushi there for Hank's birthday. I highly recommend both to anyone that goes to the Sacramento area.

On Wednesday the 25th, thirteen of us left for Kauai! Kauai is such a beautiful island and we had a wonderful time. We had a long day of travel and just as we were getting to our rental house, it started raining. It continued raining ALL NIGHT and it actually turned out to be a pretty major storm. We were on the north side of the island, past Hanalei, and there were some flash floods and the roads were closed. Then the power went out for several hours leaving us wondering how we would cook our Thanksgiving dinner! We were very lucky as we were having prime rib instead of turkey and the power came back on just in the nick of time. It was a wonderful meal that we all helped cook and was a lot of fun.

We're pretty bad picture takers so there are no pictures from the first part of our trip but we do have some coming up!

Paging Airport Security...

I got the pins taken out of my toes today! It was pretty darn cool to watch. Just went into the doctor's office, got a little numbing shot in my feet (wasn't so fun when he hit my nerves), a good wash down with beta dine, a small incision, a little fishing around, some work with the pliers and VOILA! I can now go through airport security again! Just in time for the trip to Hawaii!!

My feet are doing really well. They feel great and I'm just currently working on getting my range of motion back in my big toes. The swelling that is left should go down considerably now that the pins are out. Most importantly, the debilitating heel pain I was having is gone. I spent three hours yesterday cleaning the house, standing and walking the whole time. I used to not be able to stand for more than 15-20 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. I'm so happy to not feel like an invalid anymore. I'm so glad I did both feet, even with the inconvenience of not having a leg to stand on. It's all uphill from here!

Saturday with Siri

Saturday was a lovely day - we spent about 12 hours changing the operating system on my computer from Vista to Windows 7. No need to go into why it took 12 hours; let's just say there were some extra stops a long the way. That's a whole different post.

While waiting for my computer to install one of the many operating systems we put on it that day, Siri and I had a fun adventure. I was laying on the ground relaxing, and he decided to get involved. The pictures will tell the rest.

Here I am, enjoying a relaxing moment on the floor:



Siri decides to get in on the action and rests his head on my face:



A little repositioning to be sure he is as comfortable as can be:



The start of a stretch where I end up with puppy claws in the back of my head:



Coming back in the frame to step on my hair:



Positioning himself to commence belly rub:



And here we go, getting the belly rub (which he loves) without having to lay on his back (which he hates):


I see your game now Sirius - you win my heart, step on my head and all just to get the tummy scratch.
I think it's clear who rules our house.


And in case anyone was wondering, I am loving Windows 7. Looks really cool, super easy to use, not having the problems I was with Vista and it's not hogging my resources. Well played Microsoft....for now.....

Halloween!

Our Halloween this year was pretty quiet. I did get a little more into it than I usually do and I think it's because this is the first year we own our house. I got some pumpkin lights that I put in the house and we carved jack o lanterns this year! This is the first year since we have been together that we carved pumpkins and we had a really good time. We also had a quite a good time eating the roasted pumpkin seeds!

Here are some pics of our awesome pumpkins. See if you can guess on which ones we used stencils!

Here is a picture of all of them in the daylight.


Henry's Scary Pumpkin.


Henry's Pirate Pumpkin.


My Happy Pumpkin.


And my very favorite - the Sirius pumpkin!



I went online and found a Labrador stencil and I'm pretty darn proud of myself. The candle was having a hard time staying lit so it's hard to see all the detail but it was awesome. Trust me.

In spite of all our hard work to make our house inviting, and purchasing two very large bags of candy, we only had one trick or treater. She was Snow White. Maybe next year will be a bigger year as our neighborhood develops more. In the meantime, I will ship candy to anybody who wants some. I have to go to Hawaii in three weeks and the last thing I need is 5 pounds of candy lying around!

Other exciting news about Halloween - our friends Chris and Amy had their baby! Amy was the maid of honor in our wedding and she gave birth to a darling little boy. I was pretty excited because Halloween was my grandma's birthday and I thought that was cool. They didn't know the gender beforehand, which was a fun surprise. I was convinced it was going to be a girl but that's probably because I want a little girl.

Coming up next for us is a month full of birthdays, the pins being removed from my toes and a trip to California and Hawaii! Yay for November!

Toes and other Goings On

Well, the Bitzes have had a busy go of it in the last month or so. I had my surgery on both my toes and it went great. It's hard to tell much of an improvement at this point since it is still a little difficult to walk normally but the doctor is very pleased with the results. It was quite an interesting week after surgery. Luckily my mom was hear to help us out and boy did we need it.

The day of surgery was fine. I became best friends with my anesthesiologist and after the surgery invited her to come stay with us so she could continue administering those fabulous drugs. The day started bright and early with us getting to the surgery center at 6:30. They did all the pre-op stuff and while I was waiting in my chair with my IV in my little gown, I started to get pretty nervous. They asked if I wanted some anti anxiety meds but I declined. I had Henry come sit with me but then I got even more nervous and started crying. At that point they called for the happy juice and let me tell you , I was happy. Henry said I went from crying, to being dizzy, eyes rolled back in the head, then rolled forward and I was smiling. I think if I was an anesthesiologist I would be a total junkie.

There were some fun moments: the anesthesiologist (Lauri) had a great sense of humor. She had chocolate Halloween toes that were the same size as toes and we decided to tape them to my actual toes to give the doctor a surprise when he took off my special socks.




It was pretty funny when the doctor found them and he did say he has seen toenails that look like that. Scary! Everyone had a good laugh. Me especially since by that point I was pretty loopy.

I had local anesthetic with IV sedation for this surgery which means I was awake for parts of it and apparently quite talkative and active. I do remember waking up and wanting to see what was going on. I tried to sit up and pull down the sheet they had up so I could see my feet. I guess I did that quite a few times. I also remember getting irritated by the oxygen thing in my nose and pulling that out. Lauri and I had quite the battle over that one with me continuously pulling it out and her putting it back in. I guess I kept asking the same questions over and over again. At my follow up appointment, the doctor told me I was talking so much she finally decided to put me to sleep. The doctor said it was nice and quiet for about 15 minutes and they got a lot of work done and then I woke up again. So between my yammering and trying to get off the table, they were able to actually do their job and do it well. :)

Afterwards I was very happy and relaxed and made some phone calls to my friends who later told me they couldn't really understand what I was saying but I was laughing a lot and sounded really happy.

I had some pretty rough days after that though. The pain meds were not agreeing with me and I had some pretty bad reactions. On Tuesday morning (the surgery was Monday), I took it without food and was so dizzy I thought my head was going to fall off and roll away. We were able to get some food down me and thought solved that. However, Tuesday night, I woke up in the middle of the night and spent about 3 hours throwing up. Not being able to get up and walk to the bathroom, I did throw up all over myself. My poor husband who does not have children, babysat, or had a puppy did not know what to do. Luckily, mom was there. Then I spent some hours laying on the bathroom floor throwing up into a bowl. It was such a fun night! The next afternoon, I actually passed out from the meds and at that point we decided to call the doctor and get a new prescription. He switched my meds and after that all was well.

I went back to work about a week and a half after the surgery and it has been going pretty well. I used a wheelchair for about two weeks and now I am walking around all on my own. Each day is better and better but it is still hard to be on my feet for a long time. I have pins in my toes that are holding them straight which causes me to not be able to bend my big toes which means I walk on my heels and the outsides of my feet a lot which can make them really tired and painful. I got most of my stitches out about a week ago. He left a couple in but a few days later I was bored and ended up taking them out myself.

Here is an after picture of my feet so far - tomorrow will be four weeks out from surgery.



I'm really looking forward to getting the pins out in a few weeks and being able to bend my toes again.

In the meantime, Henry has been busy with school and taking care of me. He finishes his first term next weekend and will have his first batch of finals! Then he will immediately start his second term and then have a break at Christmas. He's really excited to get through these first 3-4 terms when he gets core classes out of the way and can really focus on the programming. I'm so proud of him.

We also had our first snow! Here are some pictures from October 5th, our first snow this year.


Our house ...


My roses were blooming at the time.



Siri was confused/excited as he always is with the first snow.


These pictures were taking with my phone so sorry if they are a bit blurry. I can't find the camera charger to take normal pictures.

And finally, one last picture of cuteness which is how I spent my Saturday night last night:


I call it a couch of love when I have my little guys snugging up with me. It's my favorite way to spend an evening!

Catch Up

I have been extremely negligent in my blogging this summer. We have been pretty busy and every time I think about posting I get overwhelmed by all there is to talk about and I don't really have pictures for anything. So here goes.

Henry and I (with the help of friends) fenced in our back yard in two days. It was two very long days but very worth it. We now have quite a bit more privacy and can let the dog out without having to watch him at all times. Unfortunately, Siri does not like the back yard and has been spoiled with his free reign of the fields across the street from our house. So our routine has stayed very much the same only now the back yard is fenced.

Henry went back to school at the end of August. We decided he would do this in July and he spent quite a bit of time doing research and found a really great school. He is going to Regis University in Denver and they have a fantastic online program for adult learners which allows him to finish his bachelor's degree from home. He is working full time and going to school full time so he is quite the busy fellow. He takes two classes at a time in eight week terms pretty much year round. He gets a month off at Christmas and a week between spring and summer term and summer and fall term. He is loving his classes so far and having a great time. He will graduate in spring or summer of 2012.

Finally, I am having surgery on both my feet tomorrow. :( I have bunions on both feet that have been REALLY bothering me. It has gotten to the point that it hurts to stand in the shower. I will be happy when it is all over but I am really not looking forward to the process. I will be one to two weeks in a wheelchair, about three weeks with no driving and six weeks in some very stylish surgical boots.

That's all I have for now - I just wanted to do a little catch up before the surgery. I'll be sure to post an update on that soon. Maybe even before and after pictures!

Landscaping Mania

Today, Henry and I spent a fun filled day working in our yard. We had our grass put in and pushes planted a while ago but we had never laid our weed cloth and mulch.

We started this morning by digging up the flower beds we put in along our sidewalk. This fall I will be planting 125 bulbs (tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus) and so we dug that area up to prep our clay like soil for the bulbs. We put the dirt in the wheel barrow, mixed it up with the gravel, lined the trenches with weed cloth and then put it all back in. It should be all ready for when my bulbs arrive this fall! I can hardly wait!

Then, we had to weed all our flower beds, lay the weed cloth and then go buy mulch and cover everything. It was a really long day but we are both very happy with the results!

Our very inviting front porch! The big green one next to the red roses is a burning bush. I'm very excited to see it this fall.



The one on the very back is a white rose bush that is about to start blooming!






Henry admiring our handy work:



This picture will be much more interesting next spring...


My roses are blooming! Hooray!!


On another note, Henry and I finally have neighbors! The house to the East of us sold and a very nice couple moved in this weekend. They seem super nice, have been married about 8 months and have two of the funnies dogs ever. They are Dachsunds and the are so short that when they walk in the tall grass it is hard to find them. Siri hasn't quite figured out what to do with them yet. My favorite was when Siri went and found a stick and then this little Dachsund went and found a stick and it was about as big as he was! As soon as I can get them to stay still long enough I am going to try to get a picture. We're very excited to have neighbors that seem very nice and are in the same stage of life.

Next projects - the fence and cleaning out the garage! Stay tuned for more excitement....

Hailstorm

We had our first hailstorm as homeowners today... funny, they aren't nearly as much fun as when you are a renter!




Bigger than a pea, not as big as a grape...

Siri Turns Four!!

I can't believe my little guy is four. I have cried a couple times about it. One through three are still puppy years but four is dog. He is definitely more mature and a little more mellow but I would much prefer the crazy two year old lab if it meant he could live forever. I'll probably be a basket case next year when he turns five.
We tried to give him a really fun day - we went to Dee Oh Gee, the all natural dog store in town and he got to pick out a new toy and some homemade treats. One says DOG (see below):



The other looked like an ice cream cone. I forgot to take a picture before Siri was let loose on it but it was pretty cool. This store makes their own treats and this ice cream cone was dipped in yogurt and carob. Here is Siri about half way through:



Siri carried it around in his mouth and cried until we figured out that he needed Henry to hold it so he could lick off the goodness. It was hilarious. He is just like a little kid.
Siri got to go swimming at the ponds by our house and had a wonderful time. After he finished his treat, he conked out and took a crazy nap.



Then he got a can of wet food with his dinner tonight. All in all, I think he had a pretty good day.

And now for a little trip down memory lane:
Our first meeting 7/2005



Right before he finally gets to come home with me!



He made it home and is napping in his food bowl:



One of our first hikes - he got too tired and kept laying down on the trail and going to sleep.


I've never been able to be strict about the couches.


His first birthday:


Siri and friends:



Best day ever!


I could go on forever with these pictures so I better put an end to this post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIRIUS!!! YOU ARE THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD!!!

Wedding in West

This weekend, Henry and I went to our friends' wedding in West Yellowstone. We had a really great time and got to catch up with some friends that we haven't seen since our own wedding! Dave and Sara looked so happy and we are so happy for them!


Dave and Sara joined by Jake:




Mr. and Mrs. Bitz:


Now they have jetted off to their honeymoon in Costa Rica and we wish them the best!

Wildlife and Wedding Adventures in Montana

Today we went to a friend's wedding up in Big Sky. I remembered the camera but when we got there and turned it on, the batter was dead. Next weekend we are going to another wedding so I will have pictures then. The really cool part was when we were driving home. We saw a black bear eating a deer on the side of the road - literally, about 20 feet from the road. Then we saw a heard of elk down in the canyon and then we saw a bunch of deer right by the cabins where everyone stayed for our wedding. And then we got home and saw the most exotic creature of all - a wiggling black laborador who was wondering why his dinner was so late.



Here is Siri, the world's best greeter. And in case you were wondering , that is the femur of some animal that he found in the woods. But that was about three years ago in a different kind of wildlife adventure.

I digress.

The wedding was beautiful and the bride was gorgeous. The food was great and so was the cake. The wedding took place in a cloud - literally. It was completely socked in and rainy here in the valley which means it was only worse up in Big Sky. The lodge is up in the mountains and the clouds were so low we were in them. I felt bad for Katie; they were planning an outdoor wedding but everything was beautiful anyway. Sorry for the lack of pictures of the wedding (it's extremely rare that we get dressed up here in Montana) and even more sorry for the lack of pictures of the amazing wildlife. It was Henry's first bear sighting! This really isn't going to help my argument that there are no bears around here and he doesn't need to worry when we go out in the woods.

The wedding adventure next weekend is in West Yellowstone, so we will hopefully have some more wildlife adventures to post about!

Adam and Diana - if you see this before you get to our house, be prepared to be welcomed by a very enthusiastic and loving dog. He will lick you, hopefully your bare toes if he has his way, and parade every toy he has in front of you. If you see this after you get here, I'm very sorry for the invasive and quite personal greeting he probably gave you. And for all the dog hair I'm sure he got all over your stuff. He means well :)

Our Anniversary ...a few weeks late!

On June 7th, we had our first anniversary! It was so much fun - we took Monday off so we had a great long weekend and we just hung out and spent quality time together. We went back up to The Woodlands where we got married and spent the night in the little cabin where we spent our wedding night. It was very romantic and so fun to go back up to the place where we got married. I love that it is so close and we can go up there anytime and re-live all those great memories. Here are some pictures from our fabulous anniversary weekend!


One year later and still in love!



The happy family on the deck of the cabin:



The little fireplace:



Getting to use our toasting flutes again:


The arch where we got married - there weren't trees there last year!


Our precious puppy who is turning four next week! This is moments before he saw the owner's cat and embarrassed the heck out of us. He loves to chase kitties.


It didn't snow on our actual anniversary this year but it did snow the day before, which was 52 weeks after our wedding day. I'm interested to see what happens next year and if there is always destined to be snow the first Saturday in June!