Elaine

My step-sister, Elaine, died today at 42 of cancer. Her father married my mother almost 7 years ago. We lost my father 21 years ago & they lost their mother almost 10 years ago. Our families have known each other from the Manila Branch in the mid 60s. Her oldest sister, Elvee, was my best friend in college & I knew the older kids from Primary. I never knew Elaine but my heart goes out to her family - to Ruben and his children. Mama is flying to Salt Lake tomorrow for the funeral on Tuesday. I decided to look at my mom's wedding photos as that would probably be the last time I saw Elaine. She is 4th from left in this family picture.

Felted Bags

The green/blue tote was the first felted project I completed last week. It took all but 10 minutes in the washer to do it. I wanted to make a tote to carry my scriptures, manual & hymn book for church. The 2nd project (pink/purple) is a better fit. The insides actually look good enough without lining but I'm adding the lining anyway on at least the pink one. Here's the pattern for the pink/purple purse. I used a pink Cascade 100% wool yarn and a Norio specialty yarn that is cotton blended. It took over 30 minutes to felt to the size I wanted.

Yes, it happened again

We took Cooper to the hospital the day after Christmas. We knew something was wrong for almost 2 weeks and when we finally took him, his head was low and he yelped a lot in pain. Cooper had a slipped disc in his neck area & had surgery on December 27, 2007 (another dog came in paralyzed so they had to push Cooper's surgery to the following morning). This time the stitches were down his throat. We had quite a scare because he was in more pain when we took him home. They pulled a nerve during surgery (complication) and there was a possibility not all the floating disc materials were removed. To our amazement, he stopped yelping and started walking to pee the next day and even managed to walk up his ramp to sleep on our bed the 2nd night. His bark sounds different (hoarse) which unfortunately still does not stop him from barking at the poolman & the gardener. We are hoping his bark will go back to normal in a few months (or we will get used to this new one!).

Here is the link to view details about the pet hospital http://petsurgery.com/. They are a GREAT group and we highly recommend them. His neurologist this time (the 1st time was Dr. Berry) was Dr. Stevenson (Dr. Berry was on vacation) who is a really sweet lady who obviously cares so much for Cooper.

Cooper's First Surgery

Cooper had disc disease. His first surgery (December 2, 2005) was on his back. When we took him to the neurologist, his hind legs were paralyzed and he had surgery the same day. Here are photos of our first visit at the hospital. Kevin had traffic school that day so I went by myself. Cooper was so drugged I don't know if he recognized me. He was in the hospital for 3 days and had 44 staples. A week or so after, he fell into our pond (his legs were still wobbly!). He was wandering around while Kevin was working on the pond. Fortunately, Kevin was nearby and was able to scoop Cooper out of the pond quickly.

Our Boys

Cooper is a dachshund/beagle/terrier mix. Here is his picture Kevin found on petfinder.com. We drove to an animal shelter in Ontario with Max to get him. I originally wanted a female cocker spaniel but when we put her in a kennel with Max, there was no match. When we put Cooper in with Max & within seconds, they were chasing after each other. The people watching said we found our dog. The lady from the shelter said there is a standard waiting period to adopt a pet but she felt good about us so she let us take Cooper home that day.



We got Max a year or so before Cooper. On our drive back from Idaho Falls to visit Kevin's family for Thanksgiving, we were so impressed with Chance, Penny & Dave's dog that we decided to get a dog for ourselves so we went to shelters in Las Vegas, Long Beach, Irvine and Mission Viejo. Of course, Kevin found Max first. Max is a spaniel/retriever mix & we got him from the Orange City Pound. We were 4th in a long waiting list to adopt him. When it came our time to pick him up, the family on the 3rd slot was behind us in line but since their time to pick him up had lapse & it was technically our time, we got him. Max enjoyed being the center of attraction for a year but we thought he needed someone to play with so we looked for Cooper & found him!

Is Cooper Asleep??

Yes he is!!

Because his tongue is sticking out

and he is cross-eyed!!!

Max's Favorite Ball

Here's a picture of Max on our bed. Max LOVES this ball. This is the only toy Cooper stays away from because it won't fit in his mouth. It is a Christmas ball given to Max by my sister 5-6 years ago. Kevin bought several replacements of this same ball and we have 1-2 more stashed.