This week we welcomed three new animals into our home. Actually, into our garden. There was no room in the inn, so we built them a garden condominium.
Let me introduce Balthazar. He hops around a lot.
This is Portia. She hops around a lot too.
She likes bottled water. I think this picture makes her look smaller than she really is. Guess how much she weighs. If you guessed less than ten pounds, my theory was right.
Finally, Juno. She is the smallest of the three.
The top of her head is still black. It will turn silver with time.
These guys are all Champagne d'Argents (breed). They are born black and then mature to the color you see. They are very stunning, especially compared to the puny little wild things hanging out around here all the time that are about 1/10th the size of a full grown Champagne.
Here is the full bunny condo. Don't mind the compost heap.
And Alex requested that I show some pictures of our garden. Please don't feel bad if you happen to live in Idaho and can't plant your garden yet because it snowed yesterday.
The only other significant news from our side is that Ruben finally made some new friends. He is somewhat socially challenged, so this is a big step for him.
So, it's been a busy weekend here in Parent-town. The most significant event was the graduation of my big brother, Ephraim from the Medical Scholars Program at the University of Illinois. After 10 years of hard work, sleep deprivation, and patience, he is now an officialPhDand MD.
Here he is getting hooded. The 'dusty rose' stole means that he is going to do his residency in diagnostic radiology. This also means that some day he will make a LOT of money. You'll notice he looks rather happy.
Here we are with his daughter Daphne after convocation:
This is his lovely family. They have all been through a lot during the last few years (especially Amy. She's an amazing mom). They will all be very happy to have him done with school. Hopefully residency won't be as busy (ha ha ha).
My entire immediate family except for my oldest brother Roger and his daughter Elizabeth made it out for the event. We had the entire clan over to our little house for Sunday dinner. It was crowded (10 adults, 5 children, 3 dogs, and 1 cat).
This is what we had for dinner. It tastes better than it looks.
Back row: Asher, Daphne, Gigi, Hazel. Front row: Lola and Lucy trying to steal Hazel's food.
Ephraim has a very big dog.
The girls will miss you, Boomhauer!
I think everyone had a great time, and the only real downside was that everyone had to leave too quickly. We will miss everyone, but we are especially sad to see Eph and Amy and their children move away. Ephraim has not only been a great older brother and academic advisor, but especially over the last year he's become a good friend. I don't know if either of us would have anticipated that 5 years ago when I moved here, but I can sincerely say that I now consider him one of my closest friends and favorite people to interact with. There's no one that Katie and I would rather hang out with than Ephraim, Amy, and their kids. So, here's wishing you the best of luck in the new chapter of your life. Have fun in your new house in St. Louis, and make sure you don't forget how much you like us. We'll see you soon.
Those are the last words that came out of my husband's mouth. I mean, just barely, as I was sitting here typing. He's still standing there doing the dishes. Do you know what he was referring to? Honestly, it could have been any number of things... our car, our cat Ruben, my hairdo... Leaving that awkwardness aside, he was actually referring to what started as this:
And now looks more like this:
(herb garden)
and this:
and from which we got this:
Just the beginning of a fruitful year I have no doubt.
Moving on to other matters, a rabble of butterflies moved into our house and took up residence on our refrigerator:
And Lola's brain connected enough neurons to learn a few things. Just a few, mind you.
