Mary Book Update

cover illustration by Kimberli Johnson

We are so close to being ready to print a proof copy of our Mary Taylor story book. In a perfect world we will be doing that the end of the week. Since the world isn’t usually perfect it might be a few days later than that. Kim got me two more illustrations done. The one above will do double duty as the cover and one of the middle illustration. On the cover I cropped the image in to show just Mary.

The illustration below will be the first one in the book and then we will crop it down as tight as we can for the last image in the book. I’ve got at least one more edit on the text to do. And if a friend who teaches writing classes has time there will be another one before the we print the proof. The plan is to present the proof copy to my mom on her 90th birthday at the end of the month. I know she is going to love it even if no one else does.

first and last illustration by Kimberli Johnson

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Joy Jar

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Another week has slipped away. Spring is really coming, I can feel it!

  • a puppy slumber party
  • Karen’s help
  • teaching scouts about Guide Dogs for the Blind
  • 52 degrees outside
  • getting things off my “plate”
  • Zodiac playing tug with scouts
  • smell of flowers at Cook’s Greenhouse
  • having four big commitments finished
  • a laid-back kind of day
  • finding the crayons
  • quiet misty morning walk
  • Yukon Gold potatoes
  • sleeping in
  • Zodiac sitting calmly as a class of kids walked by
  • signs of spring
  • finishing my candy class
  • tulips coming up
  • Dune’s first neighborhood walk
  • one tiny crocus blossom
  • flock of geese
  • being done with my Relief Society lesson
  • hottest day of the year so far
  • Bountiful Baskets
  • spring!

Yakira Book – Yours

A couple of weeks after we added Zodiac (puppy in training #6), Yakira went into season. Yakira was such a great mentor to Zodiac and I think that part of that was because the hormones made it instinctual for her to adopt Zodiac as her own puppy.

Zodiac learned so many things so quickly because of Yakira’s care. When Zodiac learned to do open stairs for the first time, Yakira was right there, helping him navigate the stairs safely by protectively curling her body around his as the descended the stairs. She did that kind of thing over and over.

 

Pupdate

Zodiac & Dune

Dune and Zodiac are both so cute. Well maybe Zodiac is more on the handsome side these days. He is a year old now and no longer looks like a puppy. They really enjoy each other’s company. It is amazing how many times the two of them will be laying down near each other and Dune looks like an exact copy of Zodiac, except she is smaller and yellow (of course).

We found out at puppy class this week that Zodiac is scheduled to go back to Guide Dogs for the Blind on the next puppy truck. That truck is expected to come on May 18th. I’ve had it in my head that he would be returning sometime in June but it isn’t looking that way. I figured out how to put a count down widget here on my blog so I can count down to his departure. I was so proud of him on Sunday. I got up to teach a lesson at church and left him by my chair. I forgot about him because I was so focused on teaching. But he was very good, even with a little toddler distraction right by him.

Dune has had some challenges this past week or so. Our snow all melted and she didn’t like not having snow to pee on. She had 4 accidents in one day! It had been about 3 weeks or more since she had a single accident let alone 4 in one day. She is doing better now but we are having to pay a lot more attention to her relieving. Since she was very young she would let us know when she needed an extra potty break by sitting by the door. Dune isn’t doing that much any more.

Dune is making some progress on her kennel stress. While she still isn’t quiet while we are gone she isn’t stressing out so much about it. Before she would get so stressed that not only her jaw was wet with drool, but the whole front, down to her legs would be soaked. Now even her jaw is dry. She also got the last of her puppy shots this week, so now she can go on walks and to parks and places like that.

We also got an email for Banta and Mark this week. It is always so exciting when I see that I’ve received an email from one of our puppies. Here is some of what Mark had to say:

Banta is doing very well.  For the most part she is working perfectly.  She has her stubborn moments.  We finally had a big snow a week ago.  Banta likes about 6 inches of snow.  We got about 10 inches and she seemed annoyed that all of her favorite places to play had too much snow.  Eventually she got in there and played like a crazy little girl.  She is so much fun, I love her to death.

All in all it has been a good week on the puppy raising front.

Yakira Book – Young

Yakira came to us young. She got on the puppy truck the day she turned 8 weeks old. That is the youngest that GDB sends out puppies. But she was ready to take on life even though she was so small. Yakira learned to do the stairs very fast. Even going down, the hardest direction for a young puppy. She kept that trend going by returning to GDB young and graduating as a guide dog young.

 

Yakira Book – Yokefellow

Yakira has the perfect working partner for her. Diane and Yakira are a good team. They are both outgoing and friendly. They are both gentle in their interactions with others but there is a strength about them that will help them overcome any obstacles that life has thrown at them or will put in their path in the future. I am convinced Yakira will be well-loved and cared for by Diane for the rest of her life.

 

Two Weeks to RootsTech

March is well on its way and RootsTech is in just two weeks. I’m very excited to get to go again this year. I feel lucky to have such a great family history conference just a few miles away from where I live. If you have a chance to come to RootsTech it is well worth it. They have so many different kinds of classes. They have added tons of new things this year. I’m sure it is going to be tough to decided which classes to go to. Having a clone those three days would be handy. If any of you happen to be at RootsTech let me know. We can meet up somewhere.

Here is some of what RootsTech offers:

Where Families Connect

RootsTech is an opportunity unlike any other to discover the latest family history tools and techniques, connect with experts to help you in your research, and be inspired in the pursuit of your ancestors. Learn how to find, organize, preserve and share your family’s connections and history. Read More…

New at RootsTech 2013

The 3rd annual RootsTech conference has something for everyone, whether you are an avid genealogist, just getting started, or simply want to discover the latest technologies and solutions to better connect with your family.

  • NEW! Getting Started Track – learn the basics, start your family tree, and get help with your family research (starts at only $19) Learn More
  • NEW! Story@Home – discover how to preserve and share your family stories Learn More
  • More Classes, More Speakers — choose from over 250 informative sessions and interactive workshops Learn More
  • 40% Bigger Expo Hall – visit many exciting exhibitors to discover the latest products & services Learn More
  • Developer Day – consolidated track specifically designed for technology developers Learn More

 

Stand in Holy Places – Paper & Cupcake Wrapper

Stand ye In Holy Places – all over paper

A few weeks ago I did a post about the bookmarks I made to coordinate with my 2013 calendar. I had a request to make a cupcake wrapper from the bookmark so I took the bookmark image and duplicated it to create an all over design. Next I found a basic cupcake wrapper template shape and used that to mask so that just the cupcake wrapper shape showed the “Stand Ye in Holy Places” design.

Stand Ye in Holy Places – cupcake wrappers

The cupcake wrappers are being used as part of a birthday gift for the young women at church. To go along with the Stand in Holy places theme for the year, each young woman is getting a fuzzy pair of socks coiled up in the cupcake wrapper to look like a cupcake. I had a photo of the finished project but I seem to have deleted it. If I get another photo I’ll add it here. You are welcome to use either of these images for any non-commercial project.

Yakira Book – Yoga

Yakira has what puppy raisers call “frog legs”. She is the first of our puppies to have the kind of hips that can do the splits out to the side or go straight back when she is laying on her stomach. She also does a pretty good “down dog” and “up dog” just like in the yoga poses so named.

 

Yakira Book – Yippie

Yakira loves to have fun. She will run around like a wild girl plus she can also hold her own when it comes to romping with the bigger dogs, which is most other labs since she just isn’t very big.

But a game she was always very fond of was tug. When you pulled out a tug toy or a rope or ring she was ready to go. Yakira isn’t super strong or super good at tug but she was always happy to have some fun and interact with the person playing with her.
Playing tug always got her vocals going too. She has the cutest little play growl around.