SMILES!!!

During our visit with Lukas, Amy and Jesse a friend of Amy's who is a photographer stopped by. She took some pics of Lukas and when she left we decided to try our hand at it. Lukas looking very GQ in his little man shirt and jeans.

It was a really beautiful day...I would say spring day, but it's technically not spring yet, so..... Anyway Dave and Jesse went for a bike ride and Amy, Lukas and I took a long walk. When we returned the boys had to talk bikes together.

It is never too early to start the training for the 2034 Tour de France.


Here is a little video of Amy and I getting Lukas to pose for his pictures.

I had to include these pictures......... Here he is telling us a really funny story!!

Amy got this series of pictures the other day, and is he not the cutest little fellow!!!!

The last picture is the now the wallpaper on my computer. I would like to leave the computer on all day so I can look over and see him whenever I want. I wish it had happened while we were there but, it didn't....Lukas rolled over front to back. I would have LOVED to have been there to video it. Way to go Lukas!!!!

On the owl front...we hear them outside on occasion. The snow is now melted and we checked the last connection to the box camera. No problem there that we could see so it must be at the box. I keep promising that I will get Dave to hook up the dvd so I can review last years videos, in order to see what they were up to at the same time. I will get on that. Here are a couple of images from the box last year. You can see they store some xtra meals.

And here Hootie is getting a little sun through the box opening. I will get more of these together. Thanks for waiting.

6 Weeks!!

Little Lukas was 6 weeks old yesterday.Wow, that is so hard to believe!! I searched the archives and as close as I can get, here he is from week to week. It was very heartwarming to go through all the pictures I have....(there are only a few:) He just continues to get cuter and cuter. Everyday we are happier and happier to have him with us Day 1

Week 1




Week 2




Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

AHHHHH! Who can believe it!!

Happy 6 Weeks, Jesse, Amy and Little Lukas

We Love you!!

2 Part Post

We all headed down for a Lukas visit on Sunday. We decided to bring the fixins for breakfast and make it a early visit.....anyone remember the time change??? We woke up started to get ready and remembered we had lost and hour. We were hoping the rest of the family remembered so when we showed up they were not still asleep. Sarah had forgotten, but Jesse, Amy, and Lukas were prepared. Right away Lukas wanted his grandma. So of course I obliged. He seems to be saying.....Ok this is the lady with the camera and she is probably going to take a million photos.....save me!!!

While we were preparing and eating breakfast Lukas decided to make up the hour of sleep he lost.

You can just spend all your time looking at this little face.

A happy Aunt Sarah with a sleeping Lukas.

Here is Lukas sporting his new outfit sent to him by his Swedish Aunt Annika and Uncle Orjan. He really liked it and he looked so cute in it. Annika lived with grandpa Dave and his family for a year back in high school. We were happy to reconnect with her a couple years ago and look forward to seeing her again soon. Thank you !


Lukas likes to look in the mirror, and following his toys.

He was so happy to have company. It is sooooo cute to see his little personality forming....Happy boy!

Here is a short video of our happy little guy. He really likes his mommy's voice.



Last night the little ladies man spent the evening with his great grandma Stark, great aunt Janet and Nancy and his great cousins, grandma and Sarah. We had a really nice time. Many had not met Lukas yet and I know he was a big hit.


Amy had to make the rounds to the ends of the table so everyone could say their hello's.

Here is Lukas with Auntie Janet....and she threatened me about putting her picture on the blog.....not sure what part of WHATEVER she didn't understand.

Blog part # 2

Jesse and Amy have a Wii and much fun was had by all. Here you can see Dave really got into the game. I am pretty sure this is him bowling!! It was worth a lot of laughs.

Sarah and Jesse boxing. Just so you know She whooped him....way to go Sar!!

Here is a short video of Dave and Jesse playing tennis. I am not sure who was enjoying it most, the boys or Sarah. I have a couple more that are very funny and I will include them in another entry.

As you can see it trashed Dave. Both he and Sarah said that the next day they could actually feel that they had a little workout. They bowled, boxed, golfed and played tennis.

We had a really nice time all around. Spending family time is always very special.

On another note we see the owls on and off now. I really miss not having the camera in the box, because I could always see what was going on. I will continue to monitor and send a owl update ASAP.

Stuff!!

YOO HOO! Dave is back to work so it is me again. Here are a few updated pictures of Lukas. Amy sent this one and titled it Elmer Fudd. Today it is 60 degrees out so he won't need this outfit for a few more days at least, we hope.

Just a couple of pictures of Lukas and Daddy. I am not sure what he is storing in those cheeks, but he is so cute. I'm talking about Lukas here.............Jesse!

Sleepy time, but Lukas doesn't look tired to me.

Mommy and Lukas. Amy and her family went to a water park for a couple of days. Jesse wasn't able to go but it looks like they had a good time anyway's. Don't you just love the little swim trunks?

Lukas after bath time. I can not believe how big he has gotten in such a short time.

Lukas and his animal pals. Here it looks like Leo was checking out the bassinet. Don't worry he is not usually allowed in here, but it is cute!!

Another picture in black and white just because I like it!

Ok so this is my favorite picture of Lukas and Schaffer. I can't believe how gentle with Lukas he has been. Besides this picture every time I have seen them together he is protective and attentive. Well, that is when he is not snoozing and paying no attention at all....haha. Hopefully they will be great friends.

Not to be left out wanted to include this picture of Dave FINALLY able to ride his bike outside. After his broken collarbone he has been leery about riding on the road. The fact that it was so warm outside there was no way he could not go for a ride.

Layin' Low

Hello ... This is Dave writing the blog today.


I have been home the last 2 days with some kind of "bug" and, am finally feeling better. Not sure what it was but, I generally felt achy, bloated and nauseous. Mary has been her usual attentive self and took great care of me (ie; "Mary, can you dress me?")


We did walk outside for a few minutes yesterday afternoon and we found some owl activity:



Owl down ..... Extra fluffy. We found a number of these little tufts in the yard near the drive and later saw some floating down onto the deck.

Owl pellet ..... maybe a mouse? We find these in the yard under the cherry tree quite often. I once found a really nice one and put it in a zip lock for safe keeping but, Mary threw it out!




Blue Jay feather. Jays are a Barred Owl favorite. We find feathers in the yard often and they range from the jays to Titmice, Nuthatch and Sparrows.



Well, the camera is probably down for the hatching season .... Not sure what happened but, it is too late to climb up there to fix it. Mother owl would not take kindly to me invading the nest. Our only hope is that one of the 2 sets of wire connections in the yard is unplugged. The snow is leaving and we should be able to check the connections soon.





I hope to feel ambitious enough tomorrow afternoon to go out for a bike ride. It is supposed to be nice again tomorrow (near 60F!). This will be the 2nd outing since the "crash" and I will probably take the Sugar out for several laps around the block. So far my recovery is going pretty good .... I have been using the rubber band and weights to get my range of motion and strength back. There are some "dead zones" in my ranges of motion that I need to concentrate on. It is always going to feel like there is a plate in there (unless I choose to have it removed).


Not much else to report .... Mary says "Hi"


Dave.

A weekend in the life

Hello again!! When I was at Jesse and Amy's house last week we were at the mall and saw this little hat. Who could resist it! He really likes it and is ready anytime for his first road rally. He is thinking Great Grandpa, Grandpa , and Daddy can take the mini and participate together. He can drive!!!

When the family came for a visit this weekend Lukas insisted on wearing his new hat to show aunt Sarah. She was very impressed with how debonair he looked. This is exactly the type of hat she would have gotten him if she had seen it first.

And if that wasn't enough to endear himself to Sarah his mommy brought along his I love my auntie bib to wear. She could not have been happier. It has been a couple weeks since she has been able to see him and I think she was really missing him. I know that her weekend improved after she got to see Lukas.

Lukas was very kind and wanted to share his hat with grandpa. It was a little small but it covered the bald spot, what more can you ask. Everyone stayed for dinner, a very good pizza, and then we were off to a surprise birthday party for one of Dave's co-workers. It was very hard for us to leave, as grandpa had just gotten Lukas to sleep and it was hard for him to let go.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. It was about 27 degrees with a really stiff wind so even though it looked nice it was VERY cold. We decided it was a nice day to take a drive out to the lake shore. Good to get out of the house and enjoy the sun and no snow on the roads.

A few years ago we took a winter trip to the beach and I took a picture of this same tree. I find it very intriguing. Once again it drew my attention. I still find it intriguing!!! It almost seems to glow, don't you think?

OK, so now I have a secret to tell!! We borrowed mom and dad Ward's mini cooper to make the lake shore trip today. Please don't spill the beans!! And, mom and dad if you are reading this please ignore this paragraph and the following photo.....haha!



In the last bit of news, we now know that we are not going to be able to fix the camera. The last few days as you know we have spotted Hootie sitting in the nest box opening. Well today as you can see she is in the box. We walked down the drive and you could just see her head as she followed along with us. I will have to dig out last years videos and check there dates, and see what she may be up to in there.

A little parting shot for the day...... Dave and his rocking Lukas technique. I know you who really know us are wondering what happened to Dave's quote " I don't hold kids till they are a year old." Many things have changed, I don't even mind baby googie anymore!!!

Love to all!!

One more thing......Dave finally got a picture of a bobcat!