Nice Clouds

We don't get clouds like this very often.

It was fun to watch them interact with the sunrise.

Even starlings have to scratch now and then

(see far right bird with his leg up in the air).

Montana Weekend

Along the side of the freeway

Sisters

Micro braids

For me?

Happy girls

Silly girls

Papa sure has big shoes!

Meskerem's first Shirley Temple

Kidist's first Shirley Temple. The cherry was their favorite part. Come to think of it, it's still my favorite part as well.

Birthday Memento

My brother and sister-in-law sent me a box of memories for my birthday this year. I pulled this out and couldn't quite figure it out. It's my mom's first initial and her last name. I asked my friend Wanda about it since she's worked in hospitals for a long time. Wanda: "What color is it?" Me: "Pink and white" Wanda: "Is it big or small?" Me: "Very small" Wanda: "It's the bracelet they put on you in the nursery so they'd know you belong to your mommy". Wow. I have to admit that gave me goosebumps and made me tear up over the significance of it. My mother passed away a number of years ago so I'm so grateful to have this special tangible memento.

Hawaii Trip

Del has a well-travelled hat.

Here it is in Hawaii, decked out with lei, on a tripod, in the midst of its beloved camera equipment. Del's hat loaned Del the lei for the evening. Diane got one, too. A gorgeous white ginger lei. Too bad blogs don't have a smell option. It was fragrant!

The view from our room in Wailea on Maui. If you look closely, you can see Molokini in the distance (the darker island in front of the larger land mass across the water).

Even the pigeons in Hawaii are exotic. Not suprisingly, this one is called a spotted dove.

Thought I'd throw another kind of bird into the mix (Bird of Paradise).

Myna. Remember the obnoxious character in the Lion King? They got it exactly right.

Francolins. Kind of like our California Quail, but without the fun top-knot.

Japanese White Eye

Her baby begging for food.

Red Crested Cardinal. Gorgeous!

Cattle Egret. Like our White Egrets but with tawny head and without black legs and yellow feet.

Eerie downward shot of pool from Waikiki Marriott 20th floor.

Upward shot of palm trees.

The obligatory Hawaii sunset shot. This was from the deck of Maya - a wonderful restaurant at the Wailea Marriot where we stayed on Maui.

Our favorite local band. The trio version is called the "Kailua Bay Buddies". We look up Mark Caldiera (the guy in the middle playing the Cahon) and whatever band he's in every time we come to Oahu.

Dinner at Alan Wong's in Honolulu. Yummm!

All in all, not bad for a business trip. Del was on vacation the whole time; I had to work two full days in the middle of it. I don't recommend that. It's hard to truly wind down. That said, we did really enjoy the beauty that Hawaii has to offer. It is a special place. Aloha!

The Grandkids - Meskerem and Kidist

Proud Papa

Meskerem helping Papa build her bed with Kidist being playful.

Mama Kirsten and Papa Del building bed with Meskerem looking on.

Meskerem and Kidist in Coloring Zen. Very quiet. LOVE IT!!

Kidist with antique baby stroller and Meskerem with antique horse passed down through two generations.

My first videos of our new granddaughers

Del and I are having a good time staying with Kirsten in Montana this week and getting to know our new granddaughters. They call Del "Papa" and me "Ayat" which is grandmother in Amharic (national language of Ethiopia).

This snippet is of Kidist helping "Papa" build her new bed.

And this one is of Meskerem "talking" on the "phone"

First Visit to the Vet

Gicle'e and Ashley had their first visit to the Vet today. They were great! They allowed themselves to be gently poked and prodded without crying out. They saw Dr. Utchen at Bishop Ranch Veterinary Clinic, who is our favorite Vet. He really love animals more than profit. We found out that both of our 1 1/2 year old kitties are in perfect health. And, we found out that Gicle'e is not a calico but it appears that one of her parents was an orange tabby and the other was a grey tabby, and one or both also must have had patches of white on them. I believe she represents a whole new breed of cat which should also be called Gicle'e. BTW, the pronunciation of Gicle'e is "Zhee Clay" which means squirt in French. It looked to us like God squirted her with various kinds of cats and we found out today that we were right!

Table for Two

Happy Valentine's Day!

Del and I trade each year who plans Valentine's Day and who plans our Anniversary celebration. This year was his year for Valentine's Day, and he sure made it special! I woke up to a sweet card and what looked like a box of chocolates, but it actually contained a freshwater pearl necklace. He had also gotten me 3 dozen roses at Costco that are simply gorgeous.

Then, instead of going out like we usually do, Del cooked me a wonderful Valentine's Dinner at home. It started with our version of bruschetta: roasted garlic, cambozola cheese, marinara sauce with golden raisins in it and chives for decoration, all on asiago cheese bread. Yum!

The salad was baby spinach with feta cheese, pepitas, apples and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

The main course was shrimp scampi, steamed King Crab legs, roasted asparagus, and mushroom risotto topped with grated parmigiano reggiano cheese. Everything was cooked wonderfully (OK, Costco helped with the risotto) and tasted delicious!

Then we had individual chocolate lava cakes for dessert (also from Costco), Breyers vanilla ice cream, and fresh raspberries on top. And best of all, he didn't expect me to clean up. I ended up helping a bit, but even that was optional. What a great guy.

Note to my dear husband: Thank you Del, for making this Valentine's Day a very special one.

I love you!! XOXO Diane p.s. I guess I'd better start planning a special anniversary celebration this year!