Happy New Year 2010 & Random Cows

Unlike all those organized people out there in blog land that have posted all about the present day,Dorsey is a bit behind...story of my life.

New Years Eve is not something we do up big at our house. I'm doing good if I manage to stay awake until the clock strikes twelve. Rick and Audra went to the movies and were back here with us before midnight. Today they headed back home to New Mexico (both of them really missed their pets); Rick his dog, Cody and Audra her cats, Ruby Boy and Elton.

So while others are starting 2010 with resolutions, diets and another large dinner, I'm finishing my blog post on my trip to Mexico. The second weekend I was in Guanajuato, we went up into the mountains (higher than we already were) to this very nice restaurant. The entrance was in the back and the dining area was huge; there was a fireplace and a beautiful Christmas Tree. Daniela slept during the beginning of the feast, but woke up in time to dance with Daddy to some music they were playing.







We or I should say at least I was surprised to see these random cows grazing in front of this nice eatery right next to a busy road. They weren't fenced in and we didn't see anyone around taking care of them. No herding dog, no shepherd...is that what you call someone who takes care of the cows too? Ashley determined they were just random cows and Miguel tried to persuade her otherwise. It became a joke. They were not the only unattended cows we saw up in the mountains.



And I wanted to include this picture of a church that I took, because I thought it was pretty enough to make a postcard. The colors are very vivid. The words on the sign - Abierto - means Open.

*******RETRACTION!!! This is a Restaurant...It just looks like a Church*******

Guanajuato, GJ, Mexico

Today it's an educational post brought to you by Dorsey. If you click the link below you'll be taken to an interactive map of Mexico...it will slid out to include the US or move in to get a closer look at Guanjuato. Iraputo (about an hour away)is where Ashley & Miguel worked this past year and Leon (just less hour away) is where the airport is.

Guanajuato Map - Map of Guanajuato, GJ, Mexico

Guanajuato is located about 230 miles northwest of Mexico City. It is at an elevation of 1,996 m (6,550 ft) above sea level. Founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century, Guanajuato became the world's leading silver-extraction centre in the 18th century. This past can be seen in its 'subterranean streets' and the 'Boca del Inferno', a mineshaft that plunges a breathtaking 600 m.

Guanajuato is a state in the central highlands of Mexico. It is named after its capital city, Guanajuato, which comes from the local indigenous language, meaning “Hill of Frogs.” Guanajuato, although it is the state capital, is only the fifth-largest city in the state, behind León. The city of León, is the fifth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato.



This is Guanajuato Universidad, where Ashley did her international studies. She pointed out LuLu's house where she stayed while abroad. I would have liked to have visited with them, but with just having a new baby it just wasn't feasible to do everything we would have liked to have done.



This is Calle Campanero y Santa Cafe. This is Ashley's favorite place to eat, and this is where she and Miguel went the night I took care of Daniela, so they could have a date.



This is one of the ways to enter the subterranean streets. Much of the car traffic in the city uses an underground road network.



And this is what it looks like down there. My pictures that I took didn't turn out at all, not enough light.



This link a list of attractions, like museums, historical sites, and other places of interest to visit in the are. Check it out!
Attractions link to Guanajuato here

** These pictures are not ones that I took while on my trip. These were copied from a travel site on the web while looking up facts on Mexico. I was surprised to find that some of my pictures were better than there's. Yep! I said better, so my photography skills must be improving. The ones I chose to copy were pictures I neglected to take, like the Cafe or was a much better picture than I took, like the University one and the picture in the underground tunnels.

Christmas Eve has gone to the Dogs!

Christmas Eve has always been a dog friendly event, no matter where it was celebrated. First at Mom & Dad's house, and later always at Pat & Mike's the dogs were always included. Now that the kids have grown and moved all over the US & MX the dogs are becoming even more focused upon. We have the dogie drawing between the three dogs and each lucky dog gets $35 of treats & toys and usually more as other members like to pick up something for the pooches.



Doris, Gary & Danan the Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier.



Patty, Michael and their Golden Retriever, Arlo.



Rose, Steve and their Yorky/Chihuahua mixed dog, Bugsy.



Audra & Rick were able to come home for Christmas and we are truly thankful for them making the effort to come to Michigan to visit with us.



"Anything under that tree for me?" Danan eyes the tree and sniffs a few packages; looking for jerky treats, greenies or bimple bones...her personal favorites.



Danan loves family events where she gets to play with her cousins.
Eventually she has to take a break, so she can recharge to play some more.



Arlo is getting up there in years and pretty much lays around and takes everything in from the side lines.



Bugsy guarding his mini Jum Bone.



What? Time to go?

** Others present on Christmas Eve will appear in another post, those that don't have dogs..........can not appear in a post titled Christmas Eve has gone to the dogs. My blog. My Rules.

Black & White Montage

fam⋅i⋅ly  /ˈfæməli, ˈfæmli/ Pronunciation [fam-uh-lee, fam-lee]

Parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

A photo of the new family.



Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard

It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money. ~Elinor Goulding Smith



The family is one of nature's masterpieces. ~George Santayana, The Life of Reason



Babies are always more trouble than you thought - and more wonderful. ~Charles Osgood



When a child is born, so are grandmothers. ~Judith Levy



I must say that each and every time I've become grandma again, it has been just as thrilling as the first.

Whos Who?

Do you think these cousins look alike? I do.



If it weren't for the recognizable outfits, I think even the Mom's would have a hard time recognizing their own babies, in photographs anyway.



Carson is my sister's grandson, and Griffin is mine.



It will be interesting to see if they continue to look alike as Griffin grows. I'm beginning to see how he looks a bit like Sydney as well in some pictures.



Will Griffin be this darn cute when he's two or three?

These guys are all decked out for Christmas Eve

Each year we spend Christmas Eve at the same place. We are creatures of habit, especially my hubby. I'm hoping to convince him to do a rotation between the kids homes to spend a Christmas with each one. Their children are young and they are so far away and it's very hard for them to travel with all of them working etc. It's much easier for us to do the traveling.

The place where these reside... my husband, Corky's, sister's house. They are into antiques and their loft above their business is decorated with antiques of all sorts. But these heads were always my kids favorites. Mike & Pat always have them decked out in holiday attire.



This may be a reindeer, I've never asked or just a white tailed deer with a really big rack. My personal favorite was the front half of some kind of goat that looked like it was coming out of the wall. It reminded me of "Harry and the Hendersons". It was too funny, I do believe they sold it in their store or perhaps Harry himself came and took it.





The buffalo is an easy one to identify.






Who doesn't recognize a zebra? I wonder why Harry hasn't claimed any of these guys. Perhaps it's the fact that the celing is way to high.


Okay, I got this one. A bear. A grizzly bear? A black bear? Good grief don't tell anyone I work at a Nature Center.




Is this guy a water buffalo? Perhaps a Gnu??



I love how his horns curl so low and the ears stand straight out.

Well the writing was pretty lame, but at least the pictures were entertaining. Does anyone else out there in blog land, spend Christmas Eve at a unigue spot like this? I'd like to hear from you. What do you think of all the heads?

Cherish the Gift

Cherish the gift of family and friends this season! For those of you that didn't get a personal copy of your own....sorry. I ordered them from MX and had a few computer issues and debated on whether to give up the whole idea of sending these cards this year. However, I was able to pull it off at the last minute, but they were expensive, so I ordered less than usual.



It has been quite a rush getting home from Mexico just a week before Christmas. The tree was up, but hubby waited for me to decorate it. I had decided that this year I would decorate the tree with birds only. Our first year with no kids home and I decided to do something different this year. I've been collecting the birds over the years and was very pleased with the finished product. It is so pretty with the tree lit and all the icicles hanging down.



There are birds from Bronners, and Bar Harbor Maine, and many other states we visited on vacation. There are birds from Germany (Thanks Rick & Audra) and from Thailand (Thanks Debbie) and I made an attempt to bring one back from Mexico, but was unsuccessful on that one. Ashley promised to keep a look-out for one. Some of the birds I bought for myself and others I received as gifts. I have a cardinal from one of my girl scouts, from way back when I was leader.



The chickadees remind me of my Grandfather on my Dad's side of the family. There are humming birds, black birds, blue birds and blue jays. Robins, downy-woodpeckers and parrots. Gold finches, wrens, purple martins and a partridge in a pear tree. There are birds I can't identify, I think someone dreamt up a few new species.



I think it looks great just like it is, but I still look forward to collecting a few more birds. What do you think? What's on your tree? What do you collect?

Random Photos of the first few days

I will add some notes later today, I'm running late for work.



All bright eyed, Miss Danny is laying on a blanket one of Ashley's students made for her. Other students went together and bought the Moses basket and other super nice gifts for her and the baby. Ashley was so touched that they cared enough to buy such nice gifts.



She loves to lift her and head and look around. Sometimes burping her is a real challenge because she is bobbing all around and won't keep the upper half of her body still long enough for you to pat a burp out of her.



Daniela looked a little yellow (jaundiced) so we stripped her down to her diaper and and let her lay in the sun. She had her own little personal sauna and she loved it.



She'd make a perfect Anne Geddes baby model. It's a good thing I was supervised or I may have hollowed out a watermelon or stuffed her in a work boot or something. Photography babies is great form of entertainment.

Ugh! Kodak.. Don't get me started!!!!

Sorry folks no pictures on my post today. I spent tons of time downloading, uploading etc etc and Kodak gallery has thwarted me once more. I had hoped to post some adorable creative pics of Daniela today, but alas Kodak no longer gives you the creative options it's tint to black & white or sepia. No cute frames....that I can find any way, no fade outs or water color portraits. Sooooo.... I spent what seemed like hours learning some things on my photoshop elements software. And guess what... those pictures won't upload to the blog. Ugh! Be patient while I think of something else. I won't be defeated...and I wish I didn't have to go work.

Where I stayed

Mountains as far as the eye can see out the living room window.



Blue skies prevailed about 80% of the two weeks I was in Mexico. Cloudy skies and one day of rain the remainder of the time. I'm was super happy with the weather and enjoyed every minute I was outside or driving around.



But the real reason I went all the way to Mexico was these two girls. My own sweet daughter number three and her first born baby. And as much as I loved the sun, I wouldn't trade one moment with them for one sunny day in Michigan.



Ashley's little bit of the U.S. she has on her wall. I love it! Those are some of my very favorite photos too.



Miguel's father did the tile work in their kitchen. He does excellent work.




This is the baby's room across the hall, but she slept in a port-a-crib in Mom & Dad's room while I was there and this room was commonly referred to as Grandma's House. It took a couple days to convince Ashely that I really did want to take a shift during the night, but eventually Daniela came to Grandma's house in the the middle of the night and stayed for a few hours until she was ready to eat again.



The bed were I slept and all Daniela's clothes & toys.



More of Daniela's things.



Ashley & Daniela in front of Miguel's parents home, of which the three of them live on the lower level.



The view across the street from their house. There were beautiful trailing flowers, bushes and trees strewn here and there.