Graduation!

Well Graduation has come and gone!  Molly had practice several days before and had to be at the school at 6:15.  They put up a huge tent which was great and the weather cooperated nicely!  Loads of people were there to support their kids.  Lots of speeches and well wishes and pictures.  Molly was thrilled to be through but sad to leave all her friends.  An exciting time in her life and she's looking forward to Colby-Sawyer...September will be here before we know it!  Here are some pictures from the evening:

I can't believe it's already June!

Well it's another rainy day in Vermont!  Molly is off this week...she had a final grade of all A's in all her classes so she didn't have to take any final exams.  She's been to graduation practice twice this week, picked up her cap and gown and is looking forward to Friday!  Graduation is at 7pm.  We plan on going out to dinner tonight to celebrate at the Fair Haven Inn.  She had her awards banquet last week and was thrilled to get a $2500 scholarship from the Rutland hospital auxiliary, $1000 from the towns community service scholarship, and $1000 scholarship from the Castleton Lions Club!  Not bad, huh? !!  We are soooo proud of her!


We went to Burlington last Sunday to Costco's as it was rainy and miserable.  I think everyone in Burlington had the same idea!  We got lot's of great deals though, great fruits and vegetables..  


Austin is going to get a visit from his brother on the 29th.  The breeder wanted to come and see him, should be interesting.  He's really slowing down, we've had to shorten our walk lengths significantly.  He still is happy and comfortable, very deaf, but eating and drinking well.  He still goes for acupuncture, but only once a month now.  He still seems to improve alot after the treatment and actually seems to enjoy it. 


Kacee is well, we were pleased to not have had any colic episodes this summer and then Monday morning when I went out to feed her she seemed a bit off...just standing and seemed to be covered in mud from rolling.  Sure enough she started doing that thing with her upper lip, (curling and sucking in air) a sign of colic.  When I touched her side she immediately tried to kick and put her ears back as her stomach hurt.  I got Molly and we finally managed to get some Banamine in her.  She hates it, it's a paste and you have to squirt it in her mouth.  It would be fine except she keeps trying to throw her head and rear.  Anyway I went to work and Molly let me know that she was eating and drinking in a few hours and seems fine since.

We decided to try the Verizon extender at our home.  It's a device that hooks into your router, and gives you a cell signal.  We had no cell service at our house, now we have 4 bars!  We ended up joining a family plan so we each have phones now.  John got the very basic phone (a $50 phone, with a $50 rebate so ended up getting it for free)  Molly and I got Envy Touch phones)  I think it will be nice when she goes to school...all verizon to verizon phones contacts are free.  I really wanted a droid but couldn't justify the extra charge for internet access per month.  People at work have droids and they have medical applications that they use everyday at work on their phones.  


The e.r. gave Molly a surprise graduation party with pizza and gifts.  She's been volunteering for over 5 years and has over 1000 hours of time!  


Well hopefully we can start enjoying the summer, I'm trying not to work extra at the hospital.  Hopefully we can ride, fish and just relax a little.  

Senior Prom 2010

Molly had a great time at the prom!  She went with a friend, they looked soooo awesome! It was on Saturday May 15th at the Forum in Granville.  We met at Lois Ladd's in Castleton to take pictures.  All the kid's looked great.  Here are some pictures:

We found her dress in Montreal and she got her red sandals at "payless"!  She had her hair done in Benson at Joanne Gate's.  It took about an hour and a half!

Kacee gets new shoes

Forgot to post that we got our first set of shoes for the year for Kacee.  Again it's pretty early but hopefully no more snow!

Kacee was great for Ken.  Molly rode her the next day and I took her out yesterday before the rain started.  She's been at our house nibbling on grass...knock on wood no more colic issues!  Molly had an overnight at Colby Sawyer on April 9th.  She stayed in a dorm, sat in on a class and really liked it!  We went for the open house the next day and picked her up.  We also had a chance to tour their horse barn, nice indoor and outdoor arenas.  They have a riding team that competes with UNH, UVM, Middlebury, Holyoke and others.  She might try out...wants to get used to the whole college thing first.  If she does ride there and they want Kacee she can bring her at no charge.  They just use her for a lesson once a day!  All care and board, shoes etc are included.  Neat!

Our Montreal Trip April 2010

Well we had a great time in Montreal!  Megan organized the trip, made reservations on line and got us 3 day subway passes which included museum entrances to several museums also.  We left bright and early Sunday morning.  Carol picked us up (Molly and I)  John stayed home to tend to the dog and the horse.  We arrived at Megan's about 9 am.  She had worked all night (at FAHC) Carol drove until we got right outside of Montreal then Meg took over.  She did an awesome job.  The city is a bit confusing, lots of one way streets and the tom tom kept getting confused due to all the high rise buildings.  We found a parking garage and walked to our hotel (the Holiday Inn Select)  It had a beautiful dining area with all these walkways through areas that had fish in them.  The room was nice, 2 double beds and we got a cot for Leanne.  We were right on the edge of Chinatown so we ended up having dinner at a Vietnamese place.  It was delicious.  We went to the Science Museum and walked in Old Montreal too.  The streets are beautiful, very clean and loaded with neat shops.  We grabbed lunch at a little bistro and Molly got to order her first drink!  She got a Pina Colada.  It was the only place that carded her.  If you didn't already know Canada has a drinking age of 18.

The next morning we had a great breakfast buffet at the hotel.  It had eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, crepes, fruit, cereals, juice coffee and more.  (the bill came to $90 for 5 of us though!)  It was yummy and after all it was a special trip!  We hopped on the subway and headed to the biodome and the Olympic Park.  Megan was awesome as our tour guide.  It was difficult at first as everything is broadcast in french...then it got easier as we went along.  The subways were very clean, much different then in NYC.

The Biodome ended up being closed as all the workers were on strike, but we did get to go up on the Olympic Park Tower.  The view was outstanding!

We hopped back on the subway and decided to go to St. Catherine Street.  (Lots of shopping)  They also have an underground mall that goes on forever and is 3 stories!  Got a couple of trinkets, a new purse, Molly found a really cute dress.  We then had lunch, actually ordered an appetizer of grilled smoked Octopus on fresh greens with balsamic dressing.  It was delicious!  Can't get that in Benson!!!

More exploring after lunch, back to Old Montreal for dinner at an Italian place.  Had Mussels and fries, Molly and Leanne got lasagna and Carol had a pizza with shrimp, mussels, scallops and some other fish that was delicious.

Back to the hotel, tired and mellow,  we crashed.  Megan and Leanne went out on the town.    We got up early and found a nice coffee shop on St. Catherine street that had pastries and delicious coffee.  We shopped some more then went to the museum of Contempory Art.  We had pizza for lunch then walked some more and decided it was time to head home.  Megan hit home on the Tom Tom but it rerouted us down 87 into NY state.  We survived and managed to take a wrong turn at the border crossing and had to go through where all the tractor trailers go.  The last picture is of Carol getting out of the jeep  in order to climb up to talk to the border patrol guy (where the tractor trailers go)

It was a great trip!  Thanks Megan, Carol and Leanne!  Next time John has to go!

Molly's 18th birthday!

I can't believe she's 18!  She recovered from the wisdom teeth extraction, but was very sore for a long time and swollen and black and blue.  We had a good day.  She had school but opened a few gifts in the morning and then after dinner.  She didn't want any fancy meal, her request was macaroni and cheese.  All soft foods.  (also had haddock and acorn squash)  Her big request from her dad was cash as we were going to Montreal later in the month.  Here are a few pictures:

She also had to speak at the DAR Awards banquet and go the the Nat'l Honor Society banquet to induct the new juniors.

I can't believe it's mid April already.  The daffodils are out...the leaves are budding.  It's cold and rainy today.