happy birthday mama bear

We call my mom Mama Bear. She used to get so mad at my youngest brothers when they would call her this. She thought they were commenting on her nature and that they thought she was grouchy like a bear or something. Then my brother J (I think it was him) explained why they called her this.

Mom rescued a tiny, black baby kitten. For the longest time, it was so tiny that the palm of her hand dwarfed it. She fed it with a medicine dropper and it grew until it was a tiny fist size ball of black fur that stuck out all over. He was the cutest little kitten, so funny looking. When he sucked down his milk, his ears would curl up and we would all laugh.

Then we all read an article from the Reader's Digest about a family who adopted a black bear cub and named it Little Bit. One of my brothers thought that the little ball fur looked like Little Bit when he curled his ears back, so the name stuck for the cat. And Mom became Mother Bear or Mama Bear depending on our mood. The cat grew up to be quite the handful and earned himself the nickname of Little Sh*t.

Well, when Mom found this out, she liked her nickname and it's stuck ever since. And now we are the Boyer Bears as well. We have Papa Bear, Christine-a-Bear, Raynbo Bear, Roberto Bear, Becky Bear, Jonny Bear and Christo Bear. It's a fun tradition.

Mama Bear totally lives up to her nickname as well. She is pretty ferocious in defending her family and taking of all her cubs. I certainly do love her!

Happy birthday, Mama Bear. I'm glad you're my mom.

I love this photo! She has the best laugh ever.

Two of my favorite moms in Paradise. 

(Thanks for the photo Jim!)

And Grandma Bear too!

 

thoughtful thursday: perfect

i love this. found via unabellvita

some sneak peeks of the house

My dad is funny. He keeps asking when I am going to share more photos of my house.

He got a new pacemaker yesterday.  Everything went well and he is doing great!

So, here is a sneak peek of the house. It's still a work in progress.

Up the stairs is my prayer rug from Afghanistan.

I love this rug and the red wall.

"I am a great woman."

I love this reminder in French on my way out the door each morning.

I found this at Eastern Market a couple of years ago and fell in love with it.

A view of my dining room into the entryway.

I carried those terracotta angels in my backpack through Italy

and somehow kept them safe. Believe it or not, that was the easy part.

A somewhat dark view of the dining room and into the living room.

See my piano in the corner? It makes me very happy.

roommate #2: the escapee

so, i have two new roommates PL and her dog J. J is a lovely black with white markings medium size border collie. PL is lovely too and i feel so blessed to have her as a roommate.


this evening, i came home from work and changed into t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops to head out into the pouring down rain to get the 5 free sandbags that the city was handing out. we are having epic amounts of rain here in dc and flooding is common. i wanted to be able to protect the basement if needed. i loaded up the sandbags and then headed to frager's for some other home care stuff.


by the time i got back J was beside himself. he was in his kennel, but clearly ready to be out. i'm sure hearing the heavy rain and thunder didn't help him stay to calm today. he's a really good and cuddly dog, so i was looking forward to having him out and to myself until PL got home.


we went downstairs together and i let him out into the backyard. i stopped to talk with the neighbor for a minute and kept an eye on J. the next thing i know, he has figured out that the back gate was not locked, opened it and slipped out into the back alley. i immediately take off after him. keep in mind that it's raining, i'm wearing flip-flops, and i don't have his leash or my cell phone with me, and i left the back  door wide open. all i have is the key to the laundry room and my driver's license in my pocket.


at first i think i have a chance of catching him, because he's letting me get pretty close before taking off again and he's moving pretty slow. we get to the front corner and he's stopped, trying to do his business, so i try to grab his collar but he jumps back and snaps at me with a little growl. he's obviously not ready to be caught.


after that it's game on, and J just simply takes off with me in hot pursuit after him. i'm yelling for him to come,  he'll stop and mark a tree, and then wait until i about catch up with him before taking off again. this darn dog is playing with me. well, then it gets serious, because he's running into traffic at the intersections. thankfully, drivers are stopping for him and me, so he gets through safe. after about five blocks of running after him, two young men start helping me as well and then a third joins in. they are younger and can run a lot faster, so they can keep up better with J.


by this time, we are well on our way to lincoln park, but i can't see J any more. i'm praying, that those young men can keep up with him and that no matter what happens he doesn't get hurt. i get to lincoln park and can hear a dog crying in the distance like it's in distress. i just know it's J and that he's been hurt.


i get to the middle of the park, and i see three young men with an older gentleman walking towards me. they have a black and white dog on a leash, and it's J safe and sound. i'm so relieved. i grab onto J's collar, say thank you to all four gentlemen, and start walking home.


as we walk home, we pass by people sitting outside who are all happy that i caught him and making comments to that effect. the young men are also following me part of the way and J keeps trying to go back and say hi to them. J is also having trouble breathing because i'm holding onto his collar and it's pressing on his throat. this causes a guy to stop and ask me what sort of dog J is. i tell him, adding that he's in trouble because he ran away and we are on our way home. the concern on the man's face clears up when he hears this and i'm just glad that he doesn't say anything else to me, because i'm mad at J for this little adventure we just went on.


we get home finally and my roommate is at the backdoor wondering what the heck happened. i explain and J gets put in time out. i'm just thankful the escapee is home safe and sound. he's now totally exhausted after his two mile run/walk, and so am i.

J in timeout. isn't he a beauty?

my roommate is pretty cool and hadn't panicked, but was starting to feel concerned when she went to go upstairs after realizing that J and i were not home, and saw J's lease in the basket inside the front door. that's when she knew something was up. thankfully we got home just after she started putting everything together.

all in all, a very unexpected exciting evening. 

the best family photo ever

Boyer Family Reunion 2011 at Bear Lake State Park, Idaho

Yep, we're quite the crew!

I love you guys.

thoughtful thursday: measure of your love

You are rewarded
not according to your work or your time,
but according to the measure of your love.
~ St. Catherine of Siena

belated

so, i'm a really bad sister.


it was brother j's birthday a couple of weeks ago and i totally spaced it, until just a few days ago. i even saw him the weekend after his birthday and still didn't remember. i have no excuses, just that i was dealing with some personal stuff that was pretty big and wasn't thinking much of anyone or anything outside myself.


so, i just want to say that i'm sorry i forgot your birthday brother j. you're a pretty great brother.


you... 
and your son video chat with me often, which always makes me laugh and feel loved.
text me photos of your sons all the time, which i totally love.
work hard for your family.
make me laugh.
live in a really cool place which i want to come and visit again. columbus day work okay for you?
are my favorite brother in all of utah... (shhhh, don't tell anyone, okay.)


thanks for being such an awesome brother.

Angel's Landing, Zion National Park, Oct 2010

so, happy belated birthday to you. and may you have lots of cake in your face!
love ya, jonny boy.

things that made me smile a lot this week

- my whole family was in one place, all together for the first time in almost five years. yay! one of my wishes for this summer came true.


- a campfire. chili verde. fire roasted corn on the cob. georgetown cupcakes (for breakfast too). stars, so many stars. mountains.


- hugs from all my nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, mom and dad. (and to all my in-laws you are simply my sisters and my brother.)


- my niece's story about the titanic and a romance. she's quite the author.


- an early morning thunderstorm, a double rainbow and family breakfast under a canopy tent in the rain. heaven on earth.


- a bear lake sun burn.


- playing rodeo in the backyard with my two nephews. i got bucked off a bull a couple of times and landed on my behind.


- sleeping on the trampoline with my nephews who decided they loved their mom too much to be outside with me, so they went inside. later mom, my sister, came out and we got sister time.


- stars! shooting stars! satellites!


- long car rides with mom, talking and listening to beautiful music.


- seeing kp and kh two friends i haven't seen in ages. i loved catching up with them, and just sitting and talking. (sorry, to the other friends i missed. next time, i promise.)


- visiting temple square for the first time in years. i love the christus statue.


- i bid on my hotel for san diego and ended up staying here. it was awesome!


- seeing friends from my team in afghanistan. especially one who survived a suicide bombing. he is getting stronger and healthier every day. thank you, god, for this miracle.


- watching as a friend stepped up to meet her destiny. when i grow up i want to be like her: compassionate, strong, a true friend and leader.


- singing with the best pianist i've ever met. listening to him play, to his brother sing along and watching people's faces as they listened or sang along also. what a fabulous night.


- making new friends.


- dinner at an amazing french restaurant with an inspiring group of people.


- listening to the ocean and a steel band play as i fell asleep with windows of my hotel room open.


- coming home to dc. it really is home here now.


- seeing that everyone is safe and sound from the earthquake and hurricane which i missed while out west.


photos to follow.