Hello from Beautiful, Sunny, Glendale!
We just had a fantastic visit with my Dad and Patty for a week. I don't know if this is a photo they like very much but it's one of my favorite of them. I still sometimes can't believe they finally made it down and had a little taste of sunshine. We were as laid back as could be between the kids and two puppies. We did manage to pull of a day road trip north to see Montezuma's Castle, and Montezuma's Well, cut through Sedona and drive back home through Jerome. We should have stopped and took some pictures of Jerome because the views were FANTASTIC! The whole little mining town is all built on a cliff and just amazing. The other big event while they were down was Castle's and Coasters. Now some of you know I am a huge chicken when it comes to rides, even with my influence Hera went on the big roller coaster with Gramps and Patty which had two loops. I admire how brave she is though it doesn't make me any closer to getting on something I'll end up upside down on. We all had a blast and can't wait till their next visit.

Now time to show off our adorable new family members Jackson (above left) and Clara. They are already ten and a half weeks old and growing fast ( Clara 1lb a week and Jackson almost 1 1/2 lbs a week. They are awesome if you can handle continuous peeing. Thank goodness I have lots of help and hard floors.
These two are very different but very bonded and never leave the others side and heaven forbid you try and separate them to bath or train because the other just goes nuts.

Jackson is on the move all day and hard to keep up with. He is also the king of getting into things. He has figured out how to open the automatic garbage can, climb on chairs (below is Jackson in his chair) and how to climb up and over the baby gate (Yup, so much for baby gates). Even so he is our big fluffy teddy bear and likes a good snuggle when he settles down.

At two pounds less is sweet little Clara. Clara loves to be loved and give love. She is the first to sit nice for you and loves a good belly rub. As sweet as she is she has a crazy wild side and is always coming up with new attacks on her brother like jumping off the little brick flower garden wall to knock her brother clear across the yard. She is also most determined to figure out toys by jumping on them and hitting them with her paws as well as barking (she is the loud one out of the two, I think I only have heard Jackson bark twice). Little Clara seems very calm and cautious at first but when she lets loose she is by far the more energetic one.

We are all loving these two pups tons and have lots of fun with them and can't wait till they have all their shots so we can show them off. That will be in another 10 weeks (groan) because of a bad parvo season down here. Oh, well, better safe than sorry.

I look forward to talking with you all soon,

Hugs and Kisses,

The Sfikas Family

Free At Last, Free At Last.....

'Free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, I am free at last' (MLK).

As most of you already know we have our GREEN CARD!! WhooHoo!! I can actually apply for a SSN card. I can't tell you what a big weight it is off our shoulders that we now can't get kicked out of the country. I think we will have to throw a party.

It's been a really great month. We had an awesome visit with Ted's sister Soula and her kids. It was great to have all the kids hang out and little Alex provided us with tons of laughs. I can't believe ten days went by so fast. Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon. In the photo are Hera, Kallista, Alex, Athena and Isi.

The kids are all doing great, just passing there cold onto me. I advise anyone who has a bit of a cold not to try 'hot yoga'. I thought it would help me sweat it out, it sure did, I was on the couch the whole next day and even had to go to the doctor to treat an eye infection. Thank goodness I am feeling better now, maybe I had a lot of toxins to release.

Today is one of the most exciting days for us because Ted is driving back from Seattle as I write this with two gorgeous wheaten pups, Clara and Jackson. It was getting too difficult to try and get them on the plane and noway were we putting little pups in cargo, so Ted decided to drive. I don't know how we are all going to sleep tonight! Ted will make it home tomorrow evening hopefully close to diner time.

As for me, I started a dog grooming course since these pups are going to cost a small fortune to groom. So far I have completed the first two tests. It is really exciting and liberating for me to do something like this since I have been home taking care of kids for so long. Maybe it'll even turn into a paying at home job down the road. The coolest thing is I can do pretty much the whole course over the Internet during my own time.

With some exciting weeks ahead I can hopefully find the time to share with you all more pictures and stories. Take care!

Love The Sfikas Family