it's peevish

Introducing...

More stupid photos for your viewing pleasure!

Some are just plain hilarious set ups.

abby chillin:

darin says this one is almost too awkward to look upon:

and some, it's harder to tell what's going on (jarom spraying himself in the face with perfume):

joey's poses are always true classics:

and i think bella's taking lessons:

although the situations can get quite dangerous sometimes...

we shall rise above:
this one requires no words:

mikie, ever the charmer:

oh, and art gets REALLY into it:

and i pee my pants a lot:

that's it for now folks.

there's a lot more where those came from.

from my rainy day to yours.

Planning in Advance........(ohwhatagooseI'vebeen)

So.....I really want to start a dialogue here (I HATE THAT PHRASE!!!!) :) I want to get honest opinions from ALL of the Beattys about our summer camping extravaganza. I know that there is a plan, somewhat loose at the moment, to go to the Lost Coast and do a long hike there. I believe that loose plan is set for sometime in August. If anyone knows more, please fill me in. I am not sure how many days that hike will take etc etc etc.
Secondly.....how does everyone feel about a desert hiking soul-search circa the end of May beginning of June? If we get on it fast, we may be able to reserve camping down at Havasu. Or perhaps we want to get a house at the Lazy Lizard Hostel in Moab for a couple of nights (a whole house rents for about 130-180 for a night and sleeps about 17 people!!! or more!!!) and then doing an overnight hike out in Canyonlands one other night and a couple of day hikes at Arches???
Any ideas kids??? How many of us want to go on both? Any friends?? (nick, ryann, stan, les, phil...etc) What weddings might fall during what dates??? (Martin's, Ruebi's, etc.....)

Do you even want to take on TWO camping ordeals? I certainly do. Despite my full blown BRAThood last August at Glacier I am left with only beautiful memories now and not the icy cold shivery senses that made me so upset back then. Sorry, I know it took a while for me to not be a jerk about it. I think my main "beef" was with the weather and how it didn't give me the warmth I craved. But I think of our overnight hike....rainy as it was on the way back...and I am in love with it. Dad TOTALLY should have come!! I loved playing cards in the late night starry cold. I loved that funny video that the guys made and also cooking meals together in that little square. I know I am owning up to my own true Beattyhood when I say " I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING MEAN, PLEASE FORGIVE ME".....I even think back to the grouchiest moments for me and I laugh now, like seeing Mikie and Dad fight like cats and dogs, like hurrying to the payphone with a dollar in change to sob to Art for the 4 whole minutes it bought me. Even at the top of Logan Pass (on the way home) when it was icing sleet down on the car and I stayed inside the fogged windows and thought about how I'd rather be AT WORK then in Montana.... OH HOW WRONG and very dramatic I WAS and am!!! I love being with my family, and I also love that we (i.e. "I") have our drama and our livelyness and our loudness and our indecisiveness and our sentiments. We are so NOT a boring family..we all are extremely strong characters and that is what makes our vacations so fun! I promise, to myself and to everyone in our family, that I will be MUCH MUCH nicer and more peaceful this year. I PROMISE!

Please post any ideas other than these two as well!!! and soon!! I want to help get this trip organized and well thought out....enough to at least eliminate some of the little issues that traveling can create.....I want us to be super communicative with each other and make sure we all get the right dates off work, figure out some kind of car pool plan, have a meeting to fig it out right prior to the trip.....

Do you like this idea???




Or this idea???






Or might you have some other ideas????

But no matter what......thank you so much, all of you amazing favorite people of mine ever.....for this idea.

Saying Good-Bye to the Great Horned Owl

New Year's Eve day, we had Stormy's funeral in the backyard. 905 Darlington, site of many sweet souls who have gone to rest. Bella took it very seriously, wearing this flower garland for the procession and during the slideshow I made she turned to me and solemnly said, "that almost made me cry." She is a wise and sensitive little spirit, that's for sure. Jarom also helped a lot, wanting to do a lot of digging (it was so cute how he'd place his foot on the edge of the shovel and kick kick kick rapidly with great vigor) and telling how much he loved Stormy and would miss him, and even throwing in some kitty treats for the afterlife.

Good-bye to Stormy, as Emily has so lovingly described him, our gracious and good big boy full of love. I can't believe we have had to say good-bye to him, and that I only have four cats now. It breaks my heart that Cleo will never snuggle again.

The helpers.

Bird, bone, pine needle, light.

The forever cycle.

Thanks for being here with us, Utahn Beattys, and for keeping the energy high and the spirit jolly. That's how Stormy would have wanted it....love and happiness all around.

Matt

My special brother

The Wisest

To our Stormy. Our wise owl, our loyal shadow. Thank you for the years we have known you, thank you for the love you constantly reminded us to share with the world. Thank you for your gentle and giant heart.

Now you are free and the universe can be at peace. You are floating above flowing rivers, drinking them as you please, and swimming next to your sister Star as reflections of your friends pass you by in the water, and yes, that includes our faces too. Thank you for your final gift to us: passing on so peacefully.

We love you, and support you on your journey.

Oh what a guy

oh there's no place like somewhere entirely new for the Holidays

Guys.
Hey. It's Mikie. What is up.

Rain, as of right now. I just turned the 5-minute walk between my house and downtown into a 15-minute slippery-car fest of mish-mashed left turns and a full parking structure. It's bloody pouring.

I have to say, it's beautiful. There's something that feels quite good about smothering rain and millions of people.

Amy and Heather told me to post pictures of my journeys of late - of which there have been many, and all passed-by unphotographed; I have no working camera.

So instead I will recount as much as I can in a list-like fashion, in no particular order:

enthusiastically pumping fist into a camera, for Budweiser

hundreds of miles of sunset and silhouettes

USC screening room and film students' shorts

the Public Storage gate closing just after stepping through it

singing Christmas Carols where James Dean died

sitting in fake high school hallway writing poetry and a lesbian porn

the city lights decked like a sparkling Christmas Tree

drinking Hoegaardens and talking about a two-story KFC at Lucky Baldwins

owning cozy towels from K-mart

car not starting at a gas station 'til it smokes

across a lake at night lies Cinderella's glowing castle

hot pastrami sandwiches and beer

Heat-seeking Venemous Python of Love

shattered wine glass and paper towels

Plumber knocking on bedroom door while fast asleep

scummy shower "before" and "after"

dancing to Michael Jackson with the excellent cast of The Big Bang Theory

Rocky mountains covered in snow

at a pew in Catholic cathedral, looking into Mary's eyes and marveling

snow-capped mountains in every direction

Minoo, Gil, Dani, Shane, Ryan, Deanna, Dean, amazing.

lost walking around Paramount Studios

soaking wet in tent on the set of Bones

tossing vacuum filter into the air to clean it

smacking vacuum filter on the cement to clean it

car not starting in the rain

unemployment application papers everywhere

Phillipines dancing with colours

the anticipation and not-knowing

the comfort of being surrounded by thousands of people

what humans are capable of

Those are the pictures I would have taken had I a camera. Maybe for Christmas Dad would be willing to lend me his old one with a package of batteries from Costco...so I can actually take some pictures for you guys.

That's all. I love you. Merry Christmas so far,
we've got a looong way to go

Mikie

some girl just pulled the fire alarm. WOW

The Haps in Geeves...Snow at Christmastime!

Well here we are in Grass Valley, CA. Just close enough to the Ville to go to special functions....just far enough way to get lonesome for everybody all the time!!! But, we are off to a great start as far as having a cozy little house goes! A few tidbits from our world.

Grabby and Owl! Our pumpkins.

Grabby and his Doppelganger...................on the left by the metal post. That is our neighbor's yard. He cuts tons of wood and dries it.

Who's stalking him. You might have to blow up the pic but that black thing on the center left is another Grabby-looking cat. Looking right at him.

Marma visited. Dad did too but I didn't get a pic on my own little 3megapixel camera.


We made a homemade sushi feast. Sometime in November.



I made apple pie from the Granny Smiths on our own tree here!

We are yet in the middle of crafting and fermenting our first home brew!


We went shopping at Target at 10:30pm. Much better than crowds.

I visited the lovely and beautiful Stormy, whom I wish lives another seven or ten years.

We realized the snow had already begun to fall last night before I got home to decorate the tree! So, we shook it off vigorously...and Art carved the bottom so it would soak in the water.


Every year we forget to trim the bottom branches off. Then - after trying to get the tree to not fall over for about twenty minutes- we remember the year before's same problem and start ALL OVER!



Our finished tree! It's so pretty. This year our theme is white, and 50's-ish....so the lights are white. And the snow was white outside the window, falling the whole time we decorated it!! We were up til 3:20 in the morning. Watching the snow fall, listening to Christmas music pretty effin' loud, and hanging up our ornaments. Here is one of our views into the house from the front carport in the evening....


And though we saw it pouring down snow all night, there was more to come! We woke up to this today! The best Christmas season present ever.

Our little red house.

Some blue sky even peeked through.


Our front deck!
This is our camelia bush. I love how it looks like tiny paw hands are all over it.

Art shoveling our non covered front porch!



Our neighbor's Charlie Brown Christmas tree. He is really cool and lives in this little trailer next to an old cabin (see below).



Even the mail lady got out and about during the day! I got a dress in the mail!!!!!



I love snow shoveling. It feels pretty natural and smooth and it's fun like a ride! Anyhoo....just a little touchdown of our goings-ons here. I skipped many, but that's cause I don't take that many photos! Hopefully I will see alot more snow photos in the coming days. I hear Matt and Amy got PLENTY. And Placerville is snowed in with no power!!! Can't wait to see the documentation of such cold and icy adventure. Love you kids!!!

Adie