With Love, Barkley

Today, July 9, 2010, was such a sad day for the Guthmiller Family. We lost our beloved dog Barkley. She was such a big part of our family and one of the best dogs we've ever been blessed to own. Zach and I bought Barkley before we were married and she even became part of our wedding ceremony...sort of. I was trying to cry and Zach whispered in my ear that there would be tons of dog poop to clean up when we got home and it made me laugh. Everyone asked us what sweet nothings he was whispering in my ear at the time. If only they knew...

Here is our first Christmas as a family

It's really hard to know if Barkley was pleased when we got her a little sister. She and Belle became fast friends and took over our house! They did end up loving each other. Unfortunately, both of these dogs have gone on to a better place.
Barkley was such a good sport!

Barkley and BB got along fairly well and snuggled quite often as Barkley got older. She was such a cuddler and loved every minute of attention that she could get.
Oh sweet Barkles...how we will miss your kisses, drools, yuck mouth, and the way you would shake your booty when you got excited. We have a huge hole in our heart without you here. Go find Belle in Heaven and finally show her who's boss!

Folsom Zoo Field Trip

We are still playing catch up with the pictures and the blog!

On Friday, May 21 (see...way behind) Tyler's class went to the Folsom Zoo for a field trip. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Tyler and his class. They were given a sheet of paper that had pictures of animals and they needed to find them in the zoo. I don't see how they were able to match the pictures up, though, with them running all over the place and barely looking at the animals. But, it does seem like they had fun.

Here is Tyler stopping for one half second to smile for the camera...

She was so excited to be a part of the Queen Bees field trip. She loves to hang out with the bigger kids.
Who let this bear out of the zoo?! It's a pretty cute cub.
I think this was in front of the bear cages and they were making their growly faces. Or maybe that's just Tyler's regular smile these days. Hard to know.After the jog through the zoo we had a few minutes to ride the steam engine. The kids all piled in the train (in the animal cage at first) and got ready for the train ride! It was probably the only time during the day that they sat still for more than two seconds. This is Tyler and his best friend Payton being silly.

The conductor is notorious for taking a picture of every family (with a camera) and explaining how to set the settings for the optimal picture. Of course his optimal settings didn't get rid of my love handles!
Hmm...I wonder if there's a little love connection here on Lucy's part? Is this something we have to get used to with her older brother bringing cute friends around?
After the train ride we had pizza with the rest of the class and played at the park. It was a really fun day! Field trips are fun for the parents too.

Time to Tumble

Lucy has been going to Tumble Time for gymnastics for 7 months (this go 'round) and she really loves to tumble. We finally took the camera to her class to capture her in action...and her brother. Apparently, he likes to play on the equipment when he thinks nobody is looking.

Here is Lucy bouncing on the big trampoline

Apart...together...apart...together Here is a BIG jump from Lucy
Don't know what happened here. Maybe a seat drop and she didn't get back up. Check out the pouty face...
Swinging into the foam pit
Time to tumble!
She was very determined to knock those blocks over!

Lucy is really doing well at gymnastics. The teacher said she could move up to the class with 4 year olds if we wanted her to. She seems to enjoy the sport...and the leotards that go along with it!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love these kids with all my heart! They are the meaning of life and the light of my soul. Thank goodness for these beautiful kids. Even if they do make me look older than my 32 years! And...I finally got that noodle necklace that I've always coveted!

Sky High!

At the end of April we were invited to a birthday party at Sky High. We'd been hearing all about this really cool trampoline place, but had never had the opportunity to go. It was so much fun and A LOT of exercise!

Lucy had fun running all over this big trampoline and practicing her tricks from Tumble Time.

She also did multiple dives into the foam pit
Tyler enjoyed running around the big trampoline and just going crazy...
but his favorite part was antagonizing kids in the dodge ball pit. Oy...like father like son, I suppose.

Sky High was a lot of fun! I hope that we can go back again and again. Hopefully right before bed time and just wear those kids out!

Such A Pretty Goose

I'm playing catch up with some pictures! Awhile back Lucy had seen my curlers and wanted to know what they did. So, we heated them up and put them in her hair...for about 5 minutes...And voile...Doesn't she look so precious?!

Happy Birthday Jenn!

It seems like we celebrate at least one birthday a year with a dinner at Benihana. This year it was mine! The family keeps growing at getting bigger...as I get older and older. But, we had lots to celebrate this year, so we forget about the age...sort of.

Melanoma, Schmelanoma

Well, the month of May has been pretty emotional for the family. Last April (2009), Jenn went into the dermatologist to have an ugly mole behind my ear checked out. The main reason was vanity and that the mole was ugly, but the doctor said it was just something to keep an eye on and measure it if it looks to be changing. Fast forward a year to this April (2010) and Zach mentioning that the mole looked different and maybe it should be checked out. So, the appointment was made and the mole was removed. The dermatologist seemed concerned when she removed the spot, so it wasn't surprising when the results came back as melanoma.

This picture was taken after the first mole was removed.

After the results came in an appointment was made with a head and neck surgeon to discuss excising more of the area to make sure that all of the melanoma was removed. The surgery was scheduled for May 27th and a 3 cm area of skin was removed and sent off for testing. The doctor was possibly going to do a skin graft, but he was able to just give me a mini-neck lift and pull the skin up.

Here is my post-surgery look that I had to maintain for 24 hours...nice, huh?
I was finally able to remove the head dressings and this is what I found. I think I felt each and every one of those stitches being put in.

The stitches were removed yesterday and the pathology report showed that the skin was clean. Thank God! Now we just have to live each day to the fullest and prepare for six month full body exams.