no pictures

So this isn't letting me post any pictures. So sorry... I will have to try again later.

Spikey

We have some sad news about Spike.
Just a few days ago he was playful and healthy and just an all around fun squirrel.
Earlier this week I came home and he was so sick (as mentioned in my previous post).
This sickness did not get better... just worse. We have a few ideas about what may have caused this. He could not go to the bathroom on his own... I will spare you the details and just say that he died on Wednesday.

Here is a picture of him (at least I think it is him) just about a week ago.

The pictures below is a picture I took the day he started acting really sick. He just relaxed on Ben.

Well There you have it. It is sad, but like I told Ari, he is in squirrel heaven playing with a lot of other squirrels.

By the way I started another blog http://www.ryrobsblog.blogspot.com/

Crazy Days

So I meant to put something up on our anniversary (which was last November) about all of our adventures together... here are just a few pictures of our wonderfulness.

Now onto our lives...

First item of business: Spike is sick

That is right. When I came home from school today Ben was on the couch with Spike laying on him. Immediately I knew something was wrong because it is very odd for a squirrel to hold still for long periods of time (much like Devy... just kidding). It turns out he is having trouble moving is back legs. He wouldn't eat for a while but just a little while ago we got him to eat applesauce. Hopefully he will get better soon.

Next item of business:

Ben was in Salt Lake last week for a tree conference. He really enjoyed it. He learned a lot and hopefully in the next few months he will be able to take his certification exams. I have been student teaching for about 4 weeks now (9 weeks left). The first few days of teaching were pretty stressful and it kind of exhausted me, but now I am really enjoying it. I have a lot of fun at school. I think the next few weeks will go by quickly. I have had two evaluations and have done great on both of them.

Last Item of Business:

I, Ryanne Roberts, am a vegan. It's official. In fact, I began this new way of thinking today. I think cows should not be killed or milked just for our benefit. I believe that if cows were not just used for eating then maybe we could introduce them into Yellowstone. That would be a wonderful thing. I am sure many would love to drive through Yellowstone to see the beautiful and free life of the cows...

Ok, I actually believe none of that. I think I just tricked everyone that read the above paragraph. I am in fact eating much like a vegan for health reasons. It is so important to my health that I may start a blog on my progress as a motivator. I will let you know if I do. In the mean time, I have no vegan recipes so if anyone can help me with that I would be more than grateful. Not only must it be strictly vegan but also no refined flours or sugars. Yay I love my eating life (Sarcasm? I think so). Please help. Thanks.

National Squirrel Appreciation Day has come and gone

I just thought you should not that today is....

Squirrel Appreciation Day

When : Always January 21st
Squirrel Appreciation Day is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate your tree climbing, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels. It's held in mid-winter when food sources are scarce for squirrels and other wildlife. Sure, squirrels spent all fall gathering and "squirreling " away food. But, their supplies may not be enough. And, the variety of food is limited. So, give them an extra special treat today to supplement their winter diets.
Not everyone likes squirrels. While they are fun to watch skirting around the yard and trees, they are aggressive at bird feeders. Squirrels tip almost any bird feeder and spill the seeds in search of the particular seeds they want. In the fall, they attack pumpkins on front porches in search of the seeds inside. For gardeners they dig up and steal flower bulbs, and may eat some of the veggies in your garden.
When you think about it, mid winter is the best time to appreciate squirrels. In the winter they provide a little entertainment. During other times of the year, you may look at them as a pest in the flower and vegetable gardens.
According to Christy Hargrove, the founder, "Celebration of the event itself is up to the individual or group -- anything from putting out extra food for the squirrels to learning something new about the species."

Well I had a pretty exhausting National Squirrel Appreciation Day. Today was my first full day of teaching. I now have taken over all 6 class periods. During lunch I swapped pet stories with a ferret owner. She was afraid she had left the toilet seat open before she left... if the ferret gets in the toilet it could drowned. Overall the teaching day was really good. I showed off my juggling skills for the students. I got home and went through a rigorous work out of the shoulders and arms. I am still sore from plyometrics yesterday so it was tough today. The instructer guy, Tony, likes to pretend he is pterydatal backing away from danger. I know... interesting. Well I have to get back to writing lesson plans... yeah, lots of fun.

Hopefully I will get some more pictures up here soon.

How They Grow

Here is a delight of a video. Please... ENJOY

Goodbye Trevor, Christmas, and New Years... All in one post!

We have been pretty busy lately and I haven't been posting much. We more videos of the squirrels than pictures so I will have to put one on soon. I think this is Shelley... but I am not sure. They are getting so big and so funny. They play king of the stairs and try to throw eachother off a step... it can be quite entertaining.

I guess I will start with the most recent pictures. These are a few pictures of our New Years Party in Frannie. There was so much seafood in the celebration I did not know what to do with myself.

Here is Ben getting the drinks ready.

Tim and Rachell Enger



Forrest, Elin and Russell enjoying the New Year

A random picture of Ari

We spent Christmas in Island Park. One day we went into town and we all had to cram in the jeep to get to the truck. Dall, Ash, Mom, Ben and I all had to get into the backseat.

We were quite in shock with the present Wesley got us. It is a 120 gig I-POD. We seriously thought it was a joke when we opened it up. It came with hours and hours of songs and audio books. We are so excited about it. Thank you Wesley!

Here is Ben pretending to be a horse

We got match pajamas on Christmas Eve.

You might think this little girl is sneaking chocolate... it's BEANS

Trevor left us in November to take a little two year mission to Bangkok, Thailand. He sounds like he is doing great in the MTC. He leaves for Thailand in about a week. The night before he went into the MTC we all ate at the ROOF in Salt Lake.

Ben kept letting Ari pretend she was flying.

Oh look at the cutie, Trevor

We all drove back up to Idaho in a minivan and Ari wanted to have a photo shoot.

I only included a few pictures of her photo shoot.

We have had a great winter so far. I started student teaching this last week and I have taught a few classes. I think this semester will go by quickly. Ben is doing great. He is making me breakfast right now so I have to go.

Bye

Ok so we haven't posted for a long time... I know. I am at school right now so I don't have much time but here is a picture I took with my phone a few days ago. I am almost positive this is Shelley. Why she doesn't stand on the ground to get a drink.... I don't know. Her legs look like frog legs... it's funny.
Life has been crazy. We took Trevor to the MTC, spent time at the cabin, spent more time at the cabin, celebrated 2 glorious years of marriage, spent a week in Frannie, and took our squirrels EVERYWHERE.

I really don't have much time right now soooo I hope everyone enjoyed the picture. Hopefully, maybe, I will have a newer post soon.

Adios

Benji and the squirrels

Well... Here is a little video that was filmed last night. This is the first time I have figured out how to put a video on and so for the next little while I might be a little video happy. Anyways... here are the cutie patootie squirrels and ever so manly Benjamin.

Service with a Dollar (The Article)

So here is the dealio:
I may be an English minor but my writing skills are seriously lacking. I know this isn't the best article ever BUT New Era bought it, so they must have liked it. It is pretty short but oh well. I am very VERY self conscious of my writing so... well here it is.

Service with a Dollar

My name is Ryanne Roberts, and I am a student at BYU-Idaho. Last semester I had an experience that changed my idea of service. One day a professor of mine gave everyone in the class a one dollar bill. Our assignment was to find someone who really needed help and find away to serve them using just the dollar we were given. I did not think much about the assignment; in fact, I gave my dollar to a little boy so he could get a snack while he waited for his parents.
In class the day the assignment was due, a girl got up and said that everyone in the class got together to do their service project together because if they combined their dollars they would have a lot more to help someone out with. I felt completely out of place because I had no idea what they were talking about. The girl continued by putting a cardboard box on my desk and then she said, “Ryanne, this class loves you for your strength. We each started out with just a dollar but we were able to put our dollars together and collect some from other people to give to you to help you pay for your arthritis medicine.” Each member of the class took turns going up to the front of the class and telling me why they loved me, they then took the money they had raised and placed it in the box.
There were only ten people in my class, but together they had raised a few hundred dollars because they cared about me. I was very appreciative of the money because it was able to help me get my medicines I needed, but even more I was grateful for the thought they had put into the assignment.
Everyone is blessed with certain gifts and talents. It is up to each of us to come up with ways to share our gifts and talents to serve those around us. In my case, my classmates were each given a dollar and they were able to find away to use their dollars to impact my life, it was more than just the money, it was friendship.
As we keep God’s commandments we will be blessed with more gifts and as we use those gifts to serve others we will be blessed even more. Service is not always about huge acts of kindness but can include small and simple things; such as, listening to a friend, giving encouragement, and sharing your feelings of appreciation to someone you love.


After reading it again... there are some things I would change and add but I'll leave it how it is for now. I hope you all enjoyed it.

ok I'm going to bed.
Goodnight

A Brazillion Pictures

It was a friday night and we were crammed into my father's truck in the middle of the wilderness. I, the best observer of nature of the bunch, spotted a bear upon the mountainside. He disappeared into the cover of trees and we hoped he would return into our view. Moments we realize he has made his way down the mountain and was heading toward the dead cows for a nice steak dinner. We watched him chow down on rotten cows. Some hunters were in a truck next to us and we told them to go shoot it. One of the hunters geared up and started on his way to get a closer shot. As I was observing the bear through binocular... BANG! the bear did some somersaults then made his way back into the trees. It was actually another hunter that shot the bear not the one we had spoken with. We drove down there and followed the bloody trail.... it was neat.

Anyways... this is the bear.

We spent the weekend at the cabin and we had a ton of fun. I added SOOOO many pictures because I don't feel like typing much. Plus... it is more fun to look at pictures than to read my endless babbling.

Dallin is going to place the target

Look at that handsome man... what a stud.
This is quite a candid picture of the boys
Rokons... I think that is how they are spelled. We tore it up. (I don't even know what "it" is)
Ben is shooting Dash's Ruger (I think that's how it is spelled) hand gun. He shot some balloons with his amazing aiming skills.

Here I am concentrating very hard.
Back to home life.... Here is my modeling photo shoot. That's right; I am a professional model now. Cool huh?

it was for a milk ad
Ben has recently introduced Tanner into the wonderful sport of biking.


They are pretty intense about it.

Speaking of biking, we just signed up for the Tour of St. George. I, of course, will be riding the 30 miler; whilst Ben will be riding the 100 miler. Our Goals: under five hours for both of us. (I'll be honest, that will be pretty easy for me but pretty dang hard for Ben.)

SQUIRREL NEWS

I am not sure which squirrel this is. A few weeks ago they lived in that shoe box then they lived in a peach box and now they live in a huge box. They have grown so much.

I believe this is Spike (but really I can never tell) and Ben is giving him a bath.
Spike seems to be advancing a little quicker than Shell. He was trying so hard to balance on his back two legs while eating a grape. He was really wobbly and it was funny to watch.

Life is good. The squirrels are good. Work is good. School is BAD... I WANT TO BE DONE!

I hope everyone is doing well.

P.S. I found the article that got accepted by NEW ERA so I will post it soon.

Lots of News

A lot has happened in the last month. We moved in with Uncle Lane and his boys in Idaho Falls. Life is pretty exciting here...

Our Door

Those pictures are of our new home.

Uncle Lane's Birthday was last week. He is a very dashing young man.
It was also Daddy Shane's Birthday-- he also is quite the looker.

Wow Tanner looks happy.
I don't have a picture of Taylor but here is the back of Jordan's head.

In other news: Ben cut a tree down on Friday and it had two baby squirrels in it. After killing five baby squirrels on Thursday Ben couldn't just leave them there to die so he brought them home. They had fallen 20 feet out of the tree. They didn't look very good the first day they were home. It took us a while to get them to eat. On Saturday we fed them about every 3 hours and they started moving around a lot more and looking a lot better. THere is one girl and one boy. Shelley and Spike.

They sleep all the time and they often are cuddled up next to each other.

Cute little spooners
By Saturday afternoon they drank out of the eye dropper really well.
This is Shelley... She was eating so good today! We didn't have to force it in her mouth; she sniffed it out and then started drinking.
Shelley is playing with her soldiers
This is Spike. He is a little slower than Shelley and a little smaller.

Well that is all friends. I hope everyone is doing well.
Good bye