Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa's mom writes: Happy Birthday Mom! My beautiful mother, June "B" Bateman Catmull, would have been 96 this week - 2/27/16.

Lisa writes: Esme hanging with the grandfolks. Kellen and Deb risking their lives under a really big rock.

Lisa writes: In the spirit of doing things in the spirit of the holiday, on Presidents Day we went to Lincoln's Summer House. (As opposed to, like, buying a new mattress. Which is what we did last year.) You can Google the location and whatnot on your own, but here's a nifty article about when it sustained earthquake damage last year . Maybe it's best that we were out buying a mattress instead back then.

Lisa writes: Artwork courtesy of my little brother, Donny.

Lisa's sister Lori writes: Meet our new puppy, no official name yet. Benjamin, almost immediately, said we should name him "Licky"...because he gives lots of licks "kisses" He's a snuggle puppy, just wants to curl up in everyone's lap. 16wks shih-tzu, Bichon Frise, poodle mix--David calls it a "mutt", but he's hypoallergenic. Good for all of us allergy sufferers. Not supposed to get bigger than 9 or 10 lbs...we'll see. Name suggestions from the rest of the fam: Lisa: "Piddles." Lori will know why shortly. Madison: I think it should be " chew toy" or " bigger guinea pig." 3/30/2012 Addendum: The puppy's name is "Teddy."

Lisa's brother Donny writes: Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovely ladies in my life ... and Tom. :)

Lisa's sister Lori writes: 70's stake dance. Grooving! Check out my clogs -- $4 :)

Lisa's sister Lori writes: My Eskimo babies think it's summer. They've been buggin all morning to go swimming. It's about 58 degrees.

Greetings, friends and family, We received your lovely, thoughtful, and punctually-delivered Christmas cards last December and, but as we sat in front of a box of stationery, we were totally stumped. We had nothing to write about. Nada. Between this Christmas and the Christmas before, we’d done almost absolutely nothing different. In the year before last we’d done all sorts of exciting things like gotten laid off and then found a new job, remodeled a bathroom, gone to Brazil, torn an ACL (Tom), had ACL replacement surgery (Tom), and tenderly cared for an invalid spouse until they got all better (Saint Lisa). But here’s the list of all the awesome things we did in 2011: We kept the same jobs. We kept the same house. We kept all body parts intact. We bought a hamster. Hamsters are crepuscular animals which burrow underground in the daylight to avoid being caught by predators. Their diet includes a variety of foods, including dried food, berries, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. They ha...