Zam and Hizee are still the best of friends. Hizee is really missing Zam now that he is back at school and I think the reverse is true as well. The other day when he got home from school, Zam set up a school for Hizee – it was very sweet to watch.

Zam and Ziko are also very close. Zam is Ziko’s hero; and Zam would do absolutely anything for Ziko. Zam hates to see Ziko upset so when we tell Ziko that we are not going to carry him around all day, Zam will often run to his rescue and carry him wherever he wants to go. I wonder why that little turkey isn’t walking yet?

Hizee and Ziko are quite a team! They get into these modes where they are totally in sync with each other and they look for trouble to get into. It usually begins with Hizee deciding to crawl with Ziko. Once they are at the same level they scope the area for possible mischief to cause – they are very quiet during the whole process and carry looks of intense concentration. At the garden this mischief usually involves crawling as far away from the rest of us as possible, finding a watering can (or other possible water sources), making a huge mud puddle, and painting each other up.

Partners in Crime -- " Gonna stand my ground...and I won't back down" What an appropriate theme song for these two!

Flower Child

Ziko is mesmerized by flowers and does not leave or enter the yard without demanding one. Once he has picked a flower he holds onto it for long periods of time – sometimes a few hours!

Meet Smarty…the newest addition to our rat pack. Smarty lives up to his name – he is smart, smart, smart and sweet as can be! He is hopefully the soon-to-be proud papa of his own little rat pack. We bred him with Rascus and Sunshine (held by Hizee) but don’t know if it “worked.” We should find out this weekend as the gestation period for rats is only 22-24 days. Stay posted for labour and delivery updates!

Killer Bee, Killer Sky

A couple of weekends ago we went on this canoe trip and stopped at an island for a hike. The kids refused to disembark at the island because there was a huge bee patrolling the shore. Bruce got out of the boat and made light of it, saying he’d take care of that crazy bee. He took one swing at it and… voila, the paddle disintegrated before our eyes. It was the only paddle we had along but luckily a good little chunk of it remained in tact and our car was parked just around the corner from the island.

On a separate canoe trip Bruce took this amazing picture of these killer beautiful skies!

Early this spring (mid June by Yellowknife standards) I threw down some wild flower seed in our front flower bed. I was pretty much obsessed with seeing what would grow and I meticulously weeded and watered the bed every day (well almost every day). Stuff was coming up, however, due to my lack of gardening experience I had basically no idea what most of the stuff was. When we were just about to leave for Manitoba for holidays (in mid July) a number of the plants had huge buds on them that were about to burst. I was mortified that I would not be there to see them bloom and thought they might be dead by the time we returned from holidays (due to the short summer season in Yellowknife). So I called my good friend (and neighbor) Michelle and asked her if she ever happened to be walking by our house with a camera would she mind taking a few pictures of my flowers. Michelle was kind enough to oblige and the result are these award-winning flower photos! Thank you so much Michelle…you rock!!!
And as a bit of an epilogue to this story, yes I am still enjoying those big beautiful poppy blooms (I now know what they are). I guess I underestimated the length of a Yellowknife summer. But in any case, it sure is nice to have the pictures!

This sunflower was just about to bloom when we left and when we got home it was basically dead from lack of water; so I am super happy that Michelle got this photo so that I could at least enjoy the sunflower in some capacity.

Mature…kind…sensitive…silly…zaney…Zammer!

whimsical…hilarious…humble…hardcore….helpful...Hizee Ann!

Our little man Ziko!

While he may not be walking he is climbing mountains…and for what he may lack in bipedal abilities he makes up for with his tenaciousness in every other area of his life! Ziko also has an amazing sense of humour and has assumed the role of peacemaker in the family. Whenever someone has been hurt (physically or emotionally) Ziko rushes to their side and offers a hug. It is the sweetest thing!

DropShots.com/Yellowknifer If you click on this link you can view a part human, part fish taking a swim, as well as two little people who are "Somewhere a Workin' for My Lord..."