Most ferrets love the snow because they can dig in it and it is so unfamiliar. Suki loves it but gets cold so fast because of her small size. Dan and I knitted a sweater for her. It fits her very well but she doesn't like it. She wiggles her way out of it. I managed to get a few pictures of her with it on before she got it off.

Suki attempting to get out of the sweater:

This week Houdini went to the vet's office. He had a giant mass in his abdomen we suspected was an enlarged spleen. He also seemed to be more lethargic than usual. The vet wanted to do an ultrasound on his stomach. They had to shave his belly and put the jelly stuff on his tummy. I imagine he hated every second of it. Afterward they informed us that his spleen seemed to be functioning normally thus they'd like to do some blood tests. They had to shave his neck so they could draw blood. He spent the whole rest of the day at the vet's office because they wanted him to have a three hour fast so they could take a fasting blood glucose level. Dan went to pick up Houdini but had forgotten to bring the carrier. He made a little bed for Houdini on the passenger seat out of some blankets and towels that were in the car. Houdini chose to curl up in Dan's lap instead. It was very sweet. The poor guy had a very long day but is now home with his parents and other fur-siblings. His mommy is giving him lots of extra attention to make him feel better for the fact that she left him at the mean vet's office. Here is a pic of his sad little shaved belly:

Apparently I got too busy during the vacation to post more info. Our third day we went to go agate searching and then played frisbee on the beach. We didn't get very lucky with the agate searching. Dan did a really good job. He ended up with a lot of cool agates and cool rocks. Later on in the night we played frisbees on the beach. Our frisbees had lights in them so we could see them. It was so much fun!! Except we had to go chase down some of the frisbees in the ocean! After frisbees we went to the local store and bought firewood. We built a fire on the beach. I burnt my hand. Which was funny, and not all that painful. It really only burnt my hand hairs off, which stunk of course.

Railroad that went over the river at Multnomah falls. I loved this sign:

Our second morning began with hotel hot continental breakfast. Which is one of my faves!!! Maybe it is because as a child we rarely got to do anything for breakfast so when we had all those options it was the BEST. We then drove to a local fish market so we could get crab and oysters for the rest of the family. I decided to be brave and go in and look. Everyone said it was really cool because they had so many different live crab, lobster, fish, etc. I found it disgusting. I cannot stand the smell of fish!!!! OMG it was horrible. I'm glad everyone else enjoyed it, but it took all my mind power to hold back my glorious breakfast. After a few more hours of driving we arrived in Manzanita. The ocean view here is amazing. The temperature here was cool and the waves were roaring (which is quite unusual). We eventually got the keys to our home. It is a three level home with an ocean view. Bottom level is the garage, a bathroom with stand up shower and massive sink for feet washing. Second level has three bedrooms, a reading space, nice big bathroom, and a play room (has a pool table and entertainment center). Top floor has a spacious kitchen, small bathroom, dining space, tv space, and a cast iron stove. Dan and I were moved out of our original room to accommodate some other family members, but our current room has the BEST bed in the house. Super comfortable. We have the only bedroom without a full on ocean view, but it is still a really nice room. We spent the rest of the day getting situated and Gregg went grocery shopping. Since grocery shopping took awhile (due to the store being sooooo far away and needing a ton of groceries) we had pizza for dinner. I decided to go on a walk/jog for a little bit of a workout that night. Unfortunately, the beach had no lighting so I chose to go around the neighborhood. I ended up getting very lost. It is really dark out here and the street lamps are just enough to light up a little bit of the street. I was totally afraid but couldn't text Dan to let him know since I didn't want my pride damaged. As I was leaving I had to do a lot of convincing to let him know I would be just fine and that I wouldn't get in trouble. Oops! As I was roaming around trying to find my way something crossed my path. It was a goat!!! What the heck! No one taught me how to handle a goat encounter! I was prepared for elk, moose, even bear, but a goat?!?! I stood very still and held my breath. It ran away. Whew! Eventually I found the house but only after standing under lots of street signs with my cellphone held up to them so I could see what they said. Afterwards all the younger peeps stayed up until 1 a.m. playing video games. Then it was off to bed. I do have some pics of the house I might post later. lol

View from our kitchen:

Reading space, shot taken from upper living room:
Upper living room, with cast iron stove:
Kitchen, was rather spacious and pretty:
Reading area with cool ship above the chair:
Our bedroom, best bed in the house!:
Pool area/video game room:

This year we didn't have much to do for Halloween. Usually we have some parties to go to with our friends. This year we didn't. However my work does have us dress up for Halloween (or the day before in this case). I dressed up as Lara Croft Tomb Raider. This is a video game I love playing and love watching Dan play. She's pretty much an awesome girl so yeah. My costume wasn't super fantastic since it was a pack bought from a Halloween store (except the air soft guns which are now Dan's toys). It was still a lot of fun. Here is the pic:

Dan, Gregg, Nannette, and I went to Hawai'i earlier this month. Gregg and Dan were going for work and the ewives decided to tag along. Hawai'i has two temples. The one that was closed for a remodel was on the island of Kona (a.k.a. The Big Island). We stayed on the west side of the island in a very nice Sheraton Hotel. It was literally right on the coast. A very rocky coast, but the coast none-the-less. Our hotel had a huge pool with two water slides, a kiddie pool made to look like the beach, two hot tubs, and a bar. The hotel also had shops on the lower levels which was nice for Nannette and I since we spent most of the days in our rooms while the guys worked. It was nice to have a place to go grab snacks, drinks, and necessities. We did do some touring. We went and saw an inactive volcano, Mount Mauna Kea. It was 13,600+ feet. We had to spend time at the visitors center to acclamate. On the higher parts of the mountain there are observatories. During our hike to the top Dan got a bit sick. He started feeling light headed and was seeing funny colors. Nannette hiked with him down to a lower level. The hike was pretty brutal since it was straight up, the air was thin, and the wind was blowing a ton. Gregg and I took pics from the top. There was an altar at the top with lots of offerrings from the locals. Which was rather fun to see. We also went to the Painted Church. It was very quaint but beautiful. It was amazing to see all the paintings that had been done by a self taught artist/Christian. There was obviously a lot of beaches. We visited a few of them. I did not go in the water since I absolutely hate the ocean water. It drags dirt/sand into all the wrong places. I don't even like the sand getting between my toes. I did walk a long the beaches and take pictures. Since most of the pics are posted on FB I won't put a ton up here. But here are some:

Birds at the airport I was feeding before we left to return home.

A bay that use to have natives living by it. Unfortunately a tsunami took out their town and it has not been inhabited since.

A cool bride we found in a park in Hilo; which was on the other side of the island.
A pretty sunset we were watching from a beach. We were hoping to see the "green flash" but we had no such luck.
Same bay we were at watching the sunset.
Plumeria plant on the walkway of our hotel. I really like these flowers. Very very beautiful.
Our hotel. This pic was taken on the hotel walkway. The walkway circled the whole massive hotel and went right up to the beach. It also had a lot of rest spots under little huts. I loved spending time on the walkway while Dan was working. I could read, sun bathe, and watch the ocean without getting wet. Well except the one time the waves splashed up on me.
A temple replica in a national park. The park was to show what life was like for the original islanders. It was a lot of fun.
Me with a flower in my hair. This was in our rental vehicle.
Mount Mauna Kea.
Oh the temple replica up closer. (obviously the pics are out of order :P)
The Painted Church. Yes the pic is sideways.
Dan and I at the Kona airport the day we arrived. This pic was taken for a different reason, but it's nice to remember the airport while waiting for the luggage.
Spartacus our friendly lizard.

I totally meant to post this earlier. Between work, school, cleaning, and dealing with Dan being gone non-stop I've been WAY busy. Ferrets require lots of stimulation and new activities. They get bored quite easy. Thus I've been trying to come up with new ways to keep them entertained. My most recent idea involved snorkeling and finger-painting. Here's the result: