We often discuss the merits of dogs and cats - comparing cost, personality, maintanence, time required. Clearly in the minority, we vote CAT. Possibly it's our unique - psychotic - 'rescue' dogs that cloud our judgment. True, they are loyal and loving, and expensive (Callie) and terrified of anything and everyone (Bruce). HOWEVER, there are days...

How do indoor cats get a bird upstairs into my bathroom??? Despite the gore depicted on the tiles, I found the bird alive and hiding in my closet. The bird was rescued and flew to safety, but guess how MANY loads of laundry had to be done??? Of course, I had just cleaned the bathroom and the floor - and I was walking out the door to an appointment...

We can't forget the expensive lizard/woodpile adventure that cost Mojo half of his tail. He looked like a scorpion until the fur grew back. Mulan hissed and hid from him for weeks...
Also in the dogs favor, we received the news during the cats annual vaccinations that both had infections due to fractured canine teeth. Hmmm... Aren't cats supposed to be graceful? Apparently ours run into walls hard enough to break teeth (and not just the glass in the picture frames). So happy birthday to me, Mojo will have one tooth removed, and Mulan -two... At least the birds will have a better odds of escaping!!!!


So despite Bruce's loveseat shredding when Kenna first bought him home five years ago and the cost of Callie's allergy meds, I'd have to say, this week the DOGS are ahead!!!

Our first adventure with Kenna was riding the trolley from our hotel down to Fisherman's Wharf. It was packed!!! Fridays in San Fran are busy tourist days!Next stop was Pier 39 and a cruise to Alcatraz - oops, sold out for the weekend! We opted for the Bay Cruise - and got Kenna and Lori Alcatraz tickets for Monday. It gives me something to look forward to on the next trip (and riding BART under the bay). We will get Beth there someday!!!
Did I mention it was over 100 degrees (only 30 degrees warmer than normal)...

We stopped to watch seal lion antics - this one reminded us of our old dog Callie. Round body, short legs... She even sounds like a seal lion when she's annoyed with Bruce (can't blame her this morning.... he's helping me type)

Then we shopped our way to Ghiradelli Square.

Is it real or a knock-off? We'll never tell!
Sunset by the bay, then chocolate! This is what Kenna thought of her ice cream selection:

That's not exactly true. She did hate her sundae, but we were doing 'Jon' imitations - rude, rude, rude... Long story - blinking lead to rudeness...

Next came the midnight trolley ride back to our hotel - to go to bed? Of course not - to get the car, get food and drive down the crooked street at night

Late yesterday afternoon, I looked out the front window - and saw fall colors! I swear the ocotillo was green that morning when Russell and Coby were trimming the mesquite tree. The leaves on the trees may stay green, but now we have yellow! Happy Fall!!! (Yes that is a rock yard - Tucsonians are very water savvy.)

Marah is the only child to celebrate a graduation since my blogging began, so I thought I'd document past graduations... I'll begin with graduations that all four daughters have achieved.

PRESCHOOL (4 girls from 4 different preschools):Bethany from Donaldson preschool (Tucson, AZ):
Marah from Imagination Station (No. Logan, UT) - Marah on bottom left:
Kenna from Joy School (Logan, UT):
Megan from Miss Linda's preschool (Escondido, CA):

KINDERGARTEN (Kenna & Marah had the same teacher):

Bethany from Copper Creek Elementary (Tucson, AZ):
Marah from No. Park Elementary (No. Logan, UT):
Kenna from No. Park Elementary (No. Logan, UT):
Megan from Sunset Elementary (Sunset, UT) - same as her father, even had the same teacher - 28 years apart.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (all but Meg graduated from Copper Creek):

Bethany from Copper Creek Elementary (Tucson, AZ) :

Marah from Copper Creek Elementary (Tucson, AZ):
Kenna from Copper Creek Elementary (Tucson, AZ):
Megan from Greenville Elementary (No. Logan, UT):

MIDDLE SCHOOL (next May, Bethany will also graduate from Wilson, making it the only school that all four girls have graduated from): Marah from Wilson K-8 (Tucson, AZ):
Kenna from Wilson K-8 (Tucson, AZ):
Megan from Wilson K-8 (Tucson, AZ):

SEMINARY (finally an achievement that Russell and I also had graduation ceremonies for! Did they even have preschool in the 60s? They did have kindergarten, elementary school and middle school/jr. high graduations - nope!)
Marah from Ironwood Seminary (Tucson, AZ):
Kenna from Sky View Seminary (Smithfield, UT): Megan from Canyon Del Oro Seminary (Tucson, AZ):

Cathy from Las Vegas 36th Ward Seminary (Las Vegas, NV):Russell from Clearfield Seminary (Clearfield, UT) - youngest grad ever? No, just a cute baby picture because he doesn't have a photo from this momentous occasion.

HIGH SCHOOL: Marah from Ironwood Ridge (Tucson, AZ) - 2008:
Kenna from Sky View (Smithfield, UT) - 2005:Megan from Canyon Del Oro (Tucson, AZ) - 2003:
Cathy from Western (Las Vegas, NV) - 1978:Russell from Clearfield (Clearfield, UT) - 1976:

COLLEGE:

Megan from Brigham Young University (BA, English) - 2006: Cathy from Brigham Young University (BS, FFP) - 1983:

Russell from Brigham Young University (BS, EET) - 1985:

GRADUATE DEGREES:

Technically, Jon is not a Mikesell, but after he married one, he earned a MSBA from Texas A&M - 2006. (He also graduated from BYU - BS in ChemEng 2005)

Dr. Russell from Utah State University (Logan, UT) - PhD EE - 1995: