Photos

warren's birthday 0130: opening his race track

warren's birthday 0130: waving at the camera

ellie, on our friend terri's lap, when she gets excited :)

the notorious 'river otter'? ryan swears around 2 months ago he saw a river otter in the back yard. i didn't believe him. then a month ago he calls me at work to tell me it was sitting on the front porch steps and he was able to sneak up on it and take a photograph of it from behind. to me.... it looks like a damn cat :) i've also included a photo of REAL river otters... you can decide for yourselves. ha!

in the middle of the night i heard thunderous traffic and sirens pass my bedroom window. we live in a 'senior' community to be honest and sirens are nothing new to us. we woke to find sleet just starting to fall. within 30 minutes our backyard was white. truly deja vus. ryan defrosted and scraped the truck and i bundled the kids up so we could go to school and work. on main st. we immediately saw traffic at a halt, flashing lights, fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles. i looked up and saw black smoke. the immaculate st. gemme beauvais bed and breakfast was aflame. not only is it such an integral part of our community - it is where ryan and i stayed on our wedding night... is a pretty sad day in ste. genevieve. www.bbhost.com/innstgemme/
below is the latest article in the st. louis post dispatch.


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Fire guts B & B in Ste. Genevieve
By Carolyn Tuft
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/21/2008

STE. GENEVIEVE -- A police officer on regular patrol early this morning noticed heavy smoke coming from a popular downtown bed and breakfast.
When he went to the front door of the establishment, the smoke was so thick that it pushed him back, police said. He immediately called the fire department.
Firefighters got to the fire about 3 a.m. and fought through the icy weather to control the raging fire at the Inn St. Gemme Beauvais bed and breakfast housed in a building built in 1848.
"Icicles were forming on the ladders and the ice on the ground made conditions really slippery," said Ste. Genevieve Detective Joseph DiMercurio. "It took several hours to get the fire under control."
No one was injured in the blaze. But it appears that the building was a total loss.
The fire was contained to just that building, located at Jefferson and Main streets where structures are closely spaced.
"It didn't catch to any other building," DiMercurio said.
The toughest part of the fire was that the old structure had been given multiple roofs and multiple layers of ceiling that concealed the fires between the layers, DiMercurio said.
Firefighters were still at the scene at 9:30 a.m., putting out hot spots.
The Inn St. Gemme Beauvais is said to be the oldest bed and breakfast in Missouri. The building was first built as a home for Felix Rozier. It was a three-story brick colonial mansion. Janet Joggerst, the innkeeper, was unavailable for comment this morning.

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the weather does not seem to be letting up, and with only 4 people in the office today i do think we'll get to close early! ryan's already started homemade chili so i'm ready for pajamas, a blanket and the couch :)