Halloween

This Halloween came and went before we even knew it!!! Since we were out of town the weekend prior, we didn't make it to the pumpkin patch until the Wednesday before Halloween. We bought costumes on Thursday for the girls, we went to Hannah's school carnival on Friday and carved pumpkins on Halloween! It seemed like a very rushed week, but it was worth it. Hannah is still trying to get over her fear of the pumpkin guts from last year! Once she reluctantly gutted her pumpkin, we let her make a pumpkin gut pie, after about ten minutes, she was up to her elbows with pumkpin guts!
We asked her what she wanted her pumkpin to look like and she said oval eyes, triangle nose, mouth with three teeth (one on top, two on the bottom) and EARS??? What? Ears on a pumpkin? Oh well, we cut little crescent moons out of the side of the pumpkin and used toothpicks to attach them. She was very proud!
Once finished, we dressed her in her little witch costume and Elayna's pumpkin costume and were ready to "trick-or-treat". We went to four houses in the neighborhood and that was enough! It was more candy than a three year old needs!!!!! We also were visited by the Binghams. Darius and Rheya came in their cute Pooh and Duck costumes.
Once the girls were asleep and at grandmas, we went to the costume party at the Shilo. Ed and Ryan created their own costumes....next year Amy and I might have to go help with the design! They were so proud. Ryan is in the yellow, Ed is in the red, and David is in the Santa costume (he was their manager)! Very entertaining!

Pumpkin Patch

On Wednesday, we went to the pumpkin patch with the girls!!! Hannah absolutely loved it. Kind of like last year, she found the biggest pumpkin in the lot and wanted to get it. I told her to bring it to me and she could have it. Of course it was "too heavy momma" and we had to keep looking for a pumpkin just her size. After fifteen minutes or so we found the perfect pumpkin. It is short and round and has a big stem. It still took her a while to carry it to the cart, but she made it. Then we had to find a pumpkin for Elayna. That proved to take a little longer since she was tired from carrying her pumpkin and needed to find a smaller one for Elayna. She picked up and dropped her pumpkin about ten times before we made it to the cart, but we eventually made it there. We will have a fabulous pumpkin carving tonight right before trick or treating!

Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium

Monday after the game, we got up for breakfast about 11 am. AHHH vacation, time seems to slip by! We went to De Lucca's as recommended by Man vs. Food. Once finished we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. It was much larger than it looked. As you can see, there are many pictures of the boys and the animals, but there were NO pictures of Amy and me. I guess someone has to man the camera.

After stopping at a photo booth (we didn't want to pay for a picture, so I took one from the outside) and playing on the kids toys, we went into the zoo. The first thing we saw was the Asian Forest. Of course Ed felt right at home and decided to hide in the bamboo like a panda! There was a monster praying mantis sculpture that attacked Ed and Rob...how did they ever survive??? On the way out, Ryan decided to join the meercat family and climb into one of the pods.

Here are some cool pictures I took while there. They had two baby elephants. One was big enough to roam outside, while the other was still inside with the mother. The tiger was literally fifteen feet from us with no protection! It was a ravine ~15 feet wide and about 20 feet deep that he had to scale to get to us...a little unnerving if you ask me!

The aquarium was the last thing we passed through before we leave. The first thing you see is a Sea Dragon. It looks like a piece of seaweed floating in the water, but if you look closely, you can see its head. I especially liked the shark picture. We were in a shark tunnel and the shark turned and headed towards us. Quite scary!!! If you look closely you can see the rows of teeth! We ended up spending three hours there! I don't think we ever wasted time. If you are ever in the area, I would recommend stopping there.

Steelers/Vikings game

Yesterday we went to the Steelers/Vikings game in Pittsburg. It was AWESOME!!! The only down part was that the Vikings lost. It was quite fun going in a mixed group of fans. Amy and I are Vikings while Rob, Ryan, and Ed are Steelers. Getting dressed in the morning proved to be interesting since neither group wanted to share the bathroom with the "enemy". Danny, a Raiders die hard, tried to stay neutral throughout (although I think he secretly cheered for the Steelers). Our seats where way up the stadium Section 512, Row Z, seats 9-14. They were quite high, but the view was still amazing. We were between the 25-30 yd line on the visiting team side. It was a good view for the whole game. Right when the Vikings had the Steelers heading for their third loss, Favre threw an interception (albeit not his fault) on the 19yd line and the Steelers ran it all the way back for a TD. There was only 1 minute left in the game. The score shows 27-17 in favor of the Steelers, but it wasn't until the last minute when the Steelers fans thought they won. I am glad we came all this way and it was a close game. All-in-all the experience was worth it. We even saw a celebrity...Bumblebee from Transformers!!! Yeah, yeah, it probably wasn't him, but it was still cool anyway.

Labor Day Camping Trip

Labor Day weekend we decided to take a small camping trip. We drove to one of our favorite spots in Montana. Hannah enjoys it since she can catch a fish with almost every cast. Elayna seemed to enjoy it as well. We had her completely bundled for most of it. It was a little chilly and she was only 4.5mo old. While there, we caught several fish, went for nice hikes, shot our shotguns, caught a snake, and ate smores. In the middle of the night we also had a nice little rain storm where our tent collapsed on us (with a little pushing from the inside it popped back out) and the other tents rain flap tore off. All was fixed quickly and the rest of the night was uneventful. Holly and Maggie always run to the point of collapse. It was then that we noticed that Holly's tail wasn't wagging. We had to take her into the vet and it seems that she kinked it. It is still cold to the touch. The vet thinks that it may be dead. We were worried that they had to amputate, but as long as she doesn't chew at it, they will let it be. Hopefully that day never comes.

First Day of School

It is official! Hannah has started school. Here she is on the first day of school sporting her new uniform. They require navy pants with a light blue, or white collared shirt. She looks so cute. Her backpack is slightly large for her, but she loves it just the same.

Nara Visit

FINALLY!!!! We have seen the cute pictures and heard the cute stories, but we hadn't met Nara. Well, we finally met her. Joy and Nara came home to visit for about a week. We were able to get the girls together and play a couple times, or should I say scoot and roll!!! Elayna just stared most of the time, Hannah wasn't too sure about two little ones underfoot, and Nara was intrigued by all the new "mouth" toys she could get her hands on. It was fun watching the babies interact. It doesn't seem like they are doing much, but they seemed to coo, or squawk in unison. Next year it is our turn to visit them in Texas!!! That should be enjoyable, two toddlers on an airplane!

West Coast Trip 2

While on our trip, our friends determined our destinations. In Portland, we were lucky enough to meet up with our college roommate and his wife. We don't see Chris and Libby near as much as we should, but it was fun enjoying a meal with them. Next year we will have to plan a longer trip to the Oregon coast.

In Aberdeen, we met up with my relatives. In the top center are the cousins, Amy, Carrie, Jennifer, Justin and myself. I had never met Jennifer. Her and Justin married only five years ago! She is a fabulous addition to the family. I hadn't seen Justin and Carrie for over ten years!!!! Glad we were able to spend some time with each other. In the upper right is my dad's only sister, Aunt Becky. Again, it has been a while since I have seen her. Finally, in the bottom left is the Aberdeen family, Amy, Elayna, Carrie, dad, Aunt Becky, Justin, and Uncle Gene. The visit was short, but enjoyable.

After we left Aberdeen we headed toward Seattle. We weren't about to drive around Seattle, being so close and all. So, we stopped at Pike Street Market and met up with another great college buddy, Orrin. We had a delicious seafood dinner then went to the Asian market the next morning. Wish we had things like that in Idaho Falls. Again, we will have to take a longer trip next year.

All-in-all it was a good trip. It was tiring by the end and I was glad to be back home with Ed, but it was also fun to get away. We can cross a couple more states off of Hannah's and Elayna's travel book. Hannah has now been in 15 states (only two were due to airports) and Elayna is up to 6. Not bad if you ask me.

West Coast Trip

The girls and I were lucky enough to go to the west coast for a small summer vacation. We made it to five towns in seven days. Not bad considering we were traveling with a 3 year old and a three month old. We started out spending a night in Boise, then moved along to Portland for a night, worked our way north to Aberdeen for two nights. We crossed a ferry into Seattle for a night, then started back east towards Missoula for a night and finally back home. Here are some cute pics of things we did. We stopped at a hatchery in Oregon where Hannah saw her first fish ladder. There was also a massive stergeon there. His name is Herman and he seems to be the mascot of the place. He is in the upper right corner. Hard to see, but he is almost twice as long as the man taking the picture. We ended up taking Hannah back to the Pacific. It has been almost two years since she has been there. She thoroughly enjoyed it. At one point a wave completely wiped her and me flat. Fear set in as she was scrambling to stay above the water....granted it was only six inches deep, but retreating waves move fast!!! Hind sight it was hysterical!!! I was completely soaked to boot. Also, we were able to stop in Astoria and see the Goonies house!!!! They say they get as many as 100 tourists a day to take a picture of the house. Amazing, especially considering how old the movie is. The small bat on the bottom of the frame was about one foot out of our hotel room door. It stayed there for a couple days then was gone. Finally, Hannah enjoyed taking a ride on the luggage cart at the Hilton. It was a nice stay (we were in the executive suite), but I think I'm not cut out for the high and mighty life style. I didn't know what to do, or how to act "appropriately"! I guess it was fun pretending though.

Yellowstone

Sunday we decided to take a trip to Yellowstone. It was the first time Hannah has been there, so it has been a while since I have been there last. We decided to make a huge day out of it. We started at the West entrance and headed south to Old Faithful. From there we curved around the lake, eventually stopping at Upper and Lower Falls, and finally Tower Falls. Did you know you can no longer sit at the base of the waterfall at Tower Falls! After 15 years, we get my mom to hike to the bottom with us to only find that the trail is closed 50 yds from the base of the waterfall. Apparently the trail was washed away (so they say). So...we got some nice river pictures!!! It's just not the same! We then made our way up to Mammoth. It is sad to look at Mammoth the way it is now. It used to be so colorful, but it seems to be drying up. It was all grey and white crust rather than the oranges and yellows that it used to be. Lastly, we rushed to the car to avoid being carried away by mosquitos! VISCIOUS! All-in-all we had a great day. We saw a bald eagle, many buffalo, lots of elk, a deer, geysers, beautiful waterfalls, oh and the always interesting chipmunks. I am still waiting to see my Yellowstone bear. I still haven't seen one and I have been going there almost yearly for 15 years. I guess we need to go at a different time of year.

For you Joy...Elayna pics.

Yeah, I know I don't post many pictures of Elayna, but how interesting are sleeping baby pictures! Here are a couple of good pictures we got while visiting one of the many parks at Tautphaus. Hannah was too busy running around like a monkey for me to get any good pictures of her, so I took a bunch of Elayna stretching and enjoying the fresh air.

My beautiful girls!!! Hannah is slimming down like crazy. She gained ONE pound in the last year, while Elayna has doubled her birth weight in two months! Can you count the rolls?

Hair Time

Hannah has recently become intrigued with doing her hair, and ultimately my hair. Being the nice mom that I am, I let her do what she wants with it while I attempt to pretend everything is ok. She only occasionally yanked on my hair to the extreme point of pain. I didn't tell her she was doing it though. She was far too happy for me to interrupt that.

When she finally finished, I think I had more tangles in my hair than before she started, but her smile made it worth it. She is growing up way too fast!!!!

Fourth of July...Finally!

Well, as promised, here are some Fourth of July pictures. We were lucky enough to have my relatives down from Butte, MT. It was all-in-all a rather relaxing day. We had plenty of food and drinks, and lots of games. I didn't think smoke balls were as fascinating as they apparently were. By the end of the long day, Hannah was ready to crash. She fell asleep on the long walk home (one block). My dad (Grr) always buys a monster fire work for Hannah to light. This year it was almost bigger than she was. It lasted quite a long time.

Ross Park

Ross Park is a great place to take the kids to. After four weeks of swimming lessons, the girls were anxious to test out their new swimming skills. Although Hannah and Adrea were content to stay in the kid's pool, Abby wanted to venture to bigger things. She is becoming quite the swimmer. I enjoyed racing her in the deep end several times. She also enjoyed going down the BIG water slide with Aunt Amy and David W. In the meantime Hannah and Adrea went down the small slide, ran through waterfalls, and played on the tire swing. This was also Elayna's first day in the pool. She did quite well. She hardly fussed eventhough we kept her in the pool for nearly three hours. Towards the end, I wrapped her in her towel and put that in the pool. It helped to keep the sun off her. All-in-all it was a great day.

Jolly Visit

Here are a couple of photos to highlight the Jolly visit. I will post more photos separately for the Fourth of July and a Ross park excursion. These pictures are just everyday play and fun. Starting in the upper right moving around clockwise. Abby proved to be big help throughout her time here by taking care of the little ones as well as helping me feed Elayna.

After only being here for a couple of hours, Uncle Ed was practicing putting Abby into his many submission attempts. This would be a common theme throughout the visit.

As is a Jolly tradition (that is...before they got married) the boys would go lay down under a blanket while the women cleaned up dinner. They don't seem to do this much when they are at their own houses.

Elayna is taking a comfortable little nap on Uncle David. Of course, she is a small furnace and quickly made uncle david sweat.

Hannah and Adrea are attempting to blow bubbles at Reinhart park.

In one of the last days here, Hannah FINALLY got Aunt Melissa on the trampoline. As you can see, she truly enjoyed it.

While at Grandma and Papa Jolly's Hannah and Adrea rode around on their little cars like they were a train.

After only being here a couple of hours, Adrea and Hannah sat together on a little bench and started chatting. Who knows what a 3 and 4 year old were talking about!!!

Lastly, the three girls would wake up every morning and go exercise on the trampoline. They spent hours making up cheers and skits.

Elayna's Baptism

Friday was Elayna's baptism. It was a joyous time for all. Her godparents are Amy and Ryan, and Dave and Melissa.

Playing with Cousins

This week has been fun for Hannah. She has done nothing but play HARD with her cousins. The girls have been suffering from some extreme exhaustion. But, how do you stop them from playing as much as possible when they get to see each other so little.We were able to get the two little girls in swim lessons together. Darius was also in the small class of six kids. They were all so cute together. Here the three girls are posing after jumping on the trampoline. When it isn't raining, the girls are jumping around like monkeys. They could jump all day if we let them. Here Uncle Ryan is spinning the girls in the hammock chair. Sadly, the chair broke...eight years of weathering made the strings weak and a couple of them broke. You can see one broken at the end already. Oh well, the girls were able to spin several times and we got some cute pictures. Mom has her pond clean and running already. Even though these past two weeks have been miserable and rainy, we had a couple hours of sun and were able to get some cute photos. Here the three girls are posing. Hannah's attention span is short and quickly gets bored of photos.

This picture is entirely too cute to not share to everyone! My nieces are absolutely adorable!!!!!

Rescue Pack

Today Dave and Melissa asked if they could take Hannah to pick out a birthday gift. Of course Hannah was excited, so how could I say no. When I got home, she was playing with two back packs. One was the "Rescue Pack" from Go Diego Go and the other is "Backpack" from Dora. When it was nap time, she went to bed easily as long as she could take one of her back packs. Here she is sleeping with "Rescue Pack". This was just too cute not to share. Enjoy!!! In the mean time Elayna was attempting to sit (poorly) on the couch. I was trying to get both her and Ollie in the same picture, but it never worked out well. I will keep trying!

Fun in the Sun

Yeah!!! Summer is finally here! The other day we decided to put a hose underneath the trampoline and invite some friends over. Hannah and Darius got up there and enjoyed splashing around and getting each other wet. It is nice because they can get wet by jumping but the black top keeps it rather warm. Darius is still a little unsure on the trampoline, but eventually got up and started jumping around. Here he and Hannah were chasing each other in circles. It's amazing how many times they can run in a circle without getting bored!!!

Darius eventually got a little cold and got off of the trampoline. This DID NOT sit well with Hannah. The instant he got down Hannah started throwing a fit. She was screaming and pouting. Of course, being the good mother and all, I took lots of pictures. I then took a video of the episode. Here she is still throwing a fit about Darius leaving the trampoline! Even though the big kids loved jumping on the trampoline, Rheya was a little timid to jump and get wet. She was perfectly content to swing for hours.
Of course Elayna had to get out in the sun and swing herself. We grabbed her little fish swing and brought it outside. She doesn't ever seem to last too long when she is the swing and soon fell fast asleep.

Let's just hope the weather holds and the kids can keep getting out and playing in the water.